This is another way you can have fun with a .22LR. This is an old Spike's Tactical .22 Upper (which they sadly discontinued) I bought many years ago. It may not be a tack-driver but it is fun.
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Help me learn to love .22
- Thread starter CMEBoston
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I guess if you don’t factor in my time, it would cost more. But it’s not a job if you do something you love.
Also, I’m running three automated presses. Well, I’m a kneeling and tumbling brass.
But if you shoot enough rouds the math works out.
- Joined
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They make nice ones now, my stuff old.
The new ones have all kinds of sensors and stuff.
I was running multiple presses you’re supposed to stand on it or just had a coffee can full of lead on the pedals.
It runs smooth until there’s a train wreck just like operating a CNC machine. Basically you have to inspect them before you link or load them.
I've had 2 turret presses. My lee turret lasted 2.5 to 3 years and I wore it out.....everything was loose.....dropped my large pistol primer tool and it broke in half....cheep pot metal......the auto index feature would sometimes stop square the die.....sometimes not.....which caused lots of ruined cases when you raise the ram and the shell contacts the edge of the flairing die and crumples the edge. I kept all the dies and threw the thing in the trash. Got an rcbs turret now and it's a beast compared to that pos Lee. Yes it was like $400 and the Lee was $200 but I'll have this thing forever.
Well, in the end, my math is right I just mis typed
Yeah A pound of powdered gets ya about 300 rounds of .223 depending on load
I did find a whole bunch of powder yesterday for $35 a pound but they wanted $110 for primers… so around $315 to load up this 1k
dcmdon
NES Member
You might want to consider a Dillon 550. It's a very versatile press. You can cycle one round at a time with measured powder loads to make precision rifle loads. Or you can run it as a progressive and make several hundred rounds per hour.
The best part is the lifetime warranty. My 650 is about 25 years old and has loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds. It's gotten cranky lately and I can't figure out why. Everything is just kind of sloppy.
I can send it back to them and they will rebuild it for free. I'm going to do that as soon as I have a good enough stockpile of ammo and then the motivation to break it down and box it up.
blindndead
NES Member
My first firearm was a tube fed Marlin .22 rifle that was purchased from K-mart. That gun has taught me how to shoot, I was able to purchase ammo in local hardware stores. The .22 is shooting fun all day long without breaking the bank. Hone your skill with pennies not dollars.
I pretty much shoot most of the local SC events in MA and NH. Go on practiscore.com and check the schedule. The season is just starting
I do not know your SC experience level, but If you need help- let me know.That rifle you have will put you in RFRO... very fast (if not the fastest) class- lots of fun
Thank you
A
I’ve never shot SC at all so zero experienceI pretty much shoot most of the local SC events in MA and NH. Go on practiscore.com and check the schedule. The season is just starting
Thank you
A
I will have to watch some content on it for sure
Register for a match on practiscore and let me know in DM here. We can squad together and I will guide you through your first match. Everybody is super helpful so you will be welcomed. I promise you that much. Oh, and do watch some videos. The minimum is you need to have enough magazines to shoot 5 strings of 5 targets with some misses without reloading (refilling) magazines. So... ideally 5 mags of 10 rounds. You can get by with 3 in a pinch. Pick ammo that functions 100% in your gun. Standard is CCI Mini-mags or Standard Velocity... Malfunctions are very costly time-wise.
A
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To be fair, I'm kind of bored by anything after the 3rd magazine these days. I have a CZ 455 that I bought in 17HMR, but I didn't like shooting from the bench all the time (and the 17HMR barrel is basically like 1" bar stock, so...), so I bought a CZ 457 American in 17HMR then converted the CZ 455 to 22LR with an Acculite barrel (match chamber). Now the same rifle is astonishingly handy. I probably shoot it once a year.
I am one of the people who make fun of grown ups shooting .22. Relentlessly so, I reckon. However, it’s all a show. I own a 22
LR (Ruger precision) and I have to admit that it is an absolutely legit way to train fundamentals. Who can afford 75 cents to a dollar fiddy per round to make sure you breathe right?
But I still think that sinking thousands of dollars into a 22 platform is silly. But to each their own.
LR (Ruger precision) and I have to admit that it is an absolutely legit way to train fundamentals. Who can afford 75 cents to a dollar fiddy per round to make sure you breathe right?
But I still think that sinking thousands of dollars into a 22 platform is silly. But to each their own.
dcmdon
NES Member
Money is part of it.
The other part is minimizing the impact of recoil on your fundamentals. (I shoot a .308, yes a dinosaur)
The other part is getting to use skills like holding for wind and developing DOPE at ranges those of us in New England get to actually shoot.
At 300 yards with a .22 SV, I'm dialing up 16 Mil.
With a 10 mph crosswind component, the bullet is drifting about 32 inches.
This lets you exercise parts of your brain that require 600+ yards with a centerfire rifle.
At 300 yards, I need to dial up about 1.4 mils with my .308.
Another way to look at it is that in order to reach out to a point where I need to dial in 15 mils (required to shoot a .22 at 300) I need 1200 yards with my .308.
APFSDS
NES Member
One of the best things about 22 is how well it suppresses. It's hollywood quiet. If it was (easily) legal to own a suppressor in this state you might think differently. Probably my favorite gun is a 22/45 with aftermarket trigger and a SWR spectre II, it never gets old .
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dcmdon
NES Member
I own a couple of cans.One of the best things about 22 is how well it suppresses. It's hollywood quiet. If it was (easily) legal to own a suppressor in this state you might think differently. Probably my favorite gun is a 22/45 with aftermarket trigger and a SWR spectre II, it never gets old
My favorite by far is an old .22 cal can. It weighs 3.5 oz and pairs great with my 22/45 lite.
My least favorite is a 12 oz 9mm can that ruins the handling of any 9mm pistol it's attached to.
Both are very quiet provided the MV is subsonic.
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