Loading for the 22 Nosler
- Thread starter Bowhunt
- Start date
204 AR
Well-known member
There's a bunch of reading material on here from the last 5 months, quite a few have tried it.
As for me I bought one of the first Stoner barrels and mine is accurate with 50 gr zmax, which is what I wanted to shoot. I get 3420 fps from the 18" barrel with 30.4 gr 8208. Seating depth was the key.
Nosler brass with the rebated rim shows swipes with higher end loads. Some are using Hdy 6mm Hagar brass which uses a 6.8 rim and it should take some higher pressures and hold together better. Not a lot of love here for it, but mine isn't going anywhere and it might be my fur gun this year. Even with a suppressor it fits in my RZR and should be a hammer.
That's it in a nutshell.
As for me I bought one of the first Stoner barrels and mine is accurate with 50 gr zmax, which is what I wanted to shoot. I get 3420 fps from the 18" barrel with 30.4 gr 8208. Seating depth was the key.
Nosler brass with the rebated rim shows swipes with higher end loads. Some are using Hdy 6mm Hagar brass which uses a 6.8 rim and it should take some higher pressures and hold together better. Not a lot of love here for it, but mine isn't going anywhere and it might be my fur gun this year. Even with a suppressor it fits in my RZR and should be a hammer.
That's it in a nutshell.
I have a new BHW 24" I'm going to wring out. The STONER barrel I bought shoots great shotgun patterns. Absolutely terrible. The brass is soft and unlike some I don't leave it on the ground. I was able to shoot a 556 in the short barrel and stay right with it as I've mentioned in my other postings. The Hagar brass looks like the only way to get any pressure/speed out of this.
My 22X6.8 runs over the top by about 150 FPS on the Nosler but it does run at higher pressures as the Nosler stops at 55,000 and is lower than the 6.8 variant. The 6.8 brass is not getting abused when I shoot it doing 50 grainers easily up to 3750.
It's just not one that will flourish IMHO when you stack it up against the 22 LBC or the 22X6.8. Purely a matter of pressure at work on these.
Greg
My 22X6.8 runs over the top by about 150 FPS on the Nosler but it does run at higher pressures as the Nosler stops at 55,000 and is lower than the 6.8 variant. The 6.8 brass is not getting abused when I shoot it doing 50 grainers easily up to 3750.
It's just not one that will flourish IMHO when you stack it up against the 22 LBC or the 22X6.8. Purely a matter of pressure at work on these.
Greg
BleedsBlue
New member
I have a white oak 22 nosler 24" barrel with 1-12 twist.
Initially I am not impressed. Barely faster than a hot 5.56 round and to get any speed the brass has to be destroyed. If you plan on trying it don't bother buying the nosler brass.
I have 27 varieties of powder to test and hope to develop a 53 grain varmint round.
I plan on doing some testing this weekend to form a better opinion. (I'll post results)
Also I have ordered some 6 Hagar brass along with a 6.8spc bcg being optimistic that I didn't waste my time building this thing.
What would be the official name for Hagar brass ran thru 22nosler dies? .220thunderbolt? 22 beast?
Anyone else having problems with Redding bullet seating dies? The ram cannot be set within 1/8" of full travel without crushing necks.
Initially I am not impressed. Barely faster than a hot 5.56 round and to get any speed the brass has to be destroyed. If you plan on trying it don't bother buying the nosler brass.
I have 27 varieties of powder to test and hope to develop a 53 grain varmint round.
I plan on doing some testing this weekend to form a better opinion. (I'll post results)
Also I have ordered some 6 Hagar brass along with a 6.8spc bcg being optimistic that I didn't waste my time building this thing.
What would be the official name for Hagar brass ran thru 22nosler dies? .220thunderbolt? 22 beast?
Anyone else having problems with Redding bullet seating dies? The ram cannot be set within 1/8" of full travel without crushing necks.
BleedsBlue
New member
I guess it will have to be given a name such as: *improved 22 nosler, 22 nosler big head, common sense 22n. 223spc or maybe 5.56nosler
Originally Posted By: BleedsBlueI guess it will have to be given a name such as: *improved 22 nosler, 22 nosler big head, common sense 22n. 223spc or maybe 5.56nosler
I didn't coin it but 22 NOSGAR comes to mind..
Greg
BTW once I wring out this BHW Nosler I will be going to the HAGAR conversion brass only because I am retired and have nothing better to do. I already know that the BRASS is the weak spot on this one. I also know that it with the big head and loss of the rebate their may be a minimal amount of capacity gain.
Being able to run the pressures up to 57,000 or so will certainly help things using the HAGAR. It should be able to best the 22X6.8 by maybe 50 FPS at the most but as it stands now the 6.8 variant is far superior in velocity and choice of bullets that can be loaded comfortably.
I didn't coin it but 22 NOSGAR comes to mind..
Greg
BTW once I wring out this BHW Nosler I will be going to the HAGAR conversion brass only because I am retired and have nothing better to do. I already know that the BRASS is the weak spot on this one. I also know that it with the big head and loss of the rebate their may be a minimal amount of capacity gain.
Being able to run the pressures up to 57,000 or so will certainly help things using the HAGAR. It should be able to best the 22X6.8 by maybe 50 FPS at the most but as it stands now the 6.8 variant is far superior in velocity and choice of bullets that can be loaded comfortably.
I changed over to hagar brass awhile ago. I got sick and tired of the swipes.the only drawback is if hagar brass dries up! Maybe if it catches on hornady will make it more . It's a shame nosler didn't catch on on this swiping problem and make it in the 6.8 bolt size.im sure the rebated rim is a lot harder to manufacture. Hopefully this nosgar conversion will help this cartridge to its full potential.
varminter .223
Well-known member
12 twist 22" woa
33 cfe 223
55 nosler bt's
I settled on 2.260"
Velocity average right at 3550 fps.
Consistent 5 shot sub .75 accuracy
Ocassional swiping but never enough to damage a case to the point I couldnt reuse it.
As far as production Ar15 rounds nothing comes close. I have 333 through it with 100% reliability and it has replaced my swift and my 22-250s for my calling rifle.
They are also available without a long wait.
The Stoner tubes are junk imo......at least mine was.
Shooting heavy pills the 6 hagar brass I hear will allow you to push them 200 fps faster. I have no need for anything over 55 grains though.
Woa's new 22 and 24" tubes now are being built with a gas system that is aprox. 2" longer than rifle length which they say reduces swiping a bit. The general consensus is brass would look better with a bigger case head but I have at least 10 maybe more loadings on some of my cases without annealing and finally had 1 neck split and 1 just start to partially split. Maybe 1 out of 30 have a swipe big enough that it needed addressed which was very simple to remove.
According to WOA, when the gas system is removed the swiping no longer occurs so the pressure isnt more than the elasticity of the brass will handle but rather the timing of the bolt rotating open in relation to the chamber pressure still being high and the brass not having ample time to relax.
With a barrel, a mag, and factory ammo this 22 Nosler is pretty much plug and play in an AR at 22 250 speeds. It leaves the .223 in the dirt with 55s. Btw these are real numbers I tested.
33 cfe 223
55 nosler bt's
I settled on 2.260"
Velocity average right at 3550 fps.
Consistent 5 shot sub .75 accuracy
Ocassional swiping but never enough to damage a case to the point I couldnt reuse it.
As far as production Ar15 rounds nothing comes close. I have 333 through it with 100% reliability and it has replaced my swift and my 22-250s for my calling rifle.
They are also available without a long wait.
The Stoner tubes are junk imo......at least mine was.
Shooting heavy pills the 6 hagar brass I hear will allow you to push them 200 fps faster. I have no need for anything over 55 grains though.
Woa's new 22 and 24" tubes now are being built with a gas system that is aprox. 2" longer than rifle length which they say reduces swiping a bit. The general consensus is brass would look better with a bigger case head but I have at least 10 maybe more loadings on some of my cases without annealing and finally had 1 neck split and 1 just start to partially split. Maybe 1 out of 30 have a swipe big enough that it needed addressed which was very simple to remove.
According to WOA, when the gas system is removed the swiping no longer occurs so the pressure isnt more than the elasticity of the brass will handle but rather the timing of the bolt rotating open in relation to the chamber pressure still being high and the brass not having ample time to relax.
With a barrel, a mag, and factory ammo this 22 Nosler is pretty much plug and play in an AR at 22 250 speeds. It leaves the .223 in the dirt with 55s. Btw these are real numbers I tested.
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The National match gas tube leanth 2 inches longer than rifle leanth will slow down the dwell time of the bolt which allows the brass to relax .a h2 or h3 does the same thing itchanges the dwell time .thats why they make them.the 22 nosler brass is the weak link to soft .I would like to see nosler make some harder brass to see if it would help take the pressure. I really like this cartridge it just needs the bugs worked out of it.
Bowhunt
Active member
Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm with 223 varminter on this one. Nearing 22-250 speeds from an AR platform, with minimal changes is just too much to ignore. I have a 22" WOA varmint contour in a 1 in 12 twist. According to my Magnetospeed V3, I am running the 50 NBTs at an average of 3714 fps. I spoke with John at WOA when i picked up my barrel and he explained a bit about the longer gas system (which I have). Even at these pressures, 80% of my cases have no visable swipes at all and the other 20% end up with just a shiny spot that lacks any detectable bur. Occasionally a bur shows up and is very minimal. Ones with a bur are definitely more the exception than the rule. Shooting both 3 and 5 shot groups....i am calling this a solid half inch gun. I have run hand loads and factory 55 grainers through this tube and so far everything has printed under an inch. Found an accuracy node at the bottom end that consistently produced 3 shot groups in the .3s with the bezt being a .142". Very pleased so far.