Loading .22 Jet for the Contender

[vonfatman]

I have just about all I need to begin, but then I read that the Contender Jet Barrel is .223-.224....
My bullets are 40gr. @@ Jet Hornady bullets which are .222



I have read that Contender factory barrels are .223--.224

My barrel is a 10" Oct. barrel

SO...should I buy different bullets for my Contender and save the .222 bullets
for use in my Model 53?

I have no problem waiting a bit to get the correct bullets...but another question comes to mind...

What about my dies...they probably will size .222 if made to original Jet specs.  Do I need another
sizing plug (RCBS) for the dies I bought?

Thanks.  Oh, and any suggested load information will be appreciated!!

Bob

[HEAD0001]

Did you cast the chamber.  It is pretty easy to cast a chamber in the Contender.  I loaded two different 22 Jet's.  I had a hard time with both of them.  I had lots of sticky cases in my S&W.  So much so that I got rid of the pistol.  I did not have any problems with the factory rounds, but they were very rare, and expensive(20 years ago).   I would try the .222 bullets, you really have nothing to loose.  But I would also cast the chamber.

As far as your dies are concerned.  Did you measure the expander you have now?  You can always get a new expander.  Or just get a Sinclair expander mandrel, which I prefer anyway.   Tom.

[Reed1911]

Not sure why you suggest casting the chamber, what he needs to do is slug the bore to find out its size. Using a .225-.226 piece of pure lead, push it down the bore and measure the size, it will give you the smallest size of the bore and that would be the bullet size to use. You will likely find it is .223 or .224 but .222 bores in the T/C are very rare. That being said, I've had some that shoot the .222" just fine.

[vonfatman]

Thanks guys.  I'm going to get the barrel slugged first.

I am hoping to have some fun with this barrel.

I appreciate your comments and apologize for the late reply.

Bob