On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:55:58 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Eric R Snow" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:37:02 -0700, "Roger Shoaf"
wrote:

Assume one were to take a .357 revolver and load it with shells that were
reloaded with a primer only and without any powder.

How far would the bullet get, only propelled by the primer charge?

If it makes a difference let's assume that the bullets are standard lead
round nose (no metal jacket.
Greetings Roger,
I shoot .22 ammo that is primered only. No powder. It is for pistols
only and the bullet is much smaller than a .22 short bullet. I do
shoot these out of a pistol but also an 80 year old rifle that has had
a lot of lead go through it.

The sounds like the "BB cap" round that was popular in the 1930s. They fired
a round ball (unlike the slightly larger "CB cap") and had a primer-only
charge. However, I don't know if the primer was the same size as a standard
.22 round, or maybe had a bit more stuff.

The CCI CB short has 0.5 grains of powder, looks like W231 but who
knows. Specs say it has a 29 grain bullet but the one I weighed was
30.5 grains. My balance is accurate to +/- 0.1 grain. Specified m.v.
at 710 fps is a bit less than that of a good .22 pellet rifle but the
projectile has more mass. Muzzle energy at spec velocity and spec mass
is about 44 joules or 32 ft-lbf. A Beeman Crow-Magnum .22 pellet
weighs 18.5 grains, energy at 800 fps would be about 32 joule or 26
ft-lbf, ample to cleanly drop rabbits in milady's garden. (Dropped
another one last evening. Head shot, 25 yards. Back flip, then
still.)

The report from a CB short is a pop, a bit louder than an air rifle
but not nearly the crack of a .22LR with supersonic velocity.

Energy of the CB short is still 28 ft-lbf at 50 yards. I expect that
the Crow-Magnum pellet slows down considerably faster, be interesting
to check it with a chrony. It still has ample punch to cleanly
dispatch a rabbit at that range.