Hi,
Does anyone use cast bullets in their 222?

I'm looking for advice on improving accuracy and speed.

At present I've tried the RCBS 55gn GC mold, I use 22Brn lead that has been purchased from a commercial source.

I'm weight sorting each projectile, seating the gas check in a seperate operation and using Lyman moly lube, velocity is 2100fps.
Barrel comes out clean with no leading.

I get any 4 shot groups that are 1", but they all have a flyer that takes the group to 1.5-1.7" at 100yds.Does anyone have any ideas how to eliminate the flyer?

I would like to get these going faster, hopefully at 2700fps.
Is anyone getting that speed?

Thanks

There is at least one article out there (if memory serves, it is in "The Art of Bullet Casting" from Wolfe Publishing, but now out of print) that claims the only way to truly get accurate results with 22 centerfire and cast bullets is to use linotype. The article states that there are just too many very small variables in bullets cast from anything else, and 22 bullets are quite small to start with.

I have shot a bunch of cast bullets in both .222 and 22-250. I use the same mold as you, the RCBS 55 grainer. I use wheelweights and felix lube(homemade) and get no leading. I cannot get this bullet to shoot in my .223 (win mod 70) but in .222 and 22-250 seems like it shoots whatever I used. I was using them on jackrabbits and results so good, I had no reason to try and increase the velocity. I also found results to be every bit as good without the gas check.
I also use the RCBS 95 grain mold in my .243. The bullet is similar shape. The book said velocity should be around 2400fps, but a guys chronograph said 2900??? He said the chronograph seemed accurate on all his loads. I check some other loads and results were as expected. Bottom line I don't know if they were 2900 but they were accurate, so I did try them on a deer with dismal results. No blood found and deer ran off. These also shot as well without gas check as they did with one.

When I first started casting .22 EVERYBODY always said you need to add tin to get proper fillout. I heard that so much, I finally bought some tin--could not tell a speck of difference. I have now learned that FEW of the folks saying get tin have any actual experience casting .22's. They aren't any different than larger ones, except one thing I have noticed. If you use a bottom pour furnace and hold the spout against the sprue cutter, the sprue will be so small that it wont release and you have to pick it off. Pour extra sprue and it will come right off.

I guess(?) I have (or at least I thought I had) a lot of experience with cast .22 bullets using 6 different moulds in the 222, the 223 and the 22-250 for over 35 years.

Whether you need to add tin to WWs depends on the composition of the WWs in your local. They do vary in the tin content which affects the casting charctoristics of the lead/antimon/tin ternery alloy. Without sufficient tin and with too much antimony the fillout of the mould cavities can be poor. If there is sufficient tin in the alloy then fillout will be good. Apparently there is sufficient tin in carpetman1's WW alloy to provide what he considers to be good fillout. That is not the case always as he implys however.

I add 2% tin to get complete fill out with the WWs I have been using (Pacific NW area WWs). If one gets anal and weighs the .22 cast bullets a larger variation will be noticeable w/o tin added. Also using a quality magnifyer with light will should sharper edges, less defects/rejects with better fillout from the tin added cast bullets.

I also use GCs and find that at higher velocities the GC is essential to excellent accuracy in the .222, .223 and the 22-250. If velocities are kept below 1100 fps then the non GC'd bullets seem to shoot ok but still not as good as with GCs.

Just my actual experience in loading thousands of cast .22 caliber bullets in numerous .222s, 223s and a couple 22-250s over 35+ years.

Larry Gibson

Larry Gibson--I was still hitting jackrabbits and was not getting leading when not using gas checks. I did keep the velocity the same around 2200fps. What was I losing?

Larry---Yea I listen to the wheelweights to see from their accent which part of the country they are from.

Thanks to those who commented, I think I've solved some of the problems.

Here's what I found.

The lead is from a commercial supplier and is of a known standard, used by a commercial projectile caster, so I've discounted that as a problem.
My cast projectiles have been visually inspected under a magnifying lens, all defects removed, then weighed and sorted into groups. This had no noticeable effect on accuracy. That has been discounted as a problem.

I was also getting flyers using jacketed projectiles.
These flyers were more common (Or so I thought)when using a cheaper Nosler shots projectile than when using a Hornady Match projectile, this has been proven to not be the case.

I had the rifle re-barreled using the same brand and quality of barrel but longer and lighter in profile (Shilen Match grade)using the same reamer and gunsmith.
The flyers persisted, so I started delving deeper into the causes and found 2 things that have cured the problem.
The first discovery was the fore end (BLR 222)was pressing so heavily on the barrel I couldn't remove it by hand (Prised it off)this helped a small amount as groups now shot much lower on the target than previously, but I was still getting unexplained flyers.
When re-sighting the rifle (Raising the rear sight-Peep)I noticed flyers were less.
The ah ha moment came when I took the rifle to a stockmaker and had the comb reduced in thickness and height.
Since doing this I have had many sub moa groups at 100yds using both brands of jacketed projectiles.
The real bonus is my cast loads, are now doing 2300fps(more powder) and nice round moa groups, which land a couple of inches lower than my jacketed loads at 100yds.

quote:

The ah ha moment came when I took the rifle to a stockmaker and had the comb reduced in thickness and height.

I had noticed this in my own shooting many years ago. In an effort to shoot tiny groups I was leaning on the rifle with my cheek to help control it at the moment it fired.
I was using a Hart front rest with the #1 owl ear bag and the Protector Tall bunny ear bag in the rear. My left hand grasped the fore end behind the front bag.

What changed my technique was shooting a rifle with heavy recoil. I was grasping the forend much tighter to help control recoil and finally put my hand under the fore end and on top of the bag. When I rested my face on the butt stock I could feel the weight of my head in my left hand. If I pressed down too much on the butt stock I could easily feel the difference.

I had essentially been bending the rifle slightly between the two sand bags using the weight of my head. When I stopped that the groups immediately improved especially the vertical dispersion.

That sounds like a BLR pre 81 possibly a Belgium gun? Glad that you found a good cure.