22LR replacement caliber

[s1120]

Its larger then you said... but for affordable reloading its really hard to beat 38spc/357. Shot out of a nice lever... yup, that would be what I was looking for.

[grumman581]

Its larger then you said... but for affordable reloading its really hard to beat 38spc/357. Shot out of a nice lever... yup, that would be what I was looking for.

Plus, being a straight walled case, they seem to last *forever*.

[Outpost75]

I have used the .32 S&W Long for this purpose for many years. Never had any trouble getting brass. Maybe it's a regional thing.Attachment 83913
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[detox]

The one roadblock that I see, at least here in Georgia, is the fact that small game hunting requires a rimfire caliber only.

Good one. I have enough CCI an Remington HP CB 's to last my lifetime. And a nice bull barreled Remington bolt action rifle to shoot them from.

[Janoosh]

Round ball in either 3006 or 38 is the way to start. Good loads will take you to 25/30 yds accurately. Research Larry Gibson cat sneeze loads for rifles, accurate and fun and no recoil.

[bhn22]

Really, it would be best to use a caliber you already have a gun chambered in. In my case that would be the 38/357, or perhaps even my 30-06, if I was looking at a rifle caliber. There is plenty of information for light loads in these calibers, and I already have molds for all of them.

[22 rifle]

i've had a 22 hornet and liked it a lot but i think that i would go for a 38 special.tons of brass around,no case lubing can use carbide dies,very accurate and wadcutter bullets slap down small game up to racoon size without tearing up a lot of meat.the flat end of the wadcutter works a lot like the blunt tip arrows my dad used to bow hunt small game with.i have 38 brass that i've been loading for the last 35 years.

[Mohillbilly]

I've been using .22 blanks and air gun pellets in my single sixes . I also shoot my .22 jet with reduced loads and cast .I think a neat Idea would be to invent a 38 special 22 , by a jet die shortened and chambered in your flavor gun , a 22 TC comes to mind ......

[GoodAlloy]

.357 lever loaded with 38 spl. just about perfect. light, good accuracy, quick 2nd shot, low recoil, small powder charge and delivers the goods far beyond .22RF ability. Can cycle even with squib loads without a hitch.

[Centaur 1]

I haven't tried them yet, but I cast several different 9mm/38spl bullets where I placed a strip of aluminum foil between the mold halves. The aluminum foil separates the front 3/4's of the boolit, with only the base holding the halves together. I got the idea from someone here at castboolits. The theory is when the boolit hits something, the two halves come apart creating two wound channels. Like I said, I haven't tried them yet so I'm not sure the bullet won't fly apart from rotational forces before getting to the target. My plan is to try using a thin strip of foil that runs across the middle of the boolit, leaving the two halves connected at the tip and the base. I think that it would still split in two as soon as it hits anything. I know you said that you wanted a boolit that weighed about 50 grains, I'm using a Ranch Dog tl-358-100-rf, so after it breaks in half it'll be like shooting two of your 50 grain bullets through the same hole. This project stalled out a couple of years back, I think I need to borrow my son's 9mm upper and take my AR squirrel hunting.

[jonp]

223 Lot's of brass available for it

[MarkP]

22 Hornet was my fist thought; but what about a 25 ACP?

[shooter93]

222...they just seem to shoot cast very well. If I was interested in making the brass I'd be real tempted in the 32 Smith and Wesson necked down to 22.

[bhn22]

.221 Askins?

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/askins.htm

[dbosman]

I've been using .22 blanks and air gun pellets in my single sixes . I also shoot my .22 jet with reduced loads and cast .I think a neat Idea would be to invent a 38 special 22 , by a jet die shortened and chambered in your flavor gun , a 22 TC comes to mind ......

256 Win mag comes to mind. It would be interesting to see what newer powders would do for it.
A set of case conversion dies sold for $150 a day or two back on eBay.

The "new" 22 TCM might be a winner since it is starting as a pistol round.

[Eddie2002]

I'm having a ball shooting a Lee 100 grain .311 cast bullet over 5-6 grains of Bullseye in a 30-06. Sub MOA at 50 yds with no recoil to speak of. The report is about the same as a .22 rimfire and brass is cheap and will last just about for ever. I'm using the bullet as it drops out of the mould with no resizing or gas checks and I'm guessing the bullet is in the 1400-1500 fps range. Going to try 6-7 grains of Greendot next just because I have that powder. The only drawback is that I get some strange looks from the range officer at the local range when I start plinking with the 30-06 and it sounds like a .22 rimfire.
For a .22 caliber center fire I would go for a .223 just because there are so many of them out there with a great selection of actions and rifle twists but I don't own a .223 so I'm working with what I have.

[mikeym1a]

Just my goofy idea. If you have a nice beefy .22 rf, and were adventurous, you might get it converted to .22 hornet. I understand that that is how the first hornets were made. But, that's just me....

[Baryngyl]

458 Win Mag with 500+ gr bullets that way even if you miss it scares them death plus your all set to go if any of the elephants hiding in cherry or nut trees decides to attack.





Actually I would try using something I already own like the 223 or even the 30-06 with 100gr bullets if it would shoot them good.



Michael Grace

[Reverend Al]

Lots of great suggestions ... but I still have a long standing love affair with the .32-20 WCF cartridge. I have a centrefire 310 Martini Cadet action that's been on the back burner for years, along with some absolutely gorgeous wood that I scored for it (also years ago) and I'm finally going to get it chambered in .32-20 with a medium / heavy barrel and a pair of scope blocks for one of my two target Unertls ...

[Reverend Al]

Mind you that fact that I already have two '92 Winchesters and a Colt '73 Bisley in .32-20 WCF help to make it an easy decision ... that and several moulds, RCBS dies, and a few thousand rounds of brass ...