22LR Black Powder Reloads - How to Make Them

[philiphartwig]

Here's an extra step I've added:
* A 225 H&I die, bullet nose down to tighten the factory crimp up so the fitnessdonkey crazy bulk post rounds will chamber in the Henry better without hanging up. To keep the metplat from not being distorted, I put a spent LR primer filled with lead on top of the die plug. Any flat nosed top punch works

I am getting better at making these reloads. Great tutorial!

[Traffer]

I am getting better at making these reloads. Great tutorial!

Have you chronoed any of your reloads? What kind of black powder do you use? Have you ever considered using home made black powder? I reload 22lr with smokeless and have the ingredients to make black powder. I am considering making some home made black powder 22lr loads. Any input is appreciated.

[Chev. William]

Long ago, I made some Home compounded Black Powder from Purchased 'Chemist' Powdered charcoal, Powdered Sulfer, and Fine Crystal Potassium Nitrate. I used Water to dampen the ingredients while thoroughly mixing them; then spread the mix out on an old cookie sheet to dry slowly and naturally.
After the Mixed material had dried out I broke it up and gently crushed the chunks to a coarse powder which i sifted with an old Flower sifter.
My resulting BP was a Mix of sizes but did Burn and did work in my cartridges.
i decided that it was much more work than I had time for then so began buying Commercial Black Powder for my reloading purposes since.

It was an interesting and Educational Experience for me.

Chev. William

[Blacksmith]

Primed .22 cases are available again (cross posted in What load for primed 22LR case thread):
https://fedarm.com/product-category/ammunition/22-lr/

[rodrigocirilo]

Someone has already considered using sealant instead of Crimp Die.

see this:https://www.assemblymag.com/articles...943.1575902047

Because of these variables, it is common to suppress the mouth crimp for match-grade or sniper-grade ammunition, since those cartridges are usually not fired with automatic weapons. Suppressing the mouth crimp reduces the complexity of the cartridge, avoiding potential issues associated with crimping. The goal is to produce an assembly with more consistent bullet pull strength.

[John Boy]

Post reactivate

[Bent Ramrod]

I made a little die and plunger seater for a 310 tool by chambering the blank die with a .22LR chambering reamer. I can squeeze the Ideal 225438 gas check shanks into the mouths of those brass-plated steel FedArm primed cases, and pop the completed round out with a tap on the plunger. (I’m afraid to use the extractor setup as I figure it will just pull the shell off the boolit.) They are in the cases tight enough so I can dip the boolits in my mutton tallow-beeswax lube and carry them in a discarded plastic .22 rimfire box with the holes in the plate.

No match-winning accuracy as yet, but an interesting exercise seeing what the shooters in the Good Old Days got to put up with.

[Dapaki]

I hesitate to post my progress since last time, I got flamed by the "Karens" waging their safety fingers at me. That said, I have had a lot of good luck loading steel primed casings labeled OS or SO with 55gr LEE boolits, lubed with 45:45:10.

Here is one standing next to a commercial round for comparison. The case has been turned to shorten to .45" and crimped with a modified .223 factory crimp die.

[hrt4me]

Interesting, but my question is WHY?
1Shirt!

I would need these so I can fire my original Colt 1871 Open Top Pocket Model Revolver