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Genetics.

Last night

Flat ground with ankle high California grass... 😂
shell gas station near me hours

A little powder this AM.

Bee-licious




Browning M65 'High Grade', 218 Bee

Is there a reason these are loaded only to 2460 FPS? I load 45 grain hollow points to 2820 in my Bee which shoots really well. Nice rifle. I bought mine when they first came out.

An exerpt from an article that addresses your question!

"On the negative side, the Bee also arrived with a handicap that may have prevented it from shining more brightly. Whereas the Hornet was designed for use in bolt-action rifles, the Bee was designed for a rear-locking lever action rifle, and for this reason it was loaded to lower chamber pressure. Had both cartridges been loaded to the same pressure, the Bee would have been at least another 100 fps faster than the Hornet."......Layne Simpson, Rifle Shooter Magazine

https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/ammunition_rs_0108_09/84397

I bought the loaded rounds as I had sold my dies and brass when I sold my 17 HeBee and two other rifles chambered for 218 Bee. I've found 200 of the Speer Flat Point Bullets and 200 of the Hornady Bee bullets. It was a quick way to get fodder.

Gorgeous G !

Kinda chilly up this way !



Cheers Amigos !

Simpson is a little off base here as yes the Hornet was used in bolt action rifles to start with but the first commercial Hornet was the Savage 23D which had a 2 piece bolt with 2 rear locking lugs one of which was the bolt handle. Around 1964 I bought a very nice 23D hornet which was the first rifle I hand loaded for. It was not a particular strong action and current Hornet SAAMI specs call for around 40000 CUP of pressure or a little more, which is about the same as the BEE.
Winchester model 65’s could easily handle that pressure level and the Browning’s as we have which use the same action as the Browning 92 which were commercially made in both 44 and 357 Mag. which are loaded to about the same pressure. I had a Browning 92 in 44 mag. which I foolishly traded off. Neat little carbine.
I don’t know why CCC would load down their Bee loads but if I had just bought a Bee and considering the component shortage we are facing, I would have also bought a box just for the brass. If you do reload for your Bee take a look at Hodgeon’s data. With their CFE-BLK powder they list a load for 46 gr. Bullets at over 2900 FPS and less than 40000 CUP’s.
Looking at Simpsons load data for the Bee I found his Reloader #7 load is the same as mine except for I use Remington 45 gr. Hollow points. That load gives me 2820 fps.

Good to know!

I will be the first to admit that I'm not a rifle/cartridge/load expert.

In fact the only definition of an expert for which I qualify is:

an "ex" is a has been,

and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.

Yup! I resemble that remark!

Anywho,

Try to find 46 gr. Flat point Speer bullets. I searched for a couple days before I found two hundred. They are more scarce than proverbial hens teeth. I also acquired 100 of the 45 Gr. HP/Bee. I knew that the Speer flat points would work, and thought I'd take a chance of the 45 gr. Hollow points.

As mentioned previously I no longer had dies and just a few pieces of brass. When I saw the loaded rounds from CCC, in consideration of the price, I did not think I could go wrong.



Now I'm good to go!

Besides, I really bought this rifle as a curios. There are a number of rifles that I have wanted for years. This is one that caught my attention, it was one I had lusted after, and had the money at the time. I may shoot it , I may not. I do now have the ability to do so. It might just also make a great legacy rifle for one of my grandsons.

Now as to velocity. If I want fast, there is always the 223 AI, 22-250 or the 220 Swift. I've never been one to push the envelope on velocity. I develop all my loads over a chronograph and will trade velocity for accuracy any day. But that's just me.

If I do choose to develop loads for this rifle, I'll most likely do the 46 grain FP's out of the Speer #13 Manual with powders listed. I'll do the Hornady 45 Grainers out of Hornady# 10. I have CFE Black at my disposal and may try those loaded from loads listed in the Hodgdon Annual. It's possible I might even try some 45Gr. Nosler Solid Base.

Nice G, had a border buddy at High school, from a northern farm, that loved his .218 bee !

Truck gun for roos, wallabys, feral goats & pigs, foxes & such.

In that kids mind, it was the ultimate.

Frosty still;



Couple of "sun dogs";

Is that -40 degrees? Yikes.

It's only -40* Celsius. That means it's like...well it's also -40* F.

Yeah that's cold.

Perspective never ain't not intellesting.

Hint................

That’s fugging cold, I cannot do that.