Was reading your comments on another forum and I find myself wanting to build a K Hornet. What gun or action would you start with ? How would you spec a reamer from either Kiff or JGS ? What twist barrel, guess I might start with Shilen or Krieger .. Finally what bullets and powder do you prefer ? Sorry for all the questions but I bet you have all the answers !!!

Thanks much,
Pat

Pat,

The K hornet is an excellent round. If you could find yourself a... Ooops, this question was for J.Belk, never mind, sorry...

I have a JGS 22 K-Hornet reamer. Would you like to cut a chamber with it?

Ok, lets open this thing up.

I addressed it to Belk because of his previous posting regarding the K, and the fact that he said he had several of them..

Mr. Malmborg, I didn't intend to exclude you or anybody else. What are your opinions on the K and rifles for it..??

Pat

I've started from an Anschutz 22Hornet mod.1432, using a Clymer reamer.
I'm satisfy. Satisfy a lot !!
My best load recipe is this:
9grs of vithavuory oy N110, 52grs Sierra match bullet, CCI small rifle bench rest primers.
I have some problem in Italy with powders and bullets. For example I never found 40grs bullets or L'ilGun Hodgon powder.
bye

Rancher---

Sorry for the delay...this is the time of year when I SHOOT K-Hornets instead of talk about them.

Right now the very best action for the Hornet generally available is the CZ-527.

The Ruger 77/22H is pretty much a waste of time.......the Ruger #1 is still a great choice, as is the Cooper rifles.

I prefer 1-16 twist barrels shooting Remington or Winchester surplus 45 and 46 grain moly-coated bullets pushed by 13.6 of fast disappearing WW-680 powder and any small pistol primer.

Since the Hornet/K-Hornet was resurrected in the mid seventies there have been many new bullets and powders suitable for them. I've never tried the Calhoun and light weight Ballistic Tips/VMax, etc. in my Hornets because I'm VERY satisfied with what I have and see no reason to set aside 20,000 bullets and many pounds of powder in search of something else. I load and help shoot between five and seven thousand rounds of K-Hornets a year.........and today I should whittle away at that total.

I shoot K-Hornets like a boy's camp shoot 22 LRs.

If I were buying a brand new reamer for brand new barrels I'd specify a .243 neck. That's about .0025 smaller than factory chamber necks and saves overworking brass.

J.Belk, Thanks for the reply.. Enjoy the day popping some primers !!!

Mr. Malmborg, I'd sure like to hear what you have to say or were you just needling me for my "Belk specific" post.....

Belk says that the Ruger 77/22 is pretty much a waste of time. I (conditionally) agree with him, but do have one which was extensively modified by the previous owner and is a great performer.

The previous owner obviously spent a very great deal on the modifications (Krieger barrel with minimum headspace, aftermarket trigger, rebedding, and no telling what else). He was an older gentleman who, once he perfected the rifle, had no futher use of it and passed it on to me at a very modest price.

My point is that the 77/22 can be made to be what it should have been in the first place, but other rifles make better platforms for an accurate K-Hornet.

I wonder why Kimber of America is not offering their redesigned M82 in Hornet and K-Hornet?

In my opinion, there is a huge void in an economical bolt action properly sized for the Hornet, Bee, Jet, and .25-20 family. I'd like to see a short, simple, front-locking action which isn't unnecessarily "stretched" to be as long as most actions for the .308 and .243.

Rancher,

My experience is with single shots like the Ruger and the Contender... I once converted a pair of Remington 700's for rimmed rounds, one a long neck, short bodied improved 30/30 with a 40 degree shoulder for cast bullet use, and the other one for a K Hornet. It requires rebuilding the bolt heads for these but they work beautifully for those wanting the inherent accuracy that a single shot bolt gun can provide.

1:16 twist barrel is the usual choice for the Hornet and to add to Jacks reamer comments, I would specify a throat no larger than .0005 over bullet with a lead angle no greater than 1.5 degree. If you are going to have a reamer made to order, you might as well include these dimensions too. JGS at <www.jgstools.com> produce exceptional reamers for the trade.

As for bullets, give the Speer 52 hollows a try. These are vicious on the little critters and provide some rather exceptional accuracy. Can't help you with a powder selection or pet load because pet loads are generally gun specific and are usually reserved for gun writers to help fill space in articles in gun magazines...


Oh, and yes, perhaps there was a little needling involved in my previous post...


Good luck,

Malm

Mr. Malmborg, I agree that JGS supplies us with very nice reamers. I have a number of them, but not a K-Hornet, yet. Also have several from Dave Kiff and they are fine. Hu Henriksen also makes some of the best. I have several of his, most in 6 ppc, they cut a beautiful chamber.
Thanks for your comments, I know they come from much experience.
Pat

One thing left out - Who makes the best brass?
inquiring minds want to know.

Johninlv---

I have 3500 WW cases, about a thousand of them nickel, and 2500 R-P cases. I load everything in a 550 Dillon. The WW cases tend to split after 8 to 12 reloadings and the R-Ps loosen primer pockets at about the same. I expect to loose 2% in fireforming for both.

I buy what's cheap.

Rancher,
I have owned several K-Hornets. The only one left is a Brownong Low Wall with a 3-8x Varx111 Leopold on it. Great round!!! I agree the 527 is the best of the lot. The Micro Whatever from Browning is also nice.
To be totally honest tho, the 221 Fireball is what the K-hornet should have been. No rim and thicker less fragile brass.
That said I love my K'd Low Wall. The loads I shoot are as follows and appear safe in my rifle.
14 grains of Lil Gun powder, 6 1/2 Rem primers and 40 grain blitzking or v-max. The V-max has better BC but the Blitzking is the most explosive of the plastic tip bullets. Velocity on an Oehler 35P is 3250 FPS. I know the Hornet is not supposed to do that. 14 grains pushes the 45 grain Hornady Hornet bullet, a great little bullet at 3050 FPS. I think here the presssure is about max. Normally I shoot 13.5 grains and fireform at 13 grains.
NOw for the rest of the story. Accuracy is phenomenal. My Low Wall shoots honest 5 shot groups of .5 at 100 yards and these groups are repeatable. It has shot a 3 shot group of .638 at 200 yards with the rough and heavy factory trigger. Anyway get a K, you will love them as others of us do.
My 2 cents adjusted for inflation
GregH