.221 Fireball

Glen

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Today, I am assembling test loads for the NOE 22-55-GCFP in the .221 Fireball in preparation for this summer's varmint season. This bullet worked well last weekend on rockchucks when shot from the .223 rifle at about 2100 fps. Now I want to see how it does from a 10" .221 Fireball Contender at about 1800 fps.

221 FB and NOE 59 grain FP.jpg
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
What alloy are you using Glen? I hear different strategies from folks on small cast bullets, and they all seem to make sense. I've talked with one guy who casts 22 HPs out of lino and water drops them. He wants the bullet to fragment, somewhat like a commercial frangible bullet. Then another claims air cooled WW hollow points for expansion at full velocities. Then we have the plain old flatpoint, let the bullet design do the killing. I honestly never tried sorting out the theories before, all seem viable.

I do plan to use heat-treated 223 solids this year for rifle practice on steel, I don't want to "waste" lino on this, but waterdropped range scrap should be fine for such practice, but I really do need to work on some sort of plan for hunting bullets as well.
 
D

dromia

Active Member
I use that bullet in my 218 Bee, 8 gns Vihtavuori N110 for a shade under 2000 fps. Alloy, range scrap and plumbers lead giving me a BHN of 10-11.

Main use splattering golf balls on the berm at 100 yards with occasional vermin control use as well.
 
D

dromia

Active Member
Thank you for the welcome been lurking a while, just deliberately spending less time in the digital world.
 
Glen

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Rick -- we were shooting off of a folding card table, with kluged together shooting rests (which worked better for the rifles than they did for the handguns). 5-shot groups at 50 yards were running right at an inch. I think with better rests, I might have been able to cut that in half.
 
waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Glen. I have a little CZ527 in .221
I have only dabbled a bit with cast in it mainly with the Bator bullet. Not a lot of luck.
I do now have a Lee 55gr FP mold I still need to learn to use well enough to get the bases flat(my biggest problem with this mold)
That or just drop the $$$ on another NOE mold....:rolleyes:
This rifle has a 1:12 twist
What kind of speeds do you think I could expect with decent accuracy?
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
Walter just roll with the rounded bases.
weight sort a pile out and give them a go.
20grs of 4895 is a good place to start in the 223 you'd of course want to back that down to the appropriate level for the little 221 case.
the slow end powder can help push things easier and faster with less damage to the projectile.

Adam.
you ain't the only one 'cutting back',,, but spending more time here.
 
waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
fiver said:
Walter just roll with the rounded bases.
Click to expand...
No rounded bases Lamar. Guess I should have been more clear. A big nub (for lack of a better word) right in the middle of the base of the bullet.
Cut the sprue quicker while the alloy is hotter maybe??
If you seat a gas check and set the bullet on a flat surface it leans BIG TIME......
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
waco said:
No rounded bases Lamar. Guess I should have been more clear. A big nub (for lack of a better word) right in the middle of the base of the bullet.
Cut the sprue quicker while the alloy is hotter maybe??
If you seat a gas check and set the bullet on a flat surface it leans BIG TIME......
Click to expand...

Might help. Get and keep the sprue plate hot enough would help a bunch also.
.
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
waco said:
No rounded bases Lamar. Guess I should have been more clear. A big nub (for lack of a better word) right in the middle of the base of the bullet.
Cut the sprue quicker while the alloy is hotter maybe??
If you seat a gas check and set the bullet on a flat surface it leans BIG TIME......
Click to expand...

Are you breaking sprues by hand, or are you beating the poor, cute, innocent little mould with a stick to do it? I used to have that issue and cured it by breaking sprues slowly, with gloved hands. The more you do it, the easier it gets. You'll want to be certain your sprue is completely frozen before doing this, or you risk tearing divots out of the base, giving you the exact opposite problem.

Try it, you'll like it.
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Can't make a good bullet base with a too cool sprue plate any more than you can make good HP noses with a spud that's too cool.
 
Glen

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
I'm getting good accuracy in my Ruger 77 Mk II .223 (with a 1 in 12" twist) with the NOE .225-55-FN (61 grains checked and lubed) at 2200+ fps.
 
waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
So here are some pics of my last casting session. VERY short session. like....50
45 keepers. 30 after I culled them by weight.
These all weighed 55.4-55.6gr
 
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