"WE DEAL IN LEAD, FRIEND"
Steve McQueen - The Magnificant Seven.
Some interesting ammo found at home cleaning up a while back.
J.L. Galef and Sons liquidated in 1983 I believe, so this little tin of ammo probably dates back to teen years. .22 BB Cap (Bulleted Breech Cap) is a variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammo, low in velocity and projecting reduced noise (a low muzzle velocity of around 700 ft/s or less I think). Perfect for indoor shooting and close up and personal small pest control. It has no separate propellant charge, relying on the impulse created by the primer alone to fire a round lead ball. Developed for indoor shooting galleries with special "gallery guns", the .22 BB Cap was the first rimfire cartridge, dating back to 1845.
I'll just set this out here on the deck to see if the rabbits watching the garden take notice and run away.
26 comments:
Interesting ammunition, I think RWS MIGHT still sell something similar, but its been a while since I've seen it. Bitty little things, bet you could squeeze at least 10 to fit a soda straw and seal ends for storage.
Aquila ammunition sells Colibri and Super Colibri that mimic it, but based on .22 Short case. Its very quiet ammunition indeed. Be careful when shooting these loads in rifle barrels, especially older barrels which might have pitting, as the slower speed may cause them to get stuck in bore. I think Colibri even states on box to use only in handguns.
For backyard pests and even indoors, a pump up Benjamin air rifle is the ticket for us.
Aaah! It's so widdle!
John
The Magnificent Seven, what a movie that was. What a different world it was, too; are there any companies in New York still making small arms ammunition?
Jim
That is a tiny blast from the past. Galef was an importer during my youth of Beretta products. My first gun was a .22LR semi-auto Beretta rifle, a "Silver Gyrafalcon."
It was straight blowback and magazine fed. Came with a ten round and there was an available twenty round magazine. Problem was that the twenty had no provision for rimmed cartridge stacking (no curve).
The trigger pull was adjustable with a small screw accessed through the trigger guard. If you tightened it up really tight, the blowback action would go full auto for about five or six rounds until it jammed.
A pretty gun, but dangerous and unreliable.
Lots of BB caps shot in those days in basement ranges with friends!
Why's a nice lady like you doin up at 3 am? I like the BB & CB caps for squirrels, out of a rifle, they sound like a small slap. I try to pick them up whenever I can.
w/v = fulflea, duh.
YeOldFurt
"to see if the rabbits watching the garden take notice and run away" ... classic!
I haven't seen those in forever. I'd keep some and the tin. It might be worth something in the future if it isn't already.
How cute!!
Love the little acorn motif on the case head!
Regards,
Albert
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles.
How to Support Animal Rights Groups. Not!
Now that was a cool post :)
I've only seen those BB caps once or twice in my life and never actually saw one fired.
Uhh that wasnt to say that ALL yor other posts were not cool, they are...just I liked this one too.
OOOH, I have a tin of the .22 BB caps but with a pointed "bb", instead of the round one you show. Mine have the acorn on the bottom too and are made by Dynamit Nobel. Can you believe I paid $17.99 for a 100 rounds back in 2002? I'm afraid to put a round through my CZ 452 Lux rifle with a 28" barrel, for fear that it might get stuck in there. What do you think? Think it's safe to put one through it, or should I stick with my shorter barreled Marlin? I have yet to shoot one of these Caps.
Brigid,
Regarding cowboy sayings: there is a book that might become one of your "bibles", if you can find a copy. It's one of mine. I picked it up while on one of the gold-silver projects in Nevada, quite a while ago. It's one paperback that is never far from me because I can always find something in it that fits the situation.
Called: "SAVVY SAYIN'S, Lean and Meaty One-Liners" by Ken Alstad
(an Old West Almanac publication by Ken Alstad Company, Tucson, Arizona)
[The illustrations are all woodcuts by Remington and Russell.]
First Printing, 1986 and Tenth Printing, 1992: so there might be some floating around on the used market.
Some of my favorites:
"It's hard to put a foot in a shut mouth."
"Nerves is just a case of which end of a six-gun you happen to be lookin' at."
"Nobody but cattle know why they stampede and they ain't talkin'."
"Love you enemies but keep your guns oiled." :-)
"Never trust a man who kin look a pretty woman in the eye."
"It ain't against the law to be comfortable."
"One sure way to land in Boot Hill is to shoot without aiming."
"Poor is having to sell the horse to buy a saddle."
"If you see a coward with a gun, it's time to get scared or scarce."
"A guilty man runs when no one's chasin' him."
"Buchshot means buryin'."
My most favorite, that I fully believe, is not in the book. Surprising.
"Never trust a man who doesn't like dogs."
Thanks for the great blog. It "levels" my day... ;-)
Those seem a lot like the 9mm wax rounds someone I used to know makes.
I had an acquaintance, now deceased, who made .44mag indoor practice rounds by seating a wax bullet on brass and propelled by the primer. He'd set up an indoor range in his basement using standard paper targets hung from a 2X4 and a firing line on the opposite side of his basement.
Seems to work well enough as I remember. This would probably be the .44 equivalent of the .22 BB cap.
You sure do take wonderful photos of hard objects. I can't get enough of those acorn stampings and, if I wore jewelry, I'd love to wear something with those on it.
Good luck on the squirrels. From my experience, they only take notice of lead implants.
I'm sure you get the rabbits to take notice by setting a few off to chase them! Then we can have the Brigid take on rabbit pie amongst the recipes!
Well, smack my forehead in a V8 moment, Brigid, you are absolutely right! In fact, we know two who would be up to the task. So it's going on my "when I get settled list" right now, kind of my big reward for surviving the house make-over.
Rabbit, a load of the sort of root veg the bunnies like to eat all cooked in gray made with cider, Yum!!!
Cheers
David
Wow....all these years and I never knew what the "BB" stood for!
Thanks, Brigid!
I noticed the acorn logo on the cap... might be good at keeping the "acorn" people off the doorstep
Be vewy qwiet ...
;-)
I had a couple of tins of those BB caps a long time ago, a pass-down from my grandfather. Same brand. They shoot well; in power they fall in place between a .177 pellet and a .22 short, perfect for crows and other pests at short range; the report sounds like a black powder starter gun cap, and doesn't startle the birds the way that larger .22's do.
Brigid please send me a couple of the shells with the acorn on it? That is great looking brass. One thing on my wish list is a J Stevens Model 35 Target Pistol in .22 LR. A Gallery gun would be fun too. Even the .22 ammo would last a while.
Whooo, that's Dynamit Nobel, shiny! :-) I have CB (the conical ones) from them. Same acorn.
Expensive tho.
Carteacho found a tin of those a year or two back. I got me looking for some. Found a ammo dealer in Caledonia, NY that had some $36.66 after tax/shipping etc. Has the little acorn on the base, perfect, but spendy for phonebook shooting in the basement.
Good grief, I haven't seen those in forty 'mumble' years... We used to shoot those in the gym at the Armory practicing for matches...
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