224-32 First Impressions

[JayCee]

I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of a high velocity small bore revolver cartridge, but there’s been nothing available in that department since the ill-fated 22 Remington Jet.  Years ago, I almost bought one of those, but the bad press it received from case setback and cylinder binding problems made me think twice.  The itch has always been there, however.

Well, when the 224-32 FA was announced, I put it on my list of future acquisitions.  When I recently “celebrated” a milestone birthday, I finally had a good reason to justify the purchase.  So, I’m now the proud owner of a Model 97 in 224-32 FA. Even though the round is better suited to a longer barrel, I don’t particularly like the weight distribution of long-barreled revolvers, so I decided on the 5 ½ inch version, which to me at least, is the ideal barrel length in the Model 97.  The gun arrived yesterday, along with the RCBS dies and 200 already primed 327 Federal Magnum cases.

Ammunition

I immediately set out to make some ammunition so I could take the gun out to the range today.  Although I’ve been reloading for over 25 years, I’ve never done any case conversions or fire forming, so it was with some trepidation that I approached this step in the process.  It actually proved to be fairly straightforward, although I probably went through 10 or 15 cases before I finally got the dies set right to achieve the correct headspace.  To further complicate matters, my dadgum case trimmer was too dull to quickly trim the cases, so I had to resort to carefully filing the necks and finishing the job with the case trimmer.  I laboriously cranked out about 30 rounds before I got tired of messing with the file and the uncooperative case trimmer, and decided I’d order new cutter heads and resume reloading when they arrive, hopefully sometime next week.

Once I had the sizing die set up properly, I did notice that occasionally a case would emerge from the sizing die with a split neck.  I’m not really sure what caused this, since I made sure the cases were properly lubed before sizing and forming.  It may be that there’s a certain attrition rate when you neck down cases, but I’m no expert on the subject, so I can’t really say.

My starting/fireforming load was 12 grains of AA1680, behind a 40 grain Hornady V-Max.  This is one of the starting loads recommended by Freedom Arms.

Range Report

So, off to the range I went this morning with the new Model 97 and 30 rounds of 224-32 FA.  Since I was more interested in how the cases held up than I was with accuracy, I went ahead and set up at the 15 yard line.  The first cylinder full grouped at about an inch and was a little to the left and low.  I adjusted the sights and concentrated a little harder and was rewarded with a group of about a half inch dead on the bullseye.  Since the cases were not fully formed, and the load hasn’t yet been optimized, I considered this to be adequate accuracy.  Hopefully, I can tighten it up once the cases are fully fireformed and I have an opportunity to tweak the load.

All the cases extracted with no problem; in fact, some even dropped out of the chamber without a shove with the extractor rod.  I noticed no signs of pressure or head separation, so it seems the headspace is okay.  One of the cases did have a split neck, so it was discarded. 

I was surprised at the amount of muzzle and cylinder flash.  It was very noticeable, even though today was fairly bright.  A fellow came up to the line as I was firing and remarked that he thought I must be shooting some sort of heavy magnum.  He was surprised when I told him it was a 22 centerfire. 

I would like to have fired more rounds, but my goal was to get the reloading process down pat.  Once the new case trimmer heads come in, I’ll take my portable reloading rig to the range and spend a day working up a load.  At this point, I don’t intend to scope the revolver because, to use the words of a well-known handgunner, “scopes do not belong on handguns”.  I say this somewhat in jest, since I don’t really know how accurately I’ll be able to shoot beyond 50 yards with iron sights, but it’ll be fun to see what the gun can do.  And what I can do.

[Ken ONeill]

Whatever "well known handgunner" said scopes don't belong on handguns is arbitrarily cheating themselves out of some rewarding experiences. But it makes no difference to me - people are free to believe what they will, and restrict themselves if they choose, as far as I'm concerned.
I've been sitting here grinning as I was thinking about you hand filing .070" off each case! What a chore that would be if someone decided to do a couple hundred!
I had a chance to shoot a 10" .224-32 FA last summer. The gun had about 4,000 rounds through it at that time. Even though "sixshot" and I were shooting in variable winds that sometimes reached gale force, I was really pleased with the 100 and 200 meter accuracy of the little cartridge and gun. It showed itself to easily be a 200 meter groundhog or rockchuck revolver, and a 100+ meter gun for prairie dogs, if the shooter was up to it. That particular revolver was wearing a 3-12X Burris, set on 9X.
Bob Baker told me that one can expect a 40 gr. bullet to run about 2250 fps from a 10", 2150 fps from a 7 1/2", and 2050 fps from a 5 1/2" barrel.
Congratulations on your purchase, and I hope your new case trimming equipment gets there soon !

[Bob Baker]

Good writeup JayCee.

There is a technique to forming cases.  A few things I found when developing this cartridge was a smooth even stroke at a moderate speed.  When the case neck reaches the neck part of the die, don't hesitate, just carry though and you will have better success.  Once I worked out the process I would only lose one case out of every one hundred to two hundred rounds.

Also, don't over lube the case.

[JayCee]

Thanks for the advice, Bob.  I think I was getting the hang of it, since most of the neck splits happened when I was forming the first few cases.  Once the case trimmer cutter heads come in, I should be back in business and will follow your suggestions. 

[JayCee]

Whatever "well known handgunner" said scopes don't belong on handguns is arbitrarily cheating themselves out of some rewarding experiences.

IIRC, Lee Jurras used to come up with this on the old sixgunner forum every time someone asked about what scope to use on a particular handgun.  He even abbreviated it, and I always chuckled when the poor fellow who asked the original question now had to ask what SDNBOHG meant.  From what I've read about him, Lee was no slouch with a handgun, and took all sorts of game with them, many at up to 200 yards.

I'm ambivalent about scopes on handguns, particularly single action revolvers.  On the one hand, I recognize that the effective range of a revolver is greatly increased by the use of a scope.  On the other hand, I can't shoot a scoped revolver offhand worth a flip, so for me a rest is necessary to achieve the improved accuracy and range.  So the scoped gun becomes useless (at least for someone with my shooting capabilities) for offhand shooting.  It's also less easy to pack and holster.  If someone came up with a mount that could be removed quickly and easily, and when replaced went back to the exact same zero, I'd become a believer.  My only experience with a scoped revolver was a Super Redhawk in 44 magnum back a few years ago, and when the scope was removed and later replaced, the zero always seemed to be slightly off.   I don't have any experience with scopes on FAs...can they be removed and reinstalled without changing the zero?

[Graybeard]

I don't really like scopes on handguns especially on a revolver BUT it's kinda silly to have a gun that is up to the task of shooting four or five times further than you are. Meaning if the gun is up to 200 or more yards and you and your sighting equipment are only good for 50 what's the use?

[Lloyd Smale]

got to agree with Bill. Im one that detests scopes on handguns but this gun screams for one. I think it would be a waste without one

[JayCee]

Heck, just when I figured I'd pretty much spent all I needed to spend to bring the new FA into the stable, you guys are about to shame me into buying a new scope!  How am I going to explain that to the wife???  She already can't figure why a Freedom Arms revolver costs 4 times what a Ruger costs.   

Any suggestions on what I should look for?  Like I said, I'm not very knowledgeable about scopes on handguns, being generally of the opinion that SDNBOHG.

[Heavy C]

Congrats JayCee!  That's a sweet looking rig.  As far as scopes go; I've had good luck with Bushnell Trophy scopes.  Of course, if you want to spend more the Burris and Leupold lines are good.  I just couldn't justify spending the extra dough.

[Graybeard]

Yup Bushnell Trophy 2-6 should do just fine and they don't cost all that much.

[JayCee]

Case trimmer cutting heads came in last week, so I set about putting together some cartridges for the 224-32 FA.  I spent most of Saturday sizing/forming/trimming/charging cases and finally ended up with 150 cartridges ready to shoot.

A couple of observations:

• I tried to follow Bob Baker's advice in sizing and forming the cases, but I still ended up splitting the neck on about 6 or 7 cases.  My technique didn't change that I could tell, but I could always tell when a split neck occurred.  Mostly it was on the sizing stroke, but on at least 2 occasions the neck split as it went over the expander plug while being extracted from the die.  
• After finishing the bullet seating step, I went back and checked each cartridge to make sure it would chamber properly.  Most of the cartridges dropped right into the chamber, a few were a bit sticky and some (maybe 10 or so) would not chamber and stuck out about a quarter of an inch from the rear of the cylinder.  I didn't want to force them, so I ran them partly into the sizer die, after which they would chamber easily.  Not sure what caused this, unless maybe I exerted too much force during the trimming process, and the case expanded just enough to keep it from chambering.  

Hopefully, I'll get out to the range next week and will see how they shoot.  This has been a (fun) learning experience for me, and I'm anxious to see what this revolver will do.