Reloading Rim fire

[orionengnr]

There isn't any real difficulty of acquiring all the 22LR you desire from online distributors. There is literally tons available for 10-12 cents per round. No it is not a cheap as it used to be years ago, but then again few things are and it's still the least cost powder burning shooting around.

I have been loading .45acp (and several orher chamberings) for about 12 cents per round for several years now. I don't (and won't) pay 12 cents per round for .22LR. Or 10 cents, or even seven.
My personal threshold for .22LR is around 5 cents per round, and as a result, I haven't bought any for several years. However, I have bought some recently at that price locally (not on-line).
If I can buy .22LR for 5 cents per round, I'll spend my time reloading .45 acp and other rounds.
And, needless to say, I will buy .22LR any time I see it at that price...one box at a time.

 

[midland man]

traffer yep I need to make the regular either number 10 or 11 size percussion caps for standard muzzleloaders plus I was hoping someone on here knew what size and weight the bullets it dropped, the sharpshooter kit the mold is offered in? or either make my own bullets either way? all the help I can get is much appreciated.

 

[FROGO207]

You would need a heeled bullet with a concave base to work for accurate .22 reloading. That is how the factory does it. You need to be able to crimp in the brass at the top of the heeled area. A .22 MAG uses the same diameter bullet as a .22 long rifle but the MAG brass is larger around and is loaded like a conventional round. The .22 LR round has the brass that is the same diameter as the bullet and thus needs a reduced base (heeled) bullet to allow the base to fit in the chamber. You could make a collet crimper like the Lee FCD to crimp 22 LR and it would be safe. A standard type of crimper would not work without sizing the bullet down as well unfortunately. A primer made of a binary combo with a binder would be the way to go.

 

[Traffer]

traffer yep I need to make the regular either number 10 or 11 size percussion caps for standard muzzleloaders plus I was hoping someone on here knew what size and weight the bullets it dropped, the sharpshooter kit the mold is offered in? or either make my own bullets either way? all the help I can get is much appreciated.

I can send you pictures of the method and tools I use to make the 22lr bullets. As I said with this method you can make them anywhere from 55 grain to under 20 grain. And you can make a sizer that you can size them from .228 down to maybe .220 or less. And it does make the cupped base also. So it is a very flexible method. I am new here so I am not sure how to send pictures. Unless you want to send me a private message with your email. Then I can send the pics to your email.

 

[Traffer]

traffer yep I need to make the regular either number 10 or 11 size percussion caps for standard muzzleloaders plus I was hoping someone on here knew what size and weight the bullets it dropped, the sharpshooter kit the mold is offered in? or either make my own bullets either way? all the help I can get is much appreciated.

I saw a youtube video where a guy made the caps from scratch on (I believe) all homemade tools. Have you seen that video? If not I can try and hunt it down for you.

 

[rcmodel]

There is nothing new under the sun that hasn't already been done.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/842064/forster-tap-o-cap-11-percusion-cap-maker

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/open_sight/archive_open_sight.htm/9

rc

 

[Traffer]

Chemist

I have just been reading up on priming compounds. Or "Primary Explosives" as they are referred to today. I am not a chemist. There is no possible way that I could make any of this stuff. (I wouldn't try any of this without knowing exactly what I was doing) There are some very interesting and informative articles to be found though. I was just reading the patent for a non-corrosive primer that was patented in 2013. From what I can understand of the scientific language, this stuff is a real breakthrough. A couple of questions. Has anyone else heard of a new non-corrosive primer hitting the market very recently? And, are there any professional chemists here who I could discuss this with?

 

[Lost Sheep]

.(edited for brevity)...need a cupped bullet like a miniball or a pellet. The cup is very important because it is expanded by the gas to make the seal you need in your barrel. The cutting technique I use makes that "cup" in the bullet.

Why would you need the bullet base cupped if the bullet was sized to fit your barrel? Loading for .22 is no different then loading cast in any other caliber and we don't use cupped bullets.

If I understand the post correctly:

Note on a 22 rimfire round that the diameter of the case is the same as the diameter of the bullet. In order to fit the bullet into the case, the diameter near the base of the bullet has to be smaller than the bore. So, unless you have a mold that makes a bullet with a rebated base (that is, your bullet has two diameters, one to git your bore and the other to fit the inside of the case), you will wind up with a bullet that fits the case. Such a bullet will be smaller than your bore.

The solution is a soft lead bullet with a cupped (also known as hollow base) base. The pressure of firing will cause the "skirt" of the bullet to blow out (obturate) to fill the bore.

Lost Sheep

 

[Traffer]

If I understand the post correctly:

Note on a 22 rimfire round that the diameter of the case is the same as the diameter of the bullet. In order to fit the bullet into the case, the diameter near the base of the bullet has to be smaller than the bore. So, unless you have a mold that makes a bullet with a rebated base (that is, your bullet has two diameters, one to git your bore and the other to fit the inside of the case), you will wind up with a bullet that fits the case. Such a bullet will be smaller than your bore.

The solution is a soft lead bullet with a cupped (also known as hollow base) base. The pressure of firing will cause the "skirt" of the bullet to blow out (obturate) to fill the bore.

Lost Sheep

OR, ...before you seat the bullet, neck up the case to accept the "same diameter" bullet. Then crimp it into place. ;-)

 

[Traffer]

OR, ...before you seat the bullet, neck up the case to accept the "same diameter" bullet. Then crimp it into place. ;-)

I can't remember were I have explained this before but here goes again:
I use cupped bullets. I mold them myself and have a technique to cup the bullets after the molding process. I can't figure out how to post pics here so you will just have to imagine it for now.

 

[Traffer]

Trying to show pic. Here is a before and after pic of my molded bullet.

 

[Traffer]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=929495813752123&set=pcb.929495940418777&type=3&theater

 

[Traffer]

The next photo in the facebook series shows more clearly.

 

[1066]

Good for you Traffer - without reloaders experimenting and pushing the boundaries we wouldn't have many of our great cartridges. Not because it's cheap or easy, it all just adds to the pool of reloading knowledge.

A good few commonplace rounds started by individual guys tinkering around in a home workshop.

I've played with using sabot .17 rounds in a .22lr just as an experiment - Using a stinger case with a 17 gn bullet I was getting about 1800fps. accuracy was poor but I didn't expect much without a lot of development.

 

[Traffer]

Good for you Traffer - without reloaders experimenting and pushing the boundaries we wouldn't have many of our great cartridges. Not because it's cheap or easy, it all just adds to the pool of reloading knowledge.

A good few commonplace rounds started by individual guys tinkering around in a home workshop.

I've played with using sabot .17 rounds in a .22lr just as an experiment - Using a stinger case with a 17 gn bullet I was getting about 1800fps. accuracy was poor but I didn't expect much without a lot of development.

From what I understand the twist rate is too long to make high speed accurate. The best match ammo is sub-sonic. AND they use up to 60 grain bullets. Kind of counter intuitive but there it is. Thanks for you comment. Encouragement is very important.

 

[1066]

From what I understand the twist rate is too long to make high speed accurate. The best match ammo is sub-sonic. AND they use up to 60 grain bullets. Kind of counter intuitive but there it is. Thanks for you comment. Encouragement is very important.

I agree. It a bit of a chicken and egg situation - With .22lr you almost invariably get a 1 in 16 twist, optimised for a 40 grain bullet.

The whole development of the .22lr is hampered by the 150 year old heeled bullet design and the fact that little or no development takes place outside the manufactures. They have no incentive to improve because we have no option but to accept what we are given.

In the fifty plus years I've been shooting there has been very little development of the .22lr. The Stinger style, with lighter bullets and slightly longer cases giving higher velocity is about the only change I've noticed and Eley Tenex match ammunition has a bit of a cropped bullet tip.

I really don't think accuracy has improved much - an inch group at 100 yards with a match rifle and top grade match ammunition was good in the 1960's, it's still good today.

With a centrefire factory rifle, 1 moa was considered good 20-30 years ago, now it's fairly run of the mill and improving all the time.

 

[midland man]

thanks traffer for the info I got from you and sorry for the delay been chasing my holiday antlerless deer as we are allowed one so I am tryin to get this one for the freezer but sure appreciate the info, I have it saved in my file. so for me I want to make bullets for my NAA super companion so I can keep havin fun long after NAA decides to stop makin them plus I need 30gr round nose for my little bp pistol so soon production will start to learn to find the bullet I need! thanks guys...