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ROCKET
12-10-2011, 02:17 AM
I did not realize that the .22 mag are so expensive.... Anyway I can reload these ?

seetrout
12-10-2011, 02:38 AM
Short answer...yes

I think it is POSSIBLE to reload rimfire ammo, but is prohibitively time consuming and not worth the effort no matter the cost. The biggest hurdle being how to get new priming compound into the rim. I may be mistaken, but I believe the original manufacturers use centrifugal force to prime the rims. Even getting the priming compound may be next to impossible.

303Guy
12-10-2011, 05:46 AM
Someone made a 22 centre fire magnum. Doesn't help any unless one can modify the firing pin position. Can the gun be re-chambered and modified to 22 hornet?

ku4hx
12-10-2011, 07:46 AM
It's possible, yes. But then so is a manned mission to the planet Uranus. The problem is both are currently imminently impractical and improbable.

There's a reason you don't find components, manuals and load data for rim fire cartridges. And some guns are simply more expensive to shoot than others.

Additional comment:
If you go here:
http://www.ammoengine.com/find/ammo/.22_Magnum

You'll see .22 Magnum ammo compares favorably, on a per round cost, with other popular rounds. For "standard" loadings, it's cheaper than both the .45 ACP and .357 Magnum and about the same as .38 Special. It's been a looooong time since I bought any factory ammo other than .22LR but it looks to me the .22 Magnum is not that expensive to shoot comparatively speaking. More expensive than the 9mm and maybe there's a lesson there.

frkelly74
12-10-2011, 08:10 AM
Cheapest to just get a Handi in 22 hornet or 223 ,204 Ruger or 17 rem and go on from there. 22 Mag has very little appeal to me just because it "can't " be easily reloaded and the ammo is expensive.

Rocky Raab
12-10-2011, 12:15 PM
Ironically, the 17 HMR has driven DOWN the cost of 22 Mag ammo. So many folks bought guns in the 17 that sales of 22 mag ammo plummeted. To rescue the 22 they had to increase demand for it - and cutting the price of the ammo is the easiest way to do that.

ROCKET
12-10-2011, 12:54 PM
Was thinking about buying my friends Smith .22 mag revolver but I think I'll just pass...

Rocky Raab
12-10-2011, 12:57 PM
Oh, I wouldn't let the cost of ammo deter me from buying a fine gun. I'd shoot it a little less, maybe - but that would just keep the gun in better shape for longer

jlchucker
12-10-2011, 01:05 PM
Short answer...yes

I think it is POSSIBLE to reload rimfire ammo, but is prohibitively time consuming and not worth the effort no matter the cost. The biggest hurdle being how to get new priming compound into the rim. I may be mistaken, but I believe the original manufacturers use centrifugal force to prime the rims. Even getting the priming compound may be next to impossible.

After getting out of the Army in 1969 I went to work for Winchester as a management trainee. My training included a stint in each operational department of their ammo-making facility in New Haven--except for the primer shop. I saw it, and saw the process. Didn't work there. Separate little buildings, connected by open-air covered walkways. Part of the process was drying assembled primers, because the primer mix itself was liquid when put into the primer cups. An old employee, who worked there during WWII told of a worker who fell while carrying a bucket of that primer mix between buildings. He said the explosion blew the unfortunate guy to pieces. True or not, I remembered that story. I don't think I want to get into making my own primer mix and putting it into rimfire cases to reload. We could really be talking dangerous stuff here.

perotter
12-10-2011, 01:35 PM
Most primer mixes won't explode when they are wet. Also, the simplest non-corrosive one to us in a rimfire isn't even an explosive until after it has dried out after it has been put into the case.

For the centrifugal force needed, one can set up a drill press for doing it. The chems needed are available. The advantage to rimfire non-corrosive priming is the fact that there is a plenty of room for primer mix. FWIW, room is the big problem in DIY mixes for boxer primers.

That said and IMHO, reloading rimfire is more of a "for fun" project. Or as a last resort.

mdi
12-10-2011, 01:37 PM
FWIW; Reciently in another forum, reloading rimfires came up. One poster came up with his experience with a kit that was once sold that had the punches/tools to reform the case, a liquid priming compound with a hypo type dispensing tool, and bullets. The user reformed the case, put one drop of primer in the case and allowed it to dry, powder charged, and bullet seated/crimped with part of the reforming tool (sounds like crimping with a Lee Loader). Poster mentioned it was labor intensive, hard to handle small components, and was just not worth the trouble. Poster didn't mention the name of the kit.

leadman
12-10-2011, 02:00 PM
The centerfire case that is reloadable is the 22CCM. From what Magnum Mike at Speciality Pistols posted on this I gather that 22 mag is still shootable in the same chamber. That is if you are using a gun like a Contender.
I have thought about getting my Savage 24DL set up for this cartridge but it would be fairly pricey to get the conversion from rim to centerfire done.

I shot the 22mag for many years then several years ago I bought a Savage 17HMR. A box of 50 runds was about $7 to $8, now I feel lucky to find them at $10. 22 mag was about $5 when I first bought it about 20 years ago, now it runs about $9 or so.

I wonder if Bullshop ever sold those new primed 22 mag cases??

uscra112
12-10-2011, 06:11 PM
An old employee, who worked there during WWII told of a worker who fell while carrying a bucket of that primer mix between buildings. He said the explosion blew the unfortunate guy to pieces. True or not, I remembered that story. I don't think I want to get into making my own primer mix and putting it into rimfire cases to reload. We could really be talking dangerous stuff here.

That sounds like a variant of the stories of the guys who pushed "nitro buggies" from building to building in the WW2 ammo plants. There are pictures in Phil Sharpe's books. Those poor saps did in fact get vaporized on one or two occasions.

stubshaft
12-10-2011, 08:24 PM
According to the CCI and ELEY videos I have watched the priming mix is no longer spun in. They use a putty like mix (wet) in the case and use a punch like attachment to for the compound into the case/rim from there it goes to the drying room before powder is added.

There was a survival article written recently where strike on box match heads were ground up moistened and put into already fired cases and reloaded. Senior moments won't let me remember where I saw it though.

jblee10
12-10-2011, 08:36 PM
It is cheaper to reload the Hornet. But sometimes when time has been short I like to pick up the 22WMR and go out. It may not be a benchrest cartridge, but it is plenty accurate in my CZ 452. It's kind of nice not looking for brass sometimes too.

izzyjoe
12-10-2011, 08:52 PM
even at $9 a box of 50, it isn't worth the hassle and wasted time. cause i've tried it. and i had very little luck. i used the strikeall match heads, but i had very poor luck getting them to fire. the 22 mag is a favorite of mine, but i wish i had a .223 boltgun. it's more flexable. it can be loaded from mild to wild!

Hardcast416taylor
12-11-2011, 04:20 AM
The componets for reloading .22 rimfires were once available back in the early part of the last century. The most popular reasons for them being curtailed for sale is people were getting hurt priming cases. Another reason was in the 30`s people found out you could blow a safe open with that stuff if you knew how or make other destructive objects besides .22 ammo.Robert

Three44s
12-11-2011, 10:52 AM
I'm a big fan of the .22 magnum (and the .17 hmr).

The best route would be to buy a different gun in Hornet and keep your .22 mag rim for those days you just don't have time to load for the Hornet or sell that .22 mag weapon to someone who likes it more.

Fingers don't grow back .......... and different guns can be bought cheaper than existing ones can be modified with respect to the topic at hand.

I have thought of the .22 CCM often.

But ........... is there any brass being made for it???

Three 44s

jlchucker
12-11-2011, 04:16 PM
That sounds like a variant of the stories of the guys who pushed "nitro buggies" from building to building in the WW2 ammo plants. There are pictures in Phil Sharpe's books. Those poor saps did in fact get vaporized on one or two occasions.

Well, part of the big Winchester sprawling plant during WW2 was in fact an ammo plant. The primer shop was a place where they moved (via hand carts) primer components between little buildings, via covered walkways. It was like a little park out there in that shop. The story I heard supposedly took place during WW2. The unfortunate victim could have been one of the vaporized guys. I would think that a lot of the primer mix in use today has a different chemical composition that what was in use during the 1940's. Anyhow, I heard the story from an old, but still yet to retire foreman around 1969 or early 1970. He was one of these guys with 30 plus years of service at the plant. A tale to remember.

dverna
12-12-2011, 03:49 PM
I wonder if you need to be a "handloader" to try something like this? If there is an accident, doing it one handed must prove quite challenging.

Don

Fat-beeman
12-12-2011, 08:06 PM
I own a 22 mag don't shoot it much got 223 can load light loads for half price,I cast 55gr with gc works fine.
Don

Tracy
01-09-2012, 12:48 AM
I think there is a market for a company like CCI, Federal or maybe Aguila to sell primed .22 Mag brass. If I could get them for say $5-6 per 100, I would buy them by the case. I already like the .22 WMR in both handgun and rifle; if I could get primed brass it would be even more versatile.

I found a discussion about reloading .22 WMR over on The High Road and, as expected, it went from bad to downright stupid. From "why would you even want to" to "but where will you find heeled bullets?" (.22 WMR doesn't have heeled bullets) to "but you can get loaded rounds for $15 for 500" (In .22 Magnum? Where?).
It would be nice if people who have absolutely no clue about a given subject refrained from trying to advise others about it.

Uncle R.
01-09-2012, 01:13 AM
It would be nice if people who have absolutely no clue about a given subject refrained from trying to advise others about it.

Good heavens man! There wouldn't be a lot left. They could just shut down about two-thirds of the message boards and forums out there.
<
Uncle R.

Tracy
01-09-2012, 01:21 AM
Handloading .22 WMR ammo is economical, simple, and offers gains in performance and accuracy over factory ammo.

When NRA Hunter Pistol silhouette competitors first began shooting the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR), they found they could hit far more targets with the round than with their .357s or .44s because the recoil was so much lighter. Unfortunately, the 40-grain WMR bullets wouldn’t knock over rams at 100 meters.

Experimenters started yanking slugs out of the rimfire cases and replacing them with heavier slugs to give the .22 WMR the punch it needed to slay the rams. It worked, and the handloaded .22 Super Mags, as they came to be called, became the rage. Shooters widely used the standard 40-grain factory loads for chickens, pigs, and turkeys, and 50-grain reloads for the rams.

Then, two things happened that made loading the .22 Super Mag passé for handgun silhouette. First, Federal came out with its 50-grain load designed just for silhouette shooting. The real death knell, however, was the approval of the .22 Hornet for Hunter Pistol competition. Those two factors convinced many shooters to stop reloading for the .22 WMR—it was more convenient to buy factory loads.

Nonetheless, .22 WMR reloads still offer more velocity and better accuracy over most factory ammunition, and Performance Shooters should consider them to be viable options for pistol silhouette and rifle field shooting. Harry Howell, a College Station, Texas, silhouette shooter and longtime fan of the .22 WMR, was one of the early experimenters who used the .22 Super Mag, and he still reloads for his T/C Contender. Here’s an inside look at how Howell reloads for the .22 WMR:

http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/apr96reloading.html

stubshaft
01-09-2012, 02:00 AM
I remember doing that back in the day, decided to get the 270 REN to forego pulling and pushing those boolits , no sooner than I did that they legalized the Hornet.

Rangefinder
01-09-2012, 02:17 AM
.22 Mag is a GREAT varmint cartridge! average is about $12 a box for 50 (.24 a pop) so right along side my other varmint reloading stuff anyway. Don't let the non-reloadable factor turn you away--just keep enough on hand to not worry about it :D Same goes for 17HMR--I have a Handi in it that shoots like a darn laser and no bottle cap is safe within 200yds of the thing. Prairie dogs quiver at my arrival. ;)

looseprojectile
01-09-2012, 04:10 AM
of economics. My children got me two boxes of 22 magnum ammo for my birthday.
They probably paid between ten and fifteen dollars a box for them. I loved them.
At the same time I bought two bricks of 22 magnum ammo for myself.
They began to understand the need for bricks when we went to shoot the Kel Tek PMR 30.

Ammo is cheaper now than it has ever been.

I have bought cigarettes for nine cents a pack. Now they are over ten dollars.

I have bought gasoline for nineteen point nine cents. Sell two silver dimes and you can still buy gas for less than twenty cents.

Cigarettes for nine cents and at the same time a box of 38 special ammo was two ninetyfive. That is about thirty four times more for the ammo then.
On a par with the price of cigarettes that same ammo should be $340.00 + $30.60 tax a box now.

You just have to get used to inflation and carry mucho more cash. The dollar ain't worth much anymore.
Did I mention that you have to earn a lot more nowadays to be able to afford it all?
"Inflation, it's whats in your wallet".

Life is good

Shiloh
01-09-2012, 07:29 AM
Saw some .22 rimfire reloading tools for an espionage agency, possibly Mossad.
They were supposedly used for reducing powder charges and thus muzzle report for sanctions of enemies.
Probably unneeded with the availability of subsonic ammo. They were not mixing priming compounds.

The manufacture of impact sensitive explosive compounds, are best left to those with the knowledge, equipment, and safety precautions necessary for this endeavor.

If it was easy and safe, my thoughts are we would already have heard about it and be doing it.

Shiloh

softpoint
01-09-2012, 07:46 AM
Oh, I wouldn't let the cost of ammo deter me from buying a fine gun. I'd shoot it a little less, maybe - but that would just keep the gun in better shape for longer

True, I like .22 magnums just fine. Sure, I can probably reload my Hornets for a little less, but the Magnum .22 has about twice the power of a Long Rifle, or has ,at 100 yards about the power of a long rifle at the muzzle. And if I use jacketed bullets in the Hornet, there is no savings. I can still get most of the .22 mag. for about $10 per 50, and jacketed bullets for the Hornet will cost between $15-$20 per 100, then there's primers at 3.00 per 100, a little dab of powder, and Hornet brass doesn't seem to last quite as long as others. I enjoy loading most of my own ammo, but i still have a .22 mag rifle and a single six convertible I like. :lovebooli

looseprojectile
01-09-2012, 07:13 PM
started with the OP thinking that 22 mag. ammo is too expensive.
I will go off topic a little further.
I see reloading the 22 magnum as beneficial to me because KelTek warns against using any ammo in it other than CCI minimag 40 grain.
If I can develop a load that mirrors the CCI load in my Armscor primed cases
[after pulling the bullets] I can make use of the ammo that I bought for sixty bucks a brick. Might relieve my mind a little though the Armscor ammo does work well in my gun. Maybe I can get better velocity and less blast.
I will do some investigating and compare powder used in the CCI ammo and the powder in the Armscor ammo.
I don't like the bullets that are used in the CCI ammo and prefer the ones used in the Phillipine ammo. Now I have bullets and primed cases, all I need is a dash of the right powder. Gonna take some sperimenting.

Life is good

MT Gianni
01-10-2012, 12:30 AM
I'll go the other way. 32 H&R with 100 gr bullet 4.4 gr Unique is 1050 fps from a 5" bbl handgun. Same vel as 22 mag from a pistol with 2 1/2 times greater bullet weight. 1000 primers = $30, 14 lbs of lead @ 1$ lb is $14, scrounged is 30 c a lb or $5, 8 lb keg of powder @ $14 lb x 4.5/7 lb = $9. $53 per 1000 new WW, scrounged is $44 per 1000.
223 runs $85 per 55 gr bullet from MidSouth last spring, $30 primers, 25 gr powder @ $14 lb x 3.5 lbs. $129 er 1000 to reload 223 @ 3000 fps. Cast in the 223 8 lbs of lead $1 lb, gc @ 25 1000 instead of $85 bullets. 12 gr powder total cost for 1000 rds is $87.50 @ 2000 fps. I can't afford to shoot 22 Mag. @ $5 a box of 50.

wbrewski
03-28-2018, 03:13 AM
Just bought 500 at a gun show $85

jdfoxinc
03-28-2018, 09:17 AM
See the thread "Can you make priming compound?". .Get a kit from 22reloader.com.