Folks writing about early small bores often mention rifles or revolvers (like the S&W Ladysmith) that are marked for .22 Long, but not for Long Rifle, even though the LR is listed as being available at the time. Usually it is assumed, and often written, that the .22 LR of the day was either too powerful or too long to work in the older guns. But there was another reason.
It seems that the ..22 LR was first introduced for the line of Stevens single shot rifles and pistols to provide better accuracy than the existing .22 Short and .22 Long. But many shooters believed that crimping the case into the bullet destroyed accuracy, so the first .22 LR cartridges had almost no crimp, barely enough to allow handling of the cartridge, but not enough to stand up to recoil. That proved no real problem in pure target guns where shooters handled each round carefully. But repeating rifles were another story, as were revolvers. If a rifle shooter had to extract an unfired round, he could easily leave the bullet in the chamber, a nuisance but not an especially dangerous situation unless a .22 Short was loaded behind it. But in a revolver, recoil from firing one chamber could easily cause the bullet to jump forward and tie up the gun, which is what happened with the Ladysmith.
So, as gun makers and ammo makers worked toward a mutually satisfactory resolution, gun makers held off marking their repeating rifles for .22 LR, and revolver makers cautioned against using the longer round. Naturally, most gun owners assumed that the warnings were due to the greater power of the .22 LR and that was why (for some unexplained reason) later but seemingly identical guns were OK with the .22 LR round.
Jim
It seems that the ..22 LR was first introduced for the line of Stevens single shot rifles and pistols to provide better accuracy than the existing .22 Short and .22 Long. But many shooters believed that crimping the case into the bullet destroyed accuracy, so the first .22 LR cartridges had almost no crimp, barely enough to allow handling of the cartridge, but not enough to stand up to recoil. That proved no real problem in pure target guns where shooters handled each round carefully. But repeating rifles were another story, as were revolvers. If a rifle shooter had to extract an unfired round, he could easily leave the bullet in the chamber, a nuisance but not an especially dangerous situation unless a .22 Short was loaded behind it. But in a revolver, recoil from firing one chamber could easily cause the bullet to jump forward and tie up the gun, which is what happened with the Ladysmith.
So, as gun makers and ammo makers worked toward a mutually satisfactory resolution, gun makers held off marking their repeating rifles for .22 LR, and revolver makers cautioned against using the longer round. Naturally, most gun owners assumed that the warnings were due to the greater power of the .22 LR and that was why (for some unexplained reason) later but seemingly identical guns were OK with the .22 LR round.
Jim