22 Hornet
01-20-2008, 02:20 PM
#4
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 425
RE: 22 Hornet
Hornets can be tricky little rifles to load for. The older ones usually have a bore diameter of .223............and not .224 as one might expect. Shooting a .224 bullet in them won't be the end of the world but it can increase pressures slightly. Second thing to worry about is 22 Hornets usually do best with a semi-pointed bullet rather than a spire point. In the heavier bullets especially, they just don't crank out the velocity to really stabalize heavier spitzers. This was really noticable in the hornet I used to own. Hornady and Sierra both used to make .223 semi pointed bullets especially for hornets and that was what mine shot best.
01-23-2008, 04:37 PM
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location:
Posts: 264
RE: 22 Hornet
I found a combination that shot really well in my Ruger 77/22 hornet. After trying several differnet combos without much success, I did some research on the net and found some guys that used Small Pistol primers instead of small rifle primers, and they used Hogdons Lil' Gun powder. So I decided to give it a try.
I have the load written down at home but I know it was 13gr lil gun with small pistol primer and the bullet that worked the best for me was a 40gr sierra varmiteer hollow point flat back. Itwill shootunder 1/2" consistently with this load. I don't know if it was the primer or the powder but the combination worked really well.
I have the load written down at home but I know it was 13gr lil gun with small pistol primer and the bullet that worked the best for me was a 40gr sierra varmiteer hollow point flat back. Itwill shootunder 1/2" consistently with this load. I don't know if it was the primer or the powder but the combination worked really well.
01-23-2008, 05:05 PM
#6
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 425
RE: 22 Hornet
Spey, using pistol primers in any rifle cartridge CAN be a bit risky. Fortunately the Hornet is not very high pressure round as rifles go and I can understand this practice working. But it's worth mentioning that it's not without risk of some fairly serious gas blow back from primer rupture. I learned this lesson pretty well during the years I had a Marlin .357 rifle. For my hottest .357 Magnum loads, I simply had to use small rifle primers as the pistol primers couldn't stand the pressure and would rupture. I don't dispute your idea at all but I do make mention of this for some of the less experienced reloaders. Ruptured primers can be hazardous to a shooters eyes.
01-23-2008, 07:06 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location:
Posts: 264
RE: 22 Hornet
ORIGINAL: Pavomesa
Spey, using pistol primers in any rifle cartridge CAN be a bit risky. Fortunately the Hornet is not very high pressure round as rifles go and I can understand this practice working. But it's worth mentioning that it's not without risk of some fairly serious gas blow back from primer rupture. I learned this lesson pretty well during the years I had a Marlin .357 rifle. For my hottest .357 Magnum loads, I simply had to use small rifle primers as the pistol primers couldn't stand the pressure and would rupture. I don't dispute your idea at all but I do make mention of this for some of the less experienced reloaders. Ruptured primers can be hazardous to a shooters eyes.
Spey, using pistol primers in any rifle cartridge CAN be a bit risky. Fortunately the Hornet is not very high pressure round as rifles go and I can understand this practice working. But it's worth mentioning that it's not without risk of some fairly serious gas blow back from primer rupture. I learned this lesson pretty well during the years I had a Marlin .357 rifle. For my hottest .357 Magnum loads, I simply had to use small rifle primers as the pistol primers couldn't stand the pressure and would rupture. I don't dispute your idea at all but I do make mention of this for some of the less experienced reloaders. Ruptured primers can be hazardous to a shooters eyes.
Hogdon's 'Lil Gun was designed for small guage shotgun shells like .410 and 28 guage, maybe that's why it worked without any pressure problems. 13gr is almost a compressed load in the 22 hornet and over 300 rounds with this load produced no pressure signs at all.
01-24-2008, 01:54 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Alberta Canada
Posts: 1,081
RE: 22 Hornet
I had great success with 12.5 grains of WW296 and a 45 grain spitzer. That load is max, so if you do try it, back it off a tad, as the hornet brass is like tinfoil. That same load worked excellent in the 218 bee as well. Grouping was always under 1/2 inch at 100 yards.
