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Post by HMC710 on Feb 13, 2015 12:40:57 GMT -5
Hey All, Got my new 22 Uzi barrel done and fitted so next move is to form up some more brass and see what happens. Still have a bit more case taper than I would like using the 22 Reed Express reamer, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Should have some range reports in a couple of weeks.
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Post by HMC710 on Feb 17, 2015 20:58:49 GMT -5
Made the trek from MI to SC during the Blizzard of '15, what a mistake.... Timing is everything they say. Next move is to make some more 22 Uzi brass. One pass through the 22 dies does it but very hard on the necks. I might try some annealing to see if that helps, but need to get some rounds together for initial testing. That will tell us if we need to take some taper out of this thing...
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Post by HMC710 on Feb 19, 2015 20:23:17 GMT -5
Starting a new thread for the 22 Uzi...
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 1, 2015 18:46:13 GMT -5
Time to get back to the 22 Reeds Express!
We've learned a few things working on the 22 Uzi and I wanted to see if they applied to the Reeds Express as well. I loaded up 10 samples of the same load we used in the 22 Uzi to start, 5gr of Herco and the Berger 30gr JHP, and fired off in the cut down barrel we ended up with from our first go round. The loads fired just fine but the rain interfered with the Chronograph so no velocity reports. Was getting some nose down jams so will look at the system to see what we can do to work with that. I loaded up 10 more at 5gr and 10 at 6gr to do further test duplication. Max load with Herco is 6.5gr so we'll see what happens.
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 4, 2015 23:50:56 GMT -5
Got out to test the 22 Reeds Express today with the 5 and 6 gr loads. The 6gr loads clocked out consistently at 2150 fps and ran just fine with the H3 buffer set up so we are making headway here! Next move is to duplicate what we have done with the 30gr bullets with the 40gr and up.
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 9, 2015 19:32:00 GMT -5
Ran some more 30 gr bullets the other day just because. Making some mods to the mag, adapter, and breech face to make the pointy bullets feed better. Getting nose down jams because the round doesn't have the big round bullet of the 9mm to push the nose up into the chamber. After all the problems last fall, I didn't want any less or loose of a chamber than absolutely necessary, but now we've got some room to play. I could tweak the adapter ramp a bit, but then we need to make sure it still plays well with the Tok and 9mm.
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 28, 2015 21:09:53 GMT -5
Been spending so much time on the blow back versions I have not been messing with the gas 22 Reed Express much, until today. The Job started a project that was supposed to be 4/10's but hey, it was nice to dream about a long weekend..... Anyway had today off and cleaning up the work room and had some of the original 22 RE loads I needed to shoot up. They had some sleek VLD bullets that put OAL around 1.58", just enough to fit into the M1 Carbine mags. Now if ya recall, way way back, the M1 Carbine mag does not play well with the 22RE because of the short body / long bullet combination. Well I've had some ideas on how to fix that and put a few of them into practice this morning. The result was a definite improvement and points out some other areas that we still need to work on. Bottom line is we ran a few small strings from the carbine mags which is something we haven't been able to do before. This opens up the long bullet choice so I put some brass in the tumbler and getting ready to reload!
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 29, 2015 20:11:17 GMT -5
Loaded up some more 22RE this morning with 9.5 gr of Lil Gun and some 62 gr SS109's and some 75gr HPBT Hornady's. Was so excited about the mag working I forgot we hit the limit of chambering at 1.58" oal Another thing that showed up was some tight necks. I had some rounds that needed pulling and it took a lot of whacks to get the bullets out. Seeing as we have to turn / ream the 22 Uzi, we'll look at the 22 RE also. So loaded up a few of the SS109s and had one FTF high right off the bat and things were smooth for a few rounds then I had a FTF low. That was a first on the DI set up so I need to look at a couple things here. Put up a target at 25 yds and they were one tight group. I'll post a pic when I get a chance but the 1:7 barrel hopefully will get along well with the 60+gr bullets. Now its time to throat the chamber a bit and see what happens.
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Post by HMC710 on Apr 18, 2015 19:33:27 GMT -5
Ran a bunch more mag tests and moved our target out to 50 yards. The SS109's grouped the best followed by the 55gr JBT and last, even with the 1:7 barrel were the 75gr JHPBT Hornady Match bullets. Spread was over 3" with the 75gr bullets and pressures were way too high.
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Post by HMC710 on Apr 22, 2015 8:47:18 GMT -5
Here is my last target for the 22 Reeds Express DI version After some sighters to get the scope dialed in I shot three shots of the SS109 loads. They are circled in the 9/10 ring just above the red bull. Next were three shots of the 55gr load. They are the larger group in the 9/10 ring just left of the first group. Last were the 75 gr loads, which really surprised me given the fast twist of the barrel. They are scattered from 4:00 to 12:00 in the 8 ring and out. Powder charge was 9.5gr of Lil Gun which should put us in the 2000 fps range on the 62 gr bullets
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 4, 2016 11:00:56 GMT -5
Working with the Reeds Express DI today and feeding from a Tokarev mag and adapter. I widened up the feed ramps to delay the "centering of the round as its stripped out of the magazine and it definitely made an improvement. We are still limited in OAL so I loaded up some 40 gr Armscor and some 34gr Midway Dogtown bullets, which just happen to be tailor made for the 22 Reeds Express. The 34 gr JHP when seated to the base of the neck comes out at 1.35" oal. Still, if you want to maximize case capacity and use a heavier bullet, you're going to have to go to the M1 Carbine set up. Neck tensions still concern me and we'll do some more measuring after some test firing.
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 5, 2016 9:22:25 GMT -5
Broke out the K&M neck turning tools and went after a few on the new Starline reformed Tokarev brass. First I ran the inside and outside chamfered brass through 30 Luger dies to get the shoulder knocked down close to 22 RE location. Then I made one pass through the 22 RE dies without the expander. This process makes a good case but leaves an outside bulge on the case mouth. Running through the size die with the button expander cleans it up a bit but I decided to uniform the neck thickness a bit with the K&M tool. Customer is running .223 brass and .012" - .013" neck walls. Brass formed from Starline Tok brass runs .011" - .013" wall. Fired cases would not allow a new bullet to slip in so this could be a sign of a tight chamber / neck. I turned a few cases just to get rid of the bulge and to get a uniform wall thickness. Cases turned out to be .010" - .011" walls. I ran 10 rounds through the 22 RE upper and had one FTF low nose dive with the tok mag set up. 7 out of 10 fired cases had plenty of neck clearance after firing, enough to where neck turning probably isn't absolutely necessary. 3 cases however were tight. Neck walls were all the same, but these 3 case necks did not expand. The 7 fired cases measured .252" - .253" od and the tight cases measured .247" od at the neck. That explains the tight neck issue. Maybe an annealing cycle is in order. I'm using one of my old adapters with out the separate mag release and a slotted mag for this testing. I've got a M1 set up here but my good Korean mags are all down south and the mag I've got up here is junk so I can't test much with the Carbine set up. Time to clean up some more necks.
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 5, 2016 12:00:41 GMT -5
Formed, neck turn, and loaded cases. Left side is the short blown out shouldered 22 UZ which is based on the Starline 9x23 Super Comp case. Middle is the 22 Reeds Express with the Midway 34gr Dog Town made from Starline Tokarev brass. Right is the 22 TCM with stock 40gr JFP made with TCM brass and the Armscor bullet
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Post by HMC710 on Mar 5, 2016 16:46:13 GMT -5
Just ran a couple of mags through a carbine DI upper and it reminded me of why this round is so nice! I love it If anyone wants brass, let me know and I'll knock some out for you. $35 / 100 pcs formed $45 / 100 pcs formed and neck turned - as I said in a post above, I don't know they really need to be turned, but they are a bit uneven.
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Post by 22boomer on Aug 9, 2016 10:20:58 GMT -5
This is my 22 Reed Express. I use the CZ-24 subgun mags instead of the PPS mags and it works fine. I don't use a full length mag because this was to be a varmint and target rifle and I didn't need 30+ rounds. It's kind of funny that Rock Island decided to make a shorter 22 TCM called the 22TCM R9 so it could fit in Glock 9mm mags. If that round catches on it might be good for all those people with 9mm carbines or who want to try it in a 9mm pistol.
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