... I should have a .218 in a few days. It should be an interesting cartridge to try. Assuming I can find brass, of course

I purchased a #1S in 218Bee 2 weeks ago, haven't shoot it yet.

Have loaded Barnes 30,& 36 gr , and 40 gr Hornaday under some Lil
Gun.

Snow on the ground here but it's supposed to be 46 on Friday.

Some range time is the plan.

Found Winchester Brass, though it is $53.00 a hundred.



Flyer

Forgot to ask , what's the wood like, the wood on the S is OK, better then what's out there today.

I'll try and take some pics today.

Flyer.

This one seems to have nice wood with figure on both sides. Which of course is essential

That should be a nice rifle. Years ago a friend had one that he let me shoot on prairie dogs for part of a day. It was very accurate, and got about 100 fps more than the .22 Hornet. He was thinking about selling it and I considered it, but bought a 1B Hornet instead, because of the difficulty in finding Bee brass. Of course, these days Hornet brass is almost as tough to find!

I figure I can always neck down .25-20 err .32-20 brass.

Hopefully

Do you think a 40gr Ballistic tip or Vmax will work okay?

Either bullet will work fine!

I know somebody who probably has .25-20 brass, in case you can find anything else. Was at a gun show this spring and found a pile of .218 brass PLUS dies for a very low price. I had no need for it, but knew a friend was haggling over a Winchester 43, so picked it up for him. Don't think he wants to part with any....

Thanks!

I bought a No. 1S in 218 Bee at the LGS that belonged to a guy behind the counter - neat rifle. Shortly after, I was in Cheyenne for work and stopped in a small mom & pop gun shop and talked with a nice couple (owners I presumed) for a while. When I mentioned I had recently found a 218 Bee, he walks in the back and comes out with a box of once fired 218 Bee brass. He said their were 800 and asked if I was interested. When he said $40...

Later on, a friend of mine mentioned a custom No. 3 in 22 K-Hornet was at the same LGS. He was interested, but when I checked it out, I had to have it. I felt guilty that I bought it out from under him, so sold him my 218 Bee with most of the brass (I think I still have a couple hundred pieces). He doesn't shoot the 218 Bee and I think I could talk him out of it, but the K-Hornet is a lighter handier rifle and shoots better. Then I've considered rechambering the K-Hornet to a Mashburn Bee...

Oh the gyrations I go through (Looney comes to mind) ...

I bought a 1B in 218 the first year they were offered. It's one of my favorite rifles. Very accurate with a 40 V-Max and 12.5grs H110. R-7 also works well.

What rifle are you talking about chambered for the Bee? Are you talking a Ruger single shot? I own a Mod 43 and a Winnie Mod 65 chambered for the Bee, that was my dad's favorite caliber for varmint on the farm years ago. Try Graf & Sons for brass, the last time I checked Cabela's for factory ammo, it was $85 a box of 50.

Tex_n_cal: I love my Ruger #1-B in 218 Bee!
I bought mine new back in June of 1996.
Since then I have really become attached to this "cool" little Rifle.
Mine shoots the humble Sierra 50 grain Blitz bullet (not the BlitzKing!) quite well indeed.
I have a Leupold 6x18 variable scope on it and have killed all manner of Varmints with it from Ground Squirrels to Rock Chucks and from Weasels to Fox and Coyotes.
I hope you can find brass for your rig and I also hope yours shoots as well as mine.
My best group (5 shots at 100 yards) to date measured .585"!
My Ruger #1-B in 218 Bee's "twin" - a Ruger #1-B in 22 Hornet with a Leupold 6x18 variable scope on it has been "difficult" from day one, to obtain even "so-so" accuracy!
I don't know why.
If the "twin" (the 22 Hornet #1-B) did not have such great looking wood on it it would have been "down the road" LONG ago!
The 22 Hornet #1-B's best ever group (5 shots at 100 yards) measured .778" and that was somewhat of a fluke, I surmise.
It normally shoots right around 1.000"+ nowadays - even after years of "tweaking".
Again best of luck to you with the nifty new Rifle coming your way.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Built one on a Stevens 044-1/2 action about 22 yrs ago, it's a sweetie to shoot. Smokes gophers to 200yds, pound of powder goes a longggg way, what's not to like?

I bought this new in 1995?

sweet! That's a nice one. Still waiting on mine - seller has my MO, but the FFL hasn't been sent yet

It arrived today. The wood has more than a few dings, so I may have to think about steaming out the dents. But it is a spectacular piece of wood. Heavy feather crotch on the left side, heavy marble on the right.



I'm guessing Ruger chose to put that stock on one of the smaller calibers, as there is enough figure in the wrist that I think it might have trouble in a harder kicking caliber. Year of mfg is 1994. The barrel is very smooth, and very straight, so I am looking forward to shooting it.

Very nice.

You lucked out on the wood on that one!

I love my 2 1S 218 Bees. One of them also has fantastic wood.

I took the Bee to the range today. It was darned impressive. The very first load, 14 gr of Lil'Gun, put 3 in a 1/2"

That ought to make a dandy crow popper. Glad to hear it shoots so good for you.

One of the guys who worked for Nosler came to every Red Mist Prairie Dog Shoot. I shot with him a bunch.

He shot a sporterized Martini Cadet that he'd rebarreled to .218 Bee and he was deadly with the rifle.

I have great respect for that little round, having seen my friend shoot many thousands of dogs with it.

Blessings,

Steve

It was running the 40's in the 3200's, which is plenty speed.

The rifle has a typical Ruger-extra long throat. I may experiment a bit with heavier bullets, which hopefully could be seated closer to the lands.

Dusting off this old thread, since I got around to working some more with the .218. Might actually take it hunting this spring, in fact.

The rifle has a really long throat, which is not so great. But does have a 1 in 14" barrel, so it is possible to run longer bullets. I shot it today with 50gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, and it did well. Once I sorted out my technique it put 5 in .70" at 100 yards. I'm shallow seating bullets, just about .10" bullet in the neck, but of course with a single shot this is no problem. The 50gr Noslers have much better ballistic coefficients than the stubby Hornet slugs. Of course pointed bullets are not suitable for tubular magazines.

I've tried both Lil'Gun and 300MP, with the best loads today being with 300MP. I will also be trying slower powders, such as H4198 or 1680.

One good piece of news for Bee shooters is that Hornady will be running .218 brass in the near future.

Tex_n_cal: That is indeed good news for us 218 Bee users.
I will just swallow my pride ONCE and buy some of the Nosler 218 Bee brass (I am assuming it will be expensive like other Nosler brass offerings).
Thanks again for the good news.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy