218 Bee, the little gun that could

[Skeet 028]

I still have 21 of my original Nosler load and use them as a control. The Sierra bullet shoots just as well. I would use the Remington 6 1/2 primer now, if I could find some!

Ivan

I loaded 4227 in the Bee and the Hornet. but I had Winchester 43s. Not the most accurate rifle out there. One had been improvedto the Mashburn Bee. It was the most accurate of the bunch. So long ago the dies were made by Hollywood. Still have 'em. No longer have a Bee but do have a Ruger 77-22 Hornet. I now use Nosler 40 gr BTs with an almost max load of L'il Gun. It is accurate enough for 200 yd PDs. And I found the most accurate loads all used Rem 6 1/2s. Think I have 4000. Got 'em at gun shows...nobody wanted them 2 or 3 years ago

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I love to 22 Hornet, and over the years have had about 15-20. I currently have a 10" Bull T/C Contender and a 1950's Savage 340. This is my 4th 340, of the 4, three have been fantastic and one turned out to have a messed up bore from bad cleaning or stuck bullet removal!

The greatest problem on accuracy for the last 40 years has been Quality/consistent brass! When Hornady brought out the V-Max ammo, it was all new machinery, and the brass was great! But the machinery is worn now and the current brass is so-so at best. Before the pandemic, Midway had Nosler AMMO and Brass, it is fantastic!

Ivan

 

[Nevada Ed]

Don't look now but I saw a few little furry things running around in a pasture the other day, with little shoots of new green grass coming up.....

plus a little critter sticking it's head our of its hole in the ground !!

Is it time yet ??

 

[diyj98]

I jumped at the chance to shoot such a fine rifle, and offhand I got a 3 shot 3/4" group.

3/4" at 100 yards offhand?

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

3/4" at 100 yards offhand?

Yes, I used to do better than that, but the eyes were the first thing to go!

A couple of years before my stroke, we had a lunchbox watermelon shoot. Known distance 300 yards, only allowed 1 shot from a cold barrel, and shot offhand. Only 2 of us hit. The other guy hit a 6" watermelon, I hit a 4". I got a hand painted watermelon on a pizza cardboard, for a prize! I used a Cooper 21 in 223. My handloads. Leupold Veri-X III 6.5-20x 40mm.

Ivan

 

[ddixie884]

You guys sure have some marvelous toys...........

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

You guys sure have some marvelous toys...........

My wife's Father, Brother & Sister, as well as the next two generations are great marksmen and champions. As our son's grew up (my daughter doesn't shoot but her female cousin is on par with the guys!), the only way I can beat their natural abilities was to have superior quality arms and ammo, and to practice, practice, practice!

Ivan

 

[bluetopper]

Would it be difficult to ream the chamber on a Uberti falling block rifle from 44 Special to 44 Mag?

 

[H Richard]

My favorite is my Prairie Dog rifle. Remington 700VS, which has been re-barreled with s Stainless Douglas barrel in a 1-9 twist. Barrel has a muzzle break incorporated whic results in no muzzle rise with the shot. (You can see your results through your scope). I have mounted a Leupold 6-18 scope to which I have had a custom elevation turret made by Leupold to fit the load I use, 55 Gr Nosler BT over 36 Gr Varget. It consistently shoots to a 1/2" at 100 yards and I have taken one shot kills at over 500 yards with it.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Would it be difficult to ream the chamber on a falling block rifle from 44 Special to 44 Mag?

I'm thinking the best way to re-ream the chamber to 44 Mag would be to pull the barrel from the action! Some people would want to try from the breech with the barrel still on the gun. (If the gun is already a good shooter, I recommend not messing with sucess. I have seen too many good shooters "Improved" and the change in harmonics destroyed the accuracy!) Your gun, your choice, your responsibility.


Have you tried any of the Elmer Keith hot 44 Special loads in the rifle? You may find what you wish with an ammo upgrade. (Some of these are loaded by Buffalo Bore.)

Ivan

 

[elpac3]

"I loaded 4227 in the Bee and the Hornet. but I had Winchester 43s. Not the most accurate rifle out there."

Totally agree. I have a Win. 43 in .22 hornet I had struggled with for years. Had been loading 40 and 45 grain bullets with 2400 and 4227 and had mediocre accuracy at best.

Happened upon the 30 grain Varment Grenade with a recommendation from a forum member about trying 12 grains of W-296. Found the combo to take accuracy from mediocre to fantastic. Gun now shoots 1/2 minute at 100. Only took 40 years to figure this one out.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I still have open boxes of 36 and 30 grain Varmint grenades. They were only OK in my rifles.

A friend of mine got out of very small 22 center fires and sold me his stock of bullets. He had several rifles chambered in 22 Chipmunk and 22 Squirrel. These cartridges are very shortened and reformed 22 Hornet cases.

So I now have several hundred Burger Bullets in 25, 30, & 35 grain. I have only used the 35's in my 22 BR over Hodgdon's Benchmark @ 4400 fps. The loading data said it would do 1/2" at 100, and that is the best it will do. (That rifle with 50gr Combined Technology's 50 grain BT will shoot 3800 fps and have groups in the "0's"! Why burn out a barrel just because you can?

I'll have to give the Burger's a try in the 22 Hornet and 221 Fireball Contenders.

Ivan

 

[elpac3]

Best luck I have had with the .221 is Sierra 52 grain MK's with 12.5 of 296. Will consistently shoot under 1/2 minute out of the XP-100.

The hornet runs right at 3000 fps with the 30 grain VG's, not top end but performs very well ( minute of prairie dog)