Calling Seafire, Rocky, and others.
I started running low on reloading projects a couple of weeks ago. I've got until about Mar 1 to fill before I can start getting down to the farm and chase turkeys. I've had all sorts of goofy projects come into my head, but one that percolated to the top was to finally get around to finding the cheapest alternative to 22 LR.
First off, I'm not knocking .22 LR. I've shot buckets of the stuff over the years. I have a slew of pistols and rifles. There are two problems with 22LR in my context. First, the ammo is the weak link in coming up with an accurate load. Second, the ammo is generally not reloadable. I don't mean to get into an argument with you on these two points. I'm just saying those were my reasons for excluding 22 LR.
9X19 mm seems to be the cheapest centerfire round out there, but nobody is making a 9mm bolt gun or a 9mm single shot. I have a 9mm carbine, and it does okay out to 75 yards, but it doesn't afford a good platform for accuracy.
As best as I can tell, 223 REM is the way to go for my project. I've got several rifles and 2 of them are bolt guns. I've got two sets of dies.
First off, as a platform for cheap plinking with a rifle, is there anything better?
My criteria:
1) Centerfire
2) Reloadable
3) Accuracy not limited by the cartridge design
4) Cheap and affordable components.
The only other candidates I can think of would be a 22 Hornet. A new rifle, new dies, etc. all put together, and I still have kind of a weak relative of the .223 REM. The other option might be Herr Regwell's 6X45, but I'd rather not get into a custom rifle, dies, etc. That sounds like an expensive way to shoot on the cheap.
Then it dawned on me that I had a pound of Bullseye laying about that I'd bought for a similar project, and I went back and found:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13496394/1I had originally thought about playing with light bullets, but the 55 grain FMJs are the cheapest to get. Even casting lead, 55 grain seems to be where it's at. Cool, I'm fine with that. I've got boxes of cheap military brass. .17 bullets are about 25% more expensive. So are sub-45 grain varmint 223s.
BTW: Jump in here if you know of a cheaper solution, given the criteria.
So, I'm going to finally play with "small game loads" in the .223 REM using pistol powder. My goal is to make holes in paper that are close to each other at 100 yards, and if a stray groundhog or starling wanders onto the field, I might take a poke at them. The only reason I'm picking 100 yards is I have a good solution for mounting targets at 100 yards, and 50 yards is kind of jenky.
My big question to y'all that I don't have an answer before is what load? I know I can start at 22 LR velocities and work up to 223 REM. However, what's going to be a good place to start when looking for an accuracy. I plan to work off primed brass and load at the bench, so I can start anywhere on the spectrum. Second, folks seem to use any sort of primer that would fit in a .223's pocket. What are your favorites?
Once I have a pet load developed, my next goal is to take my Hornady LNL AutoProgressive and run up a metric $hit-ton of the stuff and make this the official shamanic plinking load.
