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.22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:57 am
by Antiquus
This is a wildcat cartridge, for an explanation of Wildcatting read BE's excellent discussion of the Ackley Improved stuff here.

Got a CZ-52? (I now want one for sure) Lusting after the FN 5.7x28 performance, but can't stand the $1000 price tag for the gun or FN's ammo prices? Well lust no more bubba, here's the answer.

.22 Reed Express - the FN puts a 27gr bullet out of a 5" barrel at 2200fps, the .22RE puts a 45gr bullet out of the same length at the same velocity. 484ft/lbs at the muzzle, 60% more energy than the FN. What's needed is a new barrel, and a set of dies for reforming the standard 7.62x25 brass by necking it down to .224. And guess what? You can buy both from Reed's Ammunition and Research. The page explaining the conversion is here. The conversion is reversible and uses standard 7.62x25 magazines. The barrel is out of stock atm, but I'd guess it would cost about $225 based on his Thompson Contender barrels for the same round. The dies for the brass rework are $72. Use the standard recoil springs that came with the gun - a very good sign this isn't stressing the gun at all.

But looking at the price for an FN ($1000) and ammo ($.40 a round when you buy 1000) this looking like a hugely superior round on the cheap. And CZ anything doesn't scare me, Reed picked it because it's cheap, available and strong as hell.

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:24 am
by JoelB
The CZ 52 is certainly a strong semi-auto pistol, but have you ever fired a high velocity round from a 6" barrel? Back in the old days, I remeber firing a Ruger single action in .30 carbine and a .221 Remington into a water recovery tank. My ears were well protected, but the power wave coming back into my face was not pleasant.

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:27 am
by Inquisitor
I almost bought a Ruger Blackhawk in .30.

I opted for the more standard 357 because of the stories of the .30 experience :)

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:52 am
by Antiquus
I'd expect the shock wave for a 2200fps round to be impressive fired into water. :D I expect also I'd stand back a lot.

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 1:12 pm
by eelj
S&W 22 Jet. ear plugs and ear muffs but you still have ringing in you ears for days. If you where to hunt with them you would need to wear hearing protection and that would put you at a disadvantage.

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 1:49 pm
by JoelB
Antiquus wrote:I'd expect the shock wave for a 2200fps round to be impressive fired into water. :D I expect also I'd stand back a lot.
If I didn't use the entry tube, I would have engendered the ire of the rest of the Crime Lab's personnel. The stupid thing is that shooting them had nothing to do with a case. I just didn't have any exemplar bullets from those handguns in those calibers.

Re: .22 Reed Express

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 2:24 pm
by KVoimakas
Sounds like a fun round. Where is the AR15 upper for it?