What is going on in regards to reloading the .22 RF?  Data, powder bullet design, results, etc?

Whatcheer & DWS,

  There was an article in The Journal last year(?) on this topic. I remember posting something to the effect that some shooters odwn around Tulsa had been pursuing the idea. The latest I heard they were going to try the .22 mag. cases as this would hold more powder. I tried it out a coupla times, but it became pretty obvious IMO that you'd need to go to a quicker twist to be able to use heavier bullets, and using the standard 38 or 40 gr. cast bullets you didn't really increase your accuracy all that much.

  I don't recall a rule in the rule book specifically stating that you couln't use other than factory .22 RF, but as DWS says it's not a particularly safe practice to be pulling bullets out of live .22 ammo. You'd be entirely on your own with this and individual R.O.'s might not allow you to use them.

  The whole idea seems to have died down as I haven't heard anything about it from the guys who went down to Tulsa last weekend.

  To show what would be needed..... I've been playing with a .22 Hornet using a 60 gr. spitzer bullet in a 1-12 twist barrel this Summer. In order to stabilize that bullet you have to get up into the 1600 fps range, and accuracy, and wind drift are no better than what you can get from a factory .22 RF, and might even be a little worse at this point in my experimentation. The best 200 yd. score I've been able to get with it so far is a 238-3c. Horizontal dispersion due to wind is what kills you.

PETE

Smruf,

  Yeah... Got that particular email from BP-L myself this morning. According to the guy who did the loading/shooting the load he used was 5 grs. of 4F Swiss. I'd post the whole message, but the moderator is kind of finicky about copying things off his Lists without specific permission of himself and the author.

  The only dangerous part of doing so would be taking the bullets out without setting one off. But there are people with the equipment who would do this for you...... for a price I imagine!

  The .22 RF was originally loaded with BP, and if my memory is right it was with a finer grade of powder than 4F. It was loaded well into the 20th Cent. as many felt it far superior in accuracy to the early smokeless loads of the time. Man! Can't you just imagine several people shooting these indoors by the light of a carbon arc, or kerosene lamp? Probably heated by a high sulpher coal stove.

  Actually, sounds like a "fun" thing if you could find a source of primed cases.

PETE

DonH,

  If I get you right you're talking about the .22 WCF. It was the basis for the .22 Hornet. The only difference between the two is the bore size. .226" for the WCF and .224" for the Hornet. Case capacity of the Hornet seems to be exactly the same as the .22 WCF and I've shot that quite a bit with BP. Lot of fun, but not particularly accurate beyond 75 yds.

PETE

DonH,

  Learned something today! The only .22 EX. Long I'm familiar with is a rimfire case. Wonder what a guy could make cases out of so he could at least try it out.

PETE

Hi Guys,
   The .22 extra long maynard is a .228 bore dia. I'm working
on a project with that case necked down to .224. About to have the reamer made for it. It looks pretty neat. It will be a while before the rifle is done. I'm using a Stevens 44 unless I find something better?  Plumloco