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22 Hornets

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29 April 2003, 09:34
Steve Malinverni
22 Hornets
Jordan, Savage99,
no more than 2 or three loads, fireforming
included, and quiet loads.
I normally use to neck size only, but this time I decided to full lenght all my cases. I use hand press by Lee, and Redding FL dies. Probably the chamber is a little large and that is the point where the dies finish to work.
I am happy to say that it shoot very well, even if I am only at the beginning.

Thank you however.

Bye
03 May 2003, 03:33
B_Koes
quote:
Originally posted by JBelk:
B_Koes---

I've never thought of heavy bullets in a Hornet but I can see where you hit an a great combination.

Just a theory here----The long bullet has enough .224 diameter sticking out the front of the case to fill the throat and thereby support the front of the case and keep the base against the breech. In effect you've done exactly what improvement to Kilborn does; Move the headspace from the rim to the front.

Do you get any expansion with that load? What do you shoot with it?

I shoot squirrells and skunks around the house with Aquilla 60 grain sub sonics. What you have is the same principal.....lots of energy with less velocity.

I may try that and see how it works in a K-Hornet rifle. I have thousands of 55 gr BTs that I don't shoot in anything else.
Sorry JBelk, I forgot to check back with this thread so much water has passed under the bridge.

I use my hornet for silhouette shooting so expansion is not an issue. I have tried both scenarios of seating the bullet into the lands and backed off the lands up to about .060". Either way did not induce case stretching...then again I'm only neck sizing with a Lee collet die. I suppose that I can keep getting away with this becuase my loads are so mild that I don't need to resize the rest of the brass.

Keep in mind that my 10" Contender has a 1-12" twist which will accomodate this heavier bullet where many of your rifles will have a slower twist and therefore not handle this bullet...but I'm sure you already thought of that.
03 May 2003, 04:42
<T. D. Clevenger>
Interesting thread.
I have owned several Hornet rifles and handguns, some garden variety and some fairly exotic. They are fun........ and frustrating too.
They WILL teach you about proper handloading techniques because they exagerate the problems.
Most of the Hornets that I've owned were not overly accurate. Believe it or not, the very worse one I ever owned was a Kimber that I ordered and waited anxiously for six months to arrive. Almost as unbelievable is the fact that the most accurate Hornet I ever owned was a factory 14" Contender.
I tried nearly every recommended powder and bullet combination in my Hornets and had the best success with 1680 powder (Win 680 when it was available) and 40gr. bullets. Lighter .224" bullets weren't readily available when I was shooting Hornets.
I never owned a K-Hornet. Don't know why, I just never did.
Here's the rub. In my experience the average 221 or 222 will outshoot the standard Hornet for accuracy. And the brass will last much longer. And they won't keep you up nights wondering why all the care in handloading and firearm tuning isn't paying off.
I still have fond memories of hunting with the Hornet, but it is telling that I don't still own one.
T.D.
03 May 2003, 09:39
Fritz Kraut
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Savage99:
[qb]The Hornet is one of the very few troublesome cartridges.
...

The normal CF .22 will be more accurate than a Hornet which may be the least accurate of all cartridges.

[qb][/QUOT E]

In 1999 I put a question here if the .22 Hornet was something to have. The answer were mostly positive, and I bought an old Brno from 1948. I did the right thing.

I load my own ammo, but in the beginning I shot some packet with Sako ammo. It shot well: less than an inch in hundred yards. That�s good enough for my purposes. Now I load it with Sierra 45 grs or barnes X 45 grs, and I have load my old Sako cases at leadt three times. Still no sign of separation.

I have shot some black grouses with it, and it did it task properly. A rather nice cartridge for small game!

Fritz

[ 05-03-2003, 00:41: Message edited by: Fritz Kraut ]