I am looking at a German rifle in 5.6x35 with a view to buy. However I have doubts based on the bore size which I am pretty certain is .222 .I had a rifle in the same calibre years ago and with normal hornet factory loads it wouldnt hit a pie plate.Yes.... I had it chambered for the hornet round which is slightly different dimensions.
Do I have to re-barrel for the current hornet or can I get around the problem?
I have looked around for .222 sized projectiles but the only one I found was a 22 Jet round which looked unsuitable as it had a flat nose.
I also found a process called swaging but Im not familiar with that.
Im pretty keen on this rifle so any help would be appreciated.

'Cartridges of the World' lists that round as 0.222" bullet diameter. A lot of early Hornets were 0.223", and seem to shoot .224" bullets OK.

And quite a few Sportco Cadet Martini .22LR conversions have been rechambered to Hornet over the years. .222" is the .22 rimfire groove diameter; .22WMRF is .224".

Can't help with bore size but swaging is just pushing a bullet through a sizing die and it is squeezed down to the correct size. Typically it's done with cast bullets but swaging .001" on a jacketed copper bullet should work. I doubt anyone makes a swaging die that you can buy off the shelf you could have a custom die made though

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
Can't help with bore size but swaging is just pushing a bullet through a sizing die and it is squeezed down to the correct size. Typically it's done with cast bullets but swaging .001" on a jacketed copper bullet should work. I doubt anyone makes a swaging die that you can buy off the shelf you could have a custom die made though

Yep, CH4D will make a die to order for this application. http://www.ch4d.com/catalog/?p=89

$64 is a bargain. I couldn't make one for that.

Many/most .308 Palma barrels are tight bores. Typically .298x306/7 instead of the more typical .300x.308. This was done to increase accuracy with the crappy undersized military bullets used in the issued ammo back in the day. The bullet problem doesn't exist anymore but a large percentage still use this configuration with full size bullets. Accuracy in a quality barrel if excellent. We are pushing 155gr bullets 3000fps out of 30" tubes and getting less than 10" groups at 1000yds. The ratio is a little tougher in the .222 cal barrel, but I am surprised it doesn't shoot .224 bullets reasonably well and wonder if there are other issues with the rifle or ammo tweaks that could improve it.

Thank you for your comments .Im grateful. That helps a lot. I think Ill go ahead with this rifle as in the last resort I can swage current hornet projectiles down to .222 if it doesnt shoot

A Lee sizing die is even less expensive .

COMPLETE FOR ONE SIZE (PRESS NOT INCLUDED) $19.98


Cast Boolits > Bullet Casting and Reloading

Glenn

My experience with several Hornets I have owned is that they are all very sensitive to case quality. American cases just do not measure up to their European counterparts. I suspect this is because the Hornet is widely used in hunting type target shooting competition, where the only requirement is that the competitor's rifle be center fire in caliber.