Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles L'il Gun thoughts and questions...

Since L'il Gun is, or seems to be, the panacea for high velocity/pressure v. case life in the Hornet case, I wonder how it would work in a somewhat larger case. To wit, I'm thinking of trying it in my .22 Maximum Lovell (sort of an AI'ed R2 Lovell). More case capacity than a .218 Bee, but a little less than a .222. Cases for this thing are very dear, and losing one is a traumatic experience. 4198 is the current powder of choice, as it has been in the Lovells since the beginning of time. 2400 and 4227 works OK in it too, but with a good bit more pressure than with 4198 , at less velocity. I'm just looking for something different, not necessarily something miraculous.

I used Lil'Gun in a 221 Fireball. Be very careful because you can reach pressures too high for your case very quickly. I ended up with 16.2 grains pushing a 40-grain V-Max at 3500 fps in my Fireball with an 18" barrel.

Gnoahhh,
I have just started to experiment with Lil'Gun in my Maximum;Iam
starting with K Hornet loads with 45 gr bullets as my barrel is
from a 52 WIN (22 lr with a.223+ bore so I have to watch pressures. 13.5 gr with a 45Vmax ia shooting pretty well so far.
We're in the middle of winter in North Idaho so I won't get to do any more testing for a while.
Good Shooting,
Bill

After trying a bunch of powders in my .221 Fireball, like VarmintLooney I ended with Li'l Gun and 40-grain bullets. My rifle's a Remington 700 Classic and likes 15.5 grains for about 3450 with 40-grain Ballistic Tips, though it shoots about any 40 well with that powder charge.

G,
I have the same load as MD in my Fireball. LG is a little touchy, but when "right" is great stuff. Even if you can't find data for a Lovell, there should be something on the Net that gives you some idea of total case capacity as a starting point for some careful figuring.
I'm thinking LG might be pretty fast for a 222 case but might be fine under light bullets, like 40 grainers. So I'd go at this with the idea I'll only shoot light bullets and work up super carefully.
But then, there's really nothing wrong with 4198 -- perhaps you can get more velocity as is the situation for the Fireball. Worth a try, anyway.

Thanks, guys. I have something to think about now.