22 Hornet Loads

[Andrew]

I'm doing a personal survey of .22 Hornet shooters to see what their Pet Load is. If you care to respond, please include the load (with bullet and primer), the weapon, and the degree of accuracy. Any tips on loading technique would be of great interest as well. I'll start with my own. Thanks in advance! ~Andrew

 

CZ 527 American

35 or 33 grain V-Max

13.0 Lil Gun

Federal Small Pistol Primer

Neck sized.

Trimmed each firing

Case mouth lightly belled before seating.

Lee FCD for a light crimp.

1/2 MOA

[Andrew]

Sorry! My sleep addled mistake! I meant to post this in the reloading area. Mods: Feel free to move it! Again, sorry. ~Andrew

[Chris-NZ]

I'm doing a personal survey of .22 Hornet shooters to see what their Pet Load is. If you care to respond, please include the load (with bullet and primer), the weapon, and the degree of accuracy. Any tips on loading technique would be of great interest as well.

 

 

 

 

Sold my Hornet about a year back Andrew but the persistent memory is that a Hornet is the most finicky cartridge I've ever loaded for.

 

Made the mistake of buying a Brno Fox which are -crap- compared to the early Brno 465s.

Replaced that with a Ruger K77 and proceeded to play more seriously with various loads.

 

Tried all the various 45 and 50gr projs, the 45s in both .223 and .224 diam, with various brass treatments and loads including pistol primers. That thing wouldn't shoot much better than 2", often far worse. Bedding etc checked and still no change.

 

By chance, spotted some 35 V-Maxs while in the US on holiday and grabbed some.

First test load went well under an inch!

 

From memory, used 11.5gr ADI-2205 (~4227) with Win std small rifle primer, just with FL resize. Stuck with that load. Can't recall the vels but it was plenty effective for a Hornet up to ~150yds on rabbits/turkeys/magpies and the odd goat. The boys grew out of it so I sold it.

 

Chris P, NZ

[Bucko]

Hi Andrew

 

my pet hornet load for my CZ 527 American is

 

Brass - Remington ( neck sized only, lee collet die )

Primer - CCI 450

Powder - 14.0gr Lil'Gun

Bullet - 40gr Sierra Blizking

OAL - 1.960

Velocity - 3100 fps

Crimp - none

Accuracy - 0.75 MOA @ 100

 

cheers

 

Neil

[Andrew]

Thanks Gents!

 

I appreciate the responses. Bucko, curiosity compels me to ask: why the magnum primers? ~Andrew

[Bucko]

Hi Andrew

 

I've had a search and it's not there now, but there used to be an FAQ on Hodgdon's website about Lil'Gun and it requiring magnum primer.

So I just went with what Hodgdon said.

 

cheers

 

Neil

[Andrew]

Hi Andrew

 

I've had a search and it's not there now, but there used to be an FAQ on Hodgdon's website about Lil'Gun and it requiring magnum primer.

So I just went with what Hodgdon said.

 

cheers

 

Neil

 

Interesting! I guess what works, works! I started out with small rifle standard and then went to Federal small pistol primers. I got same velocities and better accuracy. I have never tried the CCI 450's but I have a couple thousand on hand. Maybe I should!

 

Thanks! ~Andrew

[hungryrob]

Interesting! I guess what works, works! I started out with small rifle standard and then went to Federal small pistol primers. I got same velocities and better accuracy. I have never tried the CCI 450's but I have a couple thousand on hand. Maybe I should!

 

Thanks! ~Andrew

I use the CCI 450's as well:

 

12.4 grains H110

Berger 40 grain varmint bullets (listed as match grade on box so had te posted the last time )

Winchester brass

Cant remember seating

CCI 450

 

I'm about to start using cast bullets once I get the stuff from the states and shotgun powders listed above for loads around 2000 fps.

 

Other powders I have tried are N110, Bulleseye and Green dot with various bullets. I'd like to rebarrel this in a 1 in 8 or 9 twist and load 70 - 80 grain bullets subsonically. I'm confident it will shoot the 36 grain Berger varmint grenades for a fast load as they cope with the 1 in 9 twist in a friends' rifle and the tight twist will allow the heavier end of the spectrum...

 

Has anyone else done this?

[Andrew]

I use the CCI 450's as well:

 

12.4 grains H110

Berger 40 grain varmint bullets (listed as match grade on box so had te posted the last time )

Winchester brass

Cant remember seating

CCI 450

 

I'm about to start using cast bullets once I get the stuff from the states and shotgun powders listed above for loads around 2000 fps.

 

Other powders I have tried are N110, Bulleseye and Green dot with various bullets. I'd like to rebarrel this in a 1 in 8 or 9 twist and load 70 - 80 grain bullets subsonically. I'm confident it will shoot the 36 grain Berger varmint grenades for a fast load as they cope with the 1 in 9 twist in a friends' rifle and the tight twist will allow the heavier end of the spectrum...

 

Has anyone else done this?

 

I shoot cast bullets in most of my rifles and have in the Hornet in the past. I would be happy to walk you through it. One thing to get in mind is that velocity is not the limiting factor to cast bullet performance (all other factors being equal) but rather pressure. It is the boot in the back end that causes a bullet to go "plastic" and lead barrels. So, with that in mind, peaky shotgun powders are really a poor choice for cast bullets. They are simply "economical". A great powder for cast bullets would be Lil Gun. Low, low pressures with decent velocity. I can send you a link to the "science" behind loading to Pressure with cast bullets if you wish. PM me if you're interested. ~Andrew