Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

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JimT
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Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

I finally got out to the range to chronograph the handloaded .22 rimfire stuff. I had the 40 gr. FP loaded with 1.5 gr. Bullseye and the 36 gr. HP loaded with 1.6 gr. Lil' Gun. All were shot out of my Ruger Single Six.

The 40 gr. with 1.5 gr. Bullseye averaged 1045 fps. I only had 5 which ain't a lot to get a good average. I kinda wonder if the bullets were pulling the crimp because the first two loads were over 1100 fps then it dropped into the middle 1000 and the last 2 were middle 900's.

Next I tried the 36 gr. HP with 1.6 gr. Lil' Gun. I had 15 of these loaded. The first shot went "piffle" and the bullet stopped halfway down the barrel. I got that cleared up, started again and "piffle" .. but a little louder. I pushed a rod down the bore and no obstruction. I fired the last 3 and all went "piffle" and if I watched close I could see the bullet go. Probably 300 or so fps. I reloaded and fired the next 5 and the 3rd one stopped in the bore. I fired all 15 and all went "piffle" about 300 fps except the two that stopped in the bore.

I had the single shot Winchester .22 rifle and am glad I did not start with that as I did not have a rod long enough to remove a stuck bullet with me. It clouded up and started raining and I packed up and came home. More testing is gonna be needed with other powders. I will try 231 and Unique next and see how they do.
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Grizz
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by Grizz »

that's very interesting. were the piffle velocities close to one another? were you looking for low noise and low velocities? or do you have a velocity goal?

sounds like a good time.
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

No, I was looking for standard or slightly faster velocity. I was expecting at least 1200 fps if not faster. And it just piffled out. Not sure what happened.
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by GunnyMack »

Jim , I suspect the lilgun isn't making a complete burn. Ive been playing with lilgun in 28 ga and find lots of un burned in the barrel. Its great in the Hornet & Bee, really like it in my 450 Bushmaster.
Bullseye is the right track I believe!
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

GunnyMack wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:50 pm Jim , I suspect the lilgun isn't making a complete burn. Ive been playing with lilgun in 28 ga and find lots of un burned in the barrel. Its great in the Hornet & Bee, really like it in my 450 Bushmaster.
Bullseye is the right track I believe!
The first one that stopped in the barrel .. when I pushed the bullet back out the breech it looked like the entire charge did not ignite. Mic McPherson told me the same thing. He did not think it would work. I tried anyway. :roll:

I am gonna try Unique. Mic thinks Power Pistol will work well also.
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by GunnyMack »

It will be an interesting experiment, please keeps us informed with your testing!
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

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samsi
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by samsi »

Interesting stuff, I'm especially looking forward to the results with Unique. As a kid growing up in Northern Minnesota, most of my .22 ammo came from the Holiday Station. They had their own brand of ammo (manufactured by Dominion in Canada) and I remember it being loaded with Unique - didn't know at the time but realized it later on when I started reloading.
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by earlmck »

Jim, you may be amused to hear that QuickLoad includes the 22 long rifle. QL thinks your 1.5 grains of Bullseye should get you 1075 fps and 90% powder burned, while your 1.6 grains Lil' Gun would get 400 fps if it could get out of the barrel, only 15% of powder burned. QL would be thinking close to max at 2.2 grains of Bullseye or 2.5 grains of Unique getting you around 1450 fps (these are with 6" bbl).

QL thinks a compressed load of Lil' Gun at 4.5 grains would still just barely beat 1000 fps and generate enough pressure to burn 40% of the powder charge. In other words, just too slow a powder for the application. Might be a heckuva target load however.
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

earlmck wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:44 pm Jim, you may be amused to hear that QuickLoad includes the 22 long rifle. QL thinks your 1.5 grains of Bullseye should get you 1075 fps and 90% powder burned, while your 1.6 grains Lil' Gun would get 400 fps if it could get out of the barrel, only 15% of powder burned. QL would be thinking close to max at 2.2 grains of Bullseye or 2.5 grains of Unique getting you around 1450 fps (these are with 6" bbl).

QL thinks a compressed load of Lil' Gun at 4.5 grains would still just barely beat 1000 fps and generate enough pressure to burn 40% of the powder charge. In other words, just too slow a powder for the application. Might be a heckuva target load however.
Thanks. Mic McPherson told me the same thing.
:D
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by AJMD429 »

Looks like some fun gun stuff...!
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by piller »

L'iL Gun seems to do better in longer barrels and with loads that fill the case for the things I use it in. It burns hot, but lots of unburned powder if in a short barrel or less than 90% case capacity. It also seems to prefer a magnum primer. My experience with it is sort of limited to .480 Ruger and .44 Magnum loads. I have used it in 20 gauge reloads. I prefer Universal in shotguns. It burns cleaner there versus L'iL Gun. In heavy .480 Ruger loads with 400 grain bullets or heavier, L'iL Gun does fine.
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JDL »

JimT, have you tried any Ram Shot Competition? It's a little faster than Bullseye.
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

JDL wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:29 pm JimT, have you tried any Ram Shot Competition? It's a little faster than Bullseye.
No I have not. QuickLoad seems to favor Power Pistol according to Mic McPherson. He felt that it should be a good one. The Bullseye load was the starting load. My next tests will include heavier powder charge of Bullseye plus some Unique loads. If I can find some of the Ram Shot I may try it .. and Power Pistol .. IF I can find it. But there's always next month. I ain't in a hurry. :D
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by Rusty »

When I looked at the .22 LR Reloader information one of the powders they had in mind at the time was Blue Dot.
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JimT
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Re: Chronographing Handloaded .22 Rimfires

Post by JimT »

Rusty wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 10:37 pm When I looked at the .22 LR Reloader information one of the powders they had in mind at the time was Blue Dot.
Yes. I have their list.
What little experience I have had, the powders with the higher nitroglycerine content light off the easiest. That makes a big difference when the priming is "weak."
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