Bumping a really old thread, but Norm Nelson's notes (Author of many articles for Field and Stream, Outlife life, etc) said that he intentionally had a 22 Hi Power rebored to .250 to overcome the inaccuracy of the 22 HP. He was using store bought ammo for his 1913 rifle which I now possess. I have both the 1913 rifles, one in 22HP and the re-bored .250-3000. (Which I have test shot with no target and works great)
After reading this thread, in regards to the 22 HP, I'm leaning on a .224 62 gr bullet front of some Win 760 (Once I get my dies) What say you Savage brain trust?
If you read the first couple of pages of this thread you should know the answer to your question.
If I were just starting out with a .22HP I would simply buy a bag of .25-35 brass, some Buffalo Arms bullets (or scrounge around the internet for some old Speer 70 gr. or Sisk 50-70 gr. bullets), a can of either H-4895 or IMR-3031- and go forth and shoot stuff with it. I never tried 760 powder in either of the four .22HP tubes I feed. One thing is sure- I doubt you'll get too much of that slower powder in a HP case to cause trouble, but act prudently nonetheless. I always, always, found best accuracy with 23 gr. 3031 or 24 gr. H-4895/70 gr. bullet. The resulting lower pressure = better case life as well. Step them up a skinch for hunting loads if you feel it necessary.
You'll have to change out the expander button in your die if you insist on using .224 bullets, or perhaps just not use an expander button at all. Otherwise a .224 bullet will slide right on through the neck. (At least that's the case with my Redding dies.) Others disagree, but I'm in the camp of believing that .228 bullets should be used- if you're like me and will put a bazillion shots through those 100+ year old barrels. I could be all wet, but I figure every little bit of prevention of gas cutting helps with barrels that aren't made anymore. I'm 64 and probably have enough .228 jacketed bullets now to last me the rest of my life- and no, none are for sale!
The very best bang for the buck is to cast your own- cheap as all hell and won't wear the bore, and A-ok for plinking/targets/small animals. There was a guy on Gunbroker who was regularly selling .228 cast bullets cheaply. I saw his offerings recently but don't know if he is currently there. I don't care- I have a couple molds and a ton of lead.
