Thread: 22lr Resizing/Hollow Pointing Tool

Hey Folks, I have been working on a 22lr resizing / hollow pointing tool. What I have made is basically a direct copy of the Neal Waltz die, with a couple of minor changes. His design is by far the best from what I have found online, it seems to be the fastest, most consistent and safest, compared to others that involve hammers and such.



The purpose of this tool is two fold. The main reason I wanted to make it was to experiment with bumping up cheap target ammo to a consistent diameter to improve accuracy, or at least cut down on random fliers. I purchased a couple of cases of Gecko target ammo and they shoot like crap out of my main rifle. Previous purchases of this ammo worked perfectly, so it was disappointing to find I have 10,000 rds that are next to useless. The diameters of these projectiles range from 0.2227 to 0.2246 which is a huge variation and is likely some of the reason for poor performance. This die is designed to bump the projectiles to a consistent 0.2250 and the sizing section is removable if I want to make this smaller or larger in the future. This size bump achieved by putting a small flat on the end of the projectile (the same as seen on Eley Tenex and Eley Match) which slightly swells the sides to match the die.

The second reason for this tool is to add hollow points to quality ammo. I have a decent quantity of Eley Standard which shoots amazingly well and I would like to add hollow points for shooting rabbits rather than buying CCI hollows or similar.

The tool works by mounting in a reloading press, and using a 22lr case holder I made to run the cartridge up into the die. The punch is floating inside the die and is stopped at a certain point by the top stem, which is adjustable and can be locked in place. Force required for the hollowpoints is probably 20% of that used to seat nice BT projectiles. The flat nose sizing can be done simply with the weight of the handle. So forces on the cartridge are very low.




I have not tested either for accuracy yet, though I did an expansion test by shooting into a box full of wet newspaper and cardboard. They penetrated around 150mm of this and all mushroomed nicely to around 0.40" I am planning to make a longer hollow pointing stem and possibly add a small cup or dish shape to the tip as well to promote more expansion. The purpose of the hollowpoints is to try and get as much energy out of the projectile before it leaves the rabbit to reduce the chance of ricochets. I generally only take headshots, so solids work just fine at killing them, but sail on through like they didn't hit anything at all and have a lot of energy on exit.



Once I have shot a few samples for accuracy, I will post the results here.

They certainly look to expand well.

I'm really interested to see your results with this as it's something I've looked at and contemplated getting in from overseas.

Do you have access to an indoor range to do accuracy testing on?

At risk of hijacking this thread, I find your work very interesting. One of my sons gave me a brick of CCI Standard solids as I do a reasonable amount of .22 shooting on our range. Was thinking of making some rounds into hollow point by drilling a fine hole in the tip to deal with bunnies on the driveway. Set round in correct diam block of wood, lower drill to preset dept etc etc. Dangerous? Comments appreciated.

To be honest, a longer or more rounded shape likely will not make the difference you think it will. That looks to be a reasonably close copy of the 'Superspeed' brand of Winchester ammo maybe with just a flatter tip - that never worked as well as the 'Powerpoint' style for some reason I don't know. It was the same brew but the pill had a much more rounded tip in the hope it would function better in semi's. My experience it was no better function wise but it wasn't as accurate for some random reason (lead shaving or no lead shaving). I would suggest trying what you have there, it looks pretty damn good and better uniformity in diameter it should make for better consistency and accuracy.

As far as drilling @Ingrid 51, it can be done but the lead projectile is soft and grabby and what you don't want to do is have it go off or spin the bullet in the case which can create other issues like it going into the chamber crooked. Basically you need to clamp the pill gently and have a depth stop as you want it the same every time - easier said than done. Also, drilling makes the projectile lighter which isn't ideal for trajectory and performance aspects - compounded by the fact that if you don't get the hole even each time things get worse not better! The die option can be a lot more reliable when factoring all of these things in, as at least the projectile weights are consistent.

Be interested in buying one, if you want to make more of, sure their quite a few people interested

Yes I would buy dies from you

There you go @SixtyTen - looks a bit like a business opportunity!

For extra multi-factor rabbit hole science you could make some rim thickness gauges to sub-divide both unsized and sized rounds to see which has the greatest effect on group size?

I am impressed with mushroom, looks every bit as good as the old Aussie made subs which were the gold standard for subs

I have to dissagree on the superspeed...it was great ammunition and killed well...if you wanted it to be BETTER, you took 3" nail and twirled it in nose cavity to open it further...almost made it a powerpoint but it still fed better... one of my norincos wouldnt feed powerpoint worth a damn.... but superspeed good as gold.
Ive taken to doing the 3" nail thing to all the modern powerpoint too.... I believe the biggest issue with it ,isnt the size of the cavity,the lead SEEMS harder....

Same here, Id be keen to buy a die set like this from you.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I have to dissagree on the superspeed...it was great ammunition and killed well...if you wanted it to be BETTER, you took 3" nail and twirled it in nose cavity to open it further...almost made it a powerpoint but it still fed better... one of my norincos wouldnt feed powerpoint worth a damn.... but superspeed good as gold.
Ive taken to doing the 3" nail thing to all the modern powerpoint too.... I believe the biggest issue with it ,isnt the size of the cavity,the lead SEEMS harder....

Yeah, no argument about killing power although I recall it did have more of a tendancy to go straight through. It was just not as accurate in anything I tried it in - still have a few packets of it loafing about and try it occasionally in new rifles. Still not as accurate as the older Powerpoint and Subsonic - that stuff was excellent in every respect. Apart from a little lead shaving on the powerpoint and subsonic I noticed no difference in functioning to the Superspeed - the Superspeed was no faster than the Powerpoint despite the name and shot to the same point of aim or near enough it just wasn'tquite as accurate.

the very best stuff I have ever used,shouldnt have been...and Ive never seen it since. plain lead tip with a semi hollow point. white n blue box labeled Aussie Ammo it had map of Oz on the box...my old remington single shot loved it,spotlighting possums they got a third eye more often than not,mates with scoped rifle couldnt compete... it was OK on goats too.

Ok, sounds like a lot of interest in these dies. I'm not opposed to doing a run of these. However they are quite a bit of work, so likely to not be cheap, but likely less than it would cost to import a Neal Waltz die. I would have to work out a price and then see how many are still interested. Feel free to comment here or send me a PM if your interested.

Yes! Jeez that brings back momories. There must be a market in NZ for decent Powerpoint and Subsonic esq .22LR with soft lead projectiles. Nice clean running ammo with good #74 drill diameter sized projectiles (who me make gauges and bump up .22LR ammo, never!).