RELOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

While back Denning sent me a bunch of primed .22 LONG RIFLE cases. I did not have the proper bullets but had reloaded a couple just to get a feel for it.

Just before I left last month to go to my daughter's and then on to The Shootists Holiday, Sean sent me a bunch of 40 gr. cast gascheck bullets. I have not measured them but figure they are .223" or .224".

Today I had caught up on work around the place and decided to try some of them.

BULLETS

I decided to start with 1.5 gr. of Bullseye and see how that worked. Weighing the powder was not hard but dumping it into the case was tedious. I had to wear magnifiers to see what I was doing! Spilled several. Knocked a couple over accidentally when the dinky little case stuck to my thumb 'cuz I had a little bullet lube on it. -sigh-

SEATING THE BULLET (there ain't much to grab onto)

CRIMPING

I found if I did not have the cartridge in the crimp tool properly, when I crimped it pushed the bullet out of the case and I had to start all over again.

LOADED AMMO

TEST FIRING

I fired loads into a pile of wadded up shop rags so I could recover the bullets. The first two shots were with 1.5 gr. Bullseye. The shot sounded about like a factory load.

I also loaded some with reclaimed powder from some .22's I had picked up on the range. The first was with 1.5 gr. and the second with 2.0 gr. of powder.

The load with 2.0 gr. was definitely hotter than any of the others.

The barrel and cylinder stayed clean. The next step will be to shoot them at 20 yards or so and check accuracy.