Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accuracy

22 Long Rifle ammo is finicky. Tell us all about it here.
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ClickBang
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Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accuracy

Post by ClickBang »

Do any smallbore events prohibit altering factory produced ammo? For example, using one of the available 22lr dies to press the bullet into a uniform shape and size or add a flat nose or hollow point etc.

I've read reports that some users report minor increases in accuracy. Nothing that will turn bulk ammo into match grade, but if you can shave 1/4" or even 1/8" off your groups at 100 yards... Why not?
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Bob259
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Re: Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accu

Post by Bob259 »

Not that I'm aware of...
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BCloninger
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Re: Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accu

Post by BCloninger »

Rule 3.2 calls for "factory loaded", but I haven't heard anyone interpret that as referring to anything but ammunition velocity. If you want to go to the trouble of profiling your ammunition, do it!
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Bob259
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Re: Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accu

Post by Bob259 »

One thing I will mention is to be careful of the potential for lead poisoning. I know we have several folks locally that have elevated lead levels from reloading and shooting, so altering the lead bullets opens you up to that as well.
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Re: Altering bullet shape with 22lr "dies" for improved accu

Post by Dee »

I was reading on RFC this past weekend about a new .22 bullet sizer/shaper a guy on the site is making. It has various tips to use to make dimpled tips, squared shoulder tips and a couple others. It supposedly makes all the bullets the same diameter. Some folks say they have had go success turning cheaper ammo into something that shoots a little better but I did not see any hard data provided and many are still tinkering.

It may be worth it to do this process if you can really turn cheap ammo into higher performing ammo but how much of a improvement is anyones guess and is likely to vary from lot to lot of ammo you are trying to remake.

For silhouette I am not going to sweat 1/8"-1/4" at Rams. For the time and money it costs and the testing time that would be required only to not know if you can repeat those same results without more testing on a different lot of the same ammo would be a waste of time.

Some folks like to weigh their rounds, some resize them etc I guess if you think it helps or can show improvement that is all most people need to continue doing it. The one I was reading does it while watching TV.


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