Hunting Under the Radar? Try the .22 CB Cap Round
If you’ve already taken my advice and purchased yourself a 22 LR rifle (like the Ruger 10/22 which is my favorite) or already have one, you probably love how quiet the 22LR rounds are compared to most other ammunition. But despite being relatively quiet, they are still noticeable to within a few hundred yards by others around you.
22 CB Cap long (left), 22 CB Cap short (right)
Well short of using a suppressor (silencer) which may not be legal in your area, there is a super quiet round available for your rifle that you may not be aware of. It’s called the 22 CB Cap (short for “conical ball cap”).
While not as powerful or accurate over long range as the 22LR round, it is still powerful enough to take small game such as rabbit or squirrel and provides the added advantage of being no louder than a pellet gun (and perhaps even less so). The reason for its silence is due to its minute propellant charge (in many cases it’s just the primer with no gunpowder) which results in a low muzzle velocity of around 700 ft/s (subsonic).
The advantages of this kind of round in a serious survival situation (urban or wilderness) are obvious. With a report no louder than a pellet gun, the .22 CB Cap round gives you the benefit of being able to easily take smaller game — even in a congested urban area — without anyone the wiser (Pigeon anyone? yummy…). It also allows for target practice without bothering the pesky neighbors.
One of the main disadvantages of the .22 CB Cap is that it won’t cycle most semi-automatic firearms. Since the round doesn’t provide enough power to cycle the bolt, each round must be fed manually, one at a time. Despite this major disadvantage I still highly recommend adding a box or two of .22 CB Cap to your store (and some for your second tier kit while your at it) when silence is of primary importance.
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- Posted in Firearms, Urban Survival, Wilderness Survival
you may want to upgrade to 22 SHORT. the cb’s sometimes bounce off squirrels even at
close range and are inconsistent in accuracy.I have actually hunted with these rounds so
i’m not just mouthing off.
Hey Rick,
Thanks for the comments. I’ve actually never had issues with the .22 CB (Long) round with small critters. I almost exclusively use the “Remington CBees” round. You may just be using a poor round. I heard the CCI CB round isn’t that great so if you’re using that try the Remington.
I’d love to hear your feedback to benefit the rest of us so if you do try it out let us know!
thanks!
Just killed a squirrel at 35 ft and a small rabbit at 20 ft with 22 CB longs by CCI with a .22 LR lever action rifle. Thanks for the advice on trying Remington. Next case I’ll do that, but so far pleased with CCI.
Felicia,
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll have to give the CCI’s a try despite the negative reviews I’ve heard.
How do these rounds compare to something like the Aguila Super Colibri?
I was wondering the same about the Aquila Super Colibri. I’ve heard they are the quiestest of them all. I have a box of the “long” version on order to try.
Hey Ray,
I haven’t tried those personally. I’d love to hear from you after you try them out.
- Erich
Super Colibri is very quiet and shoots 500 or more feet easily. Not as accurate as CB or Short rounds, and with a 20 gr. bullet doesn’t pack much of a wallop beyond very short range. Have a neighbor which swore off of them after wounding a squirrel, whereas with CBs or shorts he’d have had dinner.
Dan,
Thanks for the update on this one. I’ve been wanting to hear some more on these.
Aguilia Super Colibri’s are extremely quiet out of a bolt action .22 … all of these rounds are even quieter out of a .22LR barrel insert inside a 12ga barrel, although you lose the benefit of good sights that way. I’ve shot Super Colibri’s quite a bit on game and pests up to feral cat size with head shots and have never wounded anything. Cattle are slaughtered with .22 shorts. If your marksmanship skills are a little rusty, you should probably be using a larger round that is going to put your game or pests down even if you hit them in the big toe. I have yet to see a Super Colibri (or any other bullet for that matter) “bounce off a squirrel.”
Cache,
Good comments man. Thanks for the good info.