22 cal BTSimple range results

I just bought me a point form die! Yep.....won't be selling this one. I simply grabbed one of the several 22 cal BTSimple point form dies of the shelf, polished it up and proceeded to make me 700 perfect bullets with it. Not one reject, no folded tips, no lube dimples, nothing but simple perfection! Bullets where all 55 grains with the .092 meplat.

I suspected these bullets had just as much potential as the rest of the 22 cal bullets I have made and shot from 22lr brass with great success and I finally got a chance to get out to the range (woods) and shoot a few. I wanted to find a good load for the up coming annual sage rat shoots here in Oregon. I think this bullet is going to be very impressive on the little varmints with the large HP. I was certainly pleased with the results on paper as I found a couple impressive loads that my gun likes.

Here is the stats.....

Savage short action 223 rem
CBI 26" 12 twist barrel
Old Duramaxx Stock
Sightron scope
Surplus pulled new FC brass still with crimped in primers
55 Gran BTSimple bullets all made from Lapua 22lr brass
Loaded length of 2.165" which equaled about a .020" jump to the lands
Test with H-335 and Ramshot TAC ball powders
110 yrds, light wind from right to left, 55 degrees

There are other powders that would be worth testing for utmost in accuracy but for my high volume loading needs for sage rat shooting I want a ball powder that meters well threw the powder thrower. I got over 13,000 rounds of various 223 and 20 practical rounds loaded up this winter ready, being able to throw an accurate charge with a powder dispenser is a must.

I tested Ramshot TAC from 24.0 to 25.5 grains in half grain increments as well as H-335 from 23.5 to 25.0 grains also in half grain increments. I found that my gun liked 25.0 grains of TAC and 24.0 grains of H-335 with the edge going to the TAC load.

I have always gotten good groups with a mild load of 23.5 grains of H-335 at about 3100 fps with my 6s and 9s 52 to 57 grain bullets made from 22lr brass. Also got good groups with same bullets at a max load with H-335 @ 3500 FPS but for high volume varmint shooting the mild load is better for all day shooting. I suspect these BTSimple bullets also would shoot well at higher velocities too but for my needs a mild load is going to work very well.

Here are some pics.....

Results from RamShot TAC powder, charge load of powder is written on target dot.

http://i.imgur.com/IwaovEml.jpg

25.0 grains gave best results. Would have been even better but pulled that 4th shot a bit left.

http://i.imgur.com/IiEtbZvl.jpg?1


and results from H-335 with 24.0 being best potential, might have had some horizontal with wind....

http://i.imgur.com/GjmtD89l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/T3p661Cl.jpg?1


TAC group covered with a dime!

http://i.imgur.com/2o3L5PPl.jpg



700 bullets ready now all loaded up with the 25.0 TAC load ready for spring ground squirrels!

http://i.imgur.com/5DREv2rl.jpg



Good shooting and swage on!

BT

One note of interest on the bullets I have been shooting lately...... I have made no attempt to clean the lube off the bullets after they exited the point form die. Simply load them up "as is" and so far they seem to be shooting quite well. I did this same thing with various other 22 cal bullets as well as the big 130 grain 6mm bullets I made and shot into one hole a while back. Not sure if it is making a difference but I'll have to do more testing later on ones with lube and ones without.

Also a topic for possibly a new thread but after 9 years of making bullets I finally put a TV in front of the press and watched a movie while making bullets, sure was a lot better and made things seem like the went faster.

BT

Also notice on the above pictured groups how a simple change in powder charge of only .5 grains can make a big improvement on the size of the group. I have noticed all my 22 cal bullets when made from 22lr brass have a desired load that they like, those of you shooting same or similar bullets be sure to do a little load development to achieve best results with these type of bullets. I think if I wanted to fine tune the load a bit more after finding a powder charge that works I would make three different OAL loaded lengths with the same powder charge and out of the three one should really shine. In this case I would use the 25.0 grain load of TAC and try three different OAL lengths but for now I'm happy at 2.165" with the groups they are shooting.

Now to test out that big hollow point on some varmints!

BT

Here is a look at some of the bullets I'll be shooting this spring at the ground squirrels.

http://i.imgur.com/ArCer18l.jpg

left to right.... 32 grain Hornady 20 cal Z-max, 42 grain BTSniper 20 cal, 40 grain Hornady 20 cal V-max, and 55 grain BTSimple


The 42 grain 20 cal bullet shoot very well too, I have it loaded up at a very mild 3300 fps with 24.0 grains of TAC, this load will shoot very small groups and has already posted .5" groups at 200 yrds. I plan to shoot some push pins with these bullets very soon :) That is a small .045 meplat on that bullet too!


BT

have enough boolits made to start loading but this is my super busy time of the year so don't know when I will get to try them. I had a few rejects until I learned how to adjust the die correctly and now I can make great boolits all day long. showed the finished product to some friends and they could not believe they were homemade from junk brass.

Those are some good looking bullets and good looking test results, keep us informed

the home made bullets can be touchy about powder amounts.
I generally move towards the faster powders like H-322 and AA-2230 with them.

I can't wait for mine ��

I'll be ordering some soon