I usually start thinking about a project about 2 projects early,,got a PPC bbl at smith now and want to rebbl my first deer rifle next that was an A prefix 700 BDL 25-06 that has melted 3 bbls,,probably gonna do it in a 280AI to shoot the 168 VLDH,,then I want a 22 that will shoot the 75VLD -80 AMax class bullets to shoot at 400 500 yards
anybody shoot a
22BR
22 Dasher
fast twist 22-250 or maybe even a 8 twist 220 Swift
a 22XC might be a killer caliber also to crank out the 80 Amax or SMKs at speeds that would be lazer flat wind beaters,,
anybody know what the best way to get the 75-80 gr bullets in the 3250-3300 fps range with good case life and top accuracy
Mr. Big -
Howdy !
Your stated velocity range for .224" cal 75 - 80gr bullets is certainly do-able.
I can tell you that my wildcat .22-35 Remington w/ 28" K & P SS 1-8 would give 3,420fps from my accuracy/field load of:
40.5gr AA3100 and FED LR Match primer under 75gr "A"-Max. Primer switch to FED LR Magnum Rifle Match primer upped vel to 3,500fps, with slight opening of groups. After rifle assembly, I found that I could have gone w/ a 29" barrel, and still fit in a Plano " Airglide ".
I use 450 ft lb as the minimum threshold value, for enhanced lethality on groundhogs @ distance. In a 29" barrel, .22-35 shooting 75 "A"-Max
would be capable of 450 ft lb @ 1,000yd, using an appropriate powder choice. The "A"-Max was good for both target work and on groundhogs.
If I were to step-off on a new .224" cal wildcat right now, I'd probably have the chamber cut by running a " .22-6mm Rem " reamer in short; for a nominal .466" base diam. The .224" cal wildcat would be case formed by running 7 X 64 Brenneke brass up-into a 6.5 X 55 Swedish FL die
( LEE ). I say that because I formed my " DEEP 6 " wildcat brass using 7 X 64 as the parent case, doing the shoulder shove and neck-down in the 6.5 X 55 die ( w/ its internal removed, to make the die open-topped ). When forming " DEEP 6 " brass, the wildcat cases emerge from the forming die initially...... as .22" calibre. I inside neck ream & outside neck turn, to arrive @ final 6mm cal and neck wall thickness I need.
This fore-shortened version of the " .22-6mm " would have case capacity > .220 Swift; which holds 48gr H2O. My estimate would be 50+ gr,
as DEEP 6 holds 51.2gr H2O; and smaller neck diam of the .224" cal variant would reduce case capacity a bit from that amount.
It'd be interesting to see what this wildcat could do, w/ a temp-insensitive powder.... like IMR 4955.
Other thoughts:
If you don't think you'd be likely to shoot much past 600yd very often, a slower twist barrel set-up for 65 -69gr .224" cal bullets might hold appeal.
Sierra's .224" cal 65gr SPBT has close to the same BC as the well established 68-69br HPBTs. For a less temp sensitive powder choice,
IMR4451 could be one way to go.
With regards,
357Mag
