I have one of the break open single shot 22 Hornets. Have not bought dies yet.
Thinkin that for this rifle, neck sizing makes sense. Probably longer brass life , and unless I really push pressure limits This should work fine !
Pros and cons please !...tj3006

I had trouble finding a die set that would seat the bullet straight. The Hornet brass is thin and I could even see from bulges at the base of the bullet before measuring runout that is was not straight with both RCBS and Lee dies. I finally bought a set of Bonanza bench rest dies and solved the problem. It made a huge improvement in accuracy. I think Bonanza only makes full-length sizing dies in .22 Hornet, but just screw the die into the press far enough to size the brass so it fits your chamber.

I partial full length size with standard dies for both the standard and K versions. Works fine.

I'm fortunate that my Hornet has a tight chamber. Mine's a Contender pistol barrel, and my accuracy and brass life have been excellent with FL RCBS dies.

I have a friend with a single shot bolt gun that has a huge chamber in his. He had case head separations on the second firing of his brass, with the same die set. He switched to neck only sizing, and problem is "solved".

12.5 grs of Lil-Gun, Hornady 40 gr Vmax seated long @ 1.900", and a Rem 6 1/2 primer have been pure magic for both mine and my friend's Hornets.

thanks for the info guys,
now i need some brass !...

According to Hodgdon, Lilgun powder runs at about 32Kpsi, whereas most other Hornet suitable powders run about 40k+. In addition, Lilgun gives more FPS, by far, and is usually very accurate and gives long case life.

I use a Lee Collet die and small pistol primers.

With a small case like the Hornet, small changes, like .02gr of powder, will be noticeable.

I'd recommend using a Lee Collet die for neck sizing. Keep your pressures within normal Hornet limits and your brass will still be going after you're just a fond memory to your loved ones.

Lilgun is VERY highly variable from one lot to another. I have one excellent lot with which the 12.5 gr under a 40 grain poly-tipped bullet does wonders. With another lot, that recipe would vary as much as 250 fps in chronongraphed velocity, with presumably a correlated variance in chamber pressure. AA 1680 is much tamer, giving consistent velocities and pressures.

quote:

Pros and cons please

tj,

I'll go the extreme on this one and hang my butt out over the edge like I always do .... remember you're getting your $0.02 worth.

You haven't mentioned which break open rifle in particular and I hope it's not a a rifle that required a significant cash outlay.

Since it's a break open, a reaming job to 22 K-Hornet would be my consideration.

For all the reasons ..... (make your own) especially since you haven't purchased Dies yet.

We work with it every day here in The Fatherland as it is one of the premier target cartridges here.

AA-1680 is the way forward as are Remington 6 1/2 primers and W-W brass (volume), with 33, 35, 40 & 45 grainers.

Have fun with your Hornet.

I would use a full length die and back it off a bit to partial resize.
That may or may not improve accuracy.
I have several 22 hornets and have shot 1000s of rounds and have not had any issues with case life, at all.

Lil Gun is your friend in the 22H.
Try pistol primers for improved accuracy.
Good luck.

The k hornet is cool ! and brass would last longer too. But for now i will keep it as is.. i got some standard dies. so now i need brass and primers...tj3006