Dale53
04-15-2006, 09:09 PM
This may be a little Off Topic but I think not.
From time to time members of my local gun club drop off gun magazines rather than throwing them away. I was browsing through and found an article of interest in Handloader 209- Feb-Mar 2001 about the Hanned Line "Small Game Bullet Tool".
Hanned is no longer in business. They dreamed up a very useful tool for the .22 rimfire hunter. Existing .22 bullets leave something to be desired for edible small game. Either they tear up too much meat (hollow points) or they drill through for a squirrel to run off and die a lingering death. I always try for head shots but they are not always "offered".
However, several years ago, I and a couple of friends made our own "Small Game Tool". You need a lathe and basically you make a little die and chamber it for the .22 rimfire with the tiniest bit of nose sticking out of the end of the die. The die is hardened "glass hard" so the file will not damage it. Then you use the file to shorten the nose on the bullet. The die keeps everything square and you end up with a "long flat nose". It has MUCH greater "smack" and will take squirrels out of the tree with shots through the "slats". You can actually hear the sound of the bullet hitting the squirrel - kind of a wet smack. It works just like a semi wadcutter long flat nose in a large caliber revolver bullet. Does not damage much meat, penetrates in a straight line and really increases the efficiency of the round.
If you are going to make up your own die, just make it a bit too long and before hardening, adjust the length to remove about 1.0 grains of bullet tip. That is enough. The velocity slightly increases and the accuracy is many times improved. The die is just a straight cylinder, square on both ends but chambered for the .22 rimfire. You don't even have to recess for the rim but it will be safer to use with the recess. Dropping the die on a concrete floor with a cartridge inside and the rim hitting the floor may fire the cartridge with undesired results. The die is more attractive and handles a bit better if you knurl part of it.
CCI manufactured their own copy of the "Small Game Bullet" but it had slightly rounded shoulders on the flat point and was not quite so effective.
You can make up a box in just a few minutes and that will take quite a number of squirrels and bunnies.
If you try it, let us know how you like it. I like mine and find that it does what Hanned stated that they did.
Dale53
From time to time members of my local gun club drop off gun magazines rather than throwing them away. I was browsing through and found an article of interest in Handloader 209- Feb-Mar 2001 about the Hanned Line "Small Game Bullet Tool".
Hanned is no longer in business. They dreamed up a very useful tool for the .22 rimfire hunter. Existing .22 bullets leave something to be desired for edible small game. Either they tear up too much meat (hollow points) or they drill through for a squirrel to run off and die a lingering death. I always try for head shots but they are not always "offered".
However, several years ago, I and a couple of friends made our own "Small Game Tool". You need a lathe and basically you make a little die and chamber it for the .22 rimfire with the tiniest bit of nose sticking out of the end of the die. The die is hardened "glass hard" so the file will not damage it. Then you use the file to shorten the nose on the bullet. The die keeps everything square and you end up with a "long flat nose". It has MUCH greater "smack" and will take squirrels out of the tree with shots through the "slats". You can actually hear the sound of the bullet hitting the squirrel - kind of a wet smack. It works just like a semi wadcutter long flat nose in a large caliber revolver bullet. Does not damage much meat, penetrates in a straight line and really increases the efficiency of the round.
If you are going to make up your own die, just make it a bit too long and before hardening, adjust the length to remove about 1.0 grains of bullet tip. That is enough. The velocity slightly increases and the accuracy is many times improved. The die is just a straight cylinder, square on both ends but chambered for the .22 rimfire. You don't even have to recess for the rim but it will be safer to use with the recess. Dropping the die on a concrete floor with a cartridge inside and the rim hitting the floor may fire the cartridge with undesired results. The die is more attractive and handles a bit better if you knurl part of it.
CCI manufactured their own copy of the "Small Game Bullet" but it had slightly rounded shoulders on the flat point and was not quite so effective.
You can make up a box in just a few minutes and that will take quite a number of squirrels and bunnies.
If you try it, let us know how you like it. I like mine and find that it does what Hanned stated that they did.
Dale53