[Teufelhund]

I like the .22 Mag. in concept and one of these days would like to set up a Ruger 10/22 in .22 Mag., I just havn't gotten my hands on one yet. I know lots of folks that think they make a pretty good utility/truck rifle, you see alot of the Marlins around here, usually with a low power Jap scope.

For survival/field use the .22 Mag makes more sence in a dedicated rifle than the .22LR to me, there is very little I can't do with a MKII that can be done with the .22LR. The 10/22 .22 mag would be pretty slick on a Butler Creek stock and a 4x compact Leupold, Powers Customs trigger group and some fire lapping to take out the usual Ruger bore constrictions. We fire lap all our 10/22's and the groups always shrink by quite a bit and makes cleaning the bore very easy. There are always constrictions under the dovetail cuts, but they come out pretty easy.

If you intended to go hard into the back country, a decent LW .22 Mag and a Compact Glock could make a pretty good reasonably priced combo. I think it was on Plainsmans Cabin that I saw a .22 mag with a skeletonized stock, short barrel and a forward mounted scope. Pretty need rig, but unless you did the work it would probually end up costing as much as an AR.

I have never gotten too serious about a .22Mag since I've had a .22 Hornet Ruger #3 Carbine since I was about 12 years old and it has always served just fine. My dad had a cheap Savage .22 Hornet with a Weaver K4, we reloaded for them and they got used alot. My brother gave my oldest a boy a Ruger .22 Hornet with a 1 3/4 x 6 power compact scope for his birthday, really a nice rifle after some trigger work. He spends most of his time with his AR though, so it hasn't been shot all that much. We have a bunch of .22 Hornet reloading supplies that will probually last till hell freezes over, we shoot much, much more .223.

Teuf,

 

[Teufelhund]

Any non-plated lead .22LR ammo, usually Fed GMM for us, with the bullet only carefully rolled on a steel plate that has Beartooth Bullet lapping compound on it. The lead bullet will pick up the 320 grit silicone carbide that is supported in a grease matrix and turn the bullet a dark dull grey.

Once the bullet is dark grey carefully wipe down the case and go on to the next, it's kind of tedious, but works well. The silicone carbine only cuts the tight spots were the bore constricts and it cuts both the land and the grove uniformally.

I got this idea from a smallbore shooter that conditions his match rifle in such manner. I have a 40X bore scope with a light and you can really see the difference some lapping rounds make. Even more important you can see the difference on your targets.

Fire lapping also works good for revolvers, and Beartooth Bullets of MT sells soft slightly over-sized cast bullets for the task. Almost all revolvers can stand to have thier cylinder throats reamed and the constrictions lapped out. Rugers are the worst offenders, I bought my favorite 5.5" .45 Colt Redhawk cheap because it was a barrel leading, in-accurate POS. Now it never leads and shoots into 1.25" from a rest at 25 yards with 300 grain Performance Cast bullets @ 1250 fps. Its former owner shot it later and couldn't believe it, so I tuned his current Redhawk for him since it wasn't much better than the one he sold.

Teuf,

 

[Teufelhund]

No prob Rika,

It's intresting to see the effect of the lapping bullets though the bore scope. The tight spots show up as shiney "streaks" as the high spots are cut down. Though I call it "cutting", it really is lapping since the abrasive compound is very mild. I usually fire five rounds, run a patch and the scope. If you don't have a scope you can use a bore light tipped at an angle and see the effects as well. You will have o play around a little till you get the right angle.

If you have a favorite .22 and want to keep the original contour barrel, this is a good way to bring the group size down and pick up some useful accuracy.

It also works on centerfire rifles as well, my CZ 550 .375 H&H had a rough bore from the factory, you could see the copper streaks in the bore and it was tough to clean them out. Beartooth Bullets also has, soft, oversized lead lapping bullets for rifles. I used a few grains of TITEGROUP and an unsized case, you just push the oversize bullet into the unsized case neck with a 7/8 bolt in a single stage press. It made all the difference in the world.

I know a bunch of CAS and blackpowder cartridge (single shot Sharps, Maynards ect) shooters that use the tecnique, tight bores are most readily seen when shooting cast lead.

The tight spots swedge down the cast bullet as they pass though and the bullet doesn't get "upset" enough to fill the rifling again, that lets hot gass get by and causes the "leading". With rifles is usually under barrel cuts and where the barrel screws into the reciever. On revolvers it's where the barrel screws into the frame and on Rugers, where thick part of the barrel comes down to make the front of the ejector rod housing. For some reason it's always extra hard there.

Teuf,

 

[Teufelhund]

Tubbs system got good reviews on the centerfire kits and mixed on the rimfire. I had never heard of his rimfire kit, but know several folks that have used his centerfire kit with some succsess.

It's pretty easy to "load" a lead .22 rimfire bullet with silicone carbide, I don't think I would pay $33 for his kit. I noted in one of the complaints about the rimfire kit, the reviewer complained about lapping compound on the cartridge case. I'm pretty particular about cleaning my cases before I chamber them and I chamber them carefully by hand. If you tried to run them though the action you could scrape off the compound and that may be why one of the guys had trouble chambering them.

You just never know what folks are doing!

Of course never try and lap a chrome plated bore.

Teuf,