Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 218 bee help

I picked up a model 43 over the summer and to make a long story short I'm not happy with anything I've cooked up so far. The slow twist (I think its 1/16) is not helping. I tried 50gr Speers and they key holed at 50 yds. 40 gr vmax at least made round holes in the target but I couldn't get the accuracy I demand out of handloads. Right now the best I've been able to get is about 1 1/2 inch groups with 35gr vmax over i4227 and cci450.

I'm wondering if others have had similar experiences and what ever advice I can get. If i can't get this thing under an inch off the bench its probably going down the road.

Bbassi: Both of my Rifles in caliber 218 Bee prefer the Sierra 50 grain Blitz bullets (not BlitzKings!) for accuracy.
One Rifle is a Ruger #1-B with 26" barrel and a Leupold 6x18 variable and the other is a Kimber 82-B with 23 1/2" barrel and a 4x12 Leupold variable.
Both Rifles shoot groups (5 shots at 100 yards) normally just under .8".
I have owned several Winchester Model 43's in both 22 Hornet and 218 Bee calibers - I shot a few of them way back when.
I do not have their reloading information available to me anymore.
But 1 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100 yards with the 218 Bee would have satisfied me back then from those sporter weight guns.
Good luck with your vintage Varminter and be sure to try these nifty little Sierras.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Id be looking at Lil Gun and a .224 40-45gr.Hornet bullet.

Personally, Id be feeding it a 48gr. cast bullet sized to fit the throat with 13 grs. Lil Gun....

bbassi,

The .218 Bee, like early .22 Hornets, was designed around relatively light, blunt bullets--the reason for the 1-16 twist of older Bees and Hornets. They normally don't shoot heavier spitzers well--except at higher elevations, where the air is thinner, and even then stabilization is marginal. This is why you're getting the best results with the 35-grain V-Maxes.

In my experience, small cases like that are not only more sensitive to changes in components, but shorter bullets are also more sensitive to misalignment in the case. While it's often a PITA to measure bullet run-out in such small cartridges, it sometimes works wonders. Often primers make a big difference as well.

All that said, a couple of friends have had Model 43's and they are not usually super-accurate--though I suspect that with some work you can probably shrink groups to around an inch.

I have played with two M43's in my life, a Hornet and a Bee. In both I got best accuracy with plain vanilla Sierra 40 & 45 grain bullets driven with modest charges of 2400. L'il Gun wasn't around back then. Best I could make either of them do was an occasional MOA group, not often enough to call either one a MOA gun. Any bullet heavier than 45 grains was an invitation for disappointment. Actually, I got my best accuracy with a 35 grain cast bullet, Lyman 225107- consistent 10 shot ½" groups at 50 yards. (I like discussions like this as they give me an excuse to look back through my notebooks!)

The thing about .22CF's built in the 1930-1960 time period is we tend to analyze them with 21st century eyes. Bullets and powders today are way better than what the original owners had, and accuracy is generally better with them as a result. But we're still talking 70-80 year old gun making technology and as such we can't rightfully expect them to shoot as well as new stuff that's "hot off the press".

To have your eyes opened and to gain a perspective for expectations of this old stuff, dig up copies of C.S.Landis and F.C.Ness treatises on .22 centerfire rifles, loads, and history. (Ness, "Practical Dope on the .22", and Landis, ".22 Caliber Varmint Rifles"- both published immediately post-war) Therein you'll find that guys back then were happy to achieve 1½" groups with their Hornets and Bees, and were cock-a-hoop to have a .22CF rifle of any flavor that gave consistent MOA accuracy. Even at that, they managed to decimate local varmint populations and had as much fun working up loads as anybody drawing breath today. It's all a matter of perspective.

To the OP: keep experimenting. Try other light-ish bullets and other powder/primer combos. It's a neat old gun that deserves to be used, but don't expect it to perform like a new CZ. 1½" groups may not be worth writing home to Mom about, but trust me, you will still kill stuff within it's range limitations if you do your part.

Hornady makes a Bee bullet.

It works.

Try it.


http://www.hornady.com/store/22-Cal-.224-45-gr-HP-BEE/