Anyone Loading .218 Bee, .219 Zipper, Ect.?

J

JeepHammer

Moderator
Pretty much smack in the middle between .22 mag & .223
It's just great fun to shoot!

Wondering if there is anyone else that likes these little centerfire rounds & want to share reloading tips?
 
I do .221 Fireball as well. It goes way beyond .22 Mag. It is a highly accurate round that is beginner friendly, as well as dead to rights accurate to about 400 yards if your eyes are good enough to take it out that far.

It is one of my faves, as brass life is awesome even though the brass can be expensive the life of it makes up for that. I have some brass that I have reloaded more than 30 times. The primer pockets are still tight, I have to annel the necks every so often as they will crack at the case mouth if I do not. In a pinch I can neck down .223 Rem brass that works just fine, though the thicker brass tends to crack at the case mouth after 10 or so reloads.
 
.219 Zipper in a 64 Winchester here.
Have not a found a suitable Bee yet.

I've always loaded FN bullets for magazine use, so no experience with any bullets other
than the 45 gr. FN from Speer.

My load is with 28 grs. of 4320.
Chronoed at 3093. Boosting charges opened the group size, so, good enough.
The bolt peep lets me keep minute of angle at 100 with this load, which is better than the rifle should shoot, or so I've read.
3031 produced patterns with the same bullet at similar velocities.

Tips?
I only form cases from new 25-35 or 30-30.
Cases are trimmed down before forming with Imperial sizing wax (cleaned between operations),
annealed,and given a pass with a Wilson inside neck reamer after fireforming.

My Hornet is actually a lot simpler to load for, but it's not a lever gun!

JT
 
None of 'em are exactly anywhere near the ballistics of a .22 Mag. The Bee, for example, drives a 40 grain bullet between 2600ish and 3100ish out of a 24" barrel. Vs the 1800ish to 2300ish of the Mag.
"...reloading tips..." First find some brass. Sticking with the Bee, there isn't any available. Both Midway and Grafs show Bee brass as out of stock or unavailable. Otherwise, there's no difference reloading in most bottle necked cartridges.
 
JeepHammer: I bought my Model 43 Win in 218 Bee used in 1963 and started reloading for it as soon as I had enough brass. I used 45gr SP`s & 46gr HP`s bullets from Win and Rem and IMR4227 powder for many years with great success. But when Hornady brought out their 35gr V-Max bullets, I switched over to them because they worked so much better for me. But still use IMR4227 powder. I have shot a lot of PD`s, Groundhogs, Rockchucks, Jack Rabbits, Badgers, Fox, and Coyotes with it over the years . And I have even shot a few Deer and Pigs with it. The 218 Bee IMHO is a great small varmint caliber. And works very well for me on Small Game as well. 250 to 300 yd shots are starting to really push the 218 Bee pretty hard IMHO. Case life is good, very low report, and recoil is non existent. The 218 Bee Win is a great rifle and cartridge to me. I shoot a CZ 22 Hornet quite a bit also. If I could help you out in any way, I would be proud to do so.
ken
 
It's the 'Super Duper-Latest Fad' stuff I get tired of...

The old standards are just a ton of fun, the old timers on the range remember them fondly,
And they confuse the tupperware & tacti-cool guys to the point of meltdown.
Always worth something!

I cranked out some .218 Bee & .22 Hornet rounds, and it made me wonder if anyone else was enjoying these little rifles.
 
221 Fireball fan here. Wonderful little cartridge. I tooled up to make Fireball brass from 223 brass. Never a shortage. Cases last a really long time. Inexpensive to load.

40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets over Reloader #7 powder is an extremely accurate combo in my Rem 700 with a Boyd's thumbhole stock.
 
I like the little rim rounds in particular.
Pushing cast bullets a little slower, jacketed/pointed bullets a little faster.
Nothing quite like a quick ammo change to NOT tear up small game, and switching to some varmint 'grenade' for knocking prairie dogs, coys, or ground hogs.

Everyone talks about 'Inherently Accurate' rounds, this is an example, maybe THE example.

1:16" or 1:14" twist barrels drive the 'Internet Experts' crazy,
Single shots drive the 'Tacti-Cool' bunch crazy,
Light weight single shots, often retro in design drive the 'Black Gun' bunch crazy,

All the while shooting well under MOA right out of the box, or nearly 100 years after manufacture!

At my age/physical condition, I just find reduced noise, no recoil & economic to shoot more attractive than some big bore boomer that kicks like a Missouri Mule & leaves me with an over pressure headache...
 
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I load 22 Hornet.

I have 3 .223's, but the hornet is by far my favorite small caliber centerfire.

One of my brothers (Frankenmauser on TFL), used to hand load for .22 Mag. Would pull the bullets on factory ammo, dump the powder, and load with new powder and bullet.

Some of those .22 Mag hand loads were.............interesting.
 
I reload .218 Bee. That is the only reason, I am able to shoot my Marlin 1894. Finding 500 pcs. of new brass made this rifle "relevant", again. It is a great little shooter out to about 150 yds. Lil Gun, IMR 4198, 4227, 296/110, are all powders I have used with success. Best wishes
 
500 ea .22 Rem Jet cases just popped up in a for sale foum (not this one)

Just checked, already gone.
 
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