Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .22-06

Have any of you fellas had or seen this cartridge? What bullet was used and for what? What velocities with these bullets?

The closest to the .22-06 I know of is the .22-240 Weatherby. Case capacity is close to the same. Shooting Times built two rifles so chambered in 1994, designed for shooting coyotes and wanting complete vaporization of the bullet inside the animal. The author used 40-grain Sierras and 50-grain Ballistic Tips. Using an Oehler M43 for pressure measurement and a 27" barrel:

40HP 4494fps @ 64,400 psi
50BT 4158fps @ 63,100 psi

The twist rates were 1:16", so heavier bullets could not be used - even the 55-grain BTips were not stable. The 50-grain bullet energy is 1920 fpe, so with the appropriate twist rate for heavier bullets ( say 1:10: ) a 64-grain bullet might reach ca. 3650 fps, and an 80-grainer in a tighter twist might reach ca. 3300 fps.

The .22-240 Wby velocities were higher than published .220 Swift speeds, but are the costs of a custom rifle, dies, cases and powder worth it? Only the shooter can answer that.

The .220 Howell is just about the same round (it uses slightly longer brass than the standard '06).

It was designed by Ken Howell to propel heavy bullets at high speed.

George

Ringman,

Here is a short article from Gerard @ GS Custom. The site contains photos, so use the link below the article:

THE 22X64 EXPERIMENT
AKA the 22-06 Easling

At GS Custom we have been shooting and hunting with a pair of 220 Swift rifles since the '97 season. We loaded our 40 gr HV bullet to 4300/4400 fps. We really enjoyed the 220 Swift as a small to medium game cartridge when used with HV bullets and we have taken a large number of Springbuck and Blesbuck with it. Shots ranged from close to as far as 435 metres. One rifle is used more frequently than the other and also serves as a loaner from time to time. This rifle has been used for most of the 224 caliber bullet development work and has had in excess of 2 500 shots through the barrel. We have not been able to destroy a single bullet in hunting and, at the start of the '02 season, there was also still no sign of throat erosion.

We decided to hot things up a bit and see what can be done to ad more speed to the Swift in order to try and find the limits of the bullet. After some measuring and figuring, we settled on lengthening a 22-250 reamer and wound up with a chamber that would accommodate a case that is 64mm long, with a base size equal to that of a 270 and a shoulder / neck configuration the same as that of a 22-250. Making cases is easy and, after reducing the neck from .270 to .224 and fireforming, they are neck sized and loaded with a standard 22-250 die set.

Load development resulted in our 40gr HV bullet being pushed at 4700 fps. We topped out at 4800 fps and then dropped back to 4700 fps for better case life. We stayed with the 40 gr HV because the rifle has a twist of one in 14". We are now building a rifle with a one in 8" twist Shilen barrel so that we can use our 60 gr HV bullet and we will use that rifle in the 2004 hunting season.

The objectives with this project were threefold. We were curious to see what happens when a bullet this fast is used under regular hunting conditions. Of concern were the factors of meat damage, how the bullet would perform on impact and what barrel life would be like.

We knew that external ballistics would exceed that of the 220 Swift and we were not dissapointed. The trajectory was noticeably flatter, extending the range over that of the Swift. Wind drift was reduced and, most of all, time of flight was reduced, making shot placement easier on walking animals and animals that would move unexpectedly as the shot broke.

It was also interesting to confirm, as we expected, that penetration of the 22x64 at closer ranges was reduced compared to the 220 Swift. On the first Springbuck cull, we were fortunate to have a group of 11 shooters and one of them used a 243 with jacketed lead bullets. These were premium quality European made bullets of 100 grains loaded to 2950 fps. After the hunt, we compared notes and took photographs of 3 animals that were shot at similar distances and angles with the 22x64 and the 243. The pictures are below and it is clear that, despite the extra 1750 fps the 22 has over the 243, meat damage is far less. Note that the two animals in the second row were shot on the shoulder and that both shoulders on both animals were broken. Meat damage is more than on the other four animals as a result of bone fragments contributing to the overall effect. This confirms our position that the major cause of meat damage is fragmentation of bullet or bone and not speed.

The blesbuck at the bottom of the set of photographs was shot at 120 metres. The bullet lodged under the skin on the far side and meat damage was approximately 2 kg. In contrast with this shot, a blesbuck shot a year earlier with the same bullet at 435 metres, at a muzzle velocity 400 fps less, resulted in complete penetration of the animal. Shots were at similar angles and position and both animals weighed within 2 kg of one another.

So far we have confirmed that the HV bullets will hold up at speeds that are far beyond what would be considered normal for a hunting bullet, that meat damage is not of any concern as it is well within acceptable limits and that the versatility of the rifle has greatly improved as a result of the extra 300 to 400 fps. The only factor remaining is to see how long the barrel will last. It has seen more than 2500 shots in excess of 4200 fps before being rechambered to 22x64 and the first two seasons as a 22x64 has accounted for another 250 shots at 4600 to 4800 fps. It still shoots half a minute and only time will tell what the future holds.

http://gunlinks.zibycom.com/members/002245268/Site2/22x64.html

nononsense,

Thanks for posting that for us. It is a very fun read.

Interesting story. I have to wonder at the pressures the fellow is running though; 4400 fps in a Swift is pretty far above all the currently listed pressure-tested loads I've seen. Getting an additional 300 fps above that is an impressive feat, but I suspect that the pressures are very high. In the ST article refered to in my previous post the author stated that he loaded to considerably higher velocities using traditional handloader pressure measurement ( sticky extraction, flattened primers, case expansion ); but once he installed the Oehler M43 he discovered his pressures were very high. Dropping down to 65,000 psi he still got an increase over Swift speeds, but not as much as before.

This appears to be a perfect example of the traditional wildcatter promoting his cartridge. He got very good performance increases with his new baby, but without pressure data who knows how high the pressure is. Nothing wrong with what he did, we as handloaders just have to realize there is no free lunch...what is a safe loading technique anymore?

Just a minor correction, the 220 Howell is the cartridge of the Howell line that is not longer than the standard 06 case. this round can be purchased through AHR I have one here in my hand and a 06 the Howell is shorter. It can also be made from 25-06 with out too much trouble. My Howell is not yet ready to shoot but soon I hope. I will be shooting 75-80 grain bullets at ranges exceeding 600 yards. The Howell appears to be the best of the 22-06 varients, dies are readily avaliable through Hornady brass is avaliable ready to go and Ken Howell is a fount of information and a real nice guy to boot.

Bullwnkl.

AK_Nimrod,

When I switched from Nosler 260 Partitions in my .375-.416 Rem. Mag (28" barrel with BIG muzzle brake:) to G.S. Custom 265 grainers, the velocity went from 2984 to 3055 feet per second. I supose they generate less presure because only the "bands" engage the rifleing. But...what do I know? Maybe the same thing happens with the 40 grainers in the big .22.

Ringman,

The cartridge was originally developed by Stanley Easling of Beaver Dams, NY. I quote: "The cartridge is made by necking down the 30/06 case to .22 caliber shortened by .030", or enough to make sure that the necks are square. The shoulder angle is somewhat steeper than the original '06 shoulder and an 89 grain .224 caliber bullet is used." From Ackley's Vol I of Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders. It is stated that Mr. Easling made his bullets from 6mm jacket cups 0.937" long, then then forming the bullets in a set of SAS dies.

59 gr./ H870/ 89 gr. bullet/ 3455 fps. (Ackley vol. I)

http://www.stevespages.com/224_32_89.html

More information about loads and somewhat about the logic of the design can be found by looking up .224 TTH (Texas Trophy Hunter cartridge) which has the same case volume and similar applications.

My loads for the .224-6mm Ackley Improved run between 3400 fps and 3500 fps with a slightly long barrel and Berger VLD bullets. These are under the average pressure for the 6mm Remington cartridge.

AK_Nimrod,

Ringman is correct, when using Gerard's bullets there is a noticeable increase in velocity. I'm testing his 22, 6.5 and 30 caliber HV bullets and I am seeing higher velocities across the board. Some of this can be attributed the "rings" that are machined into his line of bullets. The other difference is that these came coated with something similar to Moly so they are slippery when compared to standard solid alloy bullets. I should also state that I have no affiliation whatsoever with GS Custom and that I paid and waited for my bullets just like everyone else did.

As an after thought, Gerard was not pushing his wildcat as it was not his consideration but rather, the cartridge was used to advance the bullets that he is designing and manufacturing.

Best.

Guys, a dumb question supported by bad memory but didn't Remington, some years back, kick out an 06' ammo round named the Accelerator, or something like that? I think it was an 06' w/.22 sabot. What did it ever do and was it worth anything? Need to go to rem's website and check it out for myself. Regards.

It was a high speed miss.

Both figuratively and literally.................

Yes, as I recall the accelerator got 220 Swift velocity and and 30/30 with factory iron sight on a bad day accuracy.

BMT