I remember reading a while back about someone using 22 pellets with just a primer as a way to plink and get used to your gun. This seems like a great idea but i was wondering what caliber they were using and how this might work in a 22-250? Any ideas anyone?

Hi Scott!
I use it in 222Rem but not for plinking but indoor hunting I get about 330f/s with only primer (sparrows) and more then double it with 1gr Red Dot (800f/s=pigeons). The pellets I use is ordinary Diablos weight about 15gr. I have the primed brass and pellets separated until firing, else I get problems with pellets falling out (or in). If you try this be sure that the first pellet are not stuck in the barrel before firing your second. The advantage with airgun pellets in your 22-250 would be that they are so soft that if they would stuck in the barrel you can probable push them out with your ordinary barrel brush.
When it com to plinking you have to keep the target within 15y, and less if you only use the primer.
Good luck/
PerN

Thank you very much for the answer, but if i were to use only a primer and 1 grain of anything, would it ignite the powder or would it just blow it down the barrel?

I do this with a 14" T/C barrel in .22 Hornet.

Well the Red Dot is not "any" powder it is among the fastest available
Offcourse I really do not know how your rifle will react so I think you better send it to me so I can try it

Good luck/
PerN

Hey Scott, PerN is giving you some good info. And like Intel6, I also messed with this using a Hornet.

Here are the things I noted and you will see they are similar to what PerN listed.

Yes, a Primer by itself will fire a Pellet in a "clean" barrel. But, the Primers burn rather dirty and will foul the barrel quickly. At that point, a Pellet might hang in the barrel just as PerN mentioned.

Thinking about it back then, I figured a small amount of Powder might make the Burn cleaner. I used WW231 starting at I think 0.3gr. However, a Flake type Powder (like PerN mentioned) would be better because it will ignite easier. By the time I reached about 1.6gr, accuracy began falling off. Of course, each barrel and caliber will be slightly different.

Also notice PerN mentioned the "weight" of the Pellet. This is a very important portion of this whole process. For example, I have some Prometheus Match Pellets that weigh 9.0gr and some regular old Crosman Copperhead Pellets that weigh 14.4gr. In this situation, the "heavier" Pellet tends to provide better accuracy because it seems to allow the Pressure to build just a bit more consistently. (Notice PerN's were 15gr.)

So, if you decide to give this a try, I'd recommend you use the heaviest Pellets you can find. I think Beeman lists the weight of their Pellets in their catalog. You might want to try one of the Beeman Sampler Packs and you can prove it for yourself.

If you can find a person who reloads for their Pistol or Shotgun, you can probably get them to give you a small jar of their fastest Powder to try out.

By the way, as I got to 1.6gr, I think blow-by was my problem then. Not sure, but the groups opened quickly. And you will find it very important to clean the barrel often to maintain any accuracy level at all.

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Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core

Couple more things. It helps to use a good field type pellet because they are thicker and don't have as thin of a skirt. I also found coating the pellet with some Lee liquid alox and letting it dry makes things easier.

Scott,

I used to shoot 22 pellets in my 220 swift. I got tired of pressing primers in and out with loading tools and also wanted more velocity so I drilled the primer pockets out so I could just press fit large shotgun primers with my fingers. It worked very well and I could pry them out with my thumbnail.

I also learned that if you placed the pellet in the case neck backwards that the skirt would stick perfectly at the mouth of the neck. Accuracy was still very good.

Also velocity was noticeably higher with the shotgun primers. I would clean the barrel about every 10 shots and accuracy was good enough to really plaster black birds at ranges up to 35 yds or so. It was a real hoot! I used my standard 4 to 12 Redfield varmit scope.

Good Shooting
Craftsman

How about primers only in small cases like .22 Hornet? It looks like you'd get higher velocity from the hornet as compared to a .22-250 or 220 Swift. Any comments from you intrepid experimenters?

By the way, are .223 cases large enough in base diameter to drill out to accept 209 primers?

I drilled out the primer of a 22 hornet for a shotgun primer. I had to skim a bit off the base as well to get the rifle (NEF) to close. After all that, it works pretty well. You can drop the pellet into the primer hole, then push it in with a stick. The primer can be taken out with fingernails. Anyway I chronograhed it at 760f/s. Accuracy was 10 shots in 1.75 at 25yds. The group was only .75 wide. They tended to drop the more I shot. I shot a gal milk bottle of water, and it penetrated both sides.

I enjoyed this project - thanks for the idea.

Robin

Say, Robin:

Interesting work there. Do the necks of the brass need to be resized between shots? What is the proper drill size for a good fit with a 209 shotgun primer? Have you experienced any primer residue built-up in the bore? And lastly, what kind of pellets of what weight are you using?

Thanks.

I had to resize before I started anything, or the neck would not hold the pellet, but I did not have to do it between shots. I measured the primer, and a 15/64 drill would probably be ideal. I used a 7/32 and enlarged it a little with a Dremel tool. I used Daisy 22 cal Max Speed pellets, the round, not the pointed ones. They weigh 14gr. The primers were Remington. The reason for this pellet/primer combination is that Walmart was selling them.

About residue build up. I chrono'ed the first 6 shots before shooting for aaccuracy. The first shot was around 850f/s, and dropped off fairly fast, then settled down at around 760f/s. Looking at the target, the velocity had dropped a bit after a further 10 shots, but I wasn't measuring. When I cleaned it, it was pretty grubby.

Robin

What kind of accuracy were you getting and at what distance? Also how loud is it? The reason i ask is because i would like to use this method not only to get used to my rifle, but also to knock off a few pest, the problem being, i live on a golf course. So id like to be accurate at decent ranges, but it also has to be realitivly silent. My old .177 pump pellet gun just isnt cutting it anymore.

It we pretty quiet, about as loud as a hand clap. The accuracy at 25yds was good, about .75", but strung out to about 1.75" as the barrel started to get dirty.

Robin

I do this with my 10" K-Hornet Contender. I use a magnum small rifle primer (CCI 450) and Crosman pellet (14.3 gn I think). They shoot about 400 fps. I set aside some cases where I enlarged the flashhole with a 1/8" drill and ran through the sizing die with the expander removed. Gives a very tight neck so the pellets don't fall all the way into the case. They will shoot dime sized groups at 10m. They sount about like a low powered pump air rifle, very quiet. Lot's of fun.

Patrick