Just finished a .223 Handi Bull Barrel project and wondering about shooting cast bullets. This will be the only gun I do not cast for unless I decide to just do it.
Anybody had any experience with this? I know my other Handi's like cast bullets just fine. My main concerns are what lube to use, and what alloy to cast.
Anybody tried COW in the .223?
Thanks
alan
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Just finished a .223 Handi Bull Barrel project and wondering about shooting cast bullets. This will be the only gun I do not cast for unless I decide to just do it.
Anybody had any experience with this? I know my other Handi's like cast bullets just fine. My main concerns are what lube to use, and what alloy to cast.
Anybody tried COW in the .223?
Thanks
alan
I shoot 22 cast quite a bit.Mainly in Savage 1-12” twist 22-250's with good luck.I like linotype alloy and NRA formula lube works just fine up to about 2400 fps.I dont think fillers (like COW) are needed in that case. A friends pet .223 load is with 10.5-12.0g of 5744 and the Lyman 225462.
What molds do you have in 22 to use? Of currently avalable molds I like the ones LBT offers.Veral can make it fit your rifles throating.I think the Handi's are 1-9” so a 60-80g bullet should work well.
Have fun.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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Jump in. I have been somewhat frustrated trying to get my 22 to shoot like I want but It does fair. Good enough to shoot squirrels with anyway.
I've tried several alloys and wheelweights with some tin have worked about as well as anything. I use LBT soft blue lube. Good stuff.
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I have had more luck with 22's since i went to 22-250 Savage and Stevens rifles.They are 1-12” twist and the throating seems well suited to many designs.Here is a series of groups with the LBT 60SP i had Veral make for my Stevens 200 sporter rifle.They are 5 shot groups at 100.It's actually fairly typical accuracy for this rifle.It's average is in the 1.25 to 1.5” range at 100.I get enough 1" groups to make it fun and once in awhile I get a 3/4” screamer.The “issue” i have is getting the groups to settle down in less than 3 to 4 shots.You can see on the target the sighter has two low then jumps up to one high shot. The #1 group below first shot is high(like the sighters) then the next four shots dropped down.The next two groups are nice and landed in the same basic area as the last 4 in groups #1. It doesn't seem to matter what the lube is either just barrel temperature.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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Oops........ replied to my own post on accident<G>
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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This morning, I got all of my molds out. I found that I have a RCBS .224 55gr (#22-055-RN 2C) that I didn't know about, so the next time I am casting I will do some this bullet.
It's amazing what you find when you are cleaning up your shop.
Jerry
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Hi
I shot my 22 hornet at 200yd 57gr. eagan & h108. In lot of wind even with flages. the best i did was 12'' group. It may get better i hope.
larkin
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Larkin,
I figure that is pretty good fopr the first time out. I find practice makes perfect, so I have a long ways to go.
Jerry
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Hi
I shot my 22 hornet at 200yd 57gr. eagan & h108. In lot of wind even with flages. the best i did was 12'' group. It may get better i hope.
larkin
What twist is your Hornet? The Hornets I had were 1-14 and 1-16 and wouldn't stabilize the Eagan MX3-22 very well.
With my Stevens 200 22-250 sporter 2.5"-4.5” is about the"all weather" group size i seem to get at 200. I'll get an occasional 2” group but only in fairly calm (or steady) wind.If its really windy flags dont seem to help much!!!
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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This morning, I got all of my molds out. I found that I have a RCBS .224 55gr (#22-055-RN 2C) that I didn't know about, so the next time I am casting I will do some this bullet.
It's amazing what you find when you are cleaning up your shop.
Jerry
That is one of my best casting molds I own regardless of caliber.I can cast 250+ per hour with a very low(almost none) reject rate.i just cant get it to shoot as well as it think it should.Paul Pollard has great luck with it in matches,he must have a magic touch or something.if it get 1-3/4” at 100 its tops for that one in the five rifles I have shot it in.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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HI
my rifle is a ballard kit gun barrel is 1in 9 scope lyman 20. my lube.
larkin
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HI
my rifle is a ballard kit gun barrel is 1in 9 scope lyman 20. my lube.
larkin
A 1-9 Hornet could be interesting.Did you build it just for cast bullets?? I would assume so it is a Ballard after all.I was going to build a .221 Fireball with a 1-9 then i found the 22-250's handle cast so well i just stuck with them.A friend has FBW in .25 Hornet that is a joy to shoot.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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HI
Yes for cast bullets i am a cba & assra member. The eagan is gaschk but bc with out
gaschk.
larkin
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I shoot a 221 Fireball Pistol and single shot 223 carbine with CBs, with a great deal of accuracy.
Jerry
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shoot a 221 Fireball Pistol and single shot 223 carbine with CBs, with a great deal of accuracy.
Details??
Load,bullet,accuracy,range etc...
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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My current range is divided up into 25 metres, 50 metres and 100 metres. This is my backyard. The local gun club has a longer range, but my vision isn't as good as it used to be, so I am restricted to 100 metres and on the big bore magnum stuff 200 metres.
The 223 single shoot is an original T/C Contender Carbine,
My CB loads are for a 44 gr 223 RCBS mold. Sized to .224. I use my own recipe for bullet lube, which is Beeswax, Carnuba wax and synthetic greases. This lube is a really high temp combination, requires some heat when lubing bullets. I am using Hornady gas checks on these bullets.
My loads are simple, about 8.5 grains of Unique for some loads, they go about 2100FPS and the other load I use is SR 4759, about 15 grains, the bullets travels at about 2400FPS. The bullets are Lyman #2, with maybe a little extra Tin content.
The 221 Firball is a 10 inch Contender, pretty much the same setup as the 223 bullets. The loads are a little different, I use 2400 in this cartridge, 13 grains, the velocity is some where around 2300 FPS. But remember this is called a Fireball for a reason, mostly the flames coming out of the barrel.
The 223 is accurate to .7 inchs with a 5 shoot group at 100 yards from a prone position. The fireball I shoot from a credmoor type of position, being careful where the muzzle is being pressed against. I burn my jeans and my leg when the muzzle was too close to me. I can do under an inch with the Fireball.
Hopefully I will have a “seasonally permanent” shooting bench built soon, that will help with my accuracy.
I want to cast up some of the 55 grain ones, since I found the mold this morning.
The real test of these small bullets is G'Hog hunting and some times Coyote hunting. When the target is stationary that is easy, when they are running like heck, that is a challenge.
Jerry
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Here is the image of the RCBS mold box with the part number. If you need fill of some type for the 223 case, use ground coffee, not used.
Jerry
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My loads are simple, about 8.5 grains of Unique for some loads, they go about 2100FPS and the other load I use is SR 4759, about 15 grains, the bullets travels at about 2400FPS. The bullets are Lyman #2, with maybe a little extra Tin content.
Similar to my loads in the 22-250.I get about 200 fps less though.
The 223 is accurate to .7 inchs with a 5 shoot group at 100 yards from a prone position.
I've shot a few groups that small with the Stevens,but cant average near that.Like many cast loads the point of impact is not as consistent as is desirable.(at least in my guns) Firing 10 shot groups points that out in a hurry!! And with 22's and varmints you target is generally smaller and that compounds the “wandering zero" problem.It is still not as hard as has been rumored to cast and shoot 22's with reasonable accuracy though.I am starting to believe 200 yds is the outer bounds of accuracy for the caliber.I have shot cast 22's at larger rocks at 300 and found it very hard to make consistent hits.I'd like to shoot at paper at longer distance to see whats going on.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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One of the best general purpose 22's i think a guy can own.The 55fn bullets shoots better than the 55sp in all of the guns i have tried it in.You have a good one.its an “improved” 225415 in my books.
George
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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George,
I find that consistency is critical in these smaller bullets. The brass, primers, etc have to be all the same for me to get this level of accuracy.
Plus having roughly 2.5 acres for a backyard helps a lot also. It is 1628 feet from my kitchen door to my backstop. I have it marked off for shooting from the house to the backstop and also my shooting positions in front of the backstop. So I judge the distance to the critters pretty well.
The first year I was here, these were tough shots, now that I have the distances marked and tried with many loads, in many weapons, it has gotten a lot easier.
But I am the guy who uses a 300 RUM on Coyotes, which turns them inside out.
Back when I was much younger I could do some really great shooting with some basic rifles. I did the 500 yard range in the Army as an expert with an issue grade M14 and then later with an M16. To get to this level I spent Saturdays at the range practicing. Now the only way I get to that distance is prone shooting of an M1A Ultra Match and in slow fire.
You are right that the 22 CB is probably not going to get any more accurate that what I am doing now. my shots have been about the same the last two years. I also think that even with factory match bullets, I won't get that much more accuracy. Soon I want to try some Barns Varmint Grenade bullets to see if I can get a little bit more out of these rifles. My AR 15, I use Sierra Match Kings, the 53 gr and 69gr BTHP.
But with CBs I seem to be at the end of the weapons accuracy as well as my own.
Jerry
If the G' Hog shot back, I would be using an AR15 instead of a single shot.
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.224 Casting
Some of my first casting for rifles was done for .224 bullets. I started with Lyman 225415 and later added 225462. I started with a Rem 722 in .222 and now have a Rem 788 in .223 and am wanting to try a BR gun with a .222 Hart barrel. I just cast a couple hundred 225415 bullets this weekend. I have single cavity Lyman molds for each. As far as weight 225415 weighs 48.1 grn and 225462 weighs 58.7 grn. This is for bullets that are sized, lubed and with gas checks. I size both .225 in my Lyman sizer. I use a Lyman 45 for small diameter bullets and my 450 for the bigger stuff. For powder I use Unique mostly 8.0 grn for each. Any primer I have at hand. Lately I have been using Carnauba Red 2700+ lube.
As far as performance 415 shoots better but 462 has it's good days. I have found one thing you are wasting your time at the Range if you don't use some kind of wind indicator, I use my BR flags. If you don't have a wind indicator when you shoot well you feel you had a good load. If you shoot bad you have no clue what happened. Same gun same load your targets are nothing but weather reports. At least if you set out a couple wind flags you know not to shoot when the wind is in an opposite direction of your last shot. Could reduce your group size by 50%. No bullet or barrel can take wind out as a factor. Your .223 should make a fine cast bullet cartridge. GI cases work fine plenty of Commercial cases out there also.
Stephen Perry
Angeles BR:fire
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I shoot the Lee Bator .22 bullet.It is a special order mold at Mid-South shooers supply.Is a gas checked 55 grainer out of ww + 1% tin.My load is 16 grns. H-4198 for about 2350 FPS. and 1.5
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I shoot the Lee Bator .22 bullet.It is a special order mold at Mid-South shooers supply.Is a gas checked 55 grainer out of ww + 1% tin.My load is 16 grns. H-4198 for about 2350 FPS. I've loaded these bullets up to 2850 FPS, with no leading,using alox for lube.These shot in a HB Handi-Rifle.I also cast the Lyman 225646.These come out at 64 grns. but don't shoot as well in the Handi-Rifle.They do however shoot pretty well in my Saiga in front of 15 grns. H-4198. I hope this info helps.Have fun!!!
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pat i.
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Aaron
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MarkinEllensburg
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