.222 Remington cast loads and tips?

[blixen]

Now that I have a .222 Remington CZ rifle on the way, I'll need to feed it.
I'm planning on first trying the .225 Lee Bator boolitt because i've read good things about it. Is that what is offered on Titan's website? http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/22-cal/lee-6-cav-mold-c22555rf

I like NOE molds in .30 cal. and they have some interesting .22 cal. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=14foppuc4p57caf0suhpbs6fd5. Anyone have any experience with them?
i've got a couple old Lyman books, but don't know if I can find the exact corresponding .22 molds.

I'm looking for an accurate load as opposed to a high-velocity load.
Powders I have on hand are:
322
4759
Red Dot
2400
Tite Group
4227

BTW, I haven't seen Lil Gun or Trail Boss at my LGS in more than a year.

Any guidance appreciated.

[remy3424]

No help here, but will follow the thread for tips myself. Maybe a year before I get to 22 cal boolits, have the supplies, just need to figure out the alloy, powder, seating, bullet.....

[wmitty]

blixen: I just bought a used 788 Remington in .222 and I'm starting with the Bator mould from Midsouth. Made about 60 cases yesterday from .223/ 5.56 brass and loaded them with 4198 starting at 12.5 gr and going to 17 gr in roughly .7 grain increments. I water dropped the boolits as I cast them in hopes they'd be hard enough to withstand 2300 - 2400 fps. I'll shoot these this week and let you know if I have any luck. Friend and I went P. dog shooting in Colorado last month and I realized a .222 would make a lot more sense than the .22-250 and .25-06 that I took. I'm also looking for a boolit like the .22-55 gr rcbs to try after the Bator experiment. Regarding your question about the mould design Titan is selling; it's the same item # (90451 - 2 cavity) as the Bator design that I got from Midsouth. I thought I'd read that Lee is making a copy of the rcbs bore rider 55 grain design; but maybe that is N.O.E.

[runfiverun]

the bator mold is now a copy of the rcbs mold.

cull ruthlessly, weight sort, 10-11grs of 2400.
yes even for plinking, cull them and weight sort.
use the out lying weights for pop cans at 100 yds.

[blixen]

Thanks, Runfiverun,
How much difference in boolit weight is significant in a 55ish grain slug? I keep my .30 cal. boolits within 1 or 2 grains--but i've been told that's a obsessive.
I would think the weight difference would be more critical in a little boolit.

BTW, I'm ordering the Bator from Titan because I've had good experiences with them. But I can get an RCBS die set locally in .222 for about what It would cost to order a Lee set from Titan. Any dif?

[lotech]

I haven't shot cast bullets in a .222 in quite some time. However, I experienced good accuracy using bullets cast from a Lyman #225415, 57 grs., the alloy approximating Lyman #2. I sized at .225". Using 10 grs. #2400, muzzle velocity was 2170; 12 grs. SR4759 gave 2380. These were fired in an aperture-sighted Sako.

[fatelvis]

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread, but Would my Rem 700's 1:14" twist stabilize a 55 to 60 grain cast boolit? I was always told to keep jacketed bullets at 50 or under. Does this hold true for cast boolits also?

[castalott]

Howdy...Great minds think alike, I guess. I have a CZ Lux in 222 Remington.

The first mold I tried was a NOE .228 46 grain that were tried with ben's lube and then another load with Hi Tek )and then sized to .225. ( The bare ones leaded a little but were waaay too fast at 2300fps- so much for that load book.) I am suffering for a place to shoot at present but these in my rifle and a friends did ok. Mine was 5 in about an inch at 20 yards. His well worn 700 HB did 6 or 7 in about 1/2 inch at same distance.

I don't have a good bench or bench bags. Shake and movement are normal.

This Noe boolet doesn't feed well in the controlled feed CZ. But there are ways around it...

We are trying to make a small game load. Ok...we are cheap and these small boolets let us shoot cheap. Any velocity from 1100 to 2000 is ok. I really want a good grouper at 1900...

I ordered a special mold from Arsenal Molds. It weighs 36 grains and is smooth sided. The first load out of it was 3 shots touching at about 16 yards. That group was repeated and the velocity was 1750 to 1825. ( You could have covered either group with a 45 bullet.) It too was coated with Hi Tek. I have zero leading with this.

Shooting this boolet into water jugs at 15 yards yielded penetration of 3 jugs with the 4th jugs broke but the boolet was in the 3rd jug. The nose expanded to about 30 cal. I had to kill a bad groundhog at about 20 yards and it was instant.

I suspect I have years of fun ahead finding a good load. ( I actually want 2...one at 1100 and one at 1900 +)

The Noe bullet with the huge meplate expanded well also ...to over 30 cal but I cast them soft to expand and with no gas check need to be harder to shoot well.

I am no expert at this...But it is fun!

I moved stuff around today at shot the Arsenal bullet at about 38 yards with 5 in 1 inch. Not good enough for me but I have time yet...

[lotech]

No expert here, but I think a 1 in 14" twist would handle a 60 grain round nose or flat nose cast bullet fine.

[blixen]

Just for reference, CZ's twist rates--
.222 Remington: 1 in 14" (also in Remington and most rifles)
.223 1 in 9"
.22 Hornet 1 in 16"

[robg]

I'm working on a .224 Lee boolit mold in my .223tikka with a 1 in9 twist using true blue at the moment want to get in the 22mag speeds ,tried 7_9g so far but not accurate ,going to try 5_7 next .using true blue because if it works it will be a cheap practice load .new Lee mold works very well.

[blixen]

I read that .225 diameter is the way to go. Let me know how it goes.

[CWME]

I size all of my 22 boolits at .225 now. I didn't see any difference between .224, .2245, and .225. My lathesmith star die is .225 so that's what they get sized to. My Lyman m-die opens the neck perfectly for the .225 cast.

[jimb16]

My most accurate cb load in my 700 BDL is a 55 gr rn using 4198 powder. I'm not sure of the mold number but I think its the OLD Lyman 224255.

[blixen]

I picked up the second-hand CZ 527 in .222 Remington that I tracked down. It was hard used, but i'm happy with it.
The bore looks good and the trigger is good, but it has a few issues:
Front sight is MIA.
Rear sight is MIA.
The stock has quite a few scuffs and scratches (i plan on refinishing it).
It apparently had a suppressor on it because the barrel is threaded and has no thread protector.
It has some odd-width scope-mount grooves (Euro?), but fortunately it came with Weaver adapters.
I'm not concerned with the sight because I'll use a scope, but i would like to get compatible rings.

Initially, it wouldn't eject at all and I thought I would have to order an ejector. But when I pulled the action out of the stock, i could see that it had been a long time since someone did basic cleaning and lubing. The ejector was stuck due to dried grease and rust. i cleaned it up, lubed and it ejected across the room.

if anyone can point me to a thread protector and a CZ front sight, it would be a appreciated. i'll post some pictures later.

[blixen]

My second-hand dies and shell holder arrived! I've got two boxes of Fiocchi 55 grain factory to burn to get an accuracy base line.

Then I'll start casting after a good cleaning. I may convert some .223 to .222, just to see how much of a PITA it is.

[richhodg66]

I was trying and failing to do just that in anticipation of my new (to me) rifle coming. ruined quite a few trying to figure it out, then found this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzPnJljG3nw

Slow, but it does work. I also got a file trim die. It is a lot of work and I haven't loaded any yet, there may be problems with them. But it can be done and if I ever decide to have a lot of brass for it, this will be a way to do it.

[blixen]

I shot the CZ 527 .222 Rem. today. I was mostly happy. the rilfe function great, the set trigger (whatta trip!) work perfectly and I initially started getting great groups with the Fiocchi ammo--some minute of angle.

Then, all hell broke loose and my groups were 5"! Turned out the scope mount slid in the grooves. I retightened the screws HARD and after three shots the mount was sliding again.

The Euro-made adapter that made CZ's proprietary grooved receiver Weaver base friendly doesn't have the cross groove that keeps the base from sliding. which is weird because the adapters themselves have set screws to lock them in place. Maybe i need find a weaver mount with set screws.

I'm searching for a thread protector, but so far, I haven't been able to figure out the thread pitch. Close to 1/2x28tpi, but not.

One of these days, I'll refinish the stock--the worst place is the heel of the butt. It also needs a front sight, but CZ parts are hard to locate.

I'll in all, I'm a happy camper.

[blixen]

Thanks, Richdog--
Watched the UTube video (like watching paint dry but illuminating). I'm going to try doing a few cases, but cutting them close to length with a tube cutter or mini-chop saw, then finishing with a Lee case-length trimmer. If the necks require turning--as I'ver heard they do—I'll probably just buy a 100 from Grumpa (IIRC). His prices are very reasonable for what looks like a great job--including turning the necks. My time is at a premium right now.


I was trying and failing to do just that in anticipation of my new (to me) rifle coming. ruined quite a few trying to figure it out, then found this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzPnJljG3nw

Slow, but it does work. I also got a file trim die. It is a lot of work and I haven't loaded any yet, there may be problems with them. But it can be done and if I ever decide to have a lot of brass for it, this will be a way to do it.

[GRUMPA]

I'll probably just buy a 100 from Grumpa (IIRC). His prices are very reasonable for what looks like a great job--including turning the necks. My time is at a premium right now.


When I do those I actually ream the neck. I get the case formed first and remove the expander on the last operation. When the neck is formed and the gauge dimension is held the neck is not expanded at all, I want any and all taper inside the neck and then I ream. After reaming I put the case back in the machine and run the expander down the neck and run it through the die once more. What that does is create a straighter neck diameter, I never turn any of the necks on any conversions I do, just ream.

[.22-10-45]

My Ruger No.1 in .222 Rem. likes the Saeco .22..away from notes but H4227 was powder of choice. 7 /16" groups at 100yds. with cast. Best it would do with match jacketed loads too.