HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Welcome to the Leverguns.Com Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here ... politely.

Moderators: AmBraCol, Hobie

Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.

Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
JimT
Shootist
Posts: 5468
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:04 pm

HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by JimT »

Awhile back a friend sent me a bunch of primed .22 Long Rifle cases. When I got home from The Shootists Holiday I found another friend had sent me some 40 gr. cast gascheck bullets. Seating and crimping onto the gascheck step approximates the heel on a .22 Long Rifle bullet.
IMG_2297.JPG
I decided to start with 1.5 gr. of Bullseye. Expanding the case mouth proved challenging, as did most everything else. Like .. I can weigh 1.5 gr. on my electronic scale, but how do you get it into that dinkly little case? I had to wear magnifiers to see clearly what I was doing and even then I spilled several charges and had some cases tip over and dump their powder when they stuck to my thumb or finger because I had some bullet lube on there.

SEATING THE BULLET
IMG_2298.JPG
CRIMPING
IMG_2299.JPG
I found if the bullet was not seated properly or if I did not have the cartridge in the crimp tool properly, it would push the bullet out. That little gascheck step is not much to hang onto.

LOADED AMMO
IMG_2302.JPG
I fired two rounds into a bunch of wadded up shop rags to catch the bullets.
IMG_2303.JPG
Then I decided to load some with reclaimed powder from .22 Long Rifle cartridges that I had picked up on the range. These I loaded with 1.5 gr. and 2.0 grains.
IMG_2305.JPG
The Bullseye load and the 1.5 of reclaimed powder were about like a factory load. The 2.0 gr load was hotter.

The next step will be to take them to the range and see how they do.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Scott Tschirhart
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 3838
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2020 2:56 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

A very interesting experiment.
Lastmohecken
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1970
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by Lastmohecken »

Are these once fired brass, and how do you re-prime the cases?
NRA Life Member, Patron
User avatar
JimT
Shootist
Posts: 5468
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:04 pm

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by JimT »

Lastmohecken wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:07 pm Are these once fired brass, and how do you re-prime the cases?
They are new factory primed cases.
I have the tools to re-prime them but I doubt I will do it. Nice to have "just in case".
There are people on the internet who sell the reloading kits and the priming compound. One is here - https://22lrreloader.com/
Lastmohecken
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1970
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by Lastmohecken »

JimT wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:46 pm
Lastmohecken wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:07 pm Are these once fired brass, and how do you re-prime the cases?
They are new factory primed cases.
I have the tools to re-prime them but I doubt I will do it. Nice to have "just in case".
There are people on the internet who sell the reloading kits and the priming compound. One is here - https://22lrreloader.com/
Interesting: I had heard of reloading .22 cases, before but didn't know much about it. It never even occurred to me, that one could get new factory cases.
Thanks for the link.
NRA Life Member, Patron
User avatar
KirkD
Desktop Artiste
Posts: 4406
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:52 am
Location: Central Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by KirkD »

I never even thought about reloading 22 rimfire, nor did I know that there was a method to re-prime them. Very interesting .... but I think I'll just stockpile an extra few hundred and stick to loading my centerfire cartridges.
Kirk: An old geezer who loves the smell of freshly turned earth, old cedar rail fences, wood smoke, a crackling fireplace on a snowy evening, pristine wilderness lakes, the scent of
cedars and a magnificent Whitetail buck framed in the semi-buckhorn sights of a 120-year old Winchester.
Blog: https://www.kirkdurston.com/
User avatar
JimT
Shootist
Posts: 5468
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:04 pm

Re: HANDLOADING .22 LONG RIFLE AMMO

Post by JimT »

KirkD wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 8:03 am I never even thought about reloading 22 rimfire, nor did I know that there was a method to re-prime them. Very interesting .... but I think I'll just stockpile an extra few hundred and stick to loading my centerfire cartridges.
They are a pain to mess with. They make the 380 ACP seem large! I have to wear magnifiers just so I can see clearly. Tweezers should probably be part of the reloading kit.

I am messing with them because I wanted to learn how to do it BY DOING IT! Just watching a video or reading about it ain't enough for me.

:D
Post Reply