I’ve chronographed lots of 22 Hornet shots using Lil’Gun powder and it always reveals both the highest and lowest MV in the same load during the chrono session.

I would prefer a powder exhibits a vastly more stable ES.

At short 50 yds range the extreme spread doesn’t have time to blow the vertical dispersion of my group, but at 200 yds it really shows up a lot more than I want.

I rather sacrifice MV for group size while paper punching.

I gave up on Li'l gun even though velocity was high because of the large ES. H110 is the best I have found for accuracy. The velocity is sufficient for 200+ p. dogs. If I need more fps I have other guns that will work. I have a CZ american, and it shoots better than a Hornet is supposed to.

110, mp-300, 4227.
about anything in that burn speed that fills the case all the way up should make your numbers look better.

the paper at the end of the line tells the real truth no matter what the machine says.

before I got too worked up about changing powders I would try changing how I ignite that powder first.
don't be afraid to try from a small rifle magnum primer, to something cool and easy burning.
I usually start with a SR Mag primer in the little cases and generally have good luck with them.

I had one lot of Lil Gun which gave excessively wide spreads in the Hornet, so I gave up on it. I bought a second lot which behaved much better. It seems to be luck of the draw, but I don't have much use for a product that inconsistent. And simply changing primers may help, but it isn't going to cure a 175 fps extreme spread.

Cram all of the AA1680 into the Hornet case you can get (with bullets under 45 grains) and you'll achieve good velocities with low velocity variations.

I find using at least a 45gr bullet helps with the ES when using Lilgun, with a 50gr even better.

Stonecreek is right on when he mentioned various lots of Lilgun. The first time I used Lilgun in a Hornet was maybe 1993-95 or so, and I was thrilled with the speeds and the accuracy, even though I got high ES numbers.

The 2nd bottle of Lilgun behaved better, while retaining the speeds and accuracy.

MP-300 seems be another powder well suited to the Hornet, but I have not tried it, yet.

I’ve been using Lil Gun in my 22 hornets for over 10 years. My rifles are two Anschutz 1730 rifles, one a varmint barrel and one a sporter barrel.
Both shoot 40 grain Berger bullets well under an inch. I may well be experiencing excessive spread in velocity, but the accuracy and velocity is very good.

I have a Contender Carbine with a factory barrel. No custom shop or aftermarket manufacturer and it shoots right at an inch. I use the Barnes 30 grain Varmint Grenade and a case full of Lil Gun. I know my ES is way out there but I only use it inside of 100 yards. At the range off the bench my grandson shot a 40 shot group that was real close to 1 1/4 inches. That was with two different projectiles. The Barnes 30 grain and Hornady 35 grain bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
I may well be experiencing excessive spread in velocity, but the . . . velocity is very good.

If you don't know what your velocity spreads are how can you know that "velocity is very good"?

My cousin has a CZ 22 Hornet Sporter. Fiber glass stock and this one doesn't have the set trigger. Shooting the Hornady 45 grain AMAX it'll shoot 3/8 inch group all day. He got the load from Bob Forker of Guns & Ammo which is 12 grains of WW 296. It may be warm in some rifles so work up. He never shoots anything else except when he's shooting cast in it.

Not a fan of Lil Gun in my Hornets. Never good get the accuracy that I wanted with it. One of my hornets preferred 300MP the another W296/H110.
Lil Gun was faster by 75 fps, but I'll take the added accuracy.

Any recommendations on a load for a one in 12 twist 22 hornet? I was thinking a 40-45gr bullet for coyote/fox/bobcat work. Wasnt sure if a 50gr would stabilize (like the Nosler #39522 50gr ballistic tip)

Try AA2200.

I use 296, 297, and 680 in my hornets and small 22cal stuff. There is not much 680 around anymore but 1680 is supposed to be close. I would suggest experimenting with primers. Using CCI500 primers reduced ES and group sizes for me.

I have been using Lil Gun in my Hornets since it came out, and I haven't found another powder that gave me the accuracy of Lil Gun. I haven't worried to much about ES, as I always look for the best groups. Until Lil Gun I always had flyers and dispersed groups. A rep for one of the powder company's suggested I use MP-300, the groups were like a shotgun pattern at 100 yds, fyi.

It took a while but I found the right amount of crimp makes a huge difference in all measurables. Lil Gun is not a bad powder and it just may not be the root of your problems.

I use ww296 with the nosler 45 gr. hornet . higher fps and my mod. 70 went from 1 1/2 gun to 3/4 in gun just going to cci br. primers.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
I may well be experiencing excessive spread in velocity, but the . . . velocity is very good.

If you don't know what your velocity spreads are how can you know that "velocity is very good"?

I have chronoed some of the loads. Don’t have the records at hand, but the LilGun was the fastest by quite a bit over several other powders, and it did have the biggest extreme spread.
I did not state that correctly in my first post.
I’ve used lil gun in my hornets for many years with excellent results on many PDs and a few coyotes.

Here's some chronograph results from my 22 Hornet Ruger Sporter:

40 Sierra HP 11.9 MP-300 Fed 100 R-P 2822
40 Sierra HP 12.1 MP-300 Fed 100 R-P 2856
40 Sierra HP 12.3 MP-300 Fed 100 R-P 2879
40 Sierra HP 13.8 Lil Gun Fed 100 R-P 2969

quote:

Originally posted by Johnly:
Not a fan of Lil Gun in my Hornets. Never good get the accuracy that I wanted with it.
Lil Gun was faster by 75 fps, but I'll take the added accuracy.

Well stated. If you want more velocity then there are upwards of two dozen .22 centerfires* that you could use that are larger and faster than the Hornet. The whole purpose of the Hornet is to have a mild, moderate velocity small game/varmint cartridge which uses very little powder, has no recoil, is fairly quiet, operates at modest pressures, and provides just enough power to get the job done. Hot-rodding the Hornet is pointless, so why do people try to do it?

*.218 Bee, .22 Jet, .221 FB, .222, .223, .223 A.I., .222 Magnum, 5.6x50, .219 Zipper, .225 Win, .224 Wby, .22 Nosler, .22 Valkyrie, .22-250 Rem, .22-250 Rem A.I., .220 Swift, .220 Swift A.I., .22-243, .22 Middlestad, 5.6x57, ad nauseum

quote:

Hot-rodding the Hornet is pointless, so why do people try to do it?

Hahaha, I can't disagree with this at all.

However, I am a handloader, and I like speed w/accuracy, no matter what cartridge I am loading for.

I don’t have plans to hot rod my Hornet but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to get the best performance I can be that cast duplicates of .22 LR or best velocity with a 40 gr jacketed bullet. Accuracy trumps velocity

I have been a Hornet fan for many years - the 8 or so Hornets in my vault tells the story. I tried about every powder that is suitable for the Hornet and went back to AA1680. In the field, I could not tell that I was not getting the last 200 fps out of it and the Prairie Dogs couldn't either. You can just dip the case full and seat a 35 grain VMax on top without weighing the charge and get extremely good accuracy. All my Hornet like this powder and my cases last for ever. I have a Swift for a "hot rod" but the Hornet takes care of things out to 300. Give 1680 a try.