.22's were used in the USSR, not by Red Army snipers, but by NKVD death squads who used .22's for executions where they didn't want excess noise to call attention to their activities. There were instances of them being used in Gulags and in Soviet prisons.
Interestingly, the postwar Russian TOZ series trainers and match rifles will stabelize the heavy long Aguela 60gr bullet in at least their #8 trainers and #12 target rifles. Despite a 1:14" twist rate, these rifles have a very short chamber throat and the long bullet of the SSS 'engraves' lightly on the lands of the rifeling of the rifles bore, eleminating 'jump' in the chamber after ignition and stabelizing the bullets to the axis of the bore.
Very accurate out to 75 yds with this combination,(I have a TOZ8 & a 12)...haven't shot either at 100yds - yet.
