anyone have any pet loads for the 22HP they'd like to share?
favorite load under a 70gr bullet?


thnx

Is it hard to find .228 bullets?

I believe .227 Hornadys work pretty well.

http://www.bullets-brass.com/proddetail.asp?prod=3367

I'm at work now, but I believe the load I use is 25 grains of 3031 with the Hornady bullet, resized Winchester 25-35 brass, and WLR primers. This isn't a max load as I recall, but please verify before using. I'll double check tonight when I get home.

Checked the load, and I had it right. Hornady lists the max as 27.4 with the 70 gr bullet. This gives me right around 2800 fps. Accuracy hasn't been too bad (<5" groups with a tang sight) through what started as a rusty barrel.

While on the subject of the 22 hp, do you have to have a case forming die (30-30 / 25-35) or can a full length die be used?

Thanks .. BP...

Don't waste your money on the 70 grain Hornady bullets, they do not stabilize in the 22HP worth a darn, at least the older ones I have. I have tried them in 3, 1899 22HP's and never could get them to work very well. The bullet you may want to look at is the 63 grain Sierra .224. I have some very good loads for that using Reloader 7. When I first tried them, they surprised the hell out of me. In my guns they shoot 1" groups at good velocity. I'm away from my loading data and don't want to give you any wrong load weights. Will get back to you here this evening.

The Handloader's Guide to Cart. Conversions says you need a three-die forming set to convert from 30-30.

Redding sells a single die for forming 22HP from 30-30 and I have one. It works reasonably well but if your not careful you will get wrinkles in the shoulder of the formed case, they don't hurt anything but do look a little funky. Best way is to size them in the form die, then remove the seating stem from your seating die and run them through it and then full length size them in the HP sizing die. By the way it is not an inexpensive die. If you can find it 25-35 brass is the way to go no special dies needed. The following loads work well in my HP, work up as required. I used reformed Rem. 30-30 cases & CCI 200 primers unless noted otherwise.
1.26.0gr RL15 Speer .224 70gr semi spitzer. Vel 2780fps
2.24.5gr 3031 " " " " " " 2743fps
3.24.0gr 3031 Hornady .227 70gr Vel 2755fps
4. 26.0gr RL15 " " " Norma brass Vel 2788fps
I have tried several other powders but those two worked best for me. RL7 showed some promise but pressures seemed to come up pretty fast so I quit using it. My rifle shoots .224 dia. bullets quite well so you might give them a try.

22HP from 30-30 is a pita. 22HP from 25-35 is the way to go , just run the 25-35 through the 22HP full length die.

22HP from 22HP is the absolute best way if you can get your hands on 'em


Mike

I mainly use .25/35 brass anymore. When I form .30/30 brass I first run them into a .250/3000 die to squeeze the necks to .25 caliber, then into the HiPower sizer. Real PIA, but I get the best case life from those made from .30/30's. Go figure.

Ditto the above responses re: Hornady .227's. Too long to stabilize in the old Savages. I made a die into which I put a Hornady bullet and then file it to a shorter length. The die guarantee's uniformity. By trimming a little over 1/10" off (only amounts to a couple of grains weight) I get them to shoot better. Another PIA.

I found that the 60 gr. .228's from Buffalo Arms shoot exceptionally well. My favorites are the dwindling stash of Speer 70gr. Semi-pointed .228's I have. Unfortunately they're a dicontinued item.

My best load with any of the 70 grainers is with 25.0gr. H-4895.

My favorite bullet is a 70gr. cast lead bullet, cast from an old #228367 Ideal mould. Scary accurate over 6gr. Unique, for about 14-1500fps. Very cheap shooting too- the biggest expense is the primer. You can get a similar 70gr. .228" hard cast lead bullet from The Bullshop up in Alaska. bullshop.gunloads.com I think he casts them from an RCBS mould.

After you get your cases formed, neck size only from there on out. Your cases will last longer. I also anneal the neck/shoulder area after forming because all of that resizing of the brass work-hardens it a bit. May or may not need to, but I figure it can't hurt.

Gary

+1 on the .25-35 brass--though I have succeeded in sizing down .30-30 to .22 HP by using .25-35 dies as the "in between" sizer.

I asked somebody at Hornady some years agoabout why so many .22 HP's don;t shoot their bulet very well. The answer is that the 70 .228 is primarily designed for the European market, for single-shots and combination guns chambered for the 5.6x52R--which is the same thing as the .22 HP EXCEPT they use a quicker twist in Euro-rifles. usually around 1-10.

I have had excellent luck with various .224 bullets using IMR3031, including most 50-55 grain varmint bullets, the 53-grain Barnes TSX, and the 60-grain Nosler Partition.

great info so far,much obliged.

I use 22 grains of Reloader 7, a Winchester primmer and a Sierra 63 grain .224 semi-spitzer. Should get around 2,900 fps in the Savage. My rifles will shoot that load into about an 1 to 1.5 inches at 100 yards using tang sights. It's been a good small game load as well. I have taken numerous coyotes with it.

I like Gary's idea of trimming the Hornadys down especially since I have most of a box left and no gun to shoot them in. I'll try it in the next couple of days.

MD, what would be a start and max load for a 63 grn. .224 with 3031?

BP...

(edit for correction)

I just looked through an old Lyman book my buddies dad gave me. It has an obsolete load section. The usual use at your own risk applies. It lists 70 gr jacketed, IMR 3031 25.5 as factory duplicate, 2624 fps, 20" Savage 99, 12 inch twist. The max for 3031 is 27.0 at 2777. Their accuracy load is 3031, 25.3 @2604.

There are also loads listed for .303, 30-40, .250, 38-55 .351 WSL, and .401WSL, and others. if anyone wants the data, ask.

Has any one used RCBS #10501 dies for the 223 wssm. I have some offer them to me when I posted an wtb add on a forum. He also offered me custom .228 70 grn copper jacketed swaged bullets is there any concerns with using them.

Anyone try the Speer 70 grain .224? Lot of great reviews on the Midway website for this bullet on deer. Looks like it is a round nose semi spitzer.

Speer Bullets 22 Caliber (224 Diameter) 70 Grain Semi-Spitzer Box of 100

No, it's .224 not .227/8.

The .224 Nosler Partition 60gr have a good reputation out of the 22HP.

Might be worth testing the Speer if you want to. I wouldn't shoot thousands of them out of a .228 barrel, but for hunting it shouldn't hurt anything.

Stefan, you've posted this question in a couple different threads. I'm a bit confused? Are you asking if you can use WSSM dies to load 22HP? The WSSM case is 1.670" long. The 22HP case is 2.05" long. I'd say nope.

Well, if you just wanted to neck size, sure. As long as you can guarantee that the case goes into the die dead straight...