My 22 Jet topper

[AlaskanGuy]

Ok, years ago when i was working up in a village above the arctic circle, i met an old seal hunter that had this ol Harrington Richardson topper model 158 in 22 jet. Well, the nature of seal hunting back in the 1950's and 1960's was get a gun, use it till it wouldn't shoot anymore, and put it away. This ole hunter had this jet and he had modified the stock and fore-grip with whale bone, and said it wouldn't shoot anymore... Wanted to sell it to me for 100 bucks... So i bought it... It was very very pitted, but the bore was shiny and clean, so i dropped the 100 bucks, had a buddy fashion a new firing pin for it, and put one of the only 6 loaded rounds i had ever seen in it and BANG... Shot pretty nice. I put it away years ago... Now i found a die set, and some data, and found a neat ole grumpa guy that would make me some brass for it. A few years back i found an original box of loaded rounds for it that i didn't dare shoot for fear it would be the last of their kind.... Well, now i am ready to shoot out them rounds for some reloading brass and am wanting to work up some cast for it.... Unfortunately, the unique loads that i found for it were from the 1950's and 60's... And unique has prolly changed quite a bit....

I have the usual 223 and 22-250 powders like 4064, unique, 2400 and a bunch of others.... I also have some 45 grain jwords for a hornet, as well as some cast 55 gr and 62 gr boolits.... I am open to suggestions... I am thinking about 6 grains of unique with one of them 45 gr jword soft tips is a good starting point, then switch over to cast.... Any suggestions..??? Tomorrow I will run out to the range and shoot out the old rounds, so i will be ready to try something..... Chime in.... Be heard... Nows your chance all you old time lurkers.....

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You just gotta love a old beat up weird gun... They just beg for attention.
AG

[Bullshop Junior]

If i remember correctly, i made brass for my jet necking down 357 mag brass, but i may be confused.

Ill give you $105 for it as is.

[AlaskanGuy]

No way JR... I never sell my guns.... Have to pry them out of my cold dead fingers...lol

[Bullshop Junior]

$110.00

[Bullshop Junior]

Looking around I cant find any of my load data papers for the Jet. Mine was in a 10" contender. To make the brass i was using 357 brass and running it theough a 7.62x25 die, and then through the jet dies. I used a thin layer of imperial sizing wax. Seems like i didn't get too many lube dents. Ill have to look around some more for the note book i had for it and it seems like i may still have 1-2 hundred cases for it. If i can find them they are yours

[HighHook]

Most data out there is for pistol. I have the little topper, kinda cool little shooter. Tried lots of different loads. The regular mil spec 55 j with 2400 worked pretty well. The 45-50 and 60+ stuff didn't have much luck with.
For boolits I tried the noe 37, rcbs55 and miha65 with unique. The little rcbs55 seemed to work the best out to 200 yards. My guess was those barrels like the 55s.
Fun stuff...

[Tatume]

hodgdon.com

40 GR. HDY JET IMR IMR 4227 .222" 1.550" 13.5 2290 32,900 CUP
40 GR. HDY JET Hodgdon H110 .222" 1.550" 10.0 1892 11.0 2019
40 GR. HDY JET IMR SR 4756 .222" 1.550" 6.7 1925 31,200 CUP
40 GR. HDY JET Hodgdon HS-6 .222" 1.550" 6.5 1769 7.5 1883

[**oneshot**]

Handloader magazine #263 Dec 2009 issue has a write up on the Jet. They are using it in a TC carbine, and it shows the steps for making brass.

[Three44s]

I think with a little caution you'll be fine with today's Unique.

It's a little cleaner and a bit more accurate ........ they say but other than that it has not changed materially.

Best regards

Three 44s

[AlaskanGuy]

Wow.. Thanks JR..... I will hold you too that...

Thanks guys for the data... This really is a cool gun... And a cool thread..

I have not figured out the twist on that rife yet... It sure seems to be twisty... I think that the standard rate was 16, but not sure if that was just the pistol version....

[Bullshop Junior]

Wow.. Thanks JR..... I will hold you too that...

Thanks guys for the data... This really is a cool gun... And a cool thread..

I have not figured out the twist on that rife yet... It sure seems to be twisty... I think that the standard rate was 16, but not sure if that was just the pistol version....

Im not making any promises. I may have gotten rid of the brass with the barrel, and if i did keepit its not with the rest of my reloading stuff. It seems like i kept it though, so if I find it ill let you know.

As for loads, i shot mostly hand swaged 52gn j*****ed bullets from it. Seems like i was using a winchester ball powder. Maybe 296 (not sure if thats the one im thinking of or not....)

[AlaskanGuy]

Its all good JR... If you find them great... If not, i will just create a new website called BullshopJR.com and post a few request for gay porn with your email...lol. :kidding:

Its all good my alaskan brother... Just picking on ya... Thanks...

[Reg]

Do slug your bore. Most were .223 and shot best with .222 and .223 jacket bullets and lead at .224.

It was said in the day that .224 jacket bullets would raise pressures.

[AlaskanGuy]

It is slugged at .223 and i have sizers for 224 and 225. Will prolly try both.. And i have some sized 226 55 gr cast that i am also gonna try... It will be a grand experiment... The best kind.

[GRUMPA]

Making the brass for that isn't all that easy for me, it involves a 4 step sizing operation. Not to mention 2 separate annealing operations but I manage. The hardest part I'm finding out is somehow just like my missing socks and the washing machine the 357mag brass had dried up. And if it hasn't dried up folks are asking higher than what they cost for new.

Sometimes a person just has to wait it out I suppose till things get easier to come by.

[woody1]

The Lyman 3rd edition Cast Bullet Handbook has 22 Jet loads listed in the handgun section. If you need 'em let me know and I'll either post or send a scan. Regards, Woody

[badgeredd]

Privi Partisan makes 22 Jet brass. I picked up a few hundred a year or so ago. I shoot an improved version of the Jet, the 22 Super Jet. According to Hornady's Fouth Edition you should be safe with 10 grains of H110, 2400, Win 296 and IMR4227 with a 45 grain jacketed .223" bullet. I know I've loaded more of each powder in my improved Jet but i also have more case volume. I wouldn't be afraid of any of these loads with a cast 50 grain bullet. Hope this helps.

Edd

PS...Graf and Sons will get some in sometime in the future and if you order some from them, they'll put you on backorder and ship it when they get it in.

[ratboy]

45-50gr jacketed on 11gr of 2400 and a mag primer has worked well in my contender however it is a bit hot and i do get some cases that make it hard to open. i have also shot 225450 on top of 4gr of unique with decent results.

[Reg]

Might check the twist as well. Seems to shoot better with light bullets. If you can find them try the Hornaday 35 grain V-Max and Lyman 255107 ( 37 to 38 grain )

You will have to play with the loads a bit but seems like the hotter the load, the better it shoots.

[AlaskanGuy]

Grumpa got me covered on brass, and when i need more, he will hook me up, as far as loads go, i have the 4th edition cast handbook.. And there are some basic loads there.... And they are a great start.. That and some advice from some great folks here....

[ratboy]

if you can get your hands on a contender load book, there is a lot of loads both jacketed and cast for you to try. its just various reprints from other load books but it saves you having to find all the books to look at.

[TreeKiller]

I bought 1000 J*** from Herters in 1963 for my S&W mod 53 box says 40G .222S. They calmed that the bores was too tight for a .223 or .224 J I use a Lyman 225438 44G for cast sized to .223.

[ratboy]

I bought 1000 J*** from Herters in 1963 for my S&W mod 53 box says 40G .222S. They calmed that the bores was too tight for a .223 or .224 J I use a Lyman 225438 44G for cast sized to .223.

that is one of the problems with the jet. the s&w 53 did have a small bore. most of the newer jets and especially the rechambers should be checked closely. thompson center used 224 barrels as they just grabbed one of the 22 barrels they had in stock. i have read some have used 224 projectiles in 222 barrels without incident but i have no empirical proof of it. i expect if you did some proper load development you could make it work. i would assume the rifle in question would have a 224 barrel but i would check it just to be sure.