I agree with Mitch...in a word...no.
Save the brass and through into your old brass bucket and sell the bucket when it's full. Take the money you get and buy more ammo...repeat process.
It would be more expensive to even try than it's worth.
I have a lot of .17HMR rimfire cartriges. I was wondering if these can be reloaded or not? Thats all.
Thanks.
No rimfires cannot be reloaded. The primer is made part of the case and exploded on deformation of the case. So there is no primer to replace like there is on a centerfire. That is why .22 LR is more popular than .17HMR. Not reloadable, so need to find something less costly.
A bloke i know used to work for australias best bench rest shooter,stuart elliot.He said stuart tried to make a 22magnum shoot better and actually pulled some 22magnum ammo and seated some balistic tip projectiles and did get a lot better groups than the standard factory ammo.But the cost to do so and time would make it not worthwhile.
You cant reload used rimfire.
Their is also another fella over here who makes .224 cal HPBT projectiles from used 22lr brass.I saw him at a show a few years ago.The projies are a little rough looking but for the price if you could get them to shoot they would be dynamite on ferals.
Technically, it CAN be done. But it's a difficult, time-consuming method, and will not have the precision and reliability of factory-loaded ammo. It's one of those (Survival/after SHTF) kind of things. Dangerous too. Not recommended!
.22Magnum and .17HMR do have the advantage of using standard jacketed bullets - the .22 Short, Long and LR have a 'heeled' bullet that can't be reloaded properly today with modern methods.
With metal prices skyrocketing, collecting and selling the brass is a much better thing to do!
Some guys also use the rimfire brass to swage their own jacketed bullets - there is an RCBS tool for doing this. Back in 'the day', this was a way those guys would save money on jacketed bullet costs.
I believe that was how Speer got started, making varmint and target bullets out of used 22 brass back during the big war, when metal was hard to come by.
Yes it can be done and kits used to be sold to do it. i had a neighbor who had one and it even had instructions on making and spinning the primer material into the reformed rim. Now it wouldn't be feasible unless you had a ready source of bullets, but back then it was a money-saving effort. I believe his kit was made in the late 20's or early 30's but he was still using it in the late 70's.
Yes it can be done and kits used to be sold to do it. i had a neighbor who had one and it even had instructions on making and spinning the primer material into the reformed rim. Now it wouldn't be feasible unless you had a ready source of bullets, but back then it was a money-saving effort. I believe his kit was made in the late 20's or early 30's but he was still using it in the late 70's.
The only question that needs to be answered is why, with .22's costing so little, would anyone want to try to reload them?
The only question that needs to be answered is why, with .22's costing so little, would anyone want to try to reload them?
It made perfect sense back in the 30's when ammo and money were both in short supply. Take a look at what some of the guys in Australia used to do to keep their old Enfields running.
Out of mere curiosity, what was done about the mark left in the brass from the firing pin when one reloaded the .22?
The kit that my neighbor had, used a mandrel with a small protrusion that advanced outward as the adjusting screw was turned that "ironed" the dent out of the rim as it was rotated. His finished rounds looked near-perfect with the exception of a small ding in the rim where the brass compressed on firing. He also cast his own heel-base bullets for them but I don't know what the grain was.
The only question that needs to be answered is why, with .22's costing so little, would anyone want to try to reload them?
If you check the link I posted, the .22 case goes down the barrel this time in it's new (last) life, as a .223 centerfire bullet. Said to be very low cost.
I believe that was how Speer got started, making varmint and target bullets out of used 22 brass back during the big war, when metal was hard to come by.
I just saw a machine on sale to make jackets for cast bullets using old .22 empty cases.
reloading rimfire? 
