Smokeless load data for .22LR

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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Reviving a couple of discussions from earlier this year, and last year, about reloading .22 rimfire. I was interested in making dummy rounds, and TruthTellers was looking to make actual ammunition -- but TT was going to use black powder.

Now that I have gotten beyond the dummy rounds, casual conversation with a friend has gotten us interested in reloading .22 rimfire. We know about the kits from .22 Reloader, but their primer compound is corrosive. We're eyeing a source for primed "brass" (which may be aluminum), so we're looking for load data for some of the popular smokeless powders. Has anyone encountered any articles or load data for .22 rimfire?
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
I found the instruction sheet for the .22 Reloaders kit.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0824/4621/files/22lr_Kit_Instructions.pdf?v=1620416664

They include some data for smokeless powders. The ones they show are up and down over a modestly wide range on the two comparative powder burn rate charts I have, but their loads are all between 1.0 and 1.5 grains -- all that varies is the muzzle velocity. That's suggesting to me that if I pick any powder that falls between IMR 700-X and Unique, and start with a charge weight of 1.0 grains, I should be in safe territory.

What am I missing?
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
I'm bringing this thread back to life because ... well, just because.

I have some "store bought" .22LR to shoot. I even have some .22 Short to play with. Nonetheless, a good friend and I became intrigued by the notion of being able to reload .22 and we each invested in the Sharpshooter .22 Reloader kits, complete with their resizing die and their primer compound. My friend has gotten a bit ahead of me -- he bought a melting pot and has cast a few bullets using the mold that's part of that kit.

(If anyone is curious what I'm blathering about: https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com/products/22-reloader-kit )

However, what we have determined is that the priming compound that Sharpshooter supplies is corrosive. (Multiple sources say it the same formula as classic H48 primer compound.) I seeking alternatives to that, I came across a source for pre-primed .22 LR cases. I have ordered a batch, which should arrive next week. Buying cases pre-primed with a non-corrosive primer will make testing a lot cleaner and easier, but both my friend and I are still interested in being able to REload fired cases, in the event that .22 ammo becomes unavailable or too expensive to contemplate.

Now the question is how much powder to use, and what powder? The instructions with the kit mention a couple of powders -- none of which we have. I embarked on an Internet expedition and I found that other people have gone this route ahead of us. What I'm finding is that **maybe** the exact powder used doesn't matter. In fact, I found one site that just said to use 1.0 grains of "any pistol powder."

I compiled all the data I could find into a spreadsheet. Most of it came from various forums I didn't even know about so, although the participants in those discussions generally seemed to be serious and somewhat reliable in their attitude -- I don't know that to be a fact. Consequently, I present that data as it is:

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The only one of those powders I have is Win 231. I'll try it, but I suspect it's not going to fill a large percentage of the case. Since 1.0 grains seems to be the starting point for all but one of the options that gave a range, I'm wondering if 1.0 grains of Trail Boss would work. I have a couple of pounds of Trail Boss that I bought for loading .45 Colt, .45 Schofield, and .44 Colt -- just before COVID-19 closed the world, so I haven't done anything with it.

So, to those who have more reloading experience than I and have worked with a wider range of powders ... whaddaya think?

xx
 

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U

Unclenick

Staff
I've never done it, but having looked at the small charge issue for 32 ACP, I concluded 231 was a good choice just because it is going to be easier to get the fine grains to hit a particular charge weight well, whether metering directly or metering short then trickling up. In the small powder space with the relatively large ring of priming mix around the rim, it seems unlikely to me that powder position in the case will be an issue. You can test that, though, by tilting the gun up or tilting it down just before firing to get the powder over the priming mix or over the bullet. See if the mean velocity has any significant difference between the two.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Scott5 said:
On the issue of reloading .22 lr you can get primed brass.
http://www.fedarm.com/product/22lr-p...-2000-ct-pack/
I don't know if spending $130 is worth experimenting with but it may turn into a hobby.
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That works out to 6-1/2 cents per round. Primed. From what I've been able to learn, a suitable powder charge will be on the order of 1.0 to 1.5 grains, of (apparently) whatever pistol powder you have on the shelf. If you cast your own bullets, you're shooting for maybe 7 or 8 cents per round, which is the equivalent of $4.00 for a box of fifty.

That's pretty good in today's market.
 
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mkl

New member
Why don't you pull one of the factory cartridges and dump the powder to get an idea of percent fill and powder weight. You could then reload it with bullseye or 231, replace the bullet and see how it shoots.
 
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stagpanther

New member
The fed arm brass is a bit thicker than the cutting edge brass (which I assume is CCI) I've run into problems with hand seating the solid bullets because of this--and the threaded seater die shown on Cutting Edge's website which I was hoping to use in a press for increased leverage is not what they are actually delivering, they will send a hand-held die instead.
 
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stagpanther

New member
Just out of curiosity--I just unthreaded the seating stem from the seating die and threaded it into the crimp die all way down--and it does successfully seat the bullet to the drive band on the bullet when used in a press. I'm not sure how concentric the seating is to the case, but that is still a step up from hand-seating bullets with a tight fit and allows the use of the shell holder and press--better than nothing.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
stagpanther said:
and the threaded seater die shown on Cutting Edge's website which I was hoping to use in a press for increased leverage is not what they are actually delivering, they will send a hand-held die instead.
Click to expand...
Now THAT's disappointing.

I may have to make my own. (I knew I bought that hobby lathe for a reason.)
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Update -- of sorts.

The primed cases arrived from FedArms and look very nice. They attract a magnet, so they are steel with a brass plating, but they look much nicer than the photo on the FedArms web site.

The case mouths are a bit small for use with the NAA 30-grain bullets, so I somewhat nervously used my home-made flaring tool to apply a slight bell, after which I was able to carefully press the bullets into place using a small bench vise. I had one bullet out of 15 that got started crooked and had to be discarded.

However, when it came time to try loading bullets cast from the Sharpshooter mould, my luck ran out. The heel on those bullets is so small that even after crimping with the Sharpshooter tool, the bullets just fall out of the cases. I'll need to spend more time with various measuring tools to see where the issue lies.

Not an auspicious start, unfortunately.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
In looking at that load data, it looks like one can push the little 22LR to its limits and get over 200 ft/lb. Impressive
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Yes ... but it generally works better if you can get the bullets to stay in the cases long enough to load 'em into the gun.

May have to order the 40-grain mould from Old West Bullet Moulds.
 
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