I have a Ruger 77/22 Hornet with a 20" barrel. This rifle has always developed more velocity than the loading manuals list for this cartridge. For example I just tried a load of 13 grains of LIL'GUN, Winchester brass, Remington 7 1/2 primer. The manual says it should develop 2700 fps in a 22" barrel. This load averaged 2840 fps for 5 shots in my rifle with a 20" barrel and this common to every thing I have loaded for it. There were no signs of excessive pressure. Accuracy was only mediocore at 1.25" at 100 yards. What is up with this rifle. All my other rifles develop pretty close to what the manuals say give or take a few fps. Does anyone have any ideas.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight.......RiverRat

hi River Rat,
dont complain about it sounds ok to me, and 1.25"@ 100yds is not bad for the old hornet. its a long time ago since i owned a hornet but the best powder that i ever used was winchester not sure wether it was 786 or 768 it was someting like that, it was a ball powder and gave excellent velocity about 3000fps out of my o'l savage,and good grouping it would consitently shoot 1/2" @100yds,
the hornady manual used to list this load but as I said it was along time ago about 20years so you would need to consult an old manual.
good luck
Griff

Trust me I'm not complaining, just curious. I have 2 other Hornets and both shoot about what the manuals say they should with 22" barrels. It has just always puzzled me why the shorter barreled Ruger develops more velocity. That old Savage you mentioned wouldn't happened to have been a Model 340 would it. I have one and it is the best shooting Hornet that I own. Shoots between 1/2" and 3/4" @ 100 yds all day long. And the Ruger is the least accurate of the three and has the most work done to it. The old Saveage is just the way it came out of the box. I hope I can find a load for the 50 grain bullet that is a little better than 1. 25" @ 100......

Shoot Safe, Shoot Staright....RiverRat

Hi Riverat,
the old savage had no markings other than the name, the only distinctive thing about it was that the whole barrell and action was made out of one piece of bar, it had a 3 shot mag and dovetails for the scope mounts.
great gun sad to see it go!
Griff

One item about the Ruger 77/22 Hornet is the rifling twist is 1 in 14". Normally, Hornet rifling is 1 in 16". The faster twist may cause a slight increase in pressure, and therefore a slight increase in velocity.
My own experience, which may add some credibility to this idea, came while testing W296. I was trying to find a good load for 50 & 52 grain bullets, and ran into extreme pressure signs near the upper end of the book loads... I only fired 3 rounds, blew 2 primers out and had one very hard stuck bolt. Needless to say, I took the rest of those loads apart and never went back there!
Best accuracy I've had is with Lil'Gun and Hornady V-Maxes and Berger MEF's, both in 40 grains. Consistantly under 1", and a few scary tight groups here & there. Starke 40 grainers are looking promising, too. I use Federal #100 small pistol primers, also.
Regards, George.

Dear Riverrat I have a Ruger #1 I m loading w-w 296 with 12 grs. Primers are cci 400. 40gr V-MAx Hornady bullet. Vels:avg are 3060 fps with 31.6 fps es: Have other loads this one my best. Happy shooting Red Mule.