Anyone have any loads they worked up for this round?

Chic, 14.0 of Lil'Gun with 40 gr. Blitzkings or Vmax's has performed very well for me in a couple different K-Hornets. Velocity typically does not increase with more powder. I have also found pistol primers to decrease extreme velocity spreads and boost velocity slightly too. Look for 32-3300 fps in the 'K' with this load. Almost like cheating! Also, I have not had good luck with lighter bullets like the Vmax 35 using this powder. Extreme spreads can approach 300 fps! Anything you can do to increase bullet pull and reduce the effects of the primer blast will help reduce SD's.

Dan C

My K went a long way toward proving every firearm has a personality of it's own. When I got my K, a Cooper I did things the way I always had, and had heard to do em when shooting an improved cartrige. Put a medium stout load in the in the parent case and set the bullet out a ways to barely engage the rifling. In this case I used the load I shoot in my Anschutz Hornet. 13.2 grains LilGun a 40gr V Max and a WSR primer. My first group after break-in was in the low .3's at about 2,950 over the chrono, looked great, in fact it was almost spot on to what I get in the Anschutz. I formed the first 50 cases, and then came the suprises. I put 13.6gr LilGun back in the formed cases,(thats .1 of a grain back of max for a standard Hornet in the Hornady book) with everything else the same,imagine my surprise when the first round sizzled over the chrono right at 3,400fps and the primer fell out in my hand. Thought through all the loading steps, new it had to be a mistake and touched off another round. This one was a little over 3,400 again, no primer. Long story short I chased all over the planet trying to figure this out, talked to some real top small caliber guys,Dick Saunders, Dan Dowling, every one I could think of. I think they either thought I was delirious or I'd taken up day drinking, possibly that I was the slopiest reloader ever lived and I was mistaken completely. A guy told me to call a fellow named Todd Kindler at small caliber news, I did and his take was I had a tight chamber and the result was a lot more effeciency, back it off a bunch and see what happens. Three things came from that call, I subscribed to Small Caliber News (love it!) I backed up below a starting load for a standard hornet and moved forward, and I called and ordered a .17 MachIV( but thats another story). Long way around the barn but heres what shoots in my Cooper K Hornet. I fireform with the load mentioned 13.2 gr LilGun,40 gr V Max or BlitzKing,(they shoot in the same hole ), and a WSR primer chronos just under 3,ooo fps and shoots bug holes. Formed cases ( you aren't gonna believe this ) get 12.3gr LilGun a grain LESS!,same bullet, same primer, and chrono 3,250ish and still shoot bug holes. Standard deviations on the forming load way big 60, 80, even bigger in the formed cases it's single digits to maybe 10 or 12. I'm guessing that with the tight chamber ( Cooper said it was the tightest K they had ever cut ) the form load uses the pressure to work the case and then cause it's so tight it doesn,t take as much to get more than it ought to.If any one has another theory I'd love to hear it. All I know is I use way less powder than I ought to and get more velocity than it should, at any rate it's a tack driver and I ain't bitchen.---Shoot Safe---montdoug

Montdoug: Your story is certainly counterintuitive, but you are absolutely correct that each gun is an individual (one reason it makes my skin crawl to hear shooters complaining that "my gun doesn't come close to what the manual says" or "I just load to the max in the manual, that way I know it's safe and how fast it is".)

Lil'gun seems to be somewhat non-linear, so to speak, in its performance. Have you had a similar experience with other powders like 4227, etc., in your gun?

I have a K-Hornet in the (dreaded) Ruger 77-22, but it is much modified (aftermarket trigger, Kreiger barrel, minimum headspace, etc). I haven't tried Lil'gun, but I was surprised that 2400, which would seem too fast for the K, actually gave the best pressure/velocity/loading density/SD and accuracy. I settled on a load that gives about 3,000 fps with a 40 grain B.Tip, although the gun will do more. This velocity fits my needs, and it is knife-edge accurate at this speed. I guess one reason that I haven't tried the much-vaunted Lil'gun is that I just don't need or want any more speed out of my Hornet, as I have a .222, .223, .22XX . . . ad nauseum if I want more velocity.

Your Anschutz sounds like a really nice gun.

Li'l Gun and the K are a good combo, but I had a learning curve with it too. My gun generated way high velocities with loads well below those published for the regular Hornet. I have violated 3600 fps with 40 gr VMAX bullets. I had problems with velocity spreads too, but the problem seemed associated with bullet weight. Small pistol primers did not help. Current load is 12.7 Gr of LG w/ 45 gr Hornady Hornet. 3200+ fps and shoots in the .6-.8 range for 5 shots.

Thanks guys. We are prepping brass as I type. Or at least Howard Homesley is. I worked on my .223 all week as time allowed. I will end up doing the final loads as we depart on Thursday morning for our annual sage rat hunt in Oregon.

Montdoug, interesting what happened with yours. We will be fireforming a lot of his brass on this trip. Have some 40 grain Vmax and a 2000 pieces of Remington hornet bullets. Take care of my town. Graduated there some time ago and still love that town. Grew up in Glendive and Thompson Falls, but think of Bozeman as home. I have told Brad Amundson more than once that there are drool marks on the floor of the Powder Horn from old trips of mine to dream over some rifle. Small caliber news is a great home spun publication and one that has more good information than any I have seen in years. I do not subscribe but should.

I will walk carefully and watch what happens.

Thanks again.

[ 04-28-2003, 06:52: Message edited by: Customstox ]

Customstox, I'm jealous over your upcoming hunt. Any time a couple guys get to chase rodents around is a good time. I hope the sun shines, the wind doesn't blow, and rats are everywhere! Your right about Bozo, great place with good people, my wife called George and Ivan Deureuf (owners of the Powder Horn) and told em not to let me in unless I had a note from her pinned to my collar. Last time I ventured in I strolled out with a CZ 452 Varmint in .17 HMR, happened so fast it was over before I woke up, lots a fun, LOVE IT !, nice addition to a rat smacking. Good luck with your K,let us know how it goes.---Shoot Safe---montdoug

Hi Doug,

So I can't wait to hear your story about ordering your MACH 4. Come'on let's hear it, and don't leave anything out!

I'm hoping to get mine in the next week or two.

tx al

Check the recall of Lilgun powder on the Hodgdon website!