218 Bee 296 or 4227

[hpshooter]

Will be loading some 45 gr bullets for a relatives small action Martini in 218 Bee. Have viewed several threads in the archives and have made an initial decision to use either WW296 or IMR4227 which I have on hand. Planning on using CCI400 primers and once fired WW brass that is in good shape. The gentleman built this rig in the late 50's and has CH dies and a partial box of Sisk bullets (which we AREN'T going to use!)

What are the experienced feelings on these two powder choices?

Respectfully,
T W Hudson

 

[dedogs]

Will be loading some 45 gr bullets for a relatives small action Martini in 218 Bee. Have viewed several threads in the archives and have made an initial decision to use either WW296 or IMR4227 which I have on hand. Planning on using CCI400 primers and once fired WW brass that is in good shape. The gentleman built this rig in the late 50's and has CH dies and a partial box of Sisk bullets (which we AREN'T going to use!)

What are the experienced feelings on these two powder choices?

Respectfully,
T W Hudson

Couple of things spring to mind here T W. Both of those powders are good choices for the Bee and neither should bother your Martini action...BUT you might want to think seriously about annealing your brass before you try to re-load it especially if it's any where near as old as those Sisk bullets. Old brass tends to get hard/brittle with age (just like us) and if you haven't found out yet .218 brass is mighty scarce these days. Also keep in mind that neck walls are thin and won't take much punishment. Neither will the primer pockets.
Since the Martini is a single shot you do not have to limit yourself to bullets designed for tubular magazines so your bullet options are greater. I personally like the 40g V-Max with 4227 but YMMV. Nosler makes a 34g FBHP that ought to be little more zippy in the Bee but I have no experience with them as yet. I have shot their 40g FBHP Varmegeddon and found it to be surprisingly accurate for an in-expensive bullet. Use them in my .221 fireball also.
I'm sorry to say I have no experience with WW296 powder. I have a lot of experience with 4227 and find that if I don't try to hot-rod this little case that they last longer and the accuracy seems very good. Hope this helps a little, dedogs

 

[hpshooter]

Couple of things spring to mind here T W. Both of those powders are good choices for the Bee and neither should bother your Martini action...BUT you might want to think seriously about annealing your brass before you try to re-load it especially if it's any where near as old as those Sisk bullets. Old brass tends to get hard/brittle with age (just like us) and if you haven't found out yet .218 brass is mighty scarce these days. Also keep in mind that neck walls are thin and won't take much punishment. Neither will the primer pockets.
Since the Martini is a single shot you do not have to limit yourself to bullets designed for tubular magazines so your bullet options are greater. I personally like the 40g V-Max with 4227 but YMMV. Nosler makes a 34g FBHP that ought to be little more zippy in the Bee but I have no experience with them as yet. I have shot their 40g FBHP Varmegeddon and found it to be surprisingly accurate for an in-expensive bullet. Use them in my .221 fireball also.
I'm sorry to say I have no experience with WW296 powder. I have a lot of experience with 4227 and find that if I don't try to hot-rod this little case that they last longer and the accuracy seems very good. Hope this helps a little, dedogs

 

[hpshooter]

I will definitely take your annealing suggestion to heart, I have access to a friends annealing set up that has good temperature regulation and accurate speed control on the cartridge carrying disc. The owner of the rifle has 5 NOS boxes of factory ammo that has been stored since the mid 70's in a good environment and we have fired an additional box with out any case problems but reloading may be a different matter. All total he has 300 cases so there are some to set the annealing up on.

We will start with IMR4227 and will keep a close eye on the necks while sizing and seating bullets.

Thanks for the guidance,
T W Hudson

 

[dedogs]

I will definitely take your annealing suggestion to heart, I have access to a friends annealing set up that has good temperature regulation and accurate speed control on the cartridge carrying disc. The owner of the rifle has 5 NOS boxes of factory ammo that has been stored since the mid 70's in a good environment and we have fired an additional box with out any case problems but reloading may be a different matter. All total he has 300 cases so there are some to set the annealing up on.

We will start with IMR4227 and will keep a close eye on the necks while sizing and seating bullets.

Thanks for the guidance,
T W Hudson

T W, I forgot to mention that I only neck size. As long as you keep the brass for that rifle you don't need to headspace off the rim. Longer brass life is the result. dedogs

 

[jds holler]

T W, I forgot to mention that I only neck size. As long as you keep the brass for that rifle you don't need to headspace off the rim. Longer brass life is the result. dedogs

I very much agree with the sizing advice. You don't even have to get a neck die, just set your full length die out to where it only does the neck. This leaves your shoulder where YOUR chamber allows, and really saves the brass.

I really haven't had much problem with brass splitting, although some of mine is now so old that I throw a few away every time I set up and load for this rifle. I shoot them until they fail, and make sure I have a pick to pull a separated case from the chamber when that happens.

I just haven't found a powder better than IMR 4227, but I haven't tried Lil Gun, and have heard good things about it.

My new favorite bullet is the little 35 gr. V-Max. Faster, and better accuracy than anything I've used over the years. I've been shooting this rifle for ummmmm 40 years now. jd

 

[dedogs]

JD, Gotta love the old cartridges that have been around so long. What is the rifle?

 

[jds holler]

JD, Gotta love the old cartridges that have been around so long. What is the rifle?

It is a Winchester Model 43. Vintage, sometime in the fifties. It belonged to a great guy that I worked for when I was a kid. He knew what a gun nut I was, and let me take it out shooting squirrels, and of course fall in love with it. He wanted to give it to me, but said his two boys would never forgive him -- but they couldn't say anything if he sold it to me. So for ninety bucks, he turned it over to me, with a thousand 45 gr. bullets, dies, and plenty of brass. To this day, his kindness almost brings a tear to my eye. It is a rifle that I value almost over all my others.

It originally had a Weaver J-2.5x 3/4" scope in Redfield mount and rings. I made steel Weaver type bases that mount with the same screw holes, and put an older Leupold 3x9 on it. The ground squirrels it has killed would be measured by the truck load. jd