Un-huh....primers.....

Just yesterday I finished a phase of load development for the Sneezer that after some 500 or so rounds with various powders, primers, different alloys with two bullet styles, shenanigans related to case prep, neck tension exploration, and...more....I finally settled on a number of loads that will be go to standards for the cartridge for purposes of the mass slaughter of feral swine. One of the front runners is L'il Gun. Blue Dot gets high marks as well. Once I jacked up the load density sufficiently AND used the correct primer, IMR 4227 began to hum.

Getting past the emotion and reducing myself to the simpler statistics I came to the conclusion that Hell will freeze before I purchase another lot of Winchester SPP or SRP. Praised be unto Zeus that I have an M1 Carbine which is of a non-discriminatory mind and cares not that all the holes aren't touching.

That said, I was stirring the pot yesterday, looking for my .22 RF alternative and perhaps invented a new round. It is what I'll call the .444 Marlin CB Short. It is of the same case specs as the .444 except the case length is much shorter. A fella can use .44 Mag brass, or even .44 Spec. if inclined. Velocity is within reasonable range of the infamous CCI .22 CB Short, or high 600's thru upper 700's, mebbe pinchin' 800 a little. Bullet is a 320 grain cruiser I designed and Steve Brooks worked up a mould on. Double duty Hindenburg if you pistoleros are interested. It has been a special purpose success.

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So yesterday I'm out there with vast diligence working on the .22 Alternative Improved and came up with this on the 50 yard line. Just a first jab and worthy of further examination.

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My estimate of costs:

14 cents/bullet based on lead/tin cost of $3.00/$20.00/pound. That can be reduced as tin is not necessary at this performance range, so lets call it 13.5 cents per bullet.
3.5 cents/round for powder (Blue Dot) and 3 cents per primer.

So, it's about 20 cents per round for cast lead home loaded mayhem. Yes, it is twice the caliber and 8 times the weight, but I'm not sure it factors to greater deadlines in linear fashion. It does meet standards for precision however.

And yeah, I screwed up transcribing the data on the lower pair.

I need another cuppa Joe,

Dan

I am..........disturbed.

Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain