Rimfire and wax

[Eoddave27]

So I was at the range today testing out rimfire ammo. For the most part I just shoot CCI SV as training ammo but I bought a bunch of different premium ammos to try for long range positional shooting. After going through a few boxes of ammo I realized that loading magazines with waxed ammo is a real PITA. I ended up digging a towel out of my range bag and continually trying to wipe my fingers. My magazines were not that bad but the rotary magazines on my sons Ruger PR were challenging. I don’t think he will be able to load them himself. Have you guys found any secret method to make holding on to the slippery little critters easier when you load magazines?

 

[Kadams1563]

Throw them in the dirt that’ll make them easier to handle

Loading the Vudoo mags when your hands are all greasy kinda sucks too. That crap gets
Slippery.

 

[...]

just wipe the wax off before loading it.

i only leave the wax on for single shot rifles.....anything with a mag the wax gets removed....noticed no difference in accuracy

 

[XLR308]

One of my favorites is SK Standard Plus but it has a pretty healthy layer on it so I wipe them off as I load.
Due to the design of the 22/45 mags it isn't an issue but with my 10/22 I agree it's a pain in the ass.

 

[308pirate]

I've loaded thousands of Wolf/SK waxy as fuck ammo into CZ rimfire magazines. Other than wiping my hands on my pants every now and then I never gave it a second thought. The rifle didn't care either.

 

[JoeB]

Kind of like the IRS and ATF you just have to live with it.

 

[Travelor]

You do know the wax on the bullets is the lube, do you not? Wiping the lube off adversely affects the accuracy of the ammo and in the extreme can lead to leading the barrel.

 

[RTH1800]

If you keep ammo cool the wax will remain a bit less messy. Hot wax is more like honey.

 

[Strykervet]

It gunks up suppressors worse than those without, but comes off easier. I never remove it. I just deal with it, and I'm mostly pushing on the brass to pop it in the mag so it's not so much of a problem. It does get messy, but so does shooting and cleaning.

 

[45cal4life]

Keep a hand towel in the range bag and wipe hands, magazine follower or what else as needed

 

[...]

You do know the wax on the bullets is the lube, do you not? Wiping the lube off adversely affects the accuracy of the ammo and in the extreme can lead to leading the barrel.

no, no it doesnt

 

[Travelor]

mcameron

I'm not wanting to start a problem, but if wax on the bullet is NOT for lubrication, why is it there?

 

[...]

mcameron

I'm not wanting to start a problem, but if wax on the bullet is NOT for lubrication, why is it there?

prevents oxidation of the bare lead and to aid in chambering in tight cut match chambers

 

[JoeB]

Then that would mean the lube on a pistol or revolver bullet is to make it slide out of the case easier.

 

[308pirate]

Then that would mean the lube on a pistol or revolver bullet is to make it slide out of the case easier.

I doubt it

Lead itself is pretty slippery, and the several thousands of psi behind the bullet doesn't need any help to get the bullet going.

The portion of the bullet inside the case isn't in much contact with O2, so oxidation is hardly an issue in there.

 

[JoeB]

I was being a smart alick

 

[Travelor]

Love your humor JoeB.

The lube also probably makes the bullets load from the magazine faster LOL

 

[JoeB]

Only when it is warm out. Try CCI SV at 20deg.

 

[flatland1]

Scott blue paper shop towels are great for wiping 22RF wax off your fingers - I put one in my hip pocket for shooting 22RF PR rifle matches. They also work well as a wrap to protect finished barrels in aluminum bbl vise. I use them when holding AR15 uppers in an upper vise too. Don't think there's anything better for wiping oil off my hands while working on the lathe or mill.

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

i actually ADD more lube to mine, so i wear an old pair of pants and long sleeve shirt to wipe that stuff on.

 

[Snuby642]

Imo the wax on 22lr does effect group size.
With cci sv as an example:
Starting with a clean barrel it takes me 20-40 rounds to get it to tighten up.
At about 400-450 rounds it starts spreading groups and needs cleaned.

Cold weather efects this process more than hot for me.

My barrel does not like any unwaxed ammo even with the same mv.

That's just what I have observed with a 16 in er shaw.

Edit: cci sv does not like cold.

 

[JT1178]

Just bought a couple savage mark iis and we are have trouble with them ejecting spent rounds. Do you think that the wax could be causing this problem? Shooting the cci sv.

 

[Snuby642]

Not had ejection problems with cci sv on any platform.
They are about 1070 fps has cycled every thing used.
Some other brands not so much in sv.
A brand new bolt gun with a tight chamber in the cold, maybe.

This time of year I would look at the lube used in the action and bolt.
Did you strip and relube the action on the new savage bolt?

Possible factory preservatives have gummed up extractor?
Please let me know on that, I have seen guns run bad in the cold till all that was cleaned out.

 

[Travelor]

JT1178, take a Q-tip dampened with cleaning solution next time to the range. Clean the chamber periodically. If wax build up is cause the faliures to eject, this should verify that as the problem and cure it.

 

[Snuby642]

There are also several ammo manufacturers that produce biathelon
Ammo for the cold, they have different wax and powder I think to compensate.

 

[Seymour Fish]

i actually ADD more lube to mine, so i wear an old pair of pants and long sleeve shirt to wipe that stuff on.

Predator, That’s interesting. Lanolin/paraffin-based ?

 

[JT1178]

Not had ejection problems with cci sv on any platform.
They are about 1070 fps has cycled every thing used.
Some other brands not so much in sv.
A brand new bolt gun with a tight chamber in the cold, maybe.

This time of year I would look at the lube used in the action and bolt.
Did you strip and relube the action on the new savage bolt?

Possible factory preservatives have gummed up extractor?
Please let me know on that, I have seen guns run bad in the cold till all that was cleaned out.

I put the scope on mine and sighted it in. Ran probably 150 rounds through it between that and getting velocity and shooting groups with it. Didn’t have any problems until around 125 or so. Came home cleaned it and took it back out and ran about 10 or so and then it did it again.

The other gun was a buddy’s and he had problems with his from the get go.

 

[JT1178]

JT1178, take a Q-tip dampened with cleaning solution next time to the range. Clean the chamber periodically. If wax build up is cause the faliures to eject, this should verify that as the problem and cure it.

I’ll try it the next time I shoot and let you guys know what happens. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Eoddave27]

I had some ejection issues with one particular lot of CCI SV ammo recently. I switched to SK ammo and the problem went away. After the issues I went home and completely disassembled the bolt and polished the extractors and channel the set in to make sure they functioned smoothly and oiled them well. After that I have shot probably 500 rounds of the same CCI I had issues with without a single ejection issue. I can’t say the same for my sons Ruger PR. I think the machining on the Savage extractors is just a little sloppy but once you give them a little attention they function well. At least that has been my experience with the MKii’s I have owned.

 

[Snuby642]

Several of my 22's have "bentz?" chambers, they are not as tight as a good bolt gun.
The cci brand runs good in all of them especially sv and green tag.

That being said your savage may never like cci due to tolerances.
There are some good threads on the subject here, search.
All 22 ammo has a fanbase for a peticular chamber, buy small batches.

Edit: I missed eoddave's post, sounds like good advice.
The price point on cci sv is nice if it will run in your rig.

 

[Eoddave27]

I only ever had problems with that one lot of CCI. It shot like crap out of my rifle anyway so I really wasn’t that concerned. It still amazes me to see the variations from lot to lot of ammo. I bought a case of one lot of CCI ammo that would shoot 1moa at 100yards in both my rifle and my sons rifle. I’m convinced that lot is like unicorns feathers. I went out with 6 different lots yesterday and none of them shot well in my rifle. One lot shot fairly well in my sons rifle fortunately so I went back and cleaned that shop out of ammo. So far I have found some SK pistol match special that my rifle really liked but I could only get one brick of it. I still have a few flavors of Eley to test but it is a lot harder to get in case quantities locally. If I order a few boxes from somewhere and like it there is always the chance if I order more it will be a different lot. It’s pretty darn frustrating especially for someone who is used to loading all my own ammo.

 

[Snuby642]

This was my last target the other day, cci sv 16inch 10/22.
400-450 rnds since cleaned cold for me.
All my first groups were shot slow and poor results as to my norm.
This last group the first 4 shots were the same as my previous groups,
I figured the gun was just too dirty and blasted the last 6 fast as I could.

The best I can figure is the rapid fire warmed up the wax enough to shoot well.
This was at 50yd and on a bench so when summer comes will be more consistant.

Maybe I will have to pay the price for biathelon.

 

[JT1178]

I hope it’s not the ammo lot problem seeing how I found a deal on a case and purchased it. They averaged 1061fps and shoot good groups at 50 and 100. I’ll let you guys know the results of my next time out.