Please excuse a totally uninformed old man for a foolish question. I recently came into possession of a 228 Ackley Magnum rifle. It is an Ackley made rifle so I don't want to shoot it a lot, but I DO want to try it out.

I have some .227 Hornady 70 grain bullets but I don't think they will stand up to the speeds the 228 will generate. They are built primarily for the old 22 Highpower.

I want to know if it makes sense to swage a .243 bullet to .228, or bump a .224 bullet up to .228, or back up and buy the dies to make the bullet from scratch?

I've been reloading for 35 years, but never really looked at bullet swaging with any serious intent before.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks.....

Could something like this work??

http://shop.tenburyguns.com/in...duct&product_id=8558

Thanks Antelope, I've looked at the Sellier & Bellot bullets, they are for 22 Highpower mostly (5.7 X 51 ?)... I couldn't find a source in the US for them. I appreciate you giving me the site, they are at least .228 bullets. I don't think they will stand up to the Ackley.

Old PO noted in his books that bullets for the Hi Power weren't adequate for hunting, but they may do for killing paper....

I'll probably order some and continue to look for a source of heavier built .228 bullets..

Thanks

Why wouldn't a .227" bullet not stand up exactly?
The "old" 22HP isn't a slouch when it comes to speed. Also, a lot of animals have been taken with the 22HP from deer on down. I suspect that PO was referring to the silvertip bullets which were not the best for anything more than a coyote. Surely modern bullets are much better.
I would give them a try anyway.

Did you mesure the inside dia. Years ago I read PO marked some 224 barrels 228 to get around the laws making the use of 224 calibers illegal.

I also use a lee sizeing die to size 429 bullets to 416 you could take a couple of them and make a 235 and a 228 and use 243 bullets.

Thanks Gents, I wasn't badmouthing the 22 Hi Power, I've got a brother that has killed a bunch of mule deer with a Savage 99 in 22 HP. I've been trying to talk him out of that rifle for years.

I think that if the .227 bullets will shoot accurately in the Ackley, they'll be perfectly adequate for trying the rifle out.

I suspect that the underlying problem is that if I know myself, I'll probably want to hunt with the rifle despite my saying I just want to shoot it a few times, (that's the sensible part of me talking).

The 227 bullets would probably work fine for antelope, but I worry about mulies, or perish the thought, hogs in Texas.

PD Shooter, I haven't slugged the barrel but I've fireformed some 7mm brass for the rifle, the diameter is a tad large for a fired 224. Also, the barrel is marked .228 on the bottom of the barrel where it can't be seen without removing the stock. I'm pretty confident that it is actually .228.

How do you use a sizing die to swage a bullet down?

Using sizng die to swage bullet down.

I place the die in my press apply a little lube start the bullet into the die and push it through with supplied pusher.

Lee dies are push through

Porkypine, if I were you, I'd just order .228 bullets from Huntington Custom Bullets.

I think that would be the best all-around solution.

DaMan you might just be right. Thanks all....

Or contact Dan at Cuttingedgebullets.com. I would suggest the latest addition to their line...the Raptor ESP. Same bullet can be loaded as a solid or "backwards" as a NonCon!

As said, Mr. Ackley with others developed the .228 to get around the laws forbidding the use of .224's on game. Made sense. The factory .224s were for pests. .22 Hornet. Etc.

Is yours the necked down '06 case with the belt swaged on. there were several.

If you don't have to have top velocity, .22 Hi Power bullets should serve. What do you plan to shoot besides paper.

Mr. Corbin, Dave, on his web sites, corbins.com, swage.com, etc., has a list of custom bullet makers who produce about anything your heart desires and pocket book permits. As said there are other sources of Hi power bullets in varying quality. I guess it was quite popular in Europe in double and triple guns for even larger deer. Happy Trails.

quote:

Originally posted by drewhenrytnt:
Or contact Dan at Cuttingedgebullets.com. I would suggest the latest addition to their line...the Raptor ESP. Same bullet can be loaded as a solid or "backwards" as a NonCon!

Drew, which of the .228" Cutting Edge Bullets would you recommend?!!!

Thats depends on what youo want to do with the bullet.

It would be a custom run. As there are none that I know of on the shelf. I know of no mfg that currently stocks .228 diameter bullets.

Dan would be the guy to contact for specifics.

I like the latest Rapter bullet. I have shot a lot of NonCons and they are fantastic.

quote:

Originally posted by drewhenrytnt:
Thats depends on what youo want to do with the bullet.

It would be a custom run. As there are none that I know of on the shelf. I know of no mfg that currently stocks .228 diameter bullets.

Then you missed my Huntington Custom Bullets link.

Guess I missed that.

How are Huntingtons made? If a customer wants a different profile or bullet type will it cost an arm and a leg for a new set of forming dies?

That is the beauty of Cutting Edge. Those bullets are all produced on a CNC Swiss screw machine. The exact same tooling is used to make all bullets. A simple program change is all that is necessary.

So by all means try what is readily available from Huntington, but remember what could be from Cutting Edge.

Happy Hunting!

quote:

I have some .227 Hornady 70 grain bullets but I don't think they will stand up to the speeds the 228 will generate. They are built primarily for the old 22 Highpower.

I would try these bullets rather just making an assumption.

When in doubt, I whip the old P.O Ackley Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders out!

Ackley emphasizes that the success of the .228 Ackley as a combo varmint/big game round was based on the use of a heavy jacketed 70 gr. bullet.

Ackley emphasized that the lighter jacketed bullets for the .22 Savage HP should only be used IF velocities were reduced and should only be used for varmint hunting.

Pg. 291 & 292 Volume I.

At 3,650 fps with the 70 gr bullet, I'm quite impressed with the .228 Ackley Mag.

But be aware....... the .228 Ackley Mag wasn't designed with barrel life in mind!

quote:

Originally posted by DaMan:
When in doubt, I whip the old P.O Ackley Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders out!

Ackley emphasizes that the success of the .228 Ackley as a combo varmint/big game round was based on the use of a heavy jacketed 70 gr. bullet.

Ackley emphasized that the lighter jacketed bullets for the .22 Savage HP should only be used IF velocities were reduced and should only be used for varmint hunting.

Pg. 291 & 292 Volume I.

At 3,650 fps with the 70 gr bullet, I'm quite impressed with the .228 Ackley Mag.

But be aware....... the .228 Ackley Mag wasn't designed with barrel life in mind!

Don,

Do you have something that shoots that size bullet? You seem to know some about it.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinJoe:
Do you have something that shoots that size bullet? You seem to know some about it.

I almost bought a Merkel Drilling 12/12/22Savage HP. But decided against it because of the oddball sized bullet and case.



The Savage HP was fairly popular in Europe for roe deer hunting.

No experience but I have read that bumping up is preferred to sizing down. Supposedly the jacket will spring back a bit and the core will loosen up. Wouldn't be a problem with mono bullets though, but I expect it would take a lot of force to resize a solid bullet.
C.G.B.

Can you re size a solid brass bullet ?

.

Oh, anything is possible. But practical?

quote:

Originally posted by DaMan:
Oh, anything is possible. But practical?

Thay (Solid Brass Bullets) are long enough as it is. The Brass would have to go somewhere so if it elongates the built even more !!!

.

I have read brass leaves more residues in the barrel. I read that in an artical where spend .22Lr shells were swaged into .224cal bullets. The principal was ok but not practical.

There are many grades of brass. What the composition of rimfire cases is I don't have a clue. The CEB bullets are driving bands that have very little surface area as compared to the bearing surface of a conventional solid. I shoot them in .375H&H and see quite a bit less fouling than conventional jacketed. I can't wait to get some Raptors 40gr for my Hornet.

As for other .228 bullets....Well I used to have a 228QT. 150gr bullet at 2700fps. Never recovered one. Wish I could remember the mfg of those bullets.

'Squatch

quote:

Originally posted by drewhenrytnt:As for other .228 bullets....Well I used to have a 228QT. 150gr bullet at 2700fps. Never recovered one. Wish I could remember the mfg of those bullets.

Yup! I bet you did!

LOve to have a .226 Barns QT. Getting these 150grain would mean swaging your own. Barel twist is 1:5,5.
Does anyone has a picture or a live round they could post on this special cartridge?.

quote:

Originally posted:
I have read brass leaves more residues in the barrel. I read that in an artical where spend .22Lr shells were swaged into .224cal bullets. The principal was ok but not practical.

Several rather "obscure" bullet companies in the U.S. got their start with guys making bullets in their garages, and using .22 RF cases for jackets...for instance, Sierra, Speer, and several others. You can tell how unpopular and impractical their bullets were by how poorly their businesses survived.

RF case brass HAS changed since before WWII...it now has more zinc, and therefor a lesser percentage of copper in it...and is harder. But it still works. I am still shooting some of the raft-full of 65 grain 6 m/m bullets and 58 grain .224" bullets I made using RF cases for jackets in the very early 1980s, using Corbin dies to make the jackets and bullets.

As I paid $100 per new set for each set, they are not benchrest quality dies nor are the resulting bullets. But they are PLENTY good enough for varmint hunting. I believe my best friend in Canada still has those dies (though I do not know if he is currently using them), and I would be quite happy to have them back, considering today's bullet prices.

I still have a 4-core mould, just in case one of these days I get lucky enough to get another set....

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

Several rather "obscure" bullet companies in the U.S. got their start with guys making bullets in their garages, and using .22 RF cases for jackets...for instance, Sierra, Speer, and several others. You can tell how unpopular and impractical their bullets were by how poorly their businesses survived.

RF case brass HAS changed since before WWII...it now has more zinc, and therefor a lesser percentage of copper in it...and is harder. But it still works. I am still shooting some of the raft-full of 65 grain 6 m/m bullets and 58 grain .224" bullets I made using RF cases for jackets in the very early 1980s, using Corbin dies to make the jackets and bullets.