Pointed Soft Points a tube mag....small bore

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TReX300

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I'm wondering if anyone has loaded any pointed soft points for small bore ceterfires like the .22 Hornet, .218 Bee or .219 Zipper and used them in tube style magizines on lever action guns. I know normaly that this isn't something you'd do. I've have a Marlin 336 and have been loading Hornady 45grn "Bee" HP's at 3050fps. The B.C. of the bullet is .108. Hornady makes a 45grn "Hornet" Pointed Soft Point witha B.C. of .202. Going off my ballistic program just by changeing the bullet from the "Bee" to the "Hornet" my current trajectory at 250yrds is what I'd have at 300 yrds using the Hornet. I was thinking that if I used a hard primer like a CCI and that because the recoil of these calibers is so light combined with the light weight of the shells in the tube (the whole loaded shell is lighter than some bullets in bigger bores) that it might not be an issue. Does anyone have any comments on this.

Thanks

Tim
 
Normally I would have agreed with you 100% but I know that the .22 Hornet was chambered in a lever gun and I dont ever recall seeing Hornet ammo loaded with anything but a PSP. That dosn't mean is hasnt been but its what got me thinking about it in the first place.

Tim
 
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I would concur that it 's best not to use pointy bullets in a tubular magazine. Your premise that recoil, in what i'm guessing is a .218 bee, may not be sufficient to set off any other cartridges may be valid .however, I don't think you'd want to play the odds and bet your health your going to be right everytime you pull the trigger.

At the range, I've noted that if i fill my tube (94 win.) to capacity and then proceed to fire them off ,my target looks worse than if I single load each round by hand. On that thought I loaded one in the chamber and one in the mag and groups got better again. I dont know if this applys to your rifle but all 3 of my tube fed levers share this trait.

Next step now was to go to 150 gr. spitzers, load to same overall length as round nose in 30-30, and had to clip the lead tip off to keep overall length chambering capability 100% reliable. Got a load that on my good days shoots 1.5 in. and hunt with one in the chamber one in the tube. Just like you changing from Bee to Hornet bullet configuration I have a much flatter trajectory and another 400 plus ft/lbs energy at 200 yds. The one in and one in the mag using spitzers was learned from a Sam Fadala., a gunmagazine writer in the 1970's
If your just shooting small game/varmints , the two spitzers rule should work for you with no health hazards in your Marlin and you get your better trajectory.
..................your mileage may vary
 
Hs4570. I was thinking of doing the two round thing but most of my shootin gis a Jackrabbits and somtimes that third shot comes in handy. If I have to live with two for that extra range I guess I'll have to. I think I'll do a bit of test and see actually how much force is need to set off a round and how much force is needed to squash the nost of the PSP. I guess I could trim them a bit and make thema bit flatter. BTW the gun is chambered for .219 Zipper. Just a little more pop than the Bee.

Thanks
Tim
 
A couple of gun writers have whipped this particular safety item do death over the last couple years, and after a lot of testing they could NOT get primers in a tube fed mag to go off with pointed bullets. They did manage to light off a full tube seperate from the gun with a spring and nail mechanism attached to one end of the tube acting as a firing pin, but even that just split the tube on one and did nothing on the other. There is so much more volume in a tube that the escaping gasses can't seem to get up enough pressure to do any real damage. Still seems a little iffy to me, (hey, i'm old and have old ideas) but take it for what it's worth. - dan
 
I have read the same articles and it is true they could not get detonation of cartridges in tube magazine to occur. That is reassuring.

I have done some loading of poined bullets in Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 rifles. The real problem using pointed bullets in these rifles is that the short overall length of a loaded rounds required to function properly invariably means that the ogive of the bullet ends up below the case mouth. This leads to all kinds of new difficulties.

In the big game calibers, I would stick with bullets designed for the cartridges chambered in your lever action. You will save a lot of time and frustration. They are designed for both the rifle and the game you will be hunting. :D

I can't imagine you would ever have a problem with the 22s or 25 in a tube mag.

Ted
 
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