405WIN
12-19-2010, 12:51 AM
Recently I found a box of Lyman cast bullets I made over 30 years ago for a 22-250. I remember that they did not work well for me then, but, I was a teenager at the time:groner:
The idea crept into my head that this might be a fun project for my Mini-14 Tactical. So... I loaded some up with a variety of powders I have on hand and proceeded out to the Desert to give them a try. Much to my surprise, I had no trouble hitting pop cans at 75 paces. Only thing is, the action would not cycle and I had to manually eject each spent cartridge.
Back at the reloading room, I did some research and decided to give IMR 4198 a try. Sure enough,, 18.0 grains almost but not quite cycled the action. I know this is several grains more than Lyman reccomends but is still below the 20.00 charge for a J bullet.
Should I try 19.5 grains?. I think it would cycle the action but the velocity might be way to much for a cast bullet.
Curious to se if anyone else has any experience shooting .22 cast bullets from a mini-14 or similar.
The idea crept into my head that this might be a fun project for my Mini-14 Tactical. So... I loaded some up with a variety of powders I have on hand and proceeded out to the Desert to give them a try. Much to my surprise, I had no trouble hitting pop cans at 75 paces. Only thing is, the action would not cycle and I had to manually eject each spent cartridge.
Back at the reloading room, I did some research and decided to give IMR 4198 a try. Sure enough,, 18.0 grains almost but not quite cycled the action. I know this is several grains more than Lyman reccomends but is still below the 20.00 charge for a J bullet.
Should I try 19.5 grains?. I think it would cycle the action but the velocity might be way to much for a cast bullet.
Curious to se if anyone else has any experience shooting .22 cast bullets from a mini-14 or similar.