22 cast bullet loads.

[tinbullet]

Hello to all!

As of 10pm 8-13-11 I was a neube on this sight.
I've been reloading for 30 years and casting bullets my own bullets for at least 3 years.

I have a 223 rem heavy 26" 1:12 twist barrel rifle.
The barrel sluged at .224.

I am asking anyone if they have any favorite powder(s) and powder charges for for my caliber bullet combination. From what I have read I believe I should stay near the low 1900-2200 fps range.

I've cast some RCBS 22-055-SP 55 gr. lead bullets at 14-15 BHN
The bullets are gas checked, sized at .225 and lubed with lithi-bee red.
I have test fired some samples using 10gr. of 2400 powder that chronographed at 2150 FPS.
I have also have Unique and Hodgdon H335 available along with CCI small rifle primers.

I'm just interested in what others may have tried.

TINBULLET

[versifier]

I have no experience with the lube you're using, but I have had no problem pushing 55gr GC bullets above 2500fps without leading in other .22 centerfire cartridges. They were cast of lino, lubed with Liquid Alox, and sized .002-.003 over groove diameter, depending on the barrel.

Did you measure your slug with calipers or a micrometer? Calipers are just not accurate enough, even if they have a digital readout to four decimal places they are only accurate to .01 +/- .005. That's fine for measuring OAL, but not good enough for real precision where you need a micrometer. If your groove diameter is .224, then you may see some serious leading at the higher velocities without upping the size a bit. No barrel I've ever met can read however, and some, especially in the smaller calibers, do fine .001 over groove, but I have met both kinds.

Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook has plenty of .223 data for pistol and some rifle powders for GC bullets from 37-54gr.

My experiments in the .223 were with UNQ in a Contender carbine, but I had to sell the barrel before I got to try any other powders. Best groups with Lyman #225415 FNGC (53gr with my alloy) were in the 2-3" range @ 100yds @ around 2200fps and I was not satisfied with them as I was trying for a 200yd varmint load. I was planning next to try 700X and reduced loads of 3031 and 4895.

[tinbullet]

Thanks for the info.
I did use a dial caliper so I will try my mikes too.
The bullets cast at a tad over .225 so thats what I sluged with.
I also thinking of trying a reduced load of H335, but i'm not sure how much reduced yet.

[Paul B]

Dunno just how low you can go with H335. I've not done much with .22 caliber cast lead. Too many other projects keep geting in the way. The one thing I've learned though is the alloy is important. Straight wheel weights did not give good mold fill out. My pet allow which runs BHN 12 as is and 32 BHN when heat treated also made lousy bullets with way too many rejects. The only alloy that gave me a high percentage of good bullets was linotype. I tried 5.0 gr. of Unique with the Lyman #225415 more to make a plinking load than anything else. Worked just fine for that purpose but tore the living daylights out of a spinner target I had. I was hoping for .22 LR velocity but I'm estimating somewhere between .22 WRM and .22 Hornet for velocity.
I've also run a few Lyman #225438 bullets but haven't shot any. I figured that one at 44 gr. would be a better bullet for my .22 Hornet. The #225415 is used in my Kimber .223 Rem. Bullets are sized at .225" for that rifle.
I've been casting for rifle and handgun since 1954. Kind had to to be able to shoot my first handgun, an S&W 38/44 Ourdoorsman. Later I started casting to feed my first centerfire rifle, a Winchester M94 carbine. Worked up to full power and went hunting. I've been doing it ever since.
Paul B.

[tinbullet]

Thanks for the input Paul. I've bit the bullet and loaded up 100 test fire loads with various charges of 2400 powder, CCI primers and seating depths of .005, .010 & .020 off the rifle lands. We'll see if any of those combinations group up. If I get good results with 2400 I may try some loads with H108 (H110) that I have on hand. Works for the 44 mag. why not the 223 also? Right?

[runfiverun]

13 grs of 2400 is where i stopped with 2400 in my 223.
i go to 23.5 of i-4895 with basically the same boolit and a slightly different lube than you use.
the lthium-beeswax lube you have is fine.
it can be modified and adjusted for the higher velocities.
335 is used in velocities up through 2800 fps with cast by a good friend of mine in his 223.
the key to accuracy is to weight sort and visually sort the boolits before even weighing them.
and be picky very picky.
loading methods will vary your results also.
i have shot groups in the 3's measured outside to outside with the rcbs 55gr sp at 2750 fps in my 223 and it will do it consistently.
the slow twist bbl is your friend here.
and slow for case powder is gonna get you the velocity.

[tinbullet]

13 grs of 2400 is where i stopped with 2400 in my 223.
i go to 23.5 of i-4895 with basically the same boolit and a slightly different lube than you use.
The key to accuracy is to weight sort and visually sort the boolits before even weighing them and be picky very picky.

The Lyman 49th HI end is 11.5 for 2400 with the Lyman 55 gr. FN bullet of course.
Good to know that you got a little extra.

Now to the visual sort "be very picky" Can you elaberate on "picky" I usually will notice miss aligned gas checks and the nick or wrinkle but to tell you the truth my as cast bullets are pretty darn good coming out of the RCBS mold.

[runfiverun]

i run my mold hot it cools some i re-heat it and start over.
i started with linotype and backed that down to 4% tin and 6% antimony waterdropped.
i am not sure if the waterdropping helps any with such a small boolit.
i'd call the picky part like the look you'd give someone that owes you money it's payday and they just got a bonus but say they can't pay you back that 20.00.
the base is the most important part.
the driving bands are next.
when going for extreme accuracy i weight sort.
and then check and lube and weight sort again.
the heaviest are the ones i want.
the ones i eyeballed go for coke cans and rocks etc.

[Paul B]

"i am not sure if the waterdropping helps any with such a small boolit."

It's bound to help as the bullet will me harded than is non-dropped. The only problem is when you size and lube, you destroy the hardening effect of water dropping. That's why, although it's a lot more work, I cast my bullets, then size but do not lube. Then I heat treat then in a toaster over that I "calibrated" for a minimum of one hour, then quickly dump the bullets into cold water.
Then I lube the bullets with a sizing die .001" larger than what I sized the bullets.
If you're going to water drop your bullets, add about a 1/3 cup of small size magnum or chilled bird shot. Use a size 7 1/2 or smaller as the smaller sized shot will have a higher concentration of arsenic. Your alloy could easily get to be as hard as 32 BHN, possibly 33 BHN with the addition of that shot. THat's 50 percent harder than linotype.
Paul B.

[runfiverun]

i don't need the arsenic i use sulpher as a grain modifier for stuff like this.
there's such a small amount of alloy used i can dedicate a 10 lb pot and alloy from the foundry for it.
it's a target rifle and gets treated as such.
for stuff like the 30-30 i use ww's and some soft stuff i got and waterdrop them relying on the arsenic to do the job there.
the 22's are waterdropped to speed up the process of sorting and to facilitate cooling at the same speed and mainly so i can hold a rythmn in the casting.

[tinbullet]

My alloy mix tests at 14-15 bhn. With this alloy i've fired 30-30's that chrono @ 21-22 K fps, about the same fps that i'm planning on for the 223. I believe that sealing the bore is of prime importance, more so than hardness. I did mix a pound of 7 1/2 shot with the last 20# pot and water droped bullets but I did not get the results that others get. We'll work with what we have for now.