Reloading 22lr

[TX.shotgun01]

If you shoot alot of 22lr then you may want to check this web sight out you just may like it

22lrreloader.com

My brother got me one of these and can't wait to try it out

[bangerjim]

Good luck fiddling with those teeny little things. 22 reloading schemes have been around for years, but I have never read any positive reports other than from the sellers of the kits.

Let us know.

banger

[Big Dangle]

Sometime I get bored in the gun room and look up this topic, I have 5 gallon bucket of brass, lots of .22lr. Even for sub sonic in the yard would be cool to play with but the amount of work and seems fairly unsafe.
Just now had a thought, could you fit a 209 primer in a drilled out 17 hmr case? I did it for a few .223 but shooting the pellet gun was way easier.

[John Boy]

Three of us in the US reload 22LR with original gunpowder: here's how and results
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...w-to-Make-Them

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...wder-Adventure

[Big Dangle]

Did I miss the priming compound? That's what I ment earlier about being unsafe, matchhead and caps just looks like an accident. If I was going to do this I wouldnt want to spend 150.00 and a finger to do it.
Thanks for posting that though, definitely got the wheels turning.

[DerekP Houston]

From reading his post he is using Armscor primed 22lr brass and adding the black powder + boolit. Does not appear to be an available product anymore unfortunately.

[oldred]

matchhead and caps just looks like an accident..

I know you weren't suggesting using those but since you mentioned the match heads I wanted to point out again that they simply aren't available anymore, at least anything even remotely close to what we once called a strike anywhere match!

Caps "can" be used but the so-called strike anywhere matches that are available today are all but useless despite what some kit sellers claim! REAL strike anywhere matches have been gone from production for about 3 or 4 years now and while what passes for them are easily found there is not enough of the necessary compound on the tips anymore to reliably light the match never mind enough to make a primer with, this comes up occasionally and a lot of folks get taken in by the sales pitch of some of those kits thinking they can easily and cheaply prime the cases with match heads, it would be ridiculously expensive even if a person is willing to take the time to (attempt) to obtain this tiny speck of material from the matches that are for sale, it will take several matches for EACH primer!


They are easy to find but they simply are not the same, this pretty well sums it up and since that was written even the ones that are mentioned as "somewhat" decent are now gone, the Government is looking out for us!!!

www.Kissurvival.com/strike-anywhere-matches/

[Baja_Traveler]

I probably still have 3000 of the armiscor primed cases stashed away. Need to get out my Mos .22 mould that John Boy designed up and cast some more. Shooting black powder .22's has made me kind of a legend at the range - I get inquiries about them at least once a month, even though I haven't shot them in about a year...

[Big Dangle]

Yea BP .22 would be freaking awesome.

[Big Dangle]

Maybe when I need another project I'll look harder into it, still love the idea of a BP .22

[footpetaljones]

Marshall,

Wouldn't a standard crimping die fail due to the heeled bullet?

[John Boy]

Wouldn't a standard crimping die fail due to the heeled bullet?

No, the round seated upside down in the Lyman H&I .225 die compresses the case to form a factory crimp

[w30wcf]

Marshall,
You may want to contact Bernie at Old West molds. I do know that he has made at least 1 crimp die for .22 L.R. even though it is not shown on his website. He also makes a molds for .22 LR bullets.

http://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/products

w30wcf

[John Boy]

Update: Reloading 22LR Black powder & smokeless handloads:
* Previously have been reloading the empty primed cases using the MOS bullet mold
* But why not, got room in the drawer for another mold. So ordered the Old West (OW) mold & adjustable crimp die for Short- Long & LR with the attached shell plate
* Cast several hundred with Bhn 7.8 alloy
* The OW mold is a brass 3 cavity (casts like a dream) and I ladled poured, which took some learning but - holding the spout about 3" above the sprue hole, poured the melt in so there was gravity pressure and the melt 'bubbled' up, then a good sprue puddle at 760 degrees. Bullets completely filled out and the heeled bases were not rounded - completely flat with sharp edges. Weight of the bullets bell curved between 39.8 to 40.2grs!
* New lube used: 50:50 mix of Butcher's Bowling Alley wax & Alox
* The OW bullets have a smaller nose radius and chamber in the Henry Lever with no scraping of the nose as do the Mos. I'll use the Mos reloads in my Ballards & Stevens 44 1/2
* OK, loaded 200 of the 40gr OW with 4.5gr Swiss Null-B using the Lyman #5 charger that has the spout that fits inside the case and then just using the CH4D seater/crimp die, seated and crimped the bullets
* Reading the Titegroup powder charges, Thanks w30wcf, hand loaded another 100 rounds with 1.5grs
Average time per a box of 50 is running me about 35 minutes.

[LAGS]

I am not going to write a review on the Sharpshooter 22 LR reloading kit, but I bought one and it does work, and works very well.
It will not give you Factory ammo, and you have to play with your loads and priming a bit.
But it is a whole lot better than having No 22's to shoot at all.

[Tenbender]

Good luck fiddling with those teeny little things. 22 reloading schemes have been around for years, but I have never read any positive reports other than from the sellers of the kits.

Let us know.

banger

Hello Banger ! We missed you.

[John Boy]

Lags - how long does it take to load a box of 50 with the kit? Thanks

[LAGS]

That depends.
I usually do it in steps and take my time.
I size and prep cases when the lead pot is getting hot , and may prime some while waiting for the primer compound to dry.
Then I cast up some bullets, then it is on to tumble luring them or Powder Coating them.
Prime more cases and then when those are drying I start loading the first ones I did.
If you have the cases primed and the bullets cast, it doesn't take long to load up 50.
It is all the prep work that takes time.
But same as any of my other reloading of Centerfield stuff