I know this isn't an über ulta nitro max magnum, but I thought I'd share an old project of mine. I could put this under "small calibers" or "custom built rifles" but I suppose the interesting part of this is the wildcat side of it.

I have a few 22 Hornets that are great for shooting high volume on the cheap. However, two of them are single shots, and the other has a whopping 6-round magazine that only works with stubby bullets. I picked up a 30-round 30 Carbine magazine years ago and thought it would be neat to make a small 22 varmint rifle using it. So the 30 Carbine necked down to 22 is the Spitfire. I picked up a spitfire reamer, but the problem with the spitfire is that pointy 22 bullets don't fit a 30 Carbine magazine. I decided that I could just run the 5.7 Spitfire reamer in short to be able to use long pointy bullets in the 30 Carbine magazine. The plastic tipped bullets like the Nosler Ballistic Tip give the longest loaded cartridge length, which is limited to 1.69" by the magazine. The cases start at normal 30 Carbine length at 1.28" and by forming and trimming them to 1.15" I can use any bullet I want loaded out near the lands. This gives a case capacity of around 14.8 grains, which is approximately 1.5 grains more than a 22 Hornet. As expected, moderate loads in this configuration slightly exceed the performance of the 22 Hornet. My favorite varminting load is the 40 grain Ballistic tip, and my cheap plinking round is milsurp 55 grain FMJ. I've also had good luck cutting the back ends off of surplus tracer tips to yield a 40gr FMJ.

In concept this cartridge is not too different from the FN 5.7x28mm round, so I could call this one a 5.7x29. Or I could call it a 5.7 Spitfire Short, or maybe a Spitwad for being smaller, but hardly anyone has heard of the Spitfire anyway. For me, it's the Hornet I always wanted and one-ups the K-Hornet, so maybe L-Hornet fits?

So basically it's like a 22 Hornet with a bit more oomph that works well in the numerous 30 Carbine magazines and uses cheap and available reloading components. I'm already building another little bolt action to use these magazines and this round. Pet load is 13gr of W297, pistol primers, and a 40gr plastic tip at around 3200fps from a 20" barrel. When the big guns are cooling down this one gets to play.

Really neat project. roger

Congratulations for that (out of the box thinking )

I had the hornet out so I snapped a side-by-side pic:

That is really cool. What action are you going to use for the bolt gun?

really cool!
and thanks for confirming the 5.7x28 kinda sorta relationship to a rimless improved hornet

22 Hornet Rimless?
22 Yellowjacket?
22 hornet stinger?

Looks like a fun project. How's it shoot?

.....is that correct? 3200 fps with a 40gr out of a 20" barrel......wow! gotta love that....

Roger

The latest is a customized howa mini. The cz527 works too, but requires more cutting. The howas are nice receivers and cheap enough that I don't flinch when cutting on them. I see they're down to the $250 range for a barreled action.

40s and 50s shoot great out to around 300 yards. I have not tried anything heavier.

FNH product.

Their loads were rated at 2000fps w/40gr.
I pulled a bunch of those loads for the brass.
Only had 5gr of very fine powder, almost like dust. I loaded the bullets in .223's.

This is a military round and over a dozen varieties of bullets. No doubt at various velocities too.

This is the cartridge that asshole Arab shrink killed the soldiers with several years ago at Waco.

FNH makes both a carbine and pistol to shoot this.

Way back in the early 1950's Ackley tested the .30 carbine necked to .17 cal. Called it: PeeWee. I don't recall reading about it, but, I'd bet he tried the same in .22 cal about the same time.

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
FNH product.

I think you're talking about the 5.7x28. I'm talking about a wildcat, and for a while I was calling it a 5.7x29 because it's a little bigger than the FNH round. However, "spitwad" seems to be the name that's sticking. This name came from the "spitfire" which is the non-shortened version of the 22-30 Carbine.

Anyway, I got a batch of new brass that I formed, annealed, and loaded up. I think I'm ready to walk some pastures in the spring:

Thats the reason that we play/work with wildcats;just because it interests us.I've gilded the lily many times.