I think we need to consider reloading rimfires

[TTv2]

And I'm not talking about those special cases with a spot in the rim to press a .22 blank into and has to be lined up with where the firing pin hits the rim. No, I'm talking about making priming compound and packing it into the rims. There are kits today to reload .22 LR, but personally I don't like the idea of reloading such a tiny case given the little room for error involved with powder charges, would be very easy to overcharge a case.

I'm thinking if larger caliber rimfire cases were available like .32 or .38 we would at least have the ability to reload a fixed cartridge without having to rely on primers, be it boxer or berdan. You know, it's very easy to mix the compound together and add acetone to turn it into a paste that can be packed into the rim where it then dries, but it's not so easy to start making your own primers that require punches, anvils, and other tools.

The only drawback is there aren't enough rimfire guns around anymore that nobody would be interested in making the cases.

It's certainly something we should consider tho because relying on primers to be available or affordable is no longer an option.

 

[Demi-human]

Flintlock? 54 caliber sounds fun.

If we’re going to use corrosive stuff, the very least we can do is use the Holy Black!

Reprime used primers with the same stuff?

 

[TTv2]

Flintlock? 54 caliber sounds fun.

If we’re going to use corrosive stuff, the very least we can do is use the Holy Black!

That's how I feel, I mean we have to clean the guns pronto due to the black powder anyway. I don't know if .32 or .38 rimfire ever got loaded with smokeless, I'd imagine they did given the ammo was being made until the 1930s, but the few guns out there are probably all black powder only.

Forget muzzlestuffers, I want something that doesn't take a minute to reload.

 

[Demi-human]

I want something that doesn't take a minute to reload.

How long will finding the spot-I-haven’t-crushed-in-the-rim-yet take?
Maybe some paper strips to keep the cartridges from rotating in the cylinder?
How much rimfire brass is out there if the pistols themselves are obsolete?

I’m with you though, I need to smell powder soon or I’ll crack!

 

[TTv2]

How long will finding the spot-I-haven’t-crushed-in-the-rim-yet take?

If you have a big enough rim, like .56 Spencer, you could probably get 25-30 reloads out of a single case. The smaller cases, you can get at least a dozen.

Better than nothing.

 

[Walkalong]

I'll pass.

 

[FROGO207]

In the grand scheme of things rebuilding and recharging spent primers is really a better option. Much easier to deal with all around and not needing to monitor clock position would be a plus. YMMV

 

[jmorris]

I have considered it, I have done lots of things that others would think are pointless, just to have done it.

I’d likely make center fire primers before I would tool up to reload for large bore rimfire.

 

[Barbaroja]

I’m out. If I was going through that kind of monumental hassle, it would be for centerfire primers. .22lr is still available here locally for about $3-4 per box. If it went up to $20 per box as the new norm I think I would just shoot less .22

 

[FROGO207]

My only concern would be how many times the primer cup would survive being reused before leaking.

 

[mdi]

I haven't seen a gun chambered for a rimfire cartridge, other than 22 for many, many years. If one could find cases and if one had a gun so chambered, one can reload rimfire cartridges...

Rimfire reloading kits have been on the market for quite a while. If I only had a 22 and needed ammo or die, I might try one. Very labor intensive. Priming compound has been made from household chemicals and match heads as long as I can remember and I "reloaded" some large pistol primers with priming compound I purchased from Sharpshooter. Kit included several product safety warnings and was very labor intensive it took me about 3 hours to reload 20 primers. All fired but didn't load any to check over my chrony. Again, if my or my family's life depended on some large primers I would try more. I believe there's a comprehensive thread here on match head primers too...

But I thought ahead and made sure I was wel armed/supplied with components and ammo I grew up in earth quake country so keeping living supplies was second nature and in LA keeping self defense ammo/components was essential. I have a 5 gal bucket full of 22 lr bricks, and about 3 bricks and 12-14 loose boxes in my shop.

 

[Rule3]

Some of the new dual gas pellet guns are about or more powerful than a 22RF
I would be more interested in one of those.

I do and have done lots of dangerous things, but not messing with primers!

 

[Cliff6]

I’m out. If I was going through that kind of monumental hassle, it would be for centerfire primers. .22lr is still available here locally for about $3-4 per box. If it went up to $20 per box as the new norm I think I would just shoot less .22

Wow, $3 or $4 a box! What part of the country do you live in? If I found them for twice that in northeast Ohio, I'd feel very lucky.

 

[TTv2]

I haven't seen a gun chambered for a rimfire cartridge, other than 22 for many, many years. If one could find cases and if one had a gun so chambered, one can reload rimfire cartridges...

Rimfire reloading kits have been on the market for quite a while. If I only had a 22 and needed ammo or die, I might try one. Very labor intensive. Priming compound has been made from household chemicals and match heads as long as I can remember and I "reloaded" some large pistol primers with priming compound I purchased from Sharpshooter. Kit included several product safety warnings and was very labor intensive it took me about 3 hours to reload 20 primers. All fired but didn't load any to check over my chrony. Again, if my or my family's life depended on some large primers I would try more. I believe there's a comprehensive thread here on match head primers too...

You say it's labor intensive to reload rimfires, yet you could only reload 20 primers in 3 hours. In that time you could have probably primed 100 rimfire cases, left them out for the primer compound to dry, and finished them in an hour the next day.

There's no way around doing the labor when you have to prime a rimfire or a primer yourself.

 

[TTv2]

My only concern would be how many times the primer cup would survive being reused before leaking.

IMO the amount of time it takes to do over mixing compound and stuffing it into a rim makes reloading centerfire primers a non-starter. How long they'd last is a good question, I can't imagine the thin metal would hold up to being punched with a pin, having an small explosion occur, then get the indent punched back somewhat flat.

 

[WestKentucky]

I’m going a different direction totally. If I’m putting in the work necessary to make a 22 go bang then I’m going to be putting in the work to make cannon fuse and set off bigger toys. I can see it now... PDW pew ting pew pew ting “hey I hit 2 out of 3 soda cans... Kaboooooooom “what soda cans?”

 

[TTv2]

I’m going a different direction totally. If I’m putting in the work necessary to make a 22 go bang then I’m going to be putting in the work to make cannon fuse and set off bigger toys. I can see it now... PDW pew ting pew pew ting “hey I hit 2 out of 3 soda cans... Kaboooooooom “what soda cans?”

I doubt you'd be allowed to set off a small cannon at the indoor range.

 

[higgite]

I think we need to consider reloading rimfires

I do hope that 's the royal "we".

 

[brewer12345]

I've been looking at my primer stack and concluded that if I am judicious I should be able to wait out the current set of evil overlords. That said, I really enjoy shooting black power, so that is what I will be doing a lot of this summer aside from working up some smokeless loads. I can easily make my own percussion caps should I need to do so. Not the case with rimfire or primers.

 

[Varminterror]

Rimfires are fun, in large part because they are cheap and easy. If the easy part goes away, and the cheap part is competitively called into question, I’d struggle to be convinced the pursuit is worthwhile.

 

[TTv2]

I've been looking at my primer stack and concluded that if I am judicious I should be able to wait out the current set of evil overlords. That said, I really enjoy shooting black power, so that is what I will be doing a lot of this summer aside from working up some smokeless loads. I can easily make my own percussion caps should I need to do so. Not the case with rimfire or primers.

I'll give you that percussion caps are easier to make, but that doesn't make them any less time consuming to load (and clean) than dealing with re-priming rimfire.

 

[milsurpguy]

Hot load'em so when you punch a dent into the rim to fire it the pressure pops out the other dent from the last firing.

Shelf life isn't a concern if you make FA-70 primer mix. That's the one the us military industrial complex used from around WW1 through the 1950s. Shelf life is not a concern.
It's pretty much just like the 22 sharp shooter mix. It's corrosive and chlorate based but you replace the sulfur which limits shelf life with lead thiocyanate and a little bit of nitro cellulose sensitized with alcohol.
The problem with FA-70 mix was it used lead thiocyanate which I didn't think could be bought by average Joes, well i was wrong, it can easily be bought ($70 for 100 grams) or you can make a little bit for real cheap. Oh and and FA-70 mix uses TNT, yeah almost none of us can simply buy and store TNT. But the TNT can be substituted with nitro cellulose wetted with alcohol.

Unless you are making primers don't ever wet high test, insoluable nitro cellulose with 50/50 alcohol mix and let dry, it becomes straight up explosive, now its friction and static sensitive tries to go bang, not foof. And I'm not exactly sure why.

 

[Random 8]

Unless you are making primers don't ever wet high test, insoluable nitro cellulose with 50/50 alcohol mix and let dry, it becomes straight up explosive, now its friction and static sensitive tries to go bang, not foof. And I'm not exactly sure why.

That's some real interesting information there, now committed to the memory bank.

 

[brewer12345]

I'll give you that percussion caps are easier to make, but that doesn't make them any less time consuming to load (and clean) than dealing with re-priming rimfire.

Having made percussion caps but never reprimed rimfire, I can't say. As a proof of concept I made and used caps last summer. Not that hard to do and they all worked well. I have plenty of factory caps and 22, so this is academic, but if I had to make the stuff that makes them go bang I would rather shoot a smokepole.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

At 3-5 cents a round. Why reload it? Yes you can still get 22lr cheap. Avoid the gougers. And stock up when it becomes regularly in stock. I realize this is the 1st rodeo in shortages for some. I hope they learn and stock up for the next one.