.22 Jet

[roger rabbit]

The thought just occurred to me about the possibility of using a cast bullet for the S&W .22 Jet that the bearded guy dressed in red left me last week. Anyone here have any experience with cast bullets in this revolver? I'm thinking light bullet weight with a gas check such as the Lyman 44 gr. It would beat buying those .223 dia. Hornet bullets.

[Bullshop]

No jet here but we do have a Ruger single six in 22 CCM. Our little single six thrives on the #2 NEI design, a 45gn FNGC.
We have also found that even with the slow twist the Lee Bator boolit shoots very well also. One nice thing we have found with the Bator is in our little revolver it shoots as well without the gas check as with. I just love when that happens.
BIC/BS

[August]

One of the few gunz I regret not purchasing was a Smith in 22 jet WITH a second factory cylinder in 22 LR for five and a half Bens about twenty years ago in Laramie. I fired one a long time ago and there was sure a whole lot of commotion associated with pulling the trigger!!! Great gun. You're a fortunate guy! Did your pistol come with a complete set of inserts?

As you probably already know, if you have any lubricant on your cases, or if the cylinders have any coating of oil, your gun will lock up like Fort Knox upon firing it. The shape of the case allows it to easily slip back into the recoil shield, expanding as it does so, and binding the gun completely. Having completely dry cylinders and cases prevents this as the case will "grab" the cylinder rather than slipping back upon firing. The one I used to shoot was cleaned with alcohol before every session to be doubly sure.

Enjoy your new gun!!! Wear your ears!!!

[Harry O]

I had one many years ago. Never tried it with cast lead bullets, though. I only used jacketed.

A few cautions. What everyone says about the cases setting back and jamming the gun are right. You absolutely have to degrease the chambers and the outside of the cases before firing if you want to spend more time shooting than trying to get the gun open. I used carbon tetrachloride way back when. I don't know if you can get it anymore with all the EPA stuff nowadays. I am sure there are other things that will work though.

I would wipe the cases down and run a patch down each chamber before going out to shoot. It made all the difference in the world. The carbon tet would make the bluing look funny, but when I cleaned the gun at the end of the day and wiped it down with some gunoil, the bluing came right back. No permanent damage.

I did not have a chrono back then, but I suspected that the velocities I was getting were quite a bit less than what was advertised. It was still a hot number after being used to HV .22LR's and hot handloaded .32 Longs.

[roger rabbit]

Yep, I got all the factory inserts but not the extra .22 LR cylinder. This gun was just as it came from factory - tools, box, papers, dried factory oil/grease and all. It was never used. I will have a can of brake cleaner and swabs for sure. A .223 bullet just slips through the chamber throats and according to my old Sierra manual the bore is .223 with a 1 in 15" twist rate. I'm thinking cast bullets might work out fine. I'll be taking a can of brake cleaner and swabs for those chambers.

[Bent Ramrod]

Roger,

I've used Ideal 225415 sized to .222" with 9.5 gr of Win 680 and gotten 2-1/8" at 25 yards. This boolit is a little heavy and was about at the limit of its stability at that range. The holes in the paper were close together, but a little bit oval, and the boolit obviously tumbled when a water-filled tin can was hit.

Also used the Winchester .22 WCF bullet with 2.25-3.0 gr of Bullseye with similar accuracy. The Hornet bullet is a plain base 45 gr; probably the Ideal 225438GC would do similarly.

[badgeredd]

Not that this is a lot of help but it is food for thought. I built a single shot 22 Super Jet on a shortened Mauser 93 action. "Hornet" was kind enough to bring me over some cast boolits for my 22 centerfires. My little guy really likes cast boolits. The first loads I tried shot into an inch at 50 yds and I worked up some others that were inside of .750" at the same range. The better group was with the Lyman 225438 @ 43.1 grains. The velocity was right at 2100 fps. They're 50/50 ww/lino for alloy. Maybe this will help you get started. I have
always wanted the Jet in a pistol but money was short when I found one.

Edd

[roger rabbit]

Thanks to everyone for their advice!