Airsoft bbs in centerfire rifles

Ok, so here is my idea. Take an airsoft bb and load it in an rifle caliber. You could use just primers or get really creative and work up a load with powder that will cycle the action. The bbs are .232"-.233". They would be kind of like hot glue bullets in a pistol. But the question is, what caliber to use? 223 Rem in too small and 243 Win is too big. Is there anything in between? What does everybody think? Could it be done?

And if you are wondering why I want to do this, I just want to see if I can.

You could have a custom mold made up for .232 but for giggles I would just put a glue stick in a drill and file a couple for trial first.

for the money my son has in his airsoft rifle (exact copy of m4, made out of metal) I wish you could convert it to shoot primers. At least it would go bang alittle bit.Or convert it to a air rifle. I guess I'm getting off the thread, sorry.

I will bet that if you can thumb them into the case mouth of any 22 cartridge they will work just great. Treat them with respect tho for the first few feet they come out of the muzzle they may be traveling at frighting velocity and could cause more injury than you will enjoy.

.22 air rifle pellets fire off a primer in .223 cases. They penetrate below the surface of a pine 2x4 at very close range so be CAREFUL.

I went out to the workshop before I posted and flipped through my Hornady manual and didn't see a caliber that was close to the size I wanted. I tried putting a bb in a 223 case but I had to force it, as in seat it with the vice. The bbs were also too big to fit down my barrel. I didn't want to force anything. A 233 caliber would be perfect, I think. I need to get my Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions back from the uncle I lent it to and look through it and see if there are any wildcat calibers like I want. Has anyone ever heard of a 233? I just tried it again and I was able to thumb them into the case after I expanded it with a pair of needle nose pliers(Insert pliers into case as far as they will go and twist). Even though I could seat a bb, the round wouldn't chamber in my AR. And the bb was still way to big to fit down the barrel. A 243 might work better, if I had one, but I am afraid there will be too much space in the barrel and accuracy would suffer and I might get "plasticing".

Maybe a long cartridge adapter?
Or paper patching.
Or a muzzle loader. The powder measure would be about the size of a fired primer.
Of course you'll need a primer to ingnite the powder to power the load, to...
and I don't know why, but you might hit a fly... ;-)
(sung to I know an old lady that swallowed a fly)

I could just get an AirSoft rifle, but where's the fun in that? That goes completely against the Castboolitser's(yes, it's a word now) mentality. I love to be different.

Now I like the idea of paper patching to make it fit in a 243. I hadn't thought of that. I don't know what you mean by a long cartridge adapter. Please enlighten me. Do you mean like what someone makes( I can't remember who) to be able to fire, say, a 32 ACP in a 32 caliber rifle?

I figured out how to make it work. All I have to do is size the bbs to .224 in a Lee bullet sizing die. It is so simple and makes so much sense I didn't think about it. Now all I need is the sizing die.

my sons gun uses 6mm balls. He must use the more expensive balls that don't shatter as easy as the elcheapo's. I tried one in a fired 243 case and it fits in perfect but if you bump it firmly it falls thru. If a primer doesn't clear the barrel with it, a few doughnuts of trailboss would get it going. You might be on to something here, air softing competitons with centerfire rifles!!! I don't think I want in that one.

A primer alone will power a pellet very nicely in a 22 centerfire rifle. I dont think any powder will be needed with this. I tested primers for uniformity using a 22 hornet case with the flash hole opened up to .100 and a 22 crossman pellet loaded backwards. Fired them over a chronograph to see velocities.

How was the velocity on them? I ordered a .225 sizing die this morning so it should be here by this weekend or next. Once I get something worked out I'll post back. And yes, they will hurt really bad. I might get a cheap 22 cal centerfire and turn it into an airsoft sniper rifle. Just sit far away and pop people.

Attachment 69533

Attachment 69534

They work! All it took was bbs sized to .225, flash holes drilled out to 7/64, and converting 223 Rem brass to large rifle primers(13/64) and they work. I don't know if they are worth that much work but I still did it. The bbs have to be seated with a vice because my Hornady dies won't seat them. They are seated to 1.683". Now all I need is a 22 TCM replacement barrel for my Glock.

P.S. The white bbs glow in the dark.

Several years back I was using wax boolets in a 38 special. Got to be careful, it would put a piece of wax through a sheet rock wall with 209 primers.

also be careful of the bb bouncing back off from hard objects (wood, fences, metal, brick, etc.). you would think that they would loose their energy easily, but the darn things seem to never want to stop until air does the work.

You are exactly right. The bbs are like ____________(insert adjective to describe something that does something very well) bouncy balls. I did a test with ballistics gel. My cheap airsoft gun bounced the bbs off at point blank range. My airsoft bbs out of a 16" AR penetrated 1/4" into the gel from point blank. So they are moving pretty good.

At one point I loaded up some of the airsoft bb's in my 22 Hornet. I think that I pushed them through a .225 lee sizer after heating them in a bowl of water in the microwave. Loaded over magnum pistol or sr primers, they exited my 10" contender barrel at a pretty good clip. They were accurate enough to puncture soda cans in my basement.