Testing A New Bullet Design

[Johnch]

Friday was opening day for Ohio squirrel , Morning dove and some other stuff
OH YEA I have to go and get a MRI and a CT Scan

So this morning was opening day of Teal and Early Goose season
I took my lab as he "HAD" to fetch all the birds


A little after noon I decided to test a new bullet mold I had cut
I had posted about a wad cutter or close bullet for the 22 Hornet

I cut a 1 cavity mold for powder coating
No grease grove
A single crimp grove exactly in the center
Both ends are the same , a standard gas check shank

I casted about 100 bullets out of range lead
IMO Most of this lead is from people shooting store bought "Hard Cast" bullets
I find this lead is slightly harder than wheel weights

The bullets were 44 gr after the GC was installed

Hornady 22 cal GC
John Deere Green powder coat , sized to .225 after powder coating
The powder coating almost filled the crimp grove , I didn't crimp the bullets as I loaded them
Winchester 22 Hornet cases , neck sized only , slightly flared with a Lyman M Die
2400 powder
CCI Small Rifle primers

1450 FPS out of my Browning 22 Hornet rifle , Leupold 3x9x40 scope
This load shoots about 1" at 50yards
Just under 2" at 100 yards

6 "Test" Fox squirrels were picked out in a large White Oak at the edge of my dad's woods
A total of 6 "Test" rounds were used
All 6 "Test" rounds looked like they produced round holes in the heads of the 6 "Test" squirrels

John

[versa-06]

Time to "test" how they taste. How are ya gonna cook'em? -06

[missionary5155]

Fox squirrel are a good way to warm up skillet. Lots of onions and some Jalipino.

[Johnch]

I cooked 1 Friday evening , 1/4'ered it and cut off the ribs
The other 5 were also 1/4ered , but put in vacuum bags and frozen
Browned in a cast iron Dutch oven
I added a large amount of onions , Jalapeno , red & yellow bell peppers , Garlic , carrots and celery
With some beef stock to the Dutch oven
Slow cooked it in the Dutch oven for almost 2 hours total as I had some other stuff I had to do before eating
I added brown rice and let the rice cook till done

The squirrel meat fell off the bones

I love to eat squirrel
But it is 88 degrees today , so I plan on waiting till it cools off before I harvest more
I didn't go Teal or Goose hunting today either today
As IMO hunting is just not fun when I am sweating and swatting Skeeters

John

[Mk42gunner]

...As IMO hunting is just not fun when I am sweating and swatting Skeeters

John

John, Many things are not fun when you are sweating an swatting.

It sure sounds like you have a decent hunting boolit for most any .22 center fire. Pretty much duplicates the .22 WRF ballistics, which is not a bad place to be for small game.

I prefer my squirrels fried, probably why I try to shoot young ones.

Robert

[versa-06]

I'm impressed & educated. I didn't think that the wad cutter design would be that accurate at that distance. Good Show! -06

[ChristopherO]

One certainly doesn't need an HP when the whole front end is a massive flat nose. These experiments keep the enjoyment alive, don't they? And they vary the diet, as well.

[Ramjet-SS]

Outstanding love the story and the idea of making them your own. Delicious food.

[Johnch]

I'm impressed & educated. I didn't think that the wad cutter design would be that accurate at that distance. Good Show! -06

The fact that the 100 yards and less groups are that good
Is from the rifle
Jacketed reloads shoot 3/4" groups at 100 yards


I also tried 200 yards with the cast Sort of Wad Cutter cast bullet
Shot 2 groups
The first was 12" and the other was 14"+

Another thing I have learned

Not sure why , need to test more
I got 1 a flier at 100 yards in a second batch of 10 test , 3 shot groups

As I didn't weigh any of these bullets
I am guessing a void

John

[versa-06]

That rifle sounds like a Good'n. -06

[Good Cheer]

Thank you for the informative write up with hard info.

[wmitty]

John, would the boolit be large enough in diameter to try shooting it using a tumble lube like Ben’s Liquid Lube? It’s an interesting design and like the original Bator .224; has a large meplat for transferring kinetic energy to a target. I noticed the Bator was much more effective on p. dogs compared to Lee’s copy of the RCBS design when I tried them in the .222 REM.

[Johnch]

John, would the boolit be large enough in diameter to try shooting it using a tumble lube like Ben’s Liquid Lube? It’s an interesting design and like the original Bator .224; has a large meplat for transferring kinetic energy to a target. I noticed the Bator was much more effective on p. dogs compared to Lee’s copy of the RCBS design when I tried them in the .222 REM.

Yes
The powder coating is the same basic idea as Ben’s Liquid Lube or LEE Liquid Lube
I use Powder coating as I have it and it works

John

[popper]

I've pushed grooveless and lubed with 2 coats BLL to 1400 fps in 300 BO, no leading, no GC. Should work OK.