what to do with .22 casings

Apparently about double :)

OK, fair enough. :redface: LOL I thought you meant $2.50 before they were in ingot form. I still think it's double the work to cast them into ingots. Also, the chances of brass going that high i($5.00/lb.) is pretty slim. At least according to the guys at the scrap yard I frequent. It finally came back up over $1.00 a pound after a two year low. But, hey, if it works and you can make money at it- more components for you!! :D
 
That's the difference with "solid" scrap. At work we have to seperate any scrap parts from regular chips that come out of the machines because it's worth more. Makes a big difference with metals that are normally worth more than steel (like inconel or titanium).
 
Do this with them. Shoot good, fun to make and not all that time consuming.

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Wow, I'm surprised only one other person commented about turning 22LR casings into jackets for cast .224 projectiles. Time consuming, but supremely frugal.

Thats how the Speer brothers got started back during WWII when all base metals were in short supply.

I pick up discarded range brass or worn out casings of all denominations and simply throw the stuff into coffee cans. Sell it just before deer season to a scrap dealer and it usually pays for my deer license... and a six pack or two;)
 
I posted a question a while ago about swaging 22RF cases. The answer then was that it is possible, but not worth the effort, dollar wise.
 
I posted a question a while ago about swaging 22RF cases. The answer then was that it is possible, but not worth the effort, dollar wise.

Yeah. It really depends on what your goal is.

If you enjoy the doing, it may be worth pursuing. If you are looking to save money, pick up a second job, or a paper route or something like that.

The full set of "Free bullets from .22 brass" swaging dies from one of the Corbin Bros. is gonna run you about $750 and a two year wait. I picked up a set, used, but in good nick, for only a bit less than that, but I was able to hold them in hand, prior to laying my money down. That was worth a premium to me.

There are a couple other suppliers, mostly for far higher quality goods, like solid carbide dies, for example, for far more money, but lower wait times. Neimi, and Blackmon, are the two manes I am thinking of. Both do dies as a sideline, and both pretty much deal in calibers that the bench rest accuracy crowd are using.

And there are a couple guys out there making quick and dirty dies sets, without really knowing what they are dealing with. One fellow on castboolits got into the business that way. whether his dies hold up, or whether the shop he subbed out the work to can actually produce repeatable enough results, will remain to be seen.

Or you can buy a lathe and some stock, and make your own.


Figure out what you want to do. If you want to have the satisfaction of making a bullet that works, for mostly labour, rimfire bullets may be an option. If you need a couple thousand rounds a weekend to go tune up skills and drills, find a bulk source of cheap fmj.

Me, I'm gonna try it to keep my hands and mind busy.

Cheers
Trev
 
I looked into this as well and found that I would burn out a couple of barrels before the cost recovery, but the main reason for not doing it was from those that have, their groups at 100yds. were in the 2-3 inch area (and way worse beyond) which is OK only if you had a bunch of kids to entertain cheaply.
Even a side bussiness would be iffy with repeatable accuracy issues.
 
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