.22 Rimfire availability/cost vs. centerfire reloading

[Fyodor]

Nice rifle! Seems appropriate to cure your needs

[RBHarter]

The little cases are tough to get slowed down. I had a 7x6.8 in a 21" bbl with a 1-9 twist I had to go below 4 gr of Unique with a 150 gr cast to get it subsonic.
A 222 with a 50 gr Bator from Lee was way over 2k fps with a Unique start load . There are several moulds in 22 cal of 75+ gr for the fast twists ,unchecked with 3-4 gr of Unique or faster should be close to subs . 2 gr of TG under a 4B (I think that's the .228) pellet should be about $3.50/100 to load and be about the same as a BB cap ,if all goes well its possible that the hammer fall will be louder than the shot.

I shot a 264 WM with a 260-120 paper patched with 8.0 of Unique at 1600 fps . Out of the 24" bbl the bullet crack was all the noise it made. I've read about buck (30 cal rb) being run in 30-30 as well.
Shop around I've seen the MVP and Axis on sale under $300 on several occasions with the Axis in the 220s . I wouldn't swear to it but I think I saw a replacement trigger guard for the Axis to take AR mags also . Based on my experience I wouldn't rule out a Savage 340 either and you might get 1 really cheap . The 1 I had in 222 shot well beyond it price point .

[357cyrus]

The 223 portion of my list makes more sense if you look at it like this... If I want to make a 223 move a 55 grain bullet at the speed a 22 hornet does, how much powder will it take of each type... And what will the resulting muzzle pressure be compared to the original hornet. I never made it through all the powders, just the handful shown there before I got a headache.

Id just like to make it clear too, that I didn't check with a manufacturer, or do any type of actual load development with the info I posted except the 480 Ruger and 444 Marin. The rest of the info are "crystal ball" "in theory" type numbers. I have no idea if it would be safe. Id call the manufacturer of the powder you intend to use and see what they say about reduced loads. I have called about IMR Trailboss and they've said you can load it down til the bullet gets stuck in the barrel, doesn't matter. That's the powder id use to go way low with velocity.

Quickload tells me with a 55 grain bullet and an 18" barrel the 218 bee should be able to get over 2500fps with 3 powders. The muzzle pressure there would be about 315 BAR. The program also predicts a 223 rem with the same barrel length and 100% fill charge of Trailboss will yield 1850 FPS w/ 176 BAR for muzzle pressure. If you wanted to duplicate the 218 bee, Id probably just use starting loads of anything recommended in a reloading manual. Thatd probably put you in the ball park.

[Steve]

I shot a 264 WM with a 260-120 paper patched with 8.0 of Unique at 1600 fps .

Hey RB, You have mentioned paper patch loads many times. I would like to give it a try someday soon. Could you recommend something good to read on the subject please.

Thanks,
Steve

[Ranch Dog]

RD, how hard do you think it would be to download the .223 to match the 218 Bee? I'm betting it would be pretty easy, based on 357Cyrus data. And I already have a lead mold or two sitting on the shelf, though I'd like a 40 grain RF, as most of mine are 55's and 60 grainers.

It wouldn't be hard at all but you know you want a Hornet! Here is the Hornet I would buy, Savage 340E, looks like it is new!

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Savage-H ... 812610.uts

[RBHarter]

I shot a 264 WM with a 260-120 paper patched with 8.0 of Unique at 1600 fps .

Hey RB, You have mentioned paper patch loads many times. I would like to give it a try someday soon. Could you recommend something good to read on the subject please.

Thanks,
Steve

If you go over to Castboolits.gunloads.com you can find a whole forum section dedicated to "smokeless paper patching" at the top of the same section there is a BP paper patching forum . It has a sticky about paper that is about a 30 minute read before comments. With roughly 2hr of reading and that much more fiddling with getting the 1st few patches on with an investment of $60 depending on what calibers and sizers you have on hand you can be ready for a brand new journey of discovery and agrevation and jubilation and disgust . Many people give up ,some just fall into it some rifles just work with it and some will just keep beating on you until you find that nitch .

[Steve]

I shot a 264 WM with a 260-120 paper patched with 8.0 of Unique at 1600 fps .

Hey RB, You have mentioned paper patch loads many times. I would like to give it a try someday soon. Could you recommend something good to read on the subject please.

Thanks,
Steve

If you go over to Castboolits.gunloads.com you can find a whole forum section dedicated to "smokeless paper patching" at the top of the same section there is a BP paper patching forum . It has a sticky about paper that is about a 30 minute read before comments. With roughly 2hr of reading and that much more fiddling with getting the 1st few patches on with an investment of $60 depending on what calibers and sizers you have on hand you can be ready for a brand new journey of discovery and agrevation and jubilation and disgust . Many people give up ,some just fall into it some rifles just work with it and some will just keep beating on you until you find that nitch .

Thanks RB I'm going to attack the 45 colt first, then 30-06.

[62chevy]

It cost me 0.01318 for 3.5 grains of TiteGroup and 0.037 for a primer, the lead was free as was the gas to cast the bullet. I shoot a 90 grain SWC from Lee in my 308 Win. and it has zero recoil. Thinking of going to 4 grains just to get some feed back, lol.

[DaveInGA]

RD, how hard do you think it would be to download the .223 to match the 218 Bee? I'm betting it would be pretty easy, based on 357Cyrus data. And I already have a lead mold or two sitting on the shelf, though I'd like a 40 grain RF, as most of mine are 55's and 60 grainers.

It wouldn't be hard at all but you know you want a Hornet! Here is the Hornet I would buy, Savage 340E, looks like it is new!

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Savage-H ... 812610.uts

The only thing wrong with that rifle is the price. I'm just too cheap to spend that much on a tree rat gun.

[buckeye43210]

I've seen a few youtube videos of people firing 22 pellets out of modified centerfire cartridge cases using large magnum rifle primers and 209 shotgun primers.

[youtube][/youtube]