Explorations of pellets resizers - going from .22 to .177

[R-Gun Pete]

Part 1: Introduction, getting started and shrinking a pellet from .22” to .177”.

I completed a mold to cast .177 projectiles. I still have to try it with lead but I made some samples using a hot glue gun. From those I already knew that some are oversized. This has already been covered in a different post so for this one I will only concentrate on pellet resizers.

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To be able to explore the process, I needed a source of lead that would provide me with a consistent starting shape and weight. Having a few containers full, I wanted to find used .22 pellets to recycle them into brand new .177 slugs.

Going through my pot I found a fair number of undeformed and clean Crosman Hollow point .22 pellets to use as my starting supply.

The oversized pellets from my mold (a bit out of round and probably between .180” - .184”) are nowhere as bad as what I was trying to do but I wanted to go through the exercise with an extreme case.

My experience with the initial resizing tube I constructed made me realize that resizers are intended to subtly modify the diameter of a projectile and trying to squeeze something too big through it, like I did, would invariably shave some lead and smear the inside wall causing some binding that will jam the tool.

This meant that several tubes of decreasing sizes would be necessary to compress the .22 small enough to fit the resizer I have (unless I can think of something else).

Since a Crosman HP .22 pellet weighs 14.3 grains and the final desired size is .177, the volume must be redistributed in a longer cylinder. Pushing it axially through a tapered tube will cause an unwanted displacement of material in the gap around the pusher pin. In my mind, the solution would be to apply a radial compression to force the lead to flow axially from both ends.

How to achieve that is another ball game. A two pieces arrangement will also generate an extruded lead flashing at the parting line. A three pieces system might be difficult to control unless a holder like a drill chuck is made. I finally decided that a four pieces design would work the best for what I had in mind.

This resizer would be constituted of two blocks aligned with pins for compression on one axis and of two sliding plates for compression in the other. A .177” hole would be machined in all four parts at the same time and would provide the surfaces for a radial compression of the .22 pellet.

It is easier to show it than to explain it in words. On the left, a compressed pellet is shown in the resizer. On the right, a .22 pellet is compared to a resized one. Below is the dimension after resizing which is measured as just a bit over .183”.

The way it works is a two steps operation. After inserting a .22 pellet in the drilled hole in one of the blocks between both sliding plates, the other block is realigned and the assembly is squished in a vise (until the gap between the blocks disappears) then a vise grip clamp is used to keep the gap closed when compressing the sliding plates in another vise.

Now that the squished pellet (at .183”) is small enough to fit in my resizing tube, it is a lot easier to push through and it measures .181” when it exits at the other end.

My first tube (which was machined on my lathe) was a bit long for the drill bits I have so I decided to make the second tube shorter. After passing through it the pellet shrinks to .180”.

I think drilling on the lathe might be why the hole is oversized (the tail stock might not perfectly centred).

I also discovered that the tube didn’t need to be very long so I made a short one and I did the drilling on the mill, I also machined a shorter pusher rod to fit with it. This time, after passing through it the pellet shrinks to .177”.

A quick test in my Crosman Quest 500 break barrel springer confirmed that it fitted.

It seems that it is going somewhere.

R-Gun Pete

[R-Gun Pete]

Part 2: Firing test with the Springer.

With the set of resizing tools that I machined I was ready to start making .177 slugs.

In the picture, on the left are the tools and, on the right, a few finished .177 slugs besides some original .22 pellets.

I discovered that, since the cavity in the skirt survived the compression, a 1/8” dowel pin worked very well as a pusher. If the edge of the skirt started to be uneven it could be flattened with the short steel pusher rod.

After making a dozen of slugs, it was time for serious business. The test was done with my Crosman Quest 500 springer in my garage at 25 feet. All my rifles sights are set and I didn’t want to change them so it meant that I had to learn the point of impact of the slugs in relation to the point of aim and remember the sight picture.

For the test I just kept the fabric curtains in my trap. That way, due to the limited quantity available, a pellet won’t be damaged and can be reused several times. I needed my dozen to last long enough that I could learn something from shooting them.

So the routine was to shoot, on paper, the same projectile over and over until I had the feeling of where it was going and, then shoot at a reactive target about 1.25” in diameter. Most of the time, it was the last shot with this projectile because it would be damaged in some ways.

At this point (shooting off hand) I can say for sure that the slugs are good enough for plinking. Pop cans wouldn’t survive. As for the smaller target it was hit and miss. To reach a more definitive conclusion, it would take more tests (maybe with a rest) to evaluate the actual accuracy.

I checked the weight of the slugs and it ranged from 13.7 to 14.2 grains as shown in the picture below. It makes them heavier than the Exact Redesigned Monster (13.43gr) and lighter than the JSB Match Beast Diabolo (16.20gr) but they are certainly in the heavy slugs category.

Since it was working with the springer, it was time to try with other air rifles. My hope was very short lived because with the Daisy 853C and the CZ 200T I couldn’t even chamber the slug.

This would require more investigation.

R-Gun Pete

[R-Gun Pete]

Part3: Looking at fine-tuning the pellet size.

Since I was back in resizing exploration mode, I took some pieces of aluminum scrap that I had in the shop. The first set I made was cylinders so this time it would be little cubes.

I quickly made a base and a resizing cube. After pushing a .177 slug through it, I got a reading of .176. Hopefully that would be enough.

I was able to chamber it in the CZ 200T but, unfortunately, it didn’t shoot. This is how I discovered that the CZ has a choked barrel. I could see it very close to the crown so the only way to get it out was to make a rod long enough to push it back through the breech. My CZ is the under 500 fps version so I guess that with the full power rifle it might have been different.

A test with the Daisy 863C produced the same result because its barrel is also choked.

At this point, I decided to concentrate only on the CZ and to find the size that would work for it. Another block was machined and a .176 slug pushed through it exited as a .175 slug.

No cigar yet! The projectile got stuck again in the choke.

I prepared another block but I have limited options with my numbered drills and didn’t want to get bigger than the hole in my previous cubes. This time the .175 became a .172 slug and being that small it should certainly fit.

Bingo, it worked. What I mean is that the slug didn’t get stuck in the barrel and reached the target when fired (which in itself is an improvement).

Below is a picture of the 3 stages of resizing: .176, .175 and.172.

Finally the smallest size performed relatively well in the tests I did with the CZ 200T. At least I got three shots very close together (after that it scattered further apart) and on the reactive target (this was probably a lucky shot) it went through the middle hole.

Since it was working so well, I decided to crank up the production and make a dozen slugs of each the .177 and .172 sizes.

The picture below shows a couple of views of both sizes with the original .22 for comparison. I also added what the slugs looked like after hitting the reactive target.

It seems that it is going somewhere. To be continued.

R-Gun Pete

[R-Gun Pete]

Part 4: Did I say that nothing is simple?

Since both rifles have a choked barrel, I assumed that the Daisy and the CZ would like the same size of projectiles. The CZ is a PCP, so the pellet is pushed into the breech, the bolt is closed and it’s ready to shoot but the Daisy is a single pump pneumatic and requires another action.

This is when I discovered that .172 is way too small. The slug just fell through the barrel of the Daisy. This meant that it was also too small for the CZ but I didn’t notice because I kept the muzzle pointing upward all the time.

A quick test with the CZ having the muzzle downward produced the same result as the Daisy (the slug fell out). Damn… more fine tuning was necessary.

In the.172 resizing block I pushed the pellet so the nose was resting on the table, then using a BB I tried to expand the end of the tail to a bigger size and, after flipping the block over, I used a centre punch to push out the slug from the larger end of the hole. The skinny nose/fat tail slug got stuck in the choke when I shot it with the CZ. It looks like it was not a good idea after all.

What did I know at this point? I knew that .175 was too big and .172 too small but not knowing how many iterations I would need to nail it down, I decided to machine a nicer base and three identical blank cubes.

I am not sure how I managed to achieve it but this time I was able to get a .174” slug from the new resizing block. A test in the CZ confirmed that it was not falling out and could be shot without any problem, also the retrieved projectile had good rifling marks on it.

So far so good. What would the Daisy do with the same slug? It was not falling out, it was shooting but the rifling was not engraved in it. Basically the .175 projectile I made previously had not been tried so it was time to correct the situation. It shot OK and was lightly engraved so this was confirmed as the best fit for the Daisy 853C.

The picture below shows the sequence from a .183 resized slug blank. The longer tube is not used anymore. It starts with the medium tube (.180), continues with the small tube (.177-Crosman Quest), then it goes to the first block (.176), the second block (.175-Daisy 853C) and finally the new block (.174-CZ 200T).

With what was left of the stack of .22 pellets I had put aside for recycling, I made a small bag for each size. I was even able to transform back the .172 into a .174 slug by putting the resizer block on the table and pounding on the small projectile to make it expand in the die before completing the cycle with the block sitting on the base to push it through.

The picture below shows the bag and the required resizers for each rifle.

In conclusion, before anybody mentions it, I know that it is way too much work to recuperate a few used .22 pellets.

Nevertheless, the journey has been very instructive and I have learned a lot.

I went through the process just because I suspected that some of the pellets from my casting mold would need a bit of resizing but I don’t expect it to be as labor intensive as what I tackled with this project.

R-Gun Pete

[R-Gun Pete]

Part 5: Additional information.

I am not sure how flat and straight the tail of the slug needs to be but I guess the flatter and straighter the better.

Throughout the process I tried different ways of controlling both critera, I used a steel BB and the flat end of the pusher and it sometimes produced some annoying lead shavings.

In the end it seems that this method works the best:

The slug is pushed nose down through the resizer block sitting directly on the table and the pusher pin is lightly tapped with a hammer to flatten the tail (by then the nose should be flush with the surface of the block).

The block is reversed and with a center punch the slug is pushed until the tail contacts the table with the addition of a few taps more to apply more pressure (by then the tail should be flush with the surface of the block).

Placing the block on the base and using the dowel pin in the recess of the tail, the slug is driven through the resizing block and measured (the end of the tail should be nice and flat).

That’s it.

R-Gun Pete

[HobbyShooter]

I have not read all your post, just a suggestion: try using your sizer under water or oil. Those are not compressible and will prevent lead flowing to the center (waist) of the pellet.