Filing down .22's into SWC's

[pmeisel]

Well guys, I broke down and ordered a set of Paco's tools. He doesn't take credit cards and my wife doesn't let me have a check book or very much cash, so I had to print the order form and ask her to write a check for me. Good thing my birthday is coming up.

I have been favoring the .22s at my house more and more lately. Less noise = more shooting. Cost is negligible. And varmint season is the longest.

[Markbo]

I have a die from Neal Waltz, bunch of Paco's tools and a now apparently discontinued HPing tool from Eabco. The latter is actually my favorite. Stupid simple and documented accuracy improver and POP improvement just like the others.

For those asking, I have not had any feeding problems in 10/22s which is where I have done most of my testing, with any of them.

Also for those wondering, Paco's tools take some practice since you are smacking something with a hammer - consistency is key. The Eabco tool (if you can find one) is dirt simple... install round in holder, drill out HP with attached (depth controlled) drill bit, drop round, repeat. The Waltz die is simple, very well made and repeatable. Super easy for a reloader. Like all things rimfire, a little testing is required to find the right size and shape for any particular gun.

[Wayne Smith]

I think it has been mentioned here but Paco's tools work much better with an arbor press than with a hammer. You don't need a big one.

[brotherdarrell]

I ran across this video late last night, so i downloaded it to share. A few things to consider: these were cci velociters modified with the Paco tool using a deadblow hammer and a light touch. At the top of the paper is the first un-altered shot and the four below are after a poa change. Then come four shots, with the fourth me fighting the savage magazine. This is all @ 50 yds.

A couple other aspects to consider: the 'factor' by which this improved is about normal, a 1" group to .25" group, for my savage. With some ammo it is much greater, ie. winchester. With my cz 452 ultra-lux group size shrunk by much less. The thing to remember is that the performance on game is much greater.

Also this is the smallest group I ever got with this rifle, paco-ized or not. The closest to this is cci sub-sonic which consistantly grouped from .5" - .75" @ 50 yds.

brotherdarrell





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfSXE...s5PusGsJNoDgb8

[Markbo]

I think it has been mentioned here but Paco's tools work much better with an arbor press than with a hammer. You don't need a big one.

Perhaps so. But I don't have an arbor press and all of Paco's instructions that I have ever seen describe hammer use.

[pmeisel]

A hammer is easier to pack than an arbor press....

[Larry Gibson]

A hammer is easier to pack than an arbor press....

That it is but a Lee hand press for the Waltz dies trumps....or is that check mate?

As mentioned I have both tools BTW so I base my reply on experience.

Larry Gibson

[Markbo]

I believe I'll stick with my RCBS single stage since I don't do all my adjusting in the field.

[cat223]

Back in the ol days, squirrel hunter's in this area would buy the solid point bullets(cheaper) and take a pocket knife and cut an X on the nose to get better expansion and it worked. The depth of the cut was key though.

I've heard my father-in-law talk about doing this to 22 bullets for squirrel hunting also. In theory it totally makes sense.

[tenx]

I made a similar tool to flatten (file) the tip of the bullet but I used the shank end of a large drill bit, seems they dont harden the whole bit, just the buisness end and that leaves the shank soft enough to drill and work with. Afterwards I heated it dull red and dropped it into a small can of oil (small fire, be careful). Hardened great, a file just polishes the end of the die, will probably out last me. Just my 2 cents worth.

[**oneshot**]

I've been playing with the Drock modifier. Flat points seem to be the way to go for me.

[zack]

I've made them out of car engine head bolts. Cut the bolt close to length on the bolt head end, then chuck it up in a drill press. Drill all the way through with a #73 or #74 bit held with vice grips. (You're turning the work, not the bit. Poor man's metal lathe.) Carefully file it off to your desired length and then case harden it with 'KASENIT". The case hardening will be hard enough that when you run the bullet nose across a file it won't cut the jig. Works very well and is fast to do a box for squirrel hunting. Yes, they are superior killers over round nose and won't blow up meat like a hi-speed hollow point. I've since moved on to a Neal Waltz Die, but it doesn't make any better flat point than the old ones I made. Zack

Been years since I made the jig. Forgot the drill bit size and glanced at a chart when I wrote this post. #74 would be way way too small. Had to of been a #1 or the next size smaller.

[Markbo]

I'd like to see a couple of pics of one of those if you have any Zack


oneshot - what is a Drock modifier?

[zack]

Alrighty. Here's three. KASENIT is cheap and I've had this pint can for years. A little goes a long ways. You can harden small parts with Kasenit and a propane torch. Any old wore out fine cut file is good enough. It won't be much good after you've drug that hardened jig across it anyway.
Nice big meplat and only arout 3 grains of lead was removed. I've made shorter ones but you can get them so short that you have feeding issues. Zack

[cast-n-blast]

Slick idea ! How about heating the bolt cherry red, and then oil quenching ?

[zack]

Slick idea ! How about heating the bolt cherry red, and then oil quenching ?

You can. IF you use stock with high enough carbon content to be heat treatable.

[Para Cassatt]

Great thread.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a Paco tool. It went into hiding for a few years, but surfaced recently and I pounced on it.

I use a smallish hammer with a plastic head. I drop it from the same height each time and only hold it twixt thumb and forefinger. I checked with a micrometer and the readings were pretty much identical.

My die has 223, 224 sizing chambers, but he now makes a 4 holer (noooooooooo not an outhouse, a die for 22LRs!). That would give you more sizing options.

I have knocked the points off a wheelbarrow load of milsurp ammo on the grinder as well as a few thousand Federal American Eagle L(pointy)RN 38s for use in my Rossi 92. These 38s with the lead tip knocked off them seemed as accurate as the un ground rounds, but I wasn't exactly bench resting them. I must try some 22s this way, see how they go.

[I'll Make Mine]

Well, this looks like an interesting project to use a piece of that 7/8"-14 rod I bought. Anyone know where I can get a shell holder to take .22 LR?

[uscra112]

I didn't use a shell holder in the normal sense. I made a solid, flat-topped replica by lightly machining a carriage bolt to drop into a .22 Hornet holder, so the cartridge is pressed all the way into the die, full stop. (There's a .080 deep counterbore that receives the rim.) Internally the setup allows for a rod to push the cartridge back out far enough that it can be easily pulled free. Honest, you'll have a much easier time doing this if you start with an old .44 or .45 sizer or seater die which has the large adjuster plug in the top, (i.e. not an RCBS), rather than trying to make it all from a piece of 7/8 all-thread. The threaded plug is already made for you, as is the internal thread in the die. You need the threaded top plug - it lets the punch be easily adjusted, easily exchanged if you want a different nose form, and has a hole already in it for the knockout rod.

(Check the next post for pictures.)