Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 22WSM JLK Q

Lookin at putting together a 22WSM. The Case capacity(80+gr) with Hi-BC bullets, offers the performance I'm looking for. Running scenarios threw QuickLoad shows promise for anything I throw at it.

What I need to figure out (or figured out for me)is the correct twist for both JLK 75gr @ ~4000fps and 90gr @ 3700fps. I'm thinking 1:9. However, I don't have any experience w/ JLK.

Also, are there any QL users out there with bullet/powder/misc files to share.
I need all the help I can get!

Thanks
Mike C

A 9-inch twist would do well if the quality of the barrel is high. The 9-inch twist spins bullets at 288,000 rev/min at 3,700 ft/sec muzzle velocity, and 320,000 rev/min at 4,000 ft/sec. I don't know the spin limits of those particular bullets, but at least one other brand in that same weight range comes apart in midflight at a bit over 300,000 rev/min.

An 8-inch twist spins bullets at 333,000 and 360,000 rev/min at those velocities -- clearly too fast.

Looks from here like the 9-inch twist may be the only decent choice open to you. A 10-inch twist MAY work, but I'd hesitate to bet on it.

At the moment, the limiting factor is the bullet. Until we get some good .224 bullets with tougher jackets, trying to get its full potential out of the .22 WSM will be tweaky at best. I brought this problem to Jimmy Knox's (JLK) attention in 1997 or 1998 but never heard further from him about it. He may be making .224s tough enough to handle higher spins -- I just don't know.

Thanks Ken. You wouldn't happen to know an email addr for Jimmy Knox?

Also, do you have any calibrated powder/bullet files, not standard w/Quickload?

"Thanks Ken. You wouldn't happen to know an email addr for Jimmy Knox?"
No e-mail � just a 'phone number (501-331-4194).

"Also, do you have any calibrated powder/bullet files, not standard w/Quickload?"
No, but I'm awaiting delivery of the newest version, on its way from the friend in Germany who designed and programs QuickLOAD. Don't know which new powders and bullets will be included in the latest version.

If you have QuickLOAD and samples of the bullets that interest you, enter their dimensions into the program yourself. It's been a while since I entered all the necessary data for the 75-grain Hornady A-Max, but I don't remember the procedure as being difficult, even for me. (Not all that long ago, I thought a computer was somebody who rode a long way to work every day.) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The .220 Howell so thoroughly gives me everything I've always wanted from a long-range .224 cartridge, I see the .22 WSM as nothing better (ballistically) than counter-productive overkill. I can get down-range performance from my .220 Howell that the .22 WSM can't out-do well enough to be worth the trouble, especially with the currently available powders and bullets. It can kick the 75-grain A-Max -- which looks like it's doing 100 ft/sec just sitting in the box -- out the front door at 3,700 ft/sec and only about 56,000 lb/sq in. (SAAMI maximum would be about 60,000 to 64,000, but I never knowingly load that hot.) That's with 100% case fill of Ramshot Magnum. I prefer to load it lighter for about 3,550 to 3,600 ft/sec at 50,000 to 53,000 lb/sq in. Down-range, the differences in retained velocity, trajectory, and wind deflection are very, very slight -- virtually indiscernible.