Advice with Resizing .25 Bullets to .22

Trying to help someone resize .25 airgun pellets weighing about 30 grains more or less to .224 - .225 for use in a C&B mini revolver.
Airgun pellets are made from pure lead but come in a variety of shapes.
Some have skirts while other don't, and some resemble .22 short bullets.

.25 caliber pellets can measure .251 - .258 out of the tin depending on the company and the design.
With some it's mainly the skirt and the head that need to be resized because they have a wasp waist.
Others are cylindrical like classic .25 pistol bullets except they only weigh 30 grains.

The only intermediate Lee sizing die available is .243 and the final sizing die at either .224 or .225.
Can the cylindrical lead bullets be sized in 2 steps using a Lee bench press by first going from the .250's to .243, and then re-sizing the rest of the way to .224-5 which is .018 - .019 in one step?

There aren't any other Lee sizing dies in between .243 and .225 in the .230's.
Is resizing by .018 - .019 of lead going from .243 to .224 - 5 doable in a single re-sizing step?

Below is only one example of a .25 pellet needing to be resized to .22.

Attachment 268856

plug the bottom of the .225 size die and melt the .25 pellets in a spoon one at a time over a gas burner.
Then drop them. one at a time into the plugged die.
when solid,
unplug and drive out the. 225 bullet.
one at a time.
Use a golf tee as a plug.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alferd Packer

plug the bottom of the .225 size die and melt the .25 pellets in a spoon one at a time over a gas burner.
Then drop them. one at a time into the plugged die.
when solid,
unplug and drive out the. 225 bullet.
one at a time.
Use a golf tee as a plug.

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Good enough for cap and ball.

While pellets are soft lead the issue will be not shaving them in the die. One big problem is the small ram and lead rolling under the base. It would be easier to nake a core mould and cast the cores close and swage them from there.

Isnt there a specified size of buck shot to be used in these revolvers?

Im als curious with the longer bullet what that will do for the volume of powder the cylinder will hold

My approach would be to get a Lee 55gr 22 mold, cast them out of pure then cut them to length. You could either cut them behind the driving band and have a conical or figure out how long to make the base and have wadcutters. Cut them by either rolling them under a carpet knife blade or drill a hole in a block to length and fabricate a sprue cutter lever. Right now Midway has 2 cavity molds in stock at $22.

And then you roll a paper patch around these little guys?
:kidding:

Probably the easiest thing would be have Steve Brooks cut you a 22 caliber mould. Cast , tumble lube and shoot.
While it might seem expensive, it will likely be more efficient in time and money than taking a 7/8 x 14 grade 8 bolt, boring a straight hole with a proper sized number bit thru it, and machining a rod to fit the shell holder for a press to push one of those pellets thru.

Would this be a good candidate for PP? My fingers hurt thinking about wrapping these. I know black powder is ancient, but air is older. PP air rifle would be cool and probably no need to wipe between shots.

DHDeal the thought if cutting and wrapping those little bullets is giving me headaches and finger cramps. even cutting these parches would be a chore, but just think how many you would get from 1 sheet of paper. Lol. They would be pretty close to .300 wide and .750 long with the angled ends would be fun handling them. Bullet would need to be around .215 / .216 dia. And that small base fold under would be real fun to get right

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the question got asked on the wrong subforum.

I did imagine wrapping those bullets and then woke up. Nightmare it was...

Attachment 284375

I think your best bet would be to pick up a N.O.E. 225-35 rf... If you want closer to 30 grains then deck the mold to get rid of the gas check... The round you are showing is a H&N grizzly and IS very accurate in one of my .25 caliber Benji Marauders at about 48 fpe...
I am assuming it is an availability issue why you want to go with air rifle slugs...or you could just use the NAA 30 grain offerings..?

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/prod...225-35-rf-by5/

If you just want to try paper patching in the .224 barrel well there is a .220-nose/.222 drive band air rifle slug at noe but it is currently sold out...

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop...1-2-cavity-bt/

I have both the .217/.219 and .220/220... They work well in both choked and non choked air rifle barrels ... when sized right for the barrels... using it in the pistol the short rebated tail may not like being loaded hot... sort of like running bevel base rounds hot being prone to jetting..?

Not all air rifle pellets are pure lead... Crosman pellets are harder for example... they are 1% Sb...

https://www.pyramydair.com/ammo?calibers=0_22&pw=grain5