*****DISCLAIMER*****
I like to tinker and experiment so understand that I'm not striving for anything practical here - I know threads pop up about reloading rimfires and the answer is always "no" or "why would you want to do that since 22lr is cheap?"... I'm trying for something specific.
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I have a basement 60 feet across, good enough for a little target practice with a 22lr. And even though I do live in the country, neighbors are close enough that it really is not polite to sit outside and fire off rounds on a regular basis, so the basement really is convenient, especially when its cold.
When everybody else is out of the house, I can shoot cheap bulk 22lr and bother absolutely nobody. But that happens rarely, and I've been trying to find a way to shoot when others are here that won't get on anybody's nerves. Most subsonic ammo is still rather loud indoors, and tears the hell out of newspaper backstops, making a mess.
=================================
Specialty ammo like CB is expensive (comparatively) so here is what I came up with:
(1) I pull the bullets from standard-velocity Federal .22 that I can get $15/brick
(2) Dump out the powder
(3) Scavenge a bottle of brush-on glue that comes with fake nails
(4) Brush the glue onto the skirt rim of a .22 air rifle pellet
(5) Place the pellet atop one of the .22lr cases
The pellets are light enough that the primer alone can fire them, being 14gr compared to the 30-40gr of a bullet.
========================================
Yes, this does work. I got the idea after shooting some Aguila Super Colibri, which fires a wee 20gr lead bullet @ 500 fps using only primer compound, being nearly silent. It is somewhat expensive however, and the 20gr lead bullet is about as long as it is wide, being more like a disk with horrible accuracy. I figured a 14gr match pellet would be faster, flatter, and stabilize better since it has a skirt that keeps it pointed forward in flight. And if I could use cases from cheap bulk ammo, it would be very inexpensive to do.
- The good news is that it is cheap and the pellets DO stabilize, keeping a good line.
- The bad news is that they are VERY slow and vary wildly in velocity. Drop at 10 yards goes anywhere between 4-8 inches! They are so slow they tear the target rather than leave a clean hole.
After examining different types of 22lr cases, I found that the Super Colibri, even though it only has primer, has a LOT of it. Normal 22lr has just enough to ignite the powder, and the amount is not very consistent. I fired a pellet using the primed case from the Super Colibri and it shot flat and straight and was still nearly silent.
=========================================
Here is where I need the expert advice of the forum members --
(1) Can I use a small amount of black powder to up the velocity, safely? I don't need consistent numbers out of a chrono, it just needs to be fast enough that drop isn't a big factor over 15 yards. I figure black powder can be loaded in low pressure levels that are safe.
(2) Is there a way to increase the strength of the primer? I've read about using ground up match heads, but a bulk chemical primer would be great if anybody knows of one.
(3) Are there any gunpowders that might work? My problem with this has been that the glued-on pellets don't build up the same kind of pressure in the case that heeled .22 bullets do, so the powder isn't ignited by the primer and just spits out the barrel with the pellet. I also worry that experimenting with light loads of powder meant for a centerfire will cause the ignition to go high-order rather than deflagrate, which would definitely not be good in a dinky little .22
Thanks for any help here. It's been kinda fun messing with this idea. I just want to be sure that its conceivable to ignite a few grains of black powder with a lowly rimfire primer before I go buy a bottle of the stuff.
That failing, any other ideas on how to get this to work are more than welcome.
I like to tinker and experiment so understand that I'm not striving for anything practical here - I know threads pop up about reloading rimfires and the answer is always "no" or "why would you want to do that since 22lr is cheap?"... I'm trying for something specific.
=======================================
I have a basement 60 feet across, good enough for a little target practice with a 22lr. And even though I do live in the country, neighbors are close enough that it really is not polite to sit outside and fire off rounds on a regular basis, so the basement really is convenient, especially when its cold.
When everybody else is out of the house, I can shoot cheap bulk 22lr and bother absolutely nobody. But that happens rarely, and I've been trying to find a way to shoot when others are here that won't get on anybody's nerves. Most subsonic ammo is still rather loud indoors, and tears the hell out of newspaper backstops, making a mess.
=================================
Specialty ammo like CB is expensive (comparatively) so here is what I came up with:
(1) I pull the bullets from standard-velocity Federal .22 that I can get $15/brick
(2) Dump out the powder
(3) Scavenge a bottle of brush-on glue that comes with fake nails
(4) Brush the glue onto the skirt rim of a .22 air rifle pellet
(5) Place the pellet atop one of the .22lr cases
The pellets are light enough that the primer alone can fire them, being 14gr compared to the 30-40gr of a bullet.
========================================
Yes, this does work. I got the idea after shooting some Aguila Super Colibri, which fires a wee 20gr lead bullet @ 500 fps using only primer compound, being nearly silent. It is somewhat expensive however, and the 20gr lead bullet is about as long as it is wide, being more like a disk with horrible accuracy. I figured a 14gr match pellet would be faster, flatter, and stabilize better since it has a skirt that keeps it pointed forward in flight. And if I could use cases from cheap bulk ammo, it would be very inexpensive to do.
- The good news is that it is cheap and the pellets DO stabilize, keeping a good line.
- The bad news is that they are VERY slow and vary wildly in velocity. Drop at 10 yards goes anywhere between 4-8 inches! They are so slow they tear the target rather than leave a clean hole.
After examining different types of 22lr cases, I found that the Super Colibri, even though it only has primer, has a LOT of it. Normal 22lr has just enough to ignite the powder, and the amount is not very consistent. I fired a pellet using the primed case from the Super Colibri and it shot flat and straight and was still nearly silent.
=========================================
Here is where I need the expert advice of the forum members --
(1) Can I use a small amount of black powder to up the velocity, safely? I don't need consistent numbers out of a chrono, it just needs to be fast enough that drop isn't a big factor over 15 yards. I figure black powder can be loaded in low pressure levels that are safe.
(2) Is there a way to increase the strength of the primer? I've read about using ground up match heads, but a bulk chemical primer would be great if anybody knows of one.
(3) Are there any gunpowders that might work? My problem with this has been that the glued-on pellets don't build up the same kind of pressure in the case that heeled .22 bullets do, so the powder isn't ignited by the primer and just spits out the barrel with the pellet. I also worry that experimenting with light loads of powder meant for a centerfire will cause the ignition to go high-order rather than deflagrate, which would definitely not be good in a dinky little .22
Thanks for any help here. It's been kinda fun messing with this idea. I just want to be sure that its conceivable to ignite a few grains of black powder with a lowly rimfire primer before I go buy a bottle of the stuff.
That failing, any other ideas on how to get this to work are more than welcome.
