Filing down .22's into SWC's

[Stray Round]

I have a die but use a set of cheap snips instead of a file. They shoot just as good but you can do a batch much quicker and easier with a pair of snips.

[marten]

Made these two sets
Punches from the first pic will fit inside the die of second pic!

[Dale53]

marten;
That looks like a VERY good project. I have a die for a straight shortening of the nose (making it into a very effective SWC) and also have a Paco Kelly full kit. These (as I am sure your outfit is also) do what their originaltors state they would do. You can actually hear the "smack" when the flatnosed bullet hits the squirrel. They give much more "stopping power" with out the meat damaging of a high speed hollow point.

On the other hand, the Paco Kelly hollow points (actually rather large cup points) make the .22 rimfire into a much more effective varmint round (ground hogs, foxes, and the like).

Dale53

[marten]

Absolutely Dale, the 'slap' is noteworthy!

[marten]

Did not mention that in the first picture the delrin anvil fits a reloading press and that I used a 44 mag expander die to set the punch depth... no faffing around with hammers / mallets etc!

[missionary5155]

CWME;
You might want to consider using Kasenit and case hardening the barrel stub. It'll last MUCH longer. It is no trick at all to get decent results:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=7626/Product/KASENIT

Dale53

Greetings Welding supply stores carry Kasenite also. At least that is where I bought my last can in Danville, ILL.
Mike in Peru

[TJD]

I have one of the tools made by “Handed”. I cut the point with one of the knives with replaceable blades. Some call them sheet rock / dry wall knives. The Handed Tool is a great tool. Find the ammo that your gun like to shoot then give it a flat point. I once watched a old carpenter blunt the tip of a nail before he drove it. I asked, “ Why did you do that?” His answer was the blunt tip cuts its way thru the wood rather than splitting the wood. I think the flat point boolit does the same.
The farther the 22 HP gets from the barrel the less the hollow point will disrupt. I think that the flat point delivers more shock at farther distances than the hollow point. In personal test with prairie dogs the flat pointed bullets deliver a much better blow at farther distances. I am not recommending to stretch the range on the 22. It just seems that there is more shock delivered in its effective range. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

[kshock]

I read that several people have a die for cutting the tip of a 22 LR to make a swc, but where do you get one of these dies? I have wanted one for years but have never located a source for one.

[Milsurp Junkie]

They are fairly easy to make, basically a barrel stub, or solid steel with a .224 hole in it. It needs a trim length of .940". Look here for more information, and I think he still sales them.
http://rimfireshooting.com/index.php?showtopic=4427

[Dale53]

Here's another source:

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco.htm

I have the simple one I had a local machinist make after Hanned went out of business. Then, later, I got a set from Paco Kelly.

They DO work as advertised.

Dale53

[Milsurp Junkie]

I just emailed him, and yes he is still making them.

[.22-10-45]

Hello, years ago, when I did alot of hunting. I liked the accuracy and quietness of the CCI Green Tag ammo. I used to chuck these up in a bench lathe collet & run a number drill (press-fit for # 4 lead shot), into nose about .1" Cavity was filled with grease or wax & 1/2 dia. of shot pressed in. These opened up like a big game bullet every time.

[Wrbjr]

Thinking of getting the Paco tool...BUT... does anyone have any information about how these altered rounds perform feed wise in a Ruger 10/22 rifle?

Enquiring minds......

[uscra112]

This thread set me a'going. Made a swaging tool last night, along the lines of what Marten did. Bits of drill rod, some lathe work, and an old .35 Rem sizer die. Tool works in my RCBS Junior, and is adjustable for the amount of swaging that takes place.

This is a neat process! My tool was reamed with a handy .22 centerfire throater, which gave me a .225" bore. Swaged a handful of Rem Thunderbolt to test. It really does make the bullet O.D. uniform at .225", as well as flattening the nose. The bullets seem also to be rounder after swaging. Weather is cold, windy, and light snow for tomorrow, or I'd be at the range at daybreak.

BTW Paco Kelly's URL is: http://www.pacotools.com/home

[EdS]

I too have tried several tools designed to help re-shape the nose of common .22 LR ammo. I have one, very much like the ones described here that's used with a pair of wire cutters, or even a sharp blade to make a flat-point on the boolit. I frankly did not get great accuracy with this, and believe it may be due to possibly making the boolit less concentric in the case. Then I spent some $bucks$ and bought a re-forming die from:

NEAL WALTZ, 4105 HYATT AVE. N.W. MASSILLON, OH 44646

This came with two nose punches, one to form a hollow point from a solid round nose; and the other to form a flat point. The ammo fits very closely in the die and on some brands, lightly "rounds out" irregularities in the swaged boolit. In several of my rifles, the accuracy is improved, while in others (probably chamber differences) it is the same. I had no feeding problems, except in an older Winchester M-62A pump action. Here the slight increase in the boolit nose diameter that happens when you form the hollow point catches on the left side of the chamber mouth stopping the feeding. It looks to be due to the way the extractor hold the cartridge during feeding. By the way, you can adjust the nose punch down to re-form .22 shrots or longs as well as LRs.

My bottom line is that I prep a LOT of my non-match .22 ammo and enjoy the increased energy transfer and accuracy.

[brotherdarrell]

Thinking of getting the Paco tool...BUT... does anyone have any information about how these altered rounds perform feed wise in a Ruger 10/22 rifle?

Enquiring minds......

As long as you dont get carried away they will feed flawlessly. Make sure you get the tool that will do .225, in my stock 10-22 that was the sweet size that cut groups easily in half. CCI subsonics would print under an inch at 50 yards. Accuracy aside, performance on game is where the tool really shines. Uniforming with the nasti-nose puts fullgrown rock squirrels down asap, and really messes up the lives of jackrabbits.

brotherdarrell

[Wrbjr]

As long as you dont get carried away they will feed flawlessly. Make sure you get the tool that will do .225, in my stock 10-22 that was the sweet size that cut groups easily in half. CCI subsonics would print under an inch at 50 yards. Accuracy aside, performance on game is where the tool really shines. Uniforming with the nasti-nose puts fullgrown rock squirrels down asap, and really messes up the lives of jackrabbits.

brotherdarrell

Thanks.... I think I will order the kit and see what happens. There are so many things one can purchase for the 10-22.. but this item seems to be a really slick kit. Will report back here after I get it and try it out....

[Forrest r]

I own/use both the Paco & the Waltz tools. Each of them are good at what they do. The Paco tools will make some downright mid-evil ammo. For consistency the Waltz die wins hands down.

The Paco tool uses a hammer, the Waltz die a reloading press.

The Waltz die was designed to make a .225 bullet that copied the Eley EPS nose & will turn out the same consistent bullet/ammo time after time after time (consistency = accuracy). The Waltz die also comes with a HP tool & a RN tool can be ordered also.

The Paco tool can simply be used to make sure the ammo is round to making full WC’s. These are great to take to the range & test the ammo as you make it to see what happens. I found that the Paco tools worked best at using the strong points of the ammo you’re altering. Meaning ammo with a huge HP would be easier/better to turn into a nasty nosed bullet rather than a pointy RN bullet.

You have to be careful when altering any 22lr bullet. The 22lr bullets are a soft bullet (good for reshaping) with a soft heal (bad if reshaped). It’s easy to overdo the reforming of ammo that ends up distorting the bullets heal (very bad for accuracy). Sometimes less is best.

[brotherdarrell]

I own/use both the Paco & the Waltz tools. Each of them are good at what they do. The Paco tools will make some downright mid-evil ammo. For consistency the Waltz die wins hands down.

The Paco tool uses a hammer, the Waltz die a reloading press.

The Waltz die was designed to make a .225 bullet that copied the Eley EPS nose & will turn out the same consistent bullet/ammo time after time after time (consistency = accuracy). The Waltz die also comes with a HP tool & a RN tool can be ordered also.

The Paco tool can simply be used to make sure the ammo is round to making full WC’s. These are great to take to the range & test the ammo as you make it to see what happens. I found that the Paco tools worked best at using the strong points of the ammo you’re altering. Meaning ammo with a huge HP would be easier/better to turn into a nasty nosed bullet rather than a pointy RN bullet.

You have to be careful when altering any 22lr bullet. The 22lr bullets are a soft bullet (good for reshaping) with a soft heal (bad if reshaped). It’s easy to overdo the reforming of ammo that ends up distorting the bullets heal (very bad for accuracy). Sometimes less is best.

Actually I use an arbor press with an adjustable stop for depth control, but will readily acknowledge that the waltz likely gives more consistant results. If the waltz was available in .224" I would likely spring for one as the groups from my savage are half the size at .224 as compared to .225. And yes, a little sizing goes a long way.

brotherdarrell

[Forrest r]

I know Neal Waltz has done his dies in .224 in the past that someone ordered. Drop him a line & see if he’ll do one for you.
1 330 837 4818

waltz@sssnet.com

Another kit to look at is the D-rock set; it uses an arbor press to reform the 22’s. You can find out more info at rimfirecentral.com. His sets are very reasonably priced & get excellent reviews from the people that have bought them.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums...d.php?t=311814

I understand what you mean about some rifles don’t like the .225 diameter bullets. I ordered my Paco tool to do .223 & .224 diameter bullets. And I’ve been thinking about getting an arbor press to get a set of the D-rock dies. Heck, I’ve come this far, why not get all the sets & enjoy them. D-rock has had such excellent reviews for a couple of years now it would be worth checking them out.