Cast bullet shooters who have tried it are often not too positive about shooting 22 cast bullets. A lot of people have apparently been frustrated trying to shoot this bore size accurately. The chorus of complaints which have become the conventional wisdom about 22 cast bullets include:

• 1. Hard to cast

• 2. Must be carefully sorted and weighed since small defects or weight variations ruin accuracy

• 3. Fragile

• 4. Susceptible to being blown off course by wind

• 5. Generally inaccurate

• 6. Too small to handle conveniently

I have been shooting 22 cast bullets in CBA competition, with fair success, off and on for over 25 years and have found only one of these disadvantages to be absolutely true. Tiny bullets really are harder to handle than larger bullets.

Are they harder to cast?

I have never found 22 cast bullets harder to cast than larger ones. In some ways they are easier since the smaller amount of molten metal involved causes less trouble with molds getting too hot and slowing casting.

Do small defects ruin your day?

The contention that small bullets must be carefully inspected and sorted by weight for decent accuracy is probably just opinion based on “logic” or theory. I have never seen it supported by experimentation. It seems to be based on the reasoning that defects will cause more trouble in smaller bullets since the defect is a larger percentage of the bullet. This is a classic case of starting off with a questionable assumption and from that drawing a logical but erroneous conclusion. Similar to claiming that the earth is obviously flat.

The faulty assumption here is that smaller and larger bullets will both have the same sized defects. Maybe defects are proportional to the bullet size. A pretty good argument can even be made that smaller bullets may have proportionally smaller defects. One of the most treacherous defects in cast bullets is the dreaded internal shrinkage void. I have read about this problem with larger bullets but have never heard of or experienced it with the 22s. The smaller volume of the 22 may allow it to better pull in sprue metal needed for a solid bullet as it hardens. Internal voids may happen under certain conditions but I’ve spent a lot of time searching for them by weighing and have never been able to find an internal void in a 22 cast bullet.

Maybe we should check the theory by experimenting

Anyway the proof is in the pudding. I have shot hundreds of well wrinkled or rounded based 22 bullets (gas checked) in direct comparison with visually “perfect” bullets without detecting an accuracy difference down to the minute of angle (MOA) level of accuracy. The same lack of difference in accuracy has also been observed in side by side comparisons of carefully weight sorted bullets fired against mixes of the light and heavy culls. I don’t have similar data for larger bullets but careful sorting of 22 cast bullets by weight or for minor visual defects seems to be a waste of time.

Are they “fragile”?

It is claimed that 22 cast bullets require extremely careful handling because they are “fragile”. I’m not sure exactly what that means. Certainly a bullet, of a given alloy will have about the same hardness (resistance to plastic deformation), whether large or small. Dropped on a concrete floor, it will have a dent somewhat proportional to its weight, bigger bullets - big dents, smaller bullets - small dents. Some don’t degrade accuracy but probably none improve it.

Does the wind blow them away?

No matter how silly some of the conventional wisdom about 22 cast bullets, it must be admitted that the contention that 22 cast bullets are wind sensitive and difficult to shoot accurately is somewhat true for most of the 22 cast bullet designs presently available.

At the root of this problem is the 1 in 14 inch twist used in the vast majority of 22 centerfire rifles. This slow twist will only stabilize short bullets (up to about 0.6 inches) and naturally enough, mold makers provide molds for bullets this twist will stabilize.

The usual 22 cast bullet, such as Lyman’s good 225415 and 225462 designs, weigh less than 55 grains This makes their sectional densities (SDs) a very low 0.16. A thirty caliber bullet with a similar SD would weigh less than 105 grains.

Since the ballistic coefficients of similar shaped bullets are roughly proportional to their SDs, the typical blunt 22 bullets have very low BC's, seldom above 0.12. The lower the BC the more wind will deflect it on the way to the target.

So 22 cast bullets are wind sensitive because they have very low ballistic coefficients (BC) as a result of their low sectional density and blunt form. The low SD and blunt form are needed to work in the usual 1 in 14 inch twist. If thirty caliber shooters used blunt 105 grain bullets they would have the same difficulty as twenty-two shooters with wind deflection.

Length and Accuracy.

It is also easier to get a cast bullet started straight into the bore and thus improve accuracy if it has a longer bearing surface. If thirty caliber shooters used 105 grain bullets they would have the same difficulty getting match grade accuracy from those short bullets that 22 shooters have with short bullets.

Thirty caliber shooters have learned not to try to compete with bullets of 105 grains with their resulting low ballistic coefficients. The lightest thirty-caliber bullet you are likely to see in CBA competition is 170 grains and the average is closer to 200 grains. I believe the use of very short cast bullets, required by the slow twist commonly available, explains the twenty-two’s reputation for poor accuracy and for being sensitive to wind.

Shooting Conventional 22 Cast Bullets

Although the short 22 cast bullets are not likely to win many matches against knowledgeable thirty caliber shooters, it is possible to get good accuracy for squirrel hunting, plinking and target practice from them In spite of the handicaps described above. The advantages over larger calibers include low noise, low recoil and excellent practical levels of accuracy. Additionally one pot of metal makes more bullets than you want to cast in one session.

The important principles are the same as for larger calibers. Make sure the bullet is large enough, at least over .225 inch for most rifles. Seat the bullet far enough out to fit into the throat. Don’t try for velocities similar to those expected with jacketed bullets until you figure out how to make the 1,300 to 1,800 fps loads shoot well. Start with some of the suggested loads for modest velocities in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I have had good luck with six to nine grains or either 2400 or 4759 behind either a 225415 or 225462 bullet in the 222. Wheel weight alloy may give better accuracy than some of the harder alloys like linotype.

With a good rifle you should be able to easily find loads that will average better than two minute of angle accuracy (MOA) for five shot groups. With enough patience, a good rifle and a little luck, you may be able to average 1.5 MOA or even better.

Other possibilities

The loads above won’t be too competitive in a CBA match or too impressive while sniping at prairie dogs at 200 yards in a wind. The solution for this is a faster twist and longer bullets. Fortunately, the military’s need for long bullets for the M-16 has led to a twist of 1 in 7 inches in our present service rifles. This enlightenment is beginning to slowly carry over into commercial 223 Remington caliber rifles. Most now offer 1 in 12 inch twists which is a little better. Savage, and more recently Winchester, offers their 223 rifles with a 1 in 9 inch twist. This not only allows jacketed bullet shooters to use the longer and heavier target bullets now available but opens the possibility of finally being able to have better 22 cast bullets, at least for the 223.

A 1 in 9 inch twist will stabilize a 22 bullet of up to about 0.9 inches long. This can translate into a pointed bullet of over 80 grains and a ballistic coefficient over twice that of the blunt, short cast bullet designs.

The major mold manufacturers don’t yet offer designs to take advantage of the faster twist barrels. NEI is an exception; they offer the 224-72-GC-DD. Of course for more money you can have a custom mold for any design you can think up. I have had good luck with molds from David Mos.

More and more people are realizing that the usual Savage in 223 with a 1 in 9 twist will usually outshoot other 223 rifles of similar weight. Maybe when this sinks in, the manufactures will understand that although a 1 in 9 twist may not be better for the short jacketed bullets most people shoot, it doesn’t seem to do much harm and allows a greater selection of bullets. It is a shame that 22 Hornets, Bees and Fireballs aren’t available in 1 in 9 twists. One of them might be the ideal 22 cast bullet rifle.

Longer bullets really do change things

To illustrate the potential for longer 22 cast bullets.  Andrew Lambley, of Nottingham, UK reports good luck with a 223 Savage FLVSS and the NEI .224-71-GC bullet, of heat-treated wheel weight alloy, ahead of 16 grains of VV N-120. He also has good luck with Blue Dot, VV N110, 2400, and RL7.

The 16 grains of VV N -120 load produces 2,450 fps, shoots five shot groups of about 0.7 MOA, and doesn’t need cleaning for about 1000 rounds. He also reports good accuracy at velocities up to 2600 fps but accuracy only lasts about 100 rounds before cleaning is needed. He is a Bisley match type shooter and shoots the above load for all his match shooting at 50 meters, 100 and 200 yards. He reports that the load is not effective beyond 200 yards.

He claims these bullets are no more difficult to cast and handle than any other and quality control is limited to visual inspection. Gas checks are seated with the Lee system and Lyman Super Moly applied through a convention lubrisizer. Then just to confound the fussy types he loads on a Lee 1000 progressive press.

At the other end of the scale, to duplicate 22 long rifle ballistics Andrew uses two grains of bullseye “for 940 fps and accuracy to rival the best 22 match ammo”.

Personal experience

My own experience shooting 22 cast bullets in competition also should encourage potential converts to give it a try. Although I have never won any CBA National Tournaments nor even set any national records, I have been respectably competitive while using the 22 in competition on and off for many years of less than single minded effort.

I started competing in Cast Bullet Association postal matches in late 1970s shortly after CBA was organized with a lightweight Sako 222, my cast bullet squirrel rifle at the time. Best results were with the Lyman 225415 bullet, but the 225462 did about as well. With 6 or 7 grains of 2400 and beeswax lube. I could hold my own against the thirty caliber shooters in the postal matches but they couldn’t shoot very well either in those days. Best I could do was an honest average for five shot groups of 1.5 moa. That was often good enough to at least place in the 1970 postal matches.

Doing well in postal matches, which I usually shot early or late in the day when the wind was insignificant, turned out to be far different from real matches. The first time I entered a CBA National Tournaments I quickly learned that shooting when the wind was blowing put the 415 bullet at a serious disadvantage compared to the long thirty caliber bullets used by about everybody else.

When Ruger started making Number Ones in 223 with an advertised 1 in 10 inch twist I bought a Ruger Number 1B and designed a longer bullet which the Greenhill formula said should stabilize. I sent my design off to Walt Melander of NEI along with the fee for a custom cherry in the spring of 1981. The resulting mold was very well made and casts bullets of from 70 to 73 grains, depending on alloy, with no problems. Walt listed it in the NEI catalog as 71.224 GC and later as .224 -71-GC.

The Ruger turned out to have a 1 in 10.7 inch twist that would just barely stabilize the 71 grain bullet. In spite of a lot of oblong bullet holes the combination shot well. With 9 grains of 5744, CCI magnum primers and LBT Blue lube I could get honest averages of slightly under 1 MOA for five shot groups if the wind wasn’t blowing too hard. This was good enough to be competitive in CBA Production Class throughout the 1980s. I won my share of postal matches and shot the highest Production Rifle scores in all three 100-yard aggregates in the 1989 CBA Nationals. 200 yards was a different story.

The round nose NEI bullet at 1600 fps was blown further off course than the usual long 30 caliber bullets at higher velocities in the same conditions. I was invariably wiped out at 200 yards where coping with the wind is four times harder than at 100 yards This was not all the bullet’s fault since my wind doping skill wasn’t and isn’t what it should be.

More recently, Savage started making 223s with 1 in 9 inch twists that should stabilize bullets up to about 0.9 inch long. I designed an 80 grain, pointed, bore riding bullet to take advantage of the faster twist. David Mos made a mold that casts beautifully. The bullet is 0.92 inches long with gas check and will stabilize in the 1 in 9 twist. For the first time I feel as if I’m on an almost equal footing with the 30 caliber shooters at 200 yards as far as ballistic coefficient is concerned, if not skill level. I have placed above average in production class in the last two CBA National Tournaments, even at 200 yards, but haven’t won an aggregate yet so I still have plenty to learn.

Summary

Contrary to much that has been said and written about casting and shooting 22 cast bullets, there are no insurmountable problems. However, the common slow twists used for most 22 centerfire rifles do limit the length of bullet to about 0.6 inches and this in turn limits resistance to wind drift and levels of accuracy.

In spite of this limitation, it isn’t hard to get good practical levels of accuracy for anything except serious benchrest competition with several of the currently available molds for 45 to 55 grain bullets. The advantages of shooting 22 cast bullets include low noise, non-existent recoil and low costs for metal and powder.

The 1 in 9 inch twists of current Savage or Winchester rifles chambered for the 223 now make the use of longer bullets feasible. With bullets such as NEI 224-72-GC-DD or even longer and heavier custom bullets it is much easier to attain the accuracy and resistance to wind deflection needed for benchrest competition or other precision shooting.

Shooting 22 cast bullets is a relatively neglected practice but one that is a lot of fun and easy on the ears, shoulder and pocketbook.