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This project is fifteen years in the making and I am just getting around to it. I about 90 gazillion spent .22 cases all the the way from shorts to WMR. But ninety per cent is long rifle. I have settled on BT's 69 grain bullets which means the long rifle length.
Out of all that what manufacturers should I sort for and keep and which should be scrapped? I only need 40 gazillion for home grown bullets.
Separate some by headstamps and weigh them and see what ones are the most consistent.
In my experience Ely match brass is the most consistent
I do them by head stamp. I weigh each one and core together add lead shavings before core seating to get my desired weight.
I now separate by head stamp BUT you can still run into cases that are of different lengths I forget what brands I have the most trouble with . Remington cases seem to give me the most trouble and Federal the least trouble much of that was taken care of when I started annealing the cases before derimming.
I am making most of my bullets in the 50 grain weight range as vermin is my most common target . Loaded to 3000 f/s from my Mini 14 they exit a coon broad side but not lengthwise each has been D.R.T. along with several skunk and possum . The skunks did spray/leak I find shot loads best for them .
I have been using BT’s set up for 55gr and have been swaging every .22 case I can find. I just finished my 2,500th bullet yesterday. I have found even with mixed headstamps the bullets are consistent enough for my usage. I do inspect and weigh every bullet and sort by culls (visible flaws such as poorly formed tips or firing pin scar holes), perfect 55.0gr, and everything else. Obviously there is some variation in the “everything else” category but they’re good enough to keep a bouncer jumping around at the 100yd range. I would be confident hunting coyotes with them.