Cutting Edge Cur X .22

[shootertom]

I purchased some of these last summer, 32 grain. When loading I had a difficult time getting a consistent crimp. It was also my first time using a crimp die.

Has anyone gotten them to shoot well? Curious about what powder you might be using and some tips on loading consistency.

 

[acourvil]

I used VV3n37 and Longshot with decent results. I got better velocities with Longshot. I think there are a bunch of powders that could work well, but it is really tedious to load those tiny little cases. CE did publish a listing showing initial results with quite a few powders.

I never got the crimper to work well. I switched to using a neck bushing to size the case and got better consistency.

I ended up with a load for these that shot ~1MOA @ 50yds and ~1-1/2MOA @ 100yds, going around 1400fps. 2.2gn of Longshot. SD was not great but i could generally keep it under 20fps. That’s not match quality, but plenty good for shooting small game out to 100yds or so, and it’s a lot flatter shooting that the conventional 22LR ammo. And an order of magnitude bette than the commercially available non-lead 22LR ammo.

I intend to do some work with the heavier CE CuRx bullets, too, but only recently got the fast twist barrels necessary for those and haven’t had the time to work with them yet.

 

[shootertom]

I used VV3n37 and Longshot with decent results. I got better velocities with Longshot. I think there are a bunch of powders that could work well, but it is really tedious to load those tiny little cases. CE did publish a listing showing initial results with quite a few powders.

I never got the crimper to work well. I switched to using a neck bushing to size the case and got better consistency.

I ended up with a load for these that shot ~1MOA @ 50yds and ~1-1/2MOA @ 100yds, going around 1400fps. 2.2gn of Longshot. SD was not great but i could generally keep it under 20fps. That’s not match quality, but plenty good for shooting small game out to 100yds or so, and it’s a lot flatter shooting that the conventional 22LR ammo. And an order of magnitude bette than the commercially available non-lead 22LR ammo.

I intend to do some work with the heavier CE CuRx bullets, too, but only recently got the fast twist barrels necessary for those and haven’t had the time to work with them yet.

I appreciate your reply, could you tell me a little more about the neck bushing? I understand the concept as I use bushing dies for all my centerfire loading. How are you doing it for the .22 case?

 

[acourvil]

I took a Redding bushing and set it up in a tool head so that I could “neck size” the .22 case. I only size the top of the case, roughly the same length as as the part of the bullet that gets seated. I used a drill press and some aluminum automotive plugs that had the same threads as the tool head to hold the bushing. I’m sure there are better ways to do it, but it was simple and cheap. I found the .223 bushing worked best with the CCI cases that come with the CE bullets. Also tried some Eley cases, and those needed a .222 bushing as the brass was a little thinner.

 

[shootertom]

I took a Redding bushing and set it up in a tool head so that I could “neck size” the .22 case. I only size the top of the case, roughly the same length as as the part of the bullet that gets seated. I used a drill press and some aluminum automotive plugs that had the same threads as the tool head to hold the bushing. I’m sure there are better ways to do it, but it was simple and cheap. I found the .223 bushing worked best with the CCI cases that come with the CE bullets. Also tried some Eley cases, and those needed a .222 bushing as the brass was a little thinner.

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That is awesome! I'm not sure why cutting edge didn't make a bushing die set for them. Seems like it would have been much more repeatable.