Info on.222 rimmed with BM 8208 (New member saying hello)

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Info on.222 rimmed with BM 8208 (New member saying hello)

Post by pedro4977 » 17 Apr 2018, 1:46 pm

Gday all, I have only just joined up today although I have been reading this and other mostly American forums for years, I’ve been shooting on and off for over 25 years and have a reasonable amount of knowledge, but I want to pick the brains of anybody who knows about martini cadets. I inherited a beautifully put together bsa martini with a custom stock and medium heavy barrel at 600mm or 24”. It’s a .222 rimmed but has .222 k rimmed stamped on the barrel. I have brass some which has been fire formed (look like akley improved) and others some old river brand and super, about 150 all up. I also have a custom sako .222 rem mag that was built for my late father by Bill Marden and now has a Tobler 26” barrel that I put on it about 20 years ago and would be lucky to have had 400 rounds through it. Would any of you blokes be able to give me an approximate load for the .222 rimmed with BM 8208?
I have a kg of this powder and it is the grouse in my .222 mag. I’m using 50g v max or z max as I want to utilise the same powder and bullet for both. I am curious as to what the K is on the barrel as in shoulder angle so I could get a fls die made up
or is this a waste of time and money? Also if anyone has any .222 rimmed brass they don’t want I would be interested as I reckon with a good scope and tuned loads this would be a beaut spotlighting rifle for foxes out to reasonable ranges.
Any help would be appreciated.
You can’t legislate against ignorance, stupidity or an opinion made up of both!
pedro4977
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Re: Info on.222 rimmed with BM 8208 (New member saying hello

Post by Gaz52 » 19 Apr 2018, 7:06 am

Hi, my Lee reloading manual gives loads for the .222 R using IMR 8208 as well as another powder BM .Their densities and load volumes are very similar but whether either powder is the same as your BM 8208 is open to speculation. If you wish , I can post Lees published loads , with a recomendation to bear in mind that .222 Rimmed brass was typically thicker than .222 Rem and had slightly less volume which can result in higher pressures using the same load .You will find all the accuracy you need without going to higher pressure loads in your Martini , the actions are strong but the extractor does not cope well with stuck cases .
Gaz52
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Re: Info on.222 rimmed with BM 8208 (New member saying hello

Post by pedro4977 » 19 Apr 2018, 4:40 pm

Hi Gaz, thanks for the info mate. As far as I can tell ADI makes 8208 for IMR and is the same powder. If you could post the load data in your lee manual that would be good. I have found ADI load data for normal .222 rem, (not rimmed), and starting load is 23gr of BM 8208. I’d reckon I could start at say 19.5 and work up from there. More info the better.
I’ll let you know how I get on
You can’t legislate against ignorance, stupidity or an opinion made up of both!
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Re: Info on.222 rimmed with BM 8208 (New member saying hello

Post by Gaz52 » 19 Apr 2018, 9:14 pm

Ok Pedro , this is from Richard Lees Modern reloading ,second edition, page 172. IMR 8208 POWDER /50 GR JACKETED BULLET.Starting 21.9 gns,3006FPs.-Never exceed 23.3gn,3201Fps ,Pressure 47100Psi , minimum OAL 2.130 in. This refers to the .222Rem.
I agree that 19.5 gn would be a good place to start. It would be interesting to measure the usefull case capacity of your various brass . I only have about 40 Super
brass so I picked up 50 Bertram cases as backup . The rims on half of them were not concentric and I had to machine them uniform so they would chamber properly.Not a big issue really ,but I will test chamber any new brass BEFORE i load it in future.
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