Which 22 cal. boolit for AR-15?

[mtgrs737]

I posted this question over on the Cast Boolit section and have had no luck. Maybe I am in a hurry, a friend and I are looking into casting for AR-15's. Was wondering which 22 cal. boolit folks are using? What size die diameter .224" or .
225" also Lube type, gas check brand and nose punch number. we are considering the Saeco 221 and the Lyman 225415. Any recomendations?

[jhrosier]

I am also interested.
I am considering the Lyman 225438 for use in the .223 and .22 Hornet.

Jack

[Boomer Mikey]

The time and care involved in getting cast bullets to work in a high pressure 223 load aren't worth the effort for the AR-15...

.22 caliber bullets are so inexpensive in bulk (250- 55 grain Hornady Sp's for 20-something dollars).

I'm not saying it can't be done, but not easy in the AR-15 platform and the gas system runs hot making rapid fire use next to impossible with accuracy.

You need enough gas pressure to cycle the action reliability; that, with good cast bullet accuracy is the issue... in the Hornet or non-gas operated gun very doable. There are several good articles in castpics (see the link at the bottom of this web page) about shooting cast in the 223 and Hornet.

Boomer :Fire:

[Larry Gibson]

What is the twist of the ARs?

If they are 7 or 9" twists then a heavier 60-70 gr bullet is best. If they are 12 or 14" (14" twist being the best for accuracy at anything over 2200 fps) then the 50-60 gr bullets work well.

Javelina or Lars 2500+ lubes work fine. I use Hornady GCs. I also use medium burning powders (most often H4895) with a 1/2 gr dacron filler. I was sizing the bullets at .225 but now use a .228 sizer to just lube the bullets "as cast" at .227.

Larry Gibson

[mtgrs737]

I have 1 - 9 twists in both rifles, where would I find a 70gr. bullet?

[Larry Gibson]

I have 1 - 9 twists in both rifles, where would I find a 70gr. bullet?

Saeco's #221 is a 60 gr bullet. There's been a GB mould I believe in that range also and LBT has a 60 and 66 gr .224 moulds and 65 and 75 gr .227 moulds. Of course you could custom design your own from LBT. There are others such as Lyman's 225462 (no longer made but still available on the used mould market) which is my favorite for my 9" twist .223s. My 225462s weight 57 gr fully dressed and are Lovern style with short noses. That bullet is the most accurate cast bullet I've used in the 9 and 12" twist .223s.

Larry Gibson

[Calamity Jake]

My AR is a 1 in 12, I use RCBS 22-055, checked and lubed with Felix it weights about 59 grains in my 50/50 WW/Lino(oven heat terated).
So far my AR seams to like 17.5 gr of AA2015BR(1.5inches @100-10 shots) I'm going to try the 4895/filler trick to see if it likes that too.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Jake, does the AA2015 load cycle the action?

I will be working on a load with the 225646 in my 1 in 8 twist AR. Haven't cast any yet, just got the mold. I don't think I have any 2015, but I do have some H322 which is pretty close, as well as H4895 & RL-15.

[Calamity Jake]

Jake, does the AA2015 load cycle the action?

Yes it does, very well in fact, kicks the case about 3 feet.

If you are going to use the H322, add a dacron filler to help up the pressure, it's a little hard to light.

[Silicon Wolverine]

another issue is lead shavings in the gas system. i tried it in one of my older ARs and after 100 rounds the gas system was so leaded up t took several hours to clean it. i have no good suggestions for alleviating this.

SW

[ntodawind]

Hi, I just bought an ohous 22058R 58 grains GC to do just that, use it in an AR15 I think a 1 in 9" twist on the barrel. I haven't had time to cast any for this yet. Would the lyman orange work ok for this? also I use the jackes purple for my pistols.

I am new here and new to casting, but I have been hand loading since 1986 and Enjoy doing it.

Thanks for any help,
Tim

[Pete D.]

Have a .22 mold. Have an AR. I have been reluctant to cast for and use lead bullets for the gun precisely because I have read about lead clogging the gas system as described above.
How do you deal with this? Seems like a number of y'all are not having an issue.
Pete

[Calamity Jake]

Have a .22 mold. Have an AR. I have been reluctant to cast for and use lead bullets for the gun precisely because I have read about lead clogging the gas system as described above.
How do you deal with this? Seems like a number of y'all are not having an issue.
Pete

First thing:Remove ALL COPPER in the barrel before shooting cast.

Make sure the boolet fits the throat +.001/.002

Use a hard boolet(18BHN or harder) and a good lube(NO Lee Alox here).

In the 1 in 9 twist keep volisity around 1900/2000 or just fast enough for a good cycle of the action.

These AR's may be semiauto, but with cast, don't treat them like semiautos, in other words, don't burn thru 30 rounds in 10 seconds

[JFriis]

I ran my AR with H335 (19.0) and a 62 grain gas checked boolit this last weekend.
Shot =/- 130 rounds at targets from 20 yards to 400 yards. Accuracy was not great but Icould get lead on target.
I shot fast, 30 rounds as fast as I could line up sights and squeeze. I shot slow. Essentially I shot like I do if I were shooting cheap FMJ.
No signs of leading. No signs of lead in the gas tube.

I honestly think the reason I had good luck with this was due to the prework involved in casting for the AR.
1) Hard Alloy (mine were BHN 22.5)
2) Good Lube (I used Lyman Orange Magic - some will argue that this is not good lube, while I will argue that it suited my purpose.)
3) Properly sized bullet
4) As already mentioned, clean your bore. If it requires some extra scrubbing now just imagine it leaded up and having to do it later.
5) Work up the load to the limit of what the bullet and gun can handle. (19 grains of H335 is not much but every round cycled and ejected just fine. Velocities were low but if you can accept this you'll be fine.)

So I was able to shoot this last weekend at nearly no cost thanks to the lead bullets I cast.


Bulk 55 grain FMJ's are no longer cheap and may not be for some time. $80-100/k is not an acceptable price for me.
I will continue to shoot lead and save my bulk FMJ's for another day. Feel free to do what you want.