 Since the .22 Long Rifle performs as well in a short handgun barrel as the .22 Long and outperforms it significantly in a long rifle barrel, the development of the .22 Long Rifle assured the .22 Long's path to obsolescence.Descendants of the .22 Long still live on.Modern Hypervelocity loadings of the .22 Long Rifle use bullets as light as 30 grains (1.9 g), and modern blends of powder to make full use of a rifle barrel to generate velocities far higher than normal loads, and chamber pressures high enough to cycle semi-automatic firearms reliably.