.224 blast from the past (pics)

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I recently acquired 2 boxes of these Lovell bullets.
Googled but didn't get much about Lovell history.
What do you guys know about Lovell?
thnx- zip
 
These bullets were marketed by Sisk during the height of popularity of the Lovell line of wildcat cartridges. The "Lovell 2R" was extremely popular in North America from the mid 1930's until the 222 Rem finally set in. Sisk obviously tagged the name onto his most suitable bullet for marketing purposes. I have one box myself & have amassed quite a bit of data on the Lovell cartridges. A brief history is as follows:

The "22-3000" (or 22 Lovell) was a wildcat round developed by an American named Hervey (not Harvey) Lovell, about 1934. He accomplished this by taking the "25-20 Single Shot" case which is a bit longer than the regular 25-20 Win case and necked it down with a fairly smooth shoulder to .22 caliber. A bit quicker than the "Hornet", and inherently accurate; it became a common wildcat caliber in the USA and Canada.
In 1937, Harvey (yes Harvey) Donaldson with the help of M. Risley doing the reamer work, created the first improved form of the 22-3000 which became known as the "2R Lovell". The "2R" designation was due to the fact that it was the "2nd reamer" made by Risley that was utilized. Some references to this cartridge call it the 2R Donaldson furthur confusing the topic. The 2R Lovell has been described as the most popular .22 wildcat ever designed. J. B. Smith and Griffin & Howe of the USA both had factory runs of this ammunition made. (If memory serves me right, contracted to Winchester) . The original cases made from 25-20 SS (up to about 1935 then discontinued) are thin and "incipent head separation" is common and not necessarily signs of excessive high pressure. Later cases from Smith or G&H are much stronger.
The Lovell story does not end there, as various gunsmiths pushed the case development furthur by moving the shoulder forward & steepening it's angle to gain case capacity. This was known as the "Maximum Lovell"
Many campained Winchester and Remington for the 2R Lovell to be domesticated as a factory cartridge, WW2 came along and such interests obviously hit the backburner. Then in 1950 Remington brought out the 222 which was similar to the Lovell cartridges, only slightly larger and rimless. It is my understanding that the 222 was drawn on its own unique and new brass coin. This pretty much spelled a quick death to the Lovell series and Remington had no royalties or buy-outs to worry about. (Imagine the royalties on the 222/222Mag/and 223 line !!)

Anyone interested in more info on the Lovell cartridges, pm me.

Cheers
jaguar/TheCounty
 
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