“The 22 Creedmoor Project”

[justin davis]

I try to organize my reloading and shooting flow so that all brass from the same lot has the same amount of firings on it.

If you buy 200 rounds of brass, I shoot them all u tim they’re once fired and then try to keep them all on the same round of firings, so your trimming schedule, annealing, and discarding when necessary schedules are all the same.

Just makes it easier in the long run since my brain only has room for like 3 things at one time.

Ok thanks. That is what I currently do. But I didnt know if I was wasting my time.

 

[huntnful]

Next test showed up last night. Going to try 43gr. H4350.




Also ordered my own .120 freebore Alpha reamer. I’m really liking this cartridge and want all my future barrels to be as identical as possible.

 

[Lawnboi]

The only real issue taking way a once fired and a 5 times fired case and putting them through the same die, is possible difference in headspace from work hardened brass. Not uncommon to need to adjust a die when not annealing once you get around 4-5 firings. And with enough brass, and lower number of firings it’s miniscule.

The only way to tell if it will affect accuracy or velocity is to check.

 

[ACHILLES]

Next test showed up last night. Going to try 43gr. H4350.

View attachment 823179


Also ordered my own .120 freebore Alpha reamer. I’m really liking this cartridge and want all my future barrels to be as identical as possible.
View attachment 823180

You might try varget also if you have any. It gave me way more velocity than h4350 with the 62 eld vts.
Having your own reamer is the way to go.

 

[waspocrew]

Varget was money with the 62 ELDVT. 3654 out of my 22” barrel.

 

[huntnful]

You might try varget also if you have any. It gave me way more velocity than h4350 with the 62 eld vts.
Having your own reamer is the way to go.

Varget was money with the 62 ELDVT. 3654 out of my 22” barrel.

View attachment 823255

Dang! I don’t have any varget on hand. But if they look promising with H4350 I may just grab some!

 

[justin davis]

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the eldvts on coyotes. Seems like a lot of guys reporting them to be “too splashy” at high speeds and not putting coyotes down.

 

[huntnful]

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the eldvts on coyotes. Seems like a lot of guys reporting them to be “too splashy” at high speeds and not putting coyotes down.

Man, I don’t know how that could even be possible. They’re only 6” wide lol.

I’m not hell bent on them by any means though. Just testing them.

 

[ACHILLES]

I was running the 62s at 3625fps in a 18” Bbl with 41.5gr of varget.

 

[wind gypsy]

I try to organize my reloading and shooting flow so that all brass from the same lot has the same amount of firings on it.

If you buy 200 rounds of brass, I shoot them all u tim they’re once fired and then try to keep them all on the same round of firings, so your trimming schedule, annealing, and discarding when necessary schedules are all the same.

Just makes it easier in the long run since my brain only has room for like 3 things at one time.

I try to do this but it also seems to be frequent that a guy will have say 15 rounds left to shoot but also needs to start loading more so it's definitely not always strict adherence.

 

[huntnful]

I was running the 62s at 3625fps in a 18” Bbl with 41.5gr of varget.

Wicked! I want to see if they shoot worth a shit and have a similar POI as the 80 ELDM for a quick change up. They definitely don’t need a lot of freebore. I’m a ways off the lands just to have them a moderate amount down in the case neck

 

[huntnful]

I try to do this but it also seems to be frequent that a guy will have say 15 rounds left to shoot but also needs to start loading more so it's definitely not always strict adherence.

That’s why I have 500 pieces of brass…. .

But with my bigger cartridges I keep a rotation of 50 pieces going. I don’t like being OUT of ammo, just to load up an even batch.

 

[NoDakhunter]

I was running the 62s at 3625fps in a 18” Bbl with 41.5gr of varget.

Have you tried any superformance? Don’t see many guys using it. Hornady data has it moving a lot faster than varget.

 

[Tanner]

I try to do this but it also seems to be frequent that a guy will have say 15 rounds left to shoot but also needs to start loading more so it's definitely not always strict adherence.

Absolutely. Nothin worse than having 5 rounds left in the box and everything’s been thoroughly pinged…

 

[ACHILLES]

Wicked! I want to see if they shoot worth a shit and have a similar POI as the 80 ELDM for a quick change up. They definitely don’t need a lot of freebore. I’m a ways off the lands just to have them a moderate amount down in the case neck

I was at 2.635” Coal with the 62s my reamer has .080” freebore.

I just left my rifle zeroed for the 80gr eldm and the 62s were about an inch high of my zero with the 80s which works out great anyway for my purposes.

I started off with 500 pcs of brass as well. Loaded them all at once with the 80gr eldms. When I started it was shooting 10 shot groups around .7” at 100yds with zero load development out of a 8.4lb scoped and suppressed gun. Ran it pretty hard shooting 5-10 rd strings out of a sporter bbl. Velocity dropped 100fps at 480rds I shot a 10 shot group with the same ammo and it was 1.1” now with 571rds through it.
Thanks for posting the detailed testing, looking forward to your results with the 62s.

 

[Okie_Poke]

Awesome!!

I got a reloading question Don’t know if it relates to this thread or not. But do you guys keep your fired brass separated by number of firings. Like after brass has been fired once. Do you keep them separated by once’s, twice fired etc before reloading.

Or once it has been fired once does it not matter?

I do keep track of the number of firings on brass, though I don't think it matters all that much. How I do it varies by what cartridge, brass, and use case I'm working with.

For my "target" rifle, I use Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass. I bought 300 pieces over time out of 3 different lots. For each lot, I have two coffee cans: one for clean cases and one for dirty cases. I keep tally marks on the outside of each coffe can so I know how many firings are on each lot. I did a test recently shooting "Lot 1" (5 firings) vs "Lot 2" (3 firings) with the same load on the same day, along with a third group that was a mix of cases from each lot, and I couldn't tell a difference in group size or velocity consistency. I did a write up on another forum I could post or copy if you want to see it, but as someone else posted---you just have to test it yourself to really know.

For my "good" hunting loads for my 30-06, I do the same as above with Norma brass but I only have 100 pieces of it so I'm only keeping track of the number of firings on a single lot.

For my hunting Creedmoor and my 6.5 Grendel, I use Hornady brass, a lot of which comes from factory ammunition. I can't seperate this by lot but do keep track of the number of firings on the cases. Again, using coffee cans to keep the number of firings separated so it's easy to figure out when I haven't thought about it in a while.

I also have a bunch of old Winchester and Remington brass for my '06s from before I kept track of lots and numbers of firings. These are sorted by headstamp and kept in "clean" vs "dirty" coffee cans, but there are pieces with 5+ firings and 2 firings in the same coffee can, I just can't tell which are which. As @TaperPin mentioned, you have to inspect each case every time and make sure there's no neck splits or thinning and to make sure you don't have something that needs trimmed. But I can't say I've ever noticed a change in performance when using this old brass.

 

[justin davis]

Man, I don’t know how that could even be possible. They’re only 6” wide lol.

I’m not hell bent on them by any means though. Just testing them.

Yea I haven’t shot anything with them. Just what I’ve heard from some coyote hunters who have tried them.

 

[huntnful]

I was at 2.635” Coal with the 62s my reamer has .080” freebore.

I just left my rifle zeroed for the 80gr eldm and the 62s were about an inch high of my zero with the 80s which works out great anyway for my purposes.

I started off with 500 pcs of brass as well. Loaded them all at once with the 80gr eldms. When I started it was shooting 10 shot groups around .7” at 100yds with zero load development out of a 8.4lb scoped and suppressed gun. Ran it pretty hard shooting 5-10 rd strings out of a sporter bbl. Velocity dropped 100fps at 480rds I shot a 10 shot group with the same ammo and it was 1.1” now with 571rds through it.
Thanks for posting the detailed testing, looking forward to your results with the 62s.

Right on. I'm at 2.655 COAL on the 10 loaded up. I figured I was around .030 off. But might not even be that much. I don't check the lands very precisely lol.

I'm keeping a small batch of virgin brass to compare to my very original test load when I get to 500 rounds as well!

 

[OutdoorAg]

In the interest of putting this out there for any future deer hunter whos curious about the 22CM, here was my experience:

In 2024, I put away my 6.5CM and decided to use a 22CM for all of deer season. We have managed land permits, and as a group, kill about 200 deer a year.

My 22CM was responsible for 20 whitetail, a mix of does and bucks.

I used factory Hornady ELDM ammo. The 80gr variety.

Almost all 20 were bang flops. Yes, this is highly dependent on bullet placement. High shoulder, punching the blade, and deer just dont move.

All to say, everything about the 22CM is fun. Its flat, its low recoil, and its a deer hammer. I'll have a hard time wanting to poke a deer hide with anything other than this going forward.

 

[huntnful]

In the interest of putting this out there for any future deer hunter whos curious about the 22CM, here was my experience:

In 2024, I put away my 6.5CM and decided to use a 22CM for all of deer season. We have managed land permits, and as a group, kill about 200 deer a year.

My 22CM was responsible for 20 whitetail, a mix of does and bucks.

I used factory Hornady ELDM ammo. The 80gr variety.

Almost all 20 were bang flops. Yes, this is highly dependent on bullet placement. High shoulder, punching the blade, and deer just dont move.

All to say, everything about the 22CM is fun. Its flat, its low recoil, and its a deer hammer. I'll have a hard time wanting to poke a deer hide with anything other than this going forward.

Great info man. I absolutely would not hesitate to shoot animals out to a long distance with an 80 ELDM going 3300fps. I don’t personally feel compelled to do it, but I wouldn’t be nervous about it by any means.

I’d imagine it would be about perfect for a high volume, moderate range culling operation!