[Marshall Thompson]

@All,

Here some pictures of the priming process.

I am using a SP primer soldered to a copper wire as a measuring scoop to deliver ~20 mg of priming compound to each case. The tiny funnel that comes with the kit is very useful for this step.

Next several drops of a 50:50 water:alcohol solution are added to each case, and the slurry stirred/mixed with the small allen wrench on the upper right corner of the reloading tray. I add enough water so that the mixture is a light slurry that completely flows into the bottom of the case and doesn't stick to the allen wrench (i.e. no stiff clumps of mixture). I have found that this amount of primer compound completely covers the rim area and it has not been necessary to spin the mixture into the rim. After mixing, the cases are allowed to dry for a couple of days at room temperature. The end result is a nice thin layer of dried primer compound that covers the bottom of the case and fills the rim area. I am sure the drying could be done much faster using a food dehydrator. However, air drying has been fast enough for my purposes. Occasionally, I will test an empty case to make sure the primer compound is OK. I have had 100% success firing these empty cases in both my Ruger SR22 pistol and Savage bolt action rifle. Once dry, the cases are ready to reload.

Marshall

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@All,

The picture below shows tumble cleaned 22 LR brass and the resizing setup I am using. The brass was wet tumbled with SS pins for about 1 hour, the water shaken out of the cases (this is required since the surface tension of the water prevents it from just flowing out when the case is inverted), and the cases allowed to dry overnight.

I am using my Lee hand press because the shellholder will not fit in my Lee classic single stage press. It seems the base of the shellholder has too large a diameter to slide into the press ram. But, it fits the hand press without problems. Thankfully, it doesn't take much force to do the resizing operation so the hand press works great. I am unable to resize about 5% of the cases because the rim area has expanded/swollen so much it will not fit into the shellholder (they mainly tend to be CCI cases, but all headstamps have been found at one time or another). I also encounter about 1-2% of cases that almost don't touch the resizing die at all. I suspect they were low pressure rounds, perhaps subsonic. After the cases are resized, the rim area is checked/cleaned to make sure all priming residue has been removed. The residue I typically find looks like fine sand or glass powder which is not too surprising.

BTW, when I was removing the cases from the tumbler last night, I found an unfired Winchester 22 round that somehow was missed during my placing the fired casings into the tumbling drum. It had been immersed in the soapy water for 1 hour like the rest of the brass. Out of curiosity, I pulled the bullet to see if water had gotten into the powder/primer. Surprisingly, the inside of the case was bone dry. So, the lube/crimp was water tight in this round.

Marshall

 

[Hipshot]

Just a note! There was an article in the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN app. 50 yrs ago on reloading .22 rimfire cases.

Hip

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@Hipshot,

Just a note! There was an article in the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN app. 50 yrs ago on reloading .22 rimfire cases.

Hip

Do you have a copy or a link to the article? I would be interested in reading what they did.

Marshall

 

[g5m]

Anybody ever hears of their 'Sonic Wasp Waist Sonic Boat Tailed Bullets'? I've got some I've been intending to load for some time.

AC

LOL. I gave a box away a while back. 30 cal. Good looking bullet but I wasn't sure how well it would stay in a short necked case.

 

[g5m]

thanks for the info on the corrosive primer compound... I'd definitely look into the recipe you use...

With the potassium chlorate that also should be corrosive. (Hygroscopic).

Website for 22lrreloading is nice and clear. Prices have gone up a bit from those quoted in the video and on this thread.

 

[Hipshot]

American Rifleman had articles-----25 Years ago, 50 Years ago etc. They weren't very detailed!

Hip

 

[30wcf]

Marshall,
Thank you for the great illustrations and information on reloading .22 ammunition. Currently, I don't have an interest in repriming fired .22 cases but if I ever do, your instructions on making the priming mixture and applying it is excellent and I will follow them carefully. Thank you!

I have, however, reloaded .22 rim fire cases mostly with black powder and some with smokeless. Fortunately, I, along with several others who were interested in making b.p. .22's were able to purchase some primed .22 cases several years ago for that purpose. We also had a bullet mold designed to replicate the bullet taken from an original .22 B.P. cartridge.

The smokeless powders I tried were Titegroup and some old SR80 (Sporting Rifle) which, back in the day, was used in some of the factory .22 smokeless ammunition according to Phil Sharpe. Here were the results:

Titegroup:
1.0 - 849 f.p.s. avg
1.3 - 1081 f.p.s. avg
1.5 - 1260 f.p.s. avg

SR80
2.5 - 1161 f.p.s. avg. 2.5 grs is a capacity load under the 40 gr cast bullet

Swiss Null B Black Powder
4.5 - 1130 f.p.s. avg powder compressed .03"

What fun!

w30wcf

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@30wcf,

I think I have run across your loading information before at another forum. The Titegroup loading information is very enlightening. I am pretty sure that Titegroup is a faster powder than Bullseye. So, 1.5 gr of Titegroup would almost certainly generate a higher Pmax than 1.5 gr of Bullseye. That your load was OK gives me more confidence that 1.5 gr of Bullseye will be OK in my loads. I have never been able to find any real BP in my area, but I do have a lb of Pyrodex P. It might be interesting to try a capacity load of this powder in a few cases. I have read that Pyrodex is worse than BP for corrosion, so I have been reluctant to try it in any cartridges. Do you have any experience or opinion about using this powder in 22 LR?

Marshall

 

[bayjoe]

I got to try this!!
This looks way cool

 

[bayjoe]

What they fail to mention is their primer powder is corrosive. Therefore, to prevent damage to your barrel you will need to wash it out with hot water shortly after a shooting session. They also recommend using cap powder and strike anywhere match tips which are also corrosive. For about the same money you can buy a pound each of potassium chlorate, antimony sulfide, and sulfur and have enough material to prime 100s of thousands of cases.

Marshall

Where can you get these chemicals?

 

[CLAYPOOL]

I'm still waiting on my last order to them. They cashed the check and took bankruptcy. Nice move for a kid needing a push pole head and other important duck hunting stuff. May they rot in H***. I'm talking about Herters

 

[bayjoe]

You saying 22reloader went belly up?

 

[30wcf]

@30wcf,

I think I have run across your loading information before at another forum. The Titegroup loading information is very enlightening. I am pretty sure that Titegroup is a faster powder than Bullseye. So, 1.5 gr of Titegroup would almost certainly generate a higher Pmax than 1.5 gr of Bullseye. That your load was OK gives me more confidence that 1.5 gr of Bullseye will be OK in my loads. I have never been able to find any real BP in my area, but I do have a lb of Pyrodex P. It might be interesting to try a capacity load of this powder in a few cases. I have read that Pyrodex is worse than BP for corrosion, so I have been reluctant to try it in any cartridges. Do you have any experience or opinion about using this powder in 22 LR?

Marshall

Marshall,
I have found that Bullseye and Titegroup give pretty much the same ballistic performance in the .32 LC. That is, 2.0 grs of either powder produce pretty much identical velocities from my 1892 Marlin .32 Colt. Hodgdon shows Bullseye as #13 and Titegroup as #14 on their burn rate chart.
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Burn Rates - 2014-2015.pdf

Dissected .22 L.R. target ammunition contained typically 1.0 grs of powder and high Velocity, 1.5 grs.

I don't have any experience with Pyrodex P in the .22 but I have used it in the 44-40 where it worked well.
I used a solution of 50/50 White Vinegar / Water to clean followed by dry then an oily patch.
Other times, when I was a bit lazy, I just shot smokeless ammunition afterwards.

w30wcf

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@bayjoe,

What they fail to mention is their primer powder is corrosive. Therefore, to prevent damage to your barrel you will need to wash it out with hot water shortly after a shooting session. They also recommend using cap powder and strike anywhere match tips which are also corrosive. For about the same money you can buy a pound each of potassium chlorate, antimony sulfide, and sulfur and have enough material to prime 100s of thousands of cases.

Marshall

Where can you get these chemicals?

Google the pyrotechnical supply companies, or check eBay or even Amazon. Here is information from one company I have bought from before:

Hobby Chemical Supply

KClO3, $7.50/lb, $33.00/5 lb
Sb2S3, $18.50/lb
S, $2.50/lb

Many companies require orders of oxidizers and fuels to be placed separately since they can't be shipped together. These are not the best prices you can find, but are representative. These companies also look at what you are ordering and if they think you are trying to make prohibited things like flash powder, they will refuse your order. Finally, expect that if you place an order for these chemicals, your name will end up on some government agency's list. Personally, I don't care as I am using the materials for legitimate purposes.

Marshall

 

[bayjoe]

Thanks Marshall
I'll see what I can find and give this little project a go.

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@All,

Results of range testing. I fired about a dozen reloaded 22 LR rounds today using the 1.5 gr bullseye loading in a Savage Model 3D bolt action rifle and a Ruger SR22 pistol. The test rounds were compared to 40 gr LRN Blazer rounds that were purchased before the 2012 elections at Academy Sports.

First, all test rounds successfully fired. They seemed to be slightly hotter than the Blazer rounds, but not by much. The Ruger SR22 pistol cycled normally with the test rounds and recoil felt the same as the Blazer rounds. Inspecting the fired casings did not show any over pressure signs or distortion in the brass. Accuracy, as best I can tell using iron sights, was identical to the Blazer rounds.

In conclusion, the 22 LR reloads work well and appear to be accurate enough to use in taking small game.

As an aside, I have been looking at putting together a similar "kit" made with better components. So far, I have identified these parts:

1) CH-4D makes a 3 die set (resize/expander/seater) for 22 LR which seems to be a significant step up from using just the resizing die in the Sharpshooter's kit. Cost is $103 for the die set + $12 for the shellholder. Thats a little pricy if you are used to Lee Precision prices, but you are getting a high quality product from a well known manufacturer.

2) Lyman makes a GC mold, 225438, that works well for making suitable 42-45 gr bullets. Although it does not cast a truely heeled bullet, the diameter of the GC area (0.210") is almost perfect for 22 LR reloading. This mold has been recommended by several folks who load black powder 22 LR rounds. Cost is $73 + $33 for handles if you need them.

3) Surprisingly, one of the most useful parts of Sharpshooter's kit is the tiny plastic funnel for putting primer compound and gunpowder into the case. I found exactly the same funnels on eBay priced at $10 for 20.

4) I made my own cleaning/packer tool from a piece of old umbrella strut that I cut, filed and bent to fit into the rim area.

So, for about the same price as the kit, you can build/assemble a superior kit to make 22 LR reloads. One other item that would be nice is a loading block with properly sized holes. Frankford Arsenal's #1 Perfect Fit Reloading Tray for 25 ACP might be a good option, or you could just make your own using 1/4" holes.

Marshall

 

[30wcf]

Marshall,
THank you for the update. Regarding the mold, a better option than the 225438 is
Products | Old west bullet moulds scroll down to the 40 gr. bullet. The heel is the correct size at .210".

The 225438 heel is oversized at .215" (my mold) and can be used but the case mouth will need to be flaired and then the bullet seated in an oversized die followed by sizing in a .225" die.
For the sizing I use a .225" die in my lubrisizer. The assembled cartridge is placed nose down and then run into the die.

w30wcf

 

[35remington]

I'm not sure of the value of any load testing of this sort without chronograph results. "Seems slightly hotter than Blazer" isn't exactly quantifying an important variable to any substantial degree. How much hotter than Blazer seems like a very, very important thing to know. Velocity data will answer that question.

As I always have said, the science is in the shooting and the information gathered thereby. Don't give that short shrift by eliminating a very important observation....the actual velocity obtained. A better estimation of the safety of the load is thus gained.

 

[Marshall Thompson]

@35remington,

I'm not sure of the value of any load testing of this sort without chronograph results. "Seems slightly hotter than Blazer" isn't exactly quantifying an important variable to any substantial degree. How much hotter than Blazer seems like a very, very important thing to know. Velocity data will answer that question.

As I always have said, the science is in the shooting and the information gathered thereby. Don't give that short shrift by eliminating a very important observation....the actual velocity obtained. A better estimation of the safety of the load is thus gained.

I absolutely agree and will eventually get that data. The inside shooting range I was testing at, will not allow me to setup my chronograph in front of the bench :-( There is an outside range I use to do my chronograph measurements, but it is at a private gun club and I have to be invited by a member (its too expensive for me to join). It has been a while since I was there, so I should be able to get a friend who is a member to give me an invitation. Stay tuned, more testing is planned with measurements instead of subjective impressions ;-)

Marshall