I have been searching and reading and I have found some answers but I still have several questions.
I started looking into 22 hornet when I found a light load for a 55 grain lead bullet in my Lyman manual. It was around 1055 fps with Red Dot and it started the wheels rolling in my head.
After looking there aren't a lot of choices for 22 Hornet rifles and none are in the price range I want. 223 on the other hand I have several choices of bolt rifles in 223 around $400 or less. I already load 223 for my AR 15 so I have dies and plenty of brass. My Lyman book has light 223 lead loads but not as light as I want.
I plan to buy a 55 grain mold but all the inexpensive molds I have looked at have a base for gas checks. I don't want to bother with gas checks for now since I want to stay around 1000-1200 fps so I can use the same wheel weight lead I use for my pistol loads. I will coat them with Hi Tek or powder coat them.
Here is my list of questions:
1.Will it be ok to run the bullets without gas checks since the bullet will have the base for a gas check?
2. My manual doesn't have loads as slow as I want 1000-1200 fps will I need to use powders like Trail Boss due to the larger case of the 223 case?
3. Would powders like Bullseye,700x, Unique work ok for the low velocity loads?
4. If I decide I want to push them faster 1500-2000 fps can I use wheel weight lead as long as I gas check them and coat the bullets or will I need harder lead?
Thanks for the help.