I have tried. off and on, for years to light a match with my .22LR. (I have noticed that it is becoming more difficult to find "strike anywhere" matches.) Can it be done? Has anyone done it, or personally witnessed it. I have hit the striking portion of the match, but it has never lit.

Never tried it, Red. I did kill a fly once on a paper target at 50 yards though!

Just a thought, but .22 Long Rifle bullets are externally lubricated with some kind of waxy stuff, so that might be a problem. Jacketed bullets might do better.

You need to send this idea to Mythbusters!

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Lighting a match with a rifle?

This requires precision much greater than my shooting allows....it must be nearly a perfect hit!

I've never seen it done.....or even attempted for that matter.

One documented ruse that some of the old time trick shooters used is to do the shot against a black background and lean a wood block wrapped with black sand paper against the match. Since it was black against black, the audience could not see the black block with the sand paper. The trick shooter then only had to hit the block which would rub aganst the match and light the match. I don't know the various geometry of the size of the block and the angle it was set relative to the shooter and the audience. It would be neat to see the trick done both in broad daylight and with the proper lighting to achieve the illusion.

I believe it was Bob Munden who I saw talking about this trick of the "trick shooters". Whoever it was made a point of being called an exhibition shooter instead of a trick shooter.

I think that Jed and Jethro (of the Clampit klan) used to do this down by the cement pond. And when they weren't lighting matches they were shooting the wings off house flies.


muck

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(I have noticed that it is becoming more difficult to find "strike anywhere" matches.)

Ain't it the truth!

I haven't seen a genuine Ohio Blue Tip in thirty years, and those wimpy matches with the red heads sometimes have so little white on them that you're lucky to get even a small spark, much less a flame.

The depressing part is that you know you're getting old when you grumble about the quality of kitchen matches.

By the way, Siberian hunters in the bad old days of the Soviet Union are said to have reloaded their meager supply of 7.62 ammunition with match heads in the place of powder.

My father still has shrapnel in his leg from a hollow key he blew up as a boy. Guess what he used for as propellent...

I shot NMLRA competition here in Florida for 10yrs. back in the 70's/early 80's. I've seen birthday candles snuffed-out, balls split on an axe head, 45cal balls shot through a half inch fender washer, but never a match lit. I have done all of the above at one time or another;but that was then, this is now. Old hands and old eyes.
The older I get the better I was!!
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

well i can remember shooting some things with my 22 as a kid that lit a match under the old man that started a fire in my pants

Never saw it myself, but my father in law told me that when he was a kid they had a hired hand on the farm that could do it.

Lighting a match using a firearm huh , Man somebody is bored out of their skull or Cabin Fever

has " Gotcha " !. Buy those final finish bore bullets give it a whirl .

I'll stick to knocking the Eyes out of the squirrels and gophers to stay sharp !.

Hells bells guys it ain't as hard as you are making it sound.
I have seen it done and I have done it.
And you can too,, it is good fun with a buddy, a six pack, a brick of 22's and a big box of strike anywhere matches.
Success is in your future, your just quitting too soon..

First try it with a bunch of matches held together with a rubber band. The work down to lighting just one match. If you can get 10 or 15 in a bundle to light just skip a single match.

Well not with a 22 but I once witnessed my father get in a friendly relative competition with BB guns. Lit a match from about 10 feet away, no one else in the family ever did it again including him. Not that we didn't try again many times. --- John 303.

Done it. when I was younger and could see better. My bud and I sis it with air rifles and 22's at about 15 to 20 feet. could only light 1 out of about 10 or 15 shots, on a good day. We used to shoot pennies out of each others hands also at 25 or 40 feet. We both still have all of our fingers too, I would'nt try it now for a $1000. but maybe for $10000, after a lot of practice.

I thought I was bad LAUNCHING match heads against a concrete wall with an air rifle

They EXPLODE on contact.

AD

I've split cards with a 22LR and shot the card below card as a joke to turn in for a postal match once. But come to think of it - I've never seen someone light a match either! Anyone know if Myth-Busters has done anything like that?

We moved to a new town when I was in the 8th grade. There was nothing to do. The movie house down town had movies like, 'The Bowery Boys', Hop along Cassidy, and Roy Rogers movies. (not complaining, they were great) But, all the other towns were showing COLOR movies, like the beach party movies and such.
Well, life was pretty boring. My dad's 22 and several bricks of bullets and lots of matches later, I had managed to strike a few matches. It can be done.

I personally have done it several times and the trick is NOT to hit the match at all but to come very close to the tip. I would hate to say how much ammo I have burned up trying. Most was done with a target 22 (52Win or 37Rem) and a 20x Unertl scope and from quite short distances. Don't remember but it was as short as the scope would focus. Have also split .22LR on axe blade several times using same equipment. It was NEVER a sure thing but WAS achieved. Still can't say whether it was just plain luck but WAS trying to do it when I did it.