It's a .22 ladybug.
"What is 22 ladybug?" you might ask. Essentially it's a CF wildcat cartridge designed to replicate the .22 LR in a reloadable format. For the curious, the name came from my wife when I was explaining that small wildcats were often named after bugs. She thought ladybug was appropriate because they're both "cute" and kill garden pests efficiently.
Right now I'm pushing cast lead 37 grain bullets at about 900 FPS from the 6" barrel.
This is my third gun in the caliber, (the others are rifles) and I'll be happy to explain it in some detail if anyone cares.
The gun started life as a well used Law enforcement trade-in model 15-4. It's been around the block a bit, and I've used it for silly things before. Since this one had no collector value in the first place I didn't feel bad about doing more stuff to it.
The barrel came from a model 48, and the cylinder is a NOS unit from a 617. I would have preferred a blued steel cylinder, but the SS model was less than half the cost of finding a used blued cylinder.
Rather than cut or replace the frame lug on the 15 with a proper RF frame lug, (call me lazy) I cut a small ring from the rear face of the cylinder to match the recoil plate and match the frame lug. The cylinder was reamed .224 through to provide a good throat size for the cast bullets I'm using, and then the cylinder was chambered (.250" diameter .635" deep). I didn't need to mess with the rim cut on the cylinder, s it was already sufficient for the rim on the ladybug.
The ratchet and hand were adjusted to give good carry up and lock, and with the hammer down and trigger back, there is zero measurable play. The flash gap is set at .004".
I haven't yet spent a lot of time wringing out accuracy, but it’s running around 1.5” at 25 yards with the first loads, and a poor rest, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to get it down to the magic 1” at 25 yard range that I’m looking for.
So far It works well, I caught this little bugger climbing out of a hole he or his compatriots had chewed in my siding, nailed him when I had the clear shot.
I intend to carry the gun with me when walking the property to deal with the rampant tree rats. It's quiet enough to shoot without ears a little bit (though not something I'd want to do lots of) and seems to be very effective on the vermin.
"What is 22 ladybug?" you might ask. Essentially it's a CF wildcat cartridge designed to replicate the .22 LR in a reloadable format. For the curious, the name came from my wife when I was explaining that small wildcats were often named after bugs. She thought ladybug was appropriate because they're both "cute" and kill garden pests efficiently.
Right now I'm pushing cast lead 37 grain bullets at about 900 FPS from the 6" barrel.
This is my third gun in the caliber, (the others are rifles) and I'll be happy to explain it in some detail if anyone cares.
The gun started life as a well used Law enforcement trade-in model 15-4. It's been around the block a bit, and I've used it for silly things before. Since this one had no collector value in the first place I didn't feel bad about doing more stuff to it.
The barrel came from a model 48, and the cylinder is a NOS unit from a 617. I would have preferred a blued steel cylinder, but the SS model was less than half the cost of finding a used blued cylinder.
Rather than cut or replace the frame lug on the 15 with a proper RF frame lug, (call me lazy) I cut a small ring from the rear face of the cylinder to match the recoil plate and match the frame lug. The cylinder was reamed .224 through to provide a good throat size for the cast bullets I'm using, and then the cylinder was chambered (.250" diameter .635" deep). I didn't need to mess with the rim cut on the cylinder, s it was already sufficient for the rim on the ladybug.
The ratchet and hand were adjusted to give good carry up and lock, and with the hammer down and trigger back, there is zero measurable play. The flash gap is set at .004".
I haven't yet spent a lot of time wringing out accuracy, but it’s running around 1.5” at 25 yards with the first loads, and a poor rest, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to get it down to the magic 1” at 25 yard range that I’m looking for.
So far It works well, I caught this little bugger climbing out of a hole he or his compatriots had chewed in my siding, nailed him when I had the clear shot.
I intend to carry the gun with me when walking the property to deal with the rampant tree rats. It's quiet enough to shoot without ears a little bit (though not something I'd want to do lots of) and seems to be very effective on the vermin.
