Lee Loader

Howdy all,

I've been thinking on putting together a low as possible cartridge for the .22 K hornet. The application is grey squirrel and rabbit pest control in the back yard. Needs to be as quiet as possible, inexpensive to reload for as possible and effective up to 50 yards tops. The rifle/cartridge will be used mostly for this purpose, though I may also use at longer distances or for inexpensive target practice at 100 yards.

To that end, I've been shopping molds. I know RD had a good mold designed for this caliber (.224) at one time, but I can't find it in production any where at the present. I found this mold, which came from a group buy in the past:

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_in ... fkqkog3uf4

It contains two plain base and two gas check cavities, so I could use it for short range PB and longer ranges GC. I don't need a ton of bullets, as this is mostly a hunting gun. The weight is in the right range and if cast in fairly soft lead such as W/W, should be good for subsonic velocities.

What's your thoughts?

Lee has a new C225-55-RF, it is the least expense to get started with.



My mold was a TLC225-50-RF.

RD,

How would that Lee bullet do in a 1:16 Twist barrel?

DaveInGA wrote:RD,

How would that Lee bullet do in a 1:16 Twist barrel?

Don't know because you would need the length. You might look on Lee's website to see if it is listed with product info. If it isn't listed you could call them.

Why are all the .224 bullet molds the FN design? I don't recall seeing any that are a spire point. Any particular reason why?

Edit: Actually looked through that site that is listed above and there are a few that are pointed and some round nose but a lot of them are flat point. I can understand the flat point for something like the 30-30 were it is in a tube magazine, are there tube fed guns that are chambered for the 22 hornet? All I have ever seen are single shot 22 hornets.

The quick and dirty answer is ease of machining the moulds . Typically the round and pointed nose require an extra set up with an 2 cutters . This applies whether the nose is cut 1st and matched or last to mate .

RBHarter wrote:The quick and dirty answer is ease of machining the moulds . Typically the round and pointed nose require an extra set up with an 2 cutters . This applies whether the nose is cut 1st and matched or last to mate .

that pretty much sums it up. Have attempted some small scale lathe boring the flat nose is decidedly easier and faster. Don't know if multi-axis CNC would make a difference as my Sherlines are all hand operated.

Make smoke,