Speaking as a caster who regularly casts .22 bullets and doesn't feel handicapped doing so (it's not a bitch, in fact I think it's easier but that's me), I would welcome a cheap source of commercially swaged soft bullets. By cheap I mean cheap enough to make me feel comfortable spending money on them to abrogate the time/labor in casting them myself. I'm sitting on enough lead to sustain my shooting for the rest of my days, all of which cost me little or nothing, but what I'm valuing more and more as I get older is time.
If I were King (don't laugh, it could happen) I would decree that such .22 bullets be made available to everyone at low cost, along with Everlasting cases with powder capacity approximating .22LR brass. (An Everlasting case is/was a heavy duty case that didn't expand much, if any, under pressure of low-vel target loads, not requiring a trip through a sizing die, with a ledge built into the case below the mouth upon which the heel of the bullet rests when thumb seated.) Such a case would be a lot more substantial than a .22LR case- undoubtedly longer and bigger in diameter (and as such encompassing enough girth to support a primer, perhaps a new primer smaller than the current .175 diameter primers), but with a small internal volume sufficient to hold a pinch of Bullseye powder. I would issue an edict that gun chambers be cut to minimum dimensions to further guarantee that these Everlasting cases last forever. In the Royal Chambers we would use these guns with .22 roundballs and just the primer for propulsion, to shoot targets, Royal Rats, and serfs who were slow on their feet. Go ahead- elect me king. You're welcome.
An Everlasting case requires no loading tools other than a means to de- and re-cap, and a dipper with which to dispense powder into the case, and a tiny funnel. This isn't a new idea, they were extensively used by centerfire target shooters a century ago. Everything needed for a day of shooting contained in a cigar box. (Ten year old boy to perform the grunt work while you shoot, optional.)
Last edited by gnoahhh; 05/16/17.
