I'm bringing this thread back to life because ... well, just because.
I have some "store bought" .22LR to shoot. I even have some .22 Short to play with. Nonetheless, a good friend and I became intrigued by the notion of being able to reload .22 and we each invested in the Sharpshooter .22 Reloader kits, complete with their resizing die and their primer compound. My friend has gotten a bit ahead of me -- he bought a melting pot and has cast a few bullets using the mold that's part of that kit.
(If anyone is curious what I'm blathering about:
https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com/products/22-reloader-kit )
However, what we have determined is that the priming compound that Sharpshooter supplies is corrosive. (Multiple sources say it the same formula as classic H48 primer compound.) I seeking alternatives to that, I came across a source for pre-primed .22 LR cases. I have ordered a batch, which should arrive next week. Buying cases pre-primed with a non-corrosive primer will make testing a lot cleaner and easier, but both my friend and I are still interested in being able to REload fired cases, in the event that .22 ammo becomes unavailable or too expensive to contemplate.
Now the question is how much powder to use, and what powder? The instructions with the kit mention a couple of powders -- none of which we have. I embarked on an Internet expedition and I found that other people have gone this route ahead of us. What I'm finding is that **maybe** the exact powder used doesn't matter. In fact, I found one site that just said to use 1.0 grains of "any pistol powder."
I compiled all the data I could find into a spreadsheet. Most of it came from various forums I didn't even know about so, although the participants in those discussions generally seemed to be serious and somewhat reliable in their attitude -- I don't know that to be a fact. Consequently, I present that data as it is:
The only one of those powders I have is Win 231. I'll try it, but I suspect it's not going to fill a large percentage of the case. Since 1.0 grains seems to be the starting point for all but one of the options that gave a range, I'm wondering if 1.0 grains of Trail Boss would work. I have a couple of pounds of Trail Boss that I bought for loading .45 Colt, .45 Schofield, and .44 Colt -- just before COVID-19 closed the world, so I haven't done anything with it.
So, to those who have more reloading experience than I and have worked with a wider range of powders ... whaddaya think?
xx