Jim Taylor
.22 Long Rifle Fun
Friday, March 19, 2021, 09:34

It was cold this morning so I spent a couple hours in the shop playing with the new .22 cases and checking some powder charges. I fired 6 different loads. Since I don't have any .22 caliber heel bullets yet I used the 40 gr. .22 Magnum bullets I had cast last week. I turned them around and shot them as a full wadcutter, the smaller nose acting as a heel. I took some nippers and cut the nose off the last loads I fired, making a lighter wadcutter.

From the Left 1.0 gr. Bullseye, 1.4 gr. Bullseye, 1.0 gr. unknown powder salvaged from .22 cases that failed to fire, 1.4 gr. Bullseye, 1.8 gr. Lil Gun, 2.0 gr. Bullseye.

Case heads

The hottest load was the 2.0 gr. Bullseye. It penetrated my stopping material (wadded up shop rags) more than twice as far as any of the loads and the report of the shot sounded much louder than the previous ones.

During the testing I discovered that these .22 cases are steel! I didn't know they made them of steel.

This emboldened me to try heavier loads. The hottest loads tried so far did not give any problems. BUT they did not obdurate the bullet base! I cast these for the .22 Magnum and they are too hard for the Long Rifle. I am gonna have to cast some out of a softer alloy.

Fun Stuff!