.22 cal molds

[Marlin Junky]

Are most .22 caliber molds available from the ferrous mold manufacturers dropping boolits that can be sized to .222" without wiping out the grease grooves? I've never cast anything smaller than .30 cal and am thinking about getting into casting for PCP air rifles in probably .22 caliber but I haven't completely eliminated the possibility of a .25 caliber gun yet.

MJ

[Buckshot]

..............Most 22 caliber moulds will drop a boolit of about .225" if using linotype. Using a softer alloy will naturally drop a slightly smaller OD slug, but in any event sizing down a couple thousandths isn't going to be wiping out any lube grooves.

..............Buckshot

[Bent Ramrod]

If worst comes to worst, you can size and lube in a 0.225" die, and then resize in a 0.222" die. The lube will keep the grooves their normal size. I do this with a grossly oversize mould that casts about 0.263" to bring it down to 0.258". It's extra work but cheaper than a custom mould.

[303Guy]

The smaller the casting the harder it is to cast. Just my observations.

[GabbyM]

I've made 9mm air gun bullets for people. They didn't like the grease grove filled but rather preferred a tumble lube. I used JPW. I'm not sure why that was. Maybe simply more of what they were used to and expected than any performance difference.

If you ask around you may find a plain based 22 mould someone would part with. They don't work all that well for 22 CF. Unless you want to shoot 22 RF velocity. My Lyman mould makes a perfect .225" bullet. I mix one 8lb ingot of 2/6 with one pound of linotype. That fills the little groves in the nose of my #225646.

[beagle]

Most will drop a strong .224" with WW alloy. Should hold up at .222" all right as most grooves are pretty deep./beagle

[1Shirt]

Most of my 22 molds drop 225-226, and if they didn't I would Beagle them to size and lube at 225.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Marlin Junky]

OK, thank you!... now what about rate of twist?

I'm looking at two guns. One with a 16" twist and one with an 18" twist. The velocity with both guns should be approaching the speed of sound with a 30-40 grain boolit. I'm thinking about having the mold hollow pointed but am not sure about the ground on which I'm about to tread.

MJ

[GabbyM]

you do not need a HP in an air rifle. Just cast pure lead or even a little tin and it will smash out fine. If you want it to hold together you'll need to alloy the metal to a BHN #8 or higher.

[Marlin Junky]

you do not need a HP in an air rifle. Just cast pure lead or even a little tin and it will smash out fine. If you want it to hold together you'll need to alloy the metal to a BHN #8 or higher.

GabbyM,

Please tell me about your airgun experience.

MJ

[GabbyM]

GabbyM,

Please tell me about your airgun experience.

MJ

Just bullets made to order then had pics sent back to me. 9mm was posted here last year or the year before. Could dig around for the fellows email addy then PM it to you if you'd like. He is a dealer for one of the Chinese air guns. He's an OK guy but once we figured out how to make the bullets he found a low cost vendor.

Velocity you are in isn't any new ground. 22 rim-fire bullets are not all the same hardness of lead or same velocity. They tailor the bullet to match performance claims on the box. If you want to sell an expanding bullet In 22 rim-fire how else can you sell it other than as a hollow point? Then you use dead soft lead so it mushes out a bit. The “hollow point “ blunts the point so you get a bit of flat point for inertia.


Suppose it would depend upon what you were shooting at as to how much rapid splat you'd need.
I've shot a lot of 22 rim-fire and never had much exit wound with LR round nose. HP may yield some performance but it would be a lot of work. Then anything showing up over a pound in weight you'd be short on penetration. For a Norway rat I'd go HP.
I've never had a squirrel do anything but fall out of a tree after a hit with any 22 RF.

Darn big fat rats will run off squealing when hit with a 22 short. But I'm sure they all died and it's not like I was planning on eating them. Grandpa told me to shoot them in the head but he was the only man I ever knew that could shoot a rat on the run in the head at fifty yards with a 22 short. 32 in a row one day.

[357maximum]

Grandpa told me to shoot them in the head but he was the only man I ever knew that could shoot a rat on the run in the head at fifty yards with a 22 short. 32 in a row one day.


Your Grandpa was one bad bad man. Very impressive..... wow.

How would a TCFP with tiny microbands work in an airgun if given the "LLA treatment" Much to my utter annoyance LLA+Mica outshoots all other traditional lubes in my LV .22 CF......I have tried almost all commercial plus many homebrews...it hurts my feeling but I go with what works.

The airifle runs similar speeds to my LV cast and the old TCFP standard velocity 22LR's killed all out of proportion to their speed....and they were very accurate.

I too have been thinking about a good 22 airgun and mentally dseigning projectiles for stuff I do not own...........YET.[smilie=p::veryconfu

[Doc Highwall]

Marlin Junky, remember it is bullet length not weight that will determine twist so hollow pointing will not help. With a 16" and 18" at slow velocities you are going to need a bullet that is barely over one caliber long. Take a look at what some of the people have for trouble shooting the 22 Hornet at a higher velocity with a 1-16" twist.

[HORNET]

MJ, It's not ferrous but BABore at BRP has made a version of his 226-47 GC as a plain base. It should work at about rimfire speeds with a 16" twist. I think the length is .480" from the drawing. You could ask him about it.

[Marlin Junky]

I'm all of a sudden getting more options than I can compute at this point. I am finding myself confused as to caliber too... I need to find out what the bore/groove diameters on the .25 caliber Sumatra is too.

Thanks for all the input,
MJ