How much can you size roundballs for cat sneeze loads

[John McCorkle]

Am thinking of using a 223 bolt gun to train my boys...and got thinking about cat sneeze loads as a good bulk practice way of getting in the "reps"

I'll likely use a light charge of titegroup under a 55 grain soft cast boolit

Was also thinking of galley type loads with roundballs....could #4 buck be a candidate? How much can you size down a roundball? I think the measurements for #4 buck is something like .24? That would mean 15 thou to size down but....if it's soft and with little bearing surface to deform it may be doable? They wouldn't need to be tack driver accurate just puff loads with near zero report for a 6 year old

Anyone tried it?

The recoil would be nothing...I think I'm angling for low report to dissuade flinching and home in on broad brush fundamentals of shooting.

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[MT Gianni]

For quiet loads you want a very heavy for caliber lead bullet. IMO, you can't get there easily with a 223. AA 308/30-06 with 200 gr bullet will give you a quieter shot. I agree with a 223 you will have a gun much easier to handle for a 6 year old but I would hope for 22 level rather than cat sneeze quiet.

[KCSO]

I use a push through Lee to size balls from 370 to 360. I cupped the push rod to center the balls and lightly lube them and they come out like round nose bullets on both ends.

[John McCorkle]

I use a push through Lee to size balls from 370 to 360. I cupped the push rod to center the balls and lightly lube them and they come out like round nose bullets on both ends.I figured that if you could it would practically be swaging short squatty boolits out the other end. That's prob good giving a bit more bearing surface to grip rifling with

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[megasupermagnum]

I wouldn't size down round balls, that's too much work. BPI sells nickel plated #F buckshot that is stated to be .223". Even better would be a 30 caliber. You can get .310" buck. If you want to cast lee makes both a .311" double cavity mold, and a .310" 6 cavity mold.

[John McCorkle]

For quiet loads you want a very heavy for caliber lead bullet. IMO, you can't get there easily with a 223. AA 308/30-06 with 200 gr bullet will give you a quieter shot. I agree with a 223 you will have a gun much easier to handle for a 6 year old but I would hope for 22 level rather than cat sneeze quiet.22 level may be ok...going to put one of those kaw valley precision linear comps on the front to throw sound down range more. We will be wearing ear pro too of course but just want to walk him into a really comfortable experience that he doesn't start flinching we need to train out and build up over the next several years so he is Rock solid by the time he (actually all 3 of my boys) are older

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[rancher1913]

look into using 22 cal pellets and just primers.

[John McCorkle]

look into using 22 cal pellets and just primers.Huh....that's a great idea. Wow that's a great idea actually.

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[dtknowles]

Am thinking of using a 223 bolt gun to train my boys...and got thinking about cat sneeze loads as a good bulk practice way of getting in the "reps"

I'll likely use a light charge of titegroup under a 55 grain soft cast boolit

Was also thinking of galley type loads with roundballs....could #4 buck be a candidate? How much can you size down a roundball? I think the measurements for #4 buck is something like .24? That would mean 15 thou to size down but....if it's soft and with little bearing surface to deform it may be doable? They wouldn't need to be tack driver accurate just puff loads with near zero report for a 6 year old

Anyone tried it?

The recoil would be nothing...I think I'm angling for low report to dissuade flinching and home in on broad brush fundamentals of shooting.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

If you don't have a kids rifle that will sort of work but the stock is probably too long and the gun too heavy. You as others have said, you can size down round balls quite a bit.

A kids rifle and CCI CB longs or Aguila Colibri are good ammo with no recoil and little muzzle blast. You might need super Colibri in a rifle as the regular Colibri might not get out of the barrel.

Tim

[cwtebay]

+1 for both the primer /22 pellet and the kid's rifle with Colibri ammo. The owner of the local gun shop gave my oldest son a Thomson single shot when he was 4 and he shot the tar out of it, it weighs nothing and the stock is adjustable. With Colibri's it's perfect for kids. They all still love it because of its size and peep sight. Unfortunately the guy that gifted it also knew that I have four other kids - basically bought himself a whole pile of business ever since!

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[Alferd Packer]

Am thinking of using a 223 bolt gun to train my boys...and got thinking about cat sneeze loads as a good bulk practice way of getting in the "reps"

I'll likely use a light charge of titegroup under a 55 grain soft cast boolit

Was also thinking of galley type loads with roundballs....could #4 buck be a candidate? How much can you size down a roundball? I think the measurements for #4 buck is something like .24? That would mean 15 thou to size down but....if it's soft and with little bearing surface to deform it may be doable? They wouldn't need to be tack driver accurate just puff loads with near zero report for a 6 year old

Anyone tried it?

The recoil would be nothing...I think I'm angling for low report to dissuade flinching and home in on broad brush fundamentals of shooting.

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I use no.4 buck.
I put thru LEE .224 die and load in .223 case over a little bullseye and wipe alox on the end of the case neck.
Resize the neck so the ball won't fall in
Then just expand the end of the case neck and seat the ball flush.
This leaves space to wipe on some lube.
The ball will be elongated slightly from the size die. You can see how to place it in the neck. Careful not to push it into the case.
If you do, then you'll have to expand the neck to shake out the ball.
I don't have any problems with this, but there are some people in a big hurry who won't appreciate this.
I really use a dab of Crisco instead of alox.
I also make sure I wet the bore before starting shooting with a wet patch followed by a dry one so the bore is not completely dry.
One time is all it takes.
You have a good idea John.
Also, you should size and try your cast bullets the same way.
Catch them in some bundled newspaper in a box and you can remelt them.
Have fun.

[fixit]

Another option is to go down the rabbit hole of made for accuracy air rifles. They can be an obsession in and of themselves, but they do open the field for target shooting considerably!

[Oyeboten]

Am thinking of using a 223 bolt gun to train my boys...and got thinking about cat sneeze loads as a good bulk practice way of getting in the "reps"

I'll likely use a light charge of titegroup under a 55 grain soft cast boolit

Was also thinking of galley type loads with roundballs....could #4 buck be a candidate? How much can you size down a roundball? I think the measurements for #4 buck is something like .24? That would mean 15 thou to size down but....if it's soft and with little bearing surface to deform it may be doable? They wouldn't need to be tack driver accurate just puff loads with near zero report for a 6 year old

Anyone tried it?

The recoil would be nothing...I think I'm angling for low report to dissuade flinching and home in on broad brush fundamentals of shooting.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

Why not just buy a nice, older, used, good condition, single shot, Bolt Action, in .22 Long Rifle?

This was what virtually everyone started out with as kids, and it keeps things simple and easy.

[John McCorkle]

Why not just buy a nice, older, used, good condition, single shot, Bolt Action, in .22 Long Rifle?

This was what virtually everyone started out with as kids, and it keeps things simple and easy.I have a 22 also, I'm wanting to ultimately get the boys used to mechanics of the center fire rifle... familiarity with the gun they'll likely be taking whitetail with (at short ranges)

Plus I get to get them involved with casting/reloading right from the beginning.... another invaluable skill they need practice with

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[RU shooter]

Not small stuff but have done a .440 ball to .431 in my RC press came out as a short round nose shape worked fine in a 44 spl.

[Goofy]

Don't know if this would be helpful but I've toyed with roundball CF loads in the past. One was .30 caliber, the other a .44 Mag. The latter was done with a .430" Hornady round ball sized to .422 and paper patched back to .430" and fired from a 77/44. They were quite accurate as were two ball loads.

The other was more recent and done with a wildcat case based on the .357 Mag. Hornady makes round balls in the .310 dimension and I shot a small batch with Bullseye, 700X and Red Dot, in the neighborhood of .1.5-1.8 grains. Velocity ranged in the 700-850 fps range. The report was mild but not quiet of course. Extreme spreads on velocity were large.
https://i.imgur.com/9iCFDi4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Sftn5LR.jpg

A final round was contrived with 3fg Goex, 18 grains and a .030" card wad. Velocity was in the 1440 fps range, ES was reasonable and they shot fairly well.
https://i.imgur.com/rZgILkb.jpg

The thought that I would leave is that it can be done with ease if the dimensions are reasonably compatible, otherwise a light lead conical is another alternative. I used a Lyman 225438 to fire form some K-Hornet brass a few years back. Easy to cast and they served the objective well.

https://i.imgur.com/1bVuyOx.jpg

[Eddie2002]

I tried a .310 buck shot over 3 grains of Bullseye in a 30-06 just for laughs. It had the trajectory of a sling shot past 20 yards but it was fun to shoot. I worked down to 1.8 grams of BE and could see the piece of buck shot flying out of the barrel. Can''t give much advice on a .223 but I would think 2 grams of BE under a .22 pellet or smaller buck shot would be a start.
I turned the .310 buck shot into an oblong by rolling it on the top of my table saw with a piece of flat stock, worked great.

[dtknowles]

I tried a .310 buck shot over 3 grains of Bullseye in a 30-06 just for laughs. It had the trajectory of a sling shot past 20 yards but it was fun to shoot. I worked down to 1.8 grams of BE and could see the piece of buck shot flying out of the barrel. Can''t give much advice on a .223 but I would think 2 grams of BE under a .22 pellet or smaller buck shot would be a start.
I turned the .310 buck shot into an oblong by rolling it on the top of my table saw with a piece of flat stock, worked great.

I rolled .310 buck shot between a plate and a file and it leaves a knurled surface. I shoot them in my 30 cal. air rifle I made from an paint ball gun.