loading the .223 to 22lr levels

[eagleye]

Does anybody do this, can it be accurate?

Thanks, Pete

[Der Verge]

Some people do, and say it can be accurate. IMO, this is spending too much time, and more money, to do what your .22lr does already.

[BrentWin]

3 to 4grs. of Blue Dot with the 34-45 gr. bullet of your choice. I have tried several different bullets and most all will shoot around 3/4" at 50 yds. Thats minute of a squirrels head in my book.

[eagleye]

Some people do, and say it can be accurate. IMO, this is spending too much time, and more money, to do what your .22lr does already.

Proof that alternate realities do exist.

[1Shot]

...When my 10/22 will shoot this at 50yds. for 5 I see no reason to fool with it...Square is 1"...

[BrentWin]

eagleye

I know what you are talking about. That is the reason that I built this rifle to play with

http://savageshooters.com/SavageForu...c,25764.0.html

I know that there are lots of very accurate 22's out there, but I wanted something with the heft of a rifle. Besides, its something new to play with. Thats reason enough in it self.

[rangerwillie]

I took a 223 case and drilled the primer pocket out (1/4") . a little sanding on the case head. A 209 primer fits and rhe rifle (single shot)
closes fine. Insert a 22 cal pellet in the case mouth. You get a little pop and the pellet croneyed at 860 FPS. The red squirrls see no humor in this little project. very accurate. dan

[eagleye]

It's fun to explore the low end of a caliber, don't know why.

[stevec]

I took a 223 case and drilled the primer pocket out (1/4") . a little sanding on the case head. A 209 primer fits and rhe rifle (single shot)
closes fine. Insert a 22 cal pellet in the case mouth. You get a little pop and the pellet croneyed at 860 FPS. The red squirrls see no humor in this little project. very accurate. dan

I done the same thing with my .222, I could only get 450fps out of it. I garrentee that the sparrows hate it! ;D

Steve

[Blue Avenger]

now I don't have to waste all that FC brass with over-sized pockets :)

[outlawkyote]

I took a 223 case and drilled the primer pocket out (1/4") . a little sanding on the case head. A 209 primer fits and rhe rifle (single shot)
closes fine. Insert a 22 cal pellet in the case mouth. You get a little pop and the pellet croneyed at 860 FPS. The red squirrls see no humor in this little project. very accurate. dan

Anyone try this with a 17 rem?

[Eric in NC]

A big problem with cast bullets (or swaged pellets) in "modern" cartridges is the fast twist. You will have a hard time getting great accuracy with them (not saying it can't be done, but it is much harder). The older cartridges (or even rifles with the older twists seen in the small bores - 12" or 14" for 224 sized) will work a lot better than the newer fast twist.

The simple thing to do is a cartridge shaped chamber insert in 22LR or 22 mag from MCA in AK. The bullet has a lot of freebore with these, but I still get reasonable accuracy with these (the best I have played with is 32 H&R in a 303 Brit and 30 carbine in 30-06).

[stevec]

Blue, are you trying .222 or 223? Just curious. I opend mine in the lathe with a boring bar.

Steve

[Blue Avenger]

the big problem I am finding is the hole. fitting a shotgun primer is not going well. 1/4" drill ( .250) is to large and they fall in, 15/64 bit (.234) is to small and I can not press them in with out very excessive pressure. fed 209 primer is .240"

side note, tried enlarging to fit a large rifle primer. it is very time consuming for the equipment I have and was just something i tried while playing. but that at least worked as far as proper fit.

[stevec]

Not sure why my post ended up before yours Blue, but are you trying .22 or .223?

Steve

[Blue Avenger]

I did an edit, that made my post move
.223 FC brass.
Lath would work, a drill bit sure don't.

[chutesnreloads]

Some people do, and say it can be accurate. IMO, this is spending too much time, and more money, to do what your .22lr does already.

I tend to agree with this but here is my excuse.Got a bunch of 46gr. hp's I hoped would be like the 45gr. jhp's Winchester was loading in their "varmint package".Actually they're "hornet" bullets.Only remotely decent groups I got were at start loads.Now at 22mag velocities they group pretty well...I can see the impact in the scope...and they expand considerably better than my 22lr. Having said all that,I won't buy any more.

[btm_54]

3 to 4grs. of Blue Dot with the 34-45 gr. bullet of your choice. I have tried several different bullets and most all will shoot around 3/4" at 50 yds. Thats minute of a squirrels head in my book.

BD with Barnes 36gr VG is amazing in 223.
Pink mist and recoil is so low you can watch the show through the scope over 100 yards.
The barrel stays real clean as well.
I found it to be a really good starter load for children starting shooting.

[dolomite_supafly]

I had some primed brass that was splitting at the neck with full power loads so I had to use them for something else. I tried a few things then decided to put some 22 caliber bellets in the end of the case and used only the primer to launch them. They were very quiet and decently accurate out to 25 yards. Drop was about 5 inches but they grouped within an inch. No where near as fast as a 22lr but seemed a littel faster than CB's.

I have used Clays to load some lightweight stuff but it was inconsistent. I suspect you could use Trailboss and get better results because it is a fluffier powder, filling the case more.

Dolomite

[wbm]

Check this out. http://www.jamescalhoon.com/tobee2.php I loaded Sierra 40g loads with Blue Dot. They were about the equivalent of 22 Hornet loads. Lot's of fun, quiet, deadly. What's not to like?

[gpoldblue]

eagleye....I would let the .22 LR do what the cartridge does the best,but you can improve on the .22 Mag by using a 45gn bullet on top of 6.0gn's of Unique. My Rem 788,.223 shoots 5 shot 100yd groups of .5"-.6". at abt 1900fps. BTW...this load will also cycle a Mini-14,but not with the same accuracy level. Good luck.

[dolomite_supafly]

Since my last post in 2009 I have loaded a lot of subsonic 223. I use 4.7 grains of TrailBoss with Wolf Small Rifle Magnum primers pushing a 69 SMK loaded backwards. They seem reasonably accurate and hit steel with authority ccompared to a 22lr. Loading them backwards makes identifying them easy. It is also extremely quiet through a 22lr suppressor I got approved and built.

Dolomite

[noelfr]

If you will pull up the Hodgdon website and look at .223 loads there is a load for Clays. In a heavy bbl 223 there is no recoil and very little sound. I tried it as an experiment but never got around to accuracy testing.

[handirifle]

Here's the Hodgdons data for three diff powders

55 GR. HDY FMJ IMR Trail Boss .224" 2.200" 4.0 1074 (no data given)
55 GR. HDY FMJ Hodgdon Titegroup .224" 2.200" 3.1 1064 4,000 CUP
55 GR. HDY FMJ Hodgdon Clays .224" 2.200" 3.2 1060 3,700 CUP

The 55gr is the only bullet listed. Not sure how a lighter one would do with this load.

[handirifle]

Oh yes, for you guys hunting with these loads, I'd make sure game laws allow centerfire rifles on whatever you hunt. Some states limit squirrels to rimfire or shotguns only.