218 bee

[Revolver]

I went to the range last year with an old timer friend. He hadn't been shooting in a long time. He shot up the last of his 218 bee ammo, which he had loaded in the 60's!

He keeps saying he needs to buy more bullets to load but he never seems to get around to it. I know nothing about this caliber and wonder if some people here might point me to some reasonably priced general purpose j-words that I might order up as a gift for him. I am pretty sure it's been many years since he has done any reloading and I think he might need incentive to get him going again. His reloading room seems to be turning into his wife's storage area!

I think he said his gun was a Martini? I recall it was a single shot... and had 2 triggers (a set trigger?)? Or maybe that was a different rifle we shot, he brought 2 that day. But I'm confident he said the 218 was a Martini because I asked him about it last week for this purpose, I think he said it had a custom barrel too.

:Fire:

[williamwaco]

The Martini Action was very sought after in those days. A Martini Hornet or Bee was worth its weight in gold.

I would select a 40 to 50 grain bullet. Something designed for the Hornet or .222.
Sierra, Hornady, Speer. 35 would be OK but it would really lose velocity quickly.


.

[smokeywolf]

There are a lot of .224 j-word boolits offered. I use a 46 grain Speer and a 50 grain Remington in my 218 bee loads. Both with cannelures as I have a tubular magazine. For the sake of comparison and reviews you might check the list of offerings at Midway's website.

smokeywolf

[BCall]

Midsouth has the 34 gr "varmit nightmare" bullets for $42 per 500. They shoot great in my Ruger #1 218 Bee, but poorly im my dad's hornet, a so-so in my hornets. Best buy in the market though I think. Or you can get 500 ct boxes of the 40 gr z-max bullet from Hornady for $60 from Grafs. They are the same as the v-max, just with a different colored tip. The 35 gr v-max shoots great in my hornets, but not as good as the varmit bullet in my Bee, and they are more expensive.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have never seen a cadet rifle with a set trigger so it was probably your friends other rifle that had them. I owned a Martini cadet rifle in the early 1960s chambered for the 218 Bee and I have always regretted selling it. I bought another cadet rifle in excellent condition several years ago with the idea of making it another Bee but it's another one of those projects that seem never to get done. I may be wrong but I think the Bee and the Hornet originally used bullets a thousanth smaller that othe 22 center fire cartridges.

[OuchHot!]

I purchase the "bee" specific j types from speer and hornady (46g, I think) because both my bees are lever actions and have tubular mags. I would say any mid-40 grainer with light construction would be very satisfactory in his martini as he can use pointy boolits.

[paul h]

I had a 218 mashburn contender handgun barrel years ago. I tried a variety of bullets and the only one that really shined was the 45gr sierra spitzer. Things to consider when loading for the bee is that the barrel is likely a 1-16 twist, so it's only going to be able to stabalize lighter/shorter bullets. I'd suggest trying 45gr and lighter bullets. It is a small case so the same caveats apply as to the 22 hornet, mild primers tend to produce the best results and small variences in charge weights make a noticeable difference.

It's a fun little round to load for and in the right gun with the right load should have little problem grouping 1/2 moa at 100ds. If you don't get steller results on your first range session, don't give up. Also with that ammo being so old, you might find that the brass cracks when you size it, so starting out with fresh brass might be a good idea.

[Baryngyl]

Might in a conversation just kinda ask him what bullet/weight he is using then see is they are still available or what is that is about the same.

Michael Grace

[Got-R-Did]

I have a Contender Carbine bull bbl in .218 Bee and it is one of my favorite varmint and plinking rifles. Given the twist is most likely 1/14" the shorter bullets will typically give tighter groups. Being a single shot, spitzers will be fine, but length of the bullet will come into play with the relatively slow twist. I have shot 50 gr flat base spitzers with only moderate success even at highest practical velocity. The 40's do much better, and the 35 gr Hornady VMAX is stellar, but loses speed quickly. For the distances I typically call on the Bee to cover, it isn't a deal breaker. If I need greater range, I just call on the .223 Rem Carbine bbl.
The earliest .22 Hornets did indeed rely on smaller diameter (.223" as opposed to the common .224" diameters today) and were also the same twist 1/16" as rimfires of the day. If his bbl is more modern than say 40's to early 50's during the advent of varmint and bench rest shooting by the likes of Hornady and Harvey Donaldson, his twist is more likely 1/14". It would be simple to check with a cleaning rod and tight fitting patch/jag. Feel free to contact me with further questions by email if you like.
Got-R-Did.