22 Long Rifle Mold

[Duckdog]

I'm with you on buying the chemicals! There is also an interesting post on the special projects forum on this site, if you have not see it. It's a long one, so have a beer to slurp on. It's damn fine reading on this topic.

I think if we all keep on posting our findings, we'll zero this process in. I figured you made a typo on the potassium chloride, but thought I'd mention it, in case you didn't. Keep us posted on your progress. I find this topic of real interest, even if there are probably only about a dozen of us reloading 22 LR in the country!

[LAGS]

I love how we can all share and take us back to the Basics.
We grew up in a society , where anything we wanted could be found at the store.
All we had to do was make the money to buy it.
Others on this forum can tell you I would rather Build, then Buy.
I am not a Gunsmith, but more of a Firearms Recycler.
And there may come a time, where you cant buy certian things any more. But if you have the knowledge, you will keep on doing what you want to in some form or another.

[Traffer]

My brothers take on reloading 22lr: "What the hell is the matter with you..." He is seriously upset with me for wasting my time on this. I just thank him for the encouragement.

[LAGS]

My friends are the same way Traffer.
They say I am wasting my time.
So I bet some of them that I could load 1000 in less time then they could find and buy 50 - 22LR's
No takers yet.

[John Boy]

I ordered the Old West 40gr 3X mold and adjustable crimp die for Shorts - Longs & LR. The brass mold casts like a dream and the bullets are perfect fully filled RN and the parting lines are near invisible. Totally Pleased!
And am trying a new lube: 50:50 mix of Carnuba Butchers Wax & Alox

[Traffer]

I think that you will be pleased at how much difference the crimp makes. Keep us posted. Do you have pictures of the new mold bullets?

I ordered the Old West 40gr 3X mold and adjustable crimp die for Shorts - Longs & LR. The brass mold casts like a dream and the bullets are perfect fully filled RN and the parting lines are near invisible. Totally Pleased!
And am trying a new lube: 50:50 mix of Carnuba Butchers Wax & Alox

[John Boy]

Do you have pictures of the new mold bullets?

Traffer, no. But they really are clones of the old UMC's

[LAGS]

I took some of my reloads to the range on sunday.
They took two hammer strikes in the same spot to get them to fire , in both an old Winchester 67A and a Jennings J-22.
But hey fired fine in a Ruger Semi Auto Mk1, but didnt always eject fully.
That sould just be the load.
I think the rifle and the Jennings have very light firing pin springs.
And the Winchester has a Replaced Firing Pin Tip that I made out of a 4/40 screw drilled and tapped into the original firing pin carrier housing then reshaped, since I couldnt find a replacement when the firing pin tip broke.
The firing pin broke when the case exploded when I loaded it too heavy with a filler.
Accuracy was not tooo bad, I could hit the target with the Jennings at 25 yards.

[Duckdog]

John Boy. Good old Johnsons Paste Wax is an outstanding lube on these. It dries pretty hard and leaves no leading. Keep us posted on your results! I also made a case expanding die for the 22 LR out of an old sizing die and a shell holder I bought from Old West. What are you using for sizing?

[Traffer]

I am curious about the sizing die. I, being new to reloading and never having reloaded anything except 22lr, do not know exactly how sizing dies work. Do they size the inside and outside at the same time? My sizing technique is very slow. Hoping to figure out a faster way.

John Boy. Good old Johnsons Paste Wax is an outstanding lube on these. It dries pretty hard and leaves no leading. Keep us posted on your results! I also made a case expanding die for the 22 LR out of an old sizing die and a shell holder I bought from Old West. What are you using for sizing?

[John Boy]

What are you using for sizing?

The Lee Universal Neck Expansion die with the small plug only - 15 bucks and works like a charm.

In fact I just came up from the basement after handloading 150 rounds with the new Old West bullets: throw a hand full of empty cases in a cup - expand each mouth only - put the cases in a Winchester 209 primer tray leaving a space between each case - 50 cases expanded in the tray and then ready for 4.5gr Swiss Null-B using a Lyman #5 with the small drop spout, charge all the cases in the tray without taking them out. Then set the bullets in the cases still in the tray - CH4D seater/ crimper them and then in the box. About 35 minutes start to finish for 50 rounds- 22 LR loaded with BP

There is no need to use an expansion die for 22 LR cases because the bullets are heeled. Just open the case mouth so when the bullets are seated there is no lead stripped of

[Traffer]

What if you are using spent cases from the range. The ones I get vary in diameter from .225 to .232. For me sizing these back down to the correct size is quite time consuming. I have made a sizing die but it is very slow.

[Duckdog]

That's all I am expanding is just the case mouth a tad. I use a piece of flat stock with a some holes drilled in it to the proper diameter and just push the brass into it with my arbor press, then flip it over and press them out. It goes very quick.

Even with the heel bullet, I have to expand the case mouth a bit.

[Traffer]

Oh yeah, I remember the flat stock with holes in it. I have to make one of those. I do them one at a time and also use a center ram to do the inside while they are in my one at a time outside die, probably overkill. About opening up the rim, yes the used cases are crimped and the case needs to have the crimp removed, I have a little hand tool... just a piece of round steel with the end rounded and a handle on it. I just push it in and the crimp is gone. I have some cases that are unused ... eley primed cases. They don't need the mouth opened up because they are not crimped. Just fyi, the inner diameter of a 22 shell is the same as a #4 drill bit, which is .209. I use a piece of #4 drill stock to open them up. I also swage my bullets with a heel of .206" (before powder coating). I have been using a sizing die to size the entire rounds after powder coating to make them exact and give them that nice glass like surface. But it only makes the surface of the bearing area glassy. My next project is going to be to make a die in which the bullet can be entirely resized after powder coating, to be able to make completed bullets that are slick and perfectly shaped so I can give them to you folks to test for me. The ultimate goal is to make match grade bullets. I believe that goal is now within reach. It only took me a year to figure out how to make the dies and tools to make the dies with. lol.

That's all I am expanding is just the case mouth a tad. I use a piece of flat stock with a some holes drilled in it to the proper diameter and just push the brass into it with my arbor press, then flip it over and press them out. It goes very quick.

Even with the heel bullet, I have to expand the case mouth a bit.

[Traffer]

I think what might have happened to make your cases explode with the filler:
I learned that 22 rim fire guns have a gassing or expansion hole or leak area on the breach. I wondered why they did that. I ended up figuring that because the 22lr cases are so thin they make the guns able to let enough leakage of pressure out the back to even out the pressure a little bit. Without them even the lowly little 22lr tends to separate the head. I noticed quite a few of my reloads with cracks along the rim. I also had one completely separate the head which blew the extractor pin out of the bolt. (never did find it) But that one I had way over loaded... 4.2 grains of HS6. But to try and solve the problem I started to anneal the cases before reloading. I have so far only tested some 25 of the annealed cases but so far no cracked cases. So I am going with the annealing now. I tried using filler on a couple of loads. One did not fire. It was in an eley primed case. Don't know what was up with that but decided to not use filler anymore after that. I use roll caps for my primer on reloads with an additional bit of aluminum powder. I can't imagine not having one of those firing. They are highly energetic to say the least. They would probably shoot without gun powder although I have never tried one.

I took some of my reloads to the range on sunday.
They took two hammer strikes in the same spot to get them to fire , in both an old Winchester 67A and a Jennings J-22.
But hey fired fine in a Ruger Semi Auto Mk1, but didnt always eject fully.
That sould just be the load.
I think the rifle and the Jennings have very light firing pin springs.
And the Winchester has a Replaced Firing Pin Tip that I made out of a 4/40 screw drilled and tapped into the original firing pin carrier housing then reshaped, since I couldnt find a replacement when the firing pin tip broke.
The firing pin broke when the case exploded when I loaded it too heavy with a filler.
Accuracy was not tooo bad, I could hit the target with the Jennings at 25 yards.

[John Boy]

The ones I get vary in diameter from .225 to .232. For me sizing these back down to the correct size is quite time consuming.

Traffer, the easiest way to resize the spent cases is without lubing them - run them them trough the Lyman Lube Sizer with a 225 H&I die ... that's if you have the Lube Sizer

[Traffer]

I don't even know what a lube sizer is.

Traffer, the easiest way to resize the spent cases is without lubing them - run them them trough the Lyman Lube Sizer with a 225 H&I die ... that's if you have the Lube Sizer

[Traffer]

Just powder coated a small test batch of 22lr bullets that I had dimensioned to compensate for the powder coat. My powder coating setup is in my sisters garage (not heated) It was 0 degrees Fahrenheit when I started. The toaster oven had a hard time getting up to 400 degrees lol. After powder coating they came out at .46" oal (not that critical) With ,2245" to .225" diameter. And all the heals that I measured came out at .2085". My calculations came out perfect. I can either load them as is or re-size them in another swaging die that I am in the process of making so they come out like glass. Otherwise I will size the entire bullet after loading them, giving only the bearing surface the nice glassy finish. I made a .032" wire holder in the punch out punch so that I can embed a short piece of wire in the nose. I made a little holder to hold them in the oven.
Here are some pictures:

[John Boy]

Pictures of Lyman Lube Sizer & H&I die ... https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=lyman+4500+lube+sizer&tag=googhy dr-20&index=aps&hvadid=81535343077&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=s &hvrand=4944629342311619104&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt= b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003990&hvt argid=kwd-4735101510&ref=pd_sl_3fxk732eob_b

Prices are cheaper on eBay

[Traffer]

Thanks John. Now I know what a lube sizer is. Unfortunately it is out of my price range. And it looks like something that I can't build myself. I will have to come up with another method. I think it was LAGS who made a multiple holed sizer for 22LR cases out of a piece of flat stock with a bunch of good straight holes the proper size in it. I think he said he pounds the shells in and pounds them back out again. Basically that is how I do it only one at a time. lol $170 is about what I paid for all of my reloading tools put together. (Not counting the Drill presses and dremels)

Pictures of Lyman Lube Sizer & H&I die ... https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=lyman+4500+lube+sizer&tag=googhy dr-20&index=aps&hvadid=81535343077&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=s &hvrand=4944629342311619104&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt= b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003990&hvt argid=kwd-4735101510&ref=pd_sl_3fxk732eob_b

Prices are cheaper on eBay