.22 Hornet loads

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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 16 Jun 2018, 8:52 pm

dunno why the christ my iphone is turning the pics sideways !
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 8:53 pm

The potential with a .22 Hornet is about 1/2 MOA or better. Using a CZ 527 here but much lighter bullets.

The biggest trick I found to consistent accuracy is go with the very old tradition of using Small Pistol Primers to save on the double ignition syndrome. Best dies I have used are Lee Collet and I add a Lee Factory Crimp to increase initial pressure release.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 16 Jun 2018, 8:59 pm

i have a hornady "lock'n'load" press .haven't been crimping. is crimping recommended ? guy at my local gun shop recommended cci standard primers ( 400 on the box ) , or go magnum pistol primers. opinions apollo ?. hearing good things about 35 gr v-max, but the BC of the 40 gr v-max is better than any other hornet projectile i could find
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 9:13 pm

I use 30gr Barnes Varmint Grenades and 11.7gr of Winchester 296. Sorry, also use 30gr Bergers.

The Lee Factory Crimp Die is not like normal crimping bullets, it just adds a slight tight grip to the case neck.

Don't believe the Guy at the Local Gun Shop unless he has experience reloading for the Hornet. Do an Internet Search and you will see why in the past most Hornet reloaders used Small Pistol Primers. To cut a long story short, a standard primer has too much power when it goes off and starts to push the bullet forward before the powder charge ignites giving you a double ignition which is not great for accuracy.

The crimping was an experiment I did some time ago, as was testing different seating depths and also tested was using Benchrest Grade Bushing Dies, Standard Dies but the Lee Collet was a winner every time.

The .22 Hornet is fussy.

Only other powders I tried that I could get were AR2206 & AR2207. Very limited choice around here in the past.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 9:19 pm

Oh, I have never been able to get any Lil Gun Powder from anywhere in my area.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 16 Jun 2018, 9:50 pm

talking to a guy at ripley range shooting a krico full wood 22 hornet ( beautifull rare gun. my own hornet is a 400 series match rifle with a heavy "swan" varmit barrel ) he was getting ragged one hole groups at 100 using 35gr v-max with 10.7 gr of 2205. seats out just of the lands. uses the same cci primers the gun shop guy recommended. i will try some small pistol primers as you recommend (their only $7-$10 a box ) just checked, i can get barnes 36gr grenade hp. the most accurate factory rounds i've tried have been 46gr win hp. quite amazing as most factory chinwester ammo i've tried shoots like crap. have you tried the 36gr barnes ?
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 10:16 pm

From memory the 36gr Barnes VG were too long a bullet for my standard slow twist factory barrel, work like magic in my .223R. The bullets were not stable and started hitting the target sideways if at all. The 30gr Barnes are marked "Hornet" and are short stubby bullets in comparison.
I have only load tested for my CZ 527 and my mate's very old Brno Fox 2.
We tried 40gr odd and 50gr bullets but we wanted accuracy and minor pelt damage so the light, fast bullets were our pick for a zero range setting of 150m mostly night time spotlighting.
Any factory 50gr or so ammo I tested was rubbish in my view. Too scattered to be useful a bit further out.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 16 Jun 2018, 10:26 pm

the only light bullet i can get are the 35gr v-max. i'll give the 40 gr v-max a try tomorrow and see how i go. the BC of these is much higher than anything else. spoke to a guy with a martini hornet who swore by them.will try those pistol primers as well . different loads for different guns i guess. thanks for your advice apollo. much appreciated. bed time now, bit of work in the morning, the range in the afternoon :thumbsup:
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 10:34 pm

The Barnes do not have a Lead Core so probably longer to get the extra weight. The V-Max might be okay. Try different seating depths, made a big difference to ours when we started seating shorter,

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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Stix » 16 Jun 2018, 10:36 pm

Hey bugrich...
Im no expert but i wouldnt be worrying too much about better bc for hornet projectiles... :thumbsup:

Your only shooting short range with a hornet so for wind drift just learn to feel the wind on your cheek/watch the grass through the scope/see the trees & hold off... (just from a rabbit shooters perspetive).
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 16 Jun 2018, 10:46 pm

Yep, BC means near nothing in short range. Even using my Benchrest Rifles for 100/200 competition my bullet selection has nothing to do with BC, it's best consistent accuracy.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Stix » 16 Jun 2018, 10:50 pm

Deleted double post.
Last edited by Stix on 17 Jun 2018, 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 17 Jun 2018, 7:57 am

thanks for your views and perspectives guys, as this reloading game is all very new to me , i'm investigating every aspect of it. by seating "shorter" apollo you mean further away from the rifle lands ? found a couple of other bullets around 40 gr to try , sierra varmit and nosler ballistic tip. speer make a 30 + 33 grain hp. besides the 35gr v-max that a lot of people seem to swear by, that's about it for bullet selection, unless i go heavier. a lot of load developement is "try and see " i suppose. thanks guys :thumbsup:
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 17 Jun 2018, 9:26 am

Yep, seating shorter is further away from the lands.

In my varmint rifles when I start load development I start with a loaded round as long as I can fit in the magazine and then find my best load. To tweak that I then try seating the bullets further from the lands (shorter COAL). I may be lucky here in that most all my testing is done at home so it's convenient to make adjustments. With the Hornet I took an old Super Simplex Press out with me and used that out in the paddock to adjust seating depth.

The Hornets I have used are a Slow Twist Rate Barrel being 1:16" and don't like bullets with a long bearing surface.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 17 Jun 2018, 2:57 pm

no doubt about it apollo, your a good source of knowledge on this subject. what your saying about twist rate to bearing surface length makes sense to me now. i am a bit supprised at shortening OAL though. in other calibers and things i've read/been told , seating closer to the lands is supposed to increase accuracy by limiting bullet "jump". is this a unique thing with the hornet ? i'm not trying to be argumentative but, just trying to learn :thumbsup:
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 17 Jun 2018, 3:58 pm

Well, let's put it this way.

In every calibre and rifle I have and the same for my mate. I have a Hornady OAL Case and every different bullet I may use I measure the maximum length that bullet can be seated into the case and touching the lands so that becomes my starting point. Now, all my target rifles are "single shot" so they can be set up to have the bullet jammed (say 0.020") into the rifling but since I use "Soft Seating" which means not a great deal of neck tension the bullet is pushed back into the neck by the process of closing the bolt. It varies and some varmint rounds have a lot of neck tension so I have to find the point where I don't need to apply pressure to close the bolt.

With some rifles like my Tikka T3 a long seated bullet in a case touching the lands still fit's in the standard magazine. The likes of a CZ 527 I am restricted by magazine length so a bullet seated to touch the lands is too long to fit in a magazine. However, I have started there in the past with say my CZ 527 .223R Varmint to test loads and find the ideal seating length. On some rifles like my Sako 85 .243W that I also use for single shot target shooting I can make a long seated bullet in the case and use that as a "single shot" by just sitting the round on top of the magazine and push feeding it. The CZ's don't really like push feeding as they are a control round feed which like to pick the round up from the magazine.

Anyway, my method is still the same. Test loads as either jammed and/or just touching and work up a powder load for best accuracy at either 100 or 200 metres. Then I adjust that best accurate load with seating depth. Very easy for me as most all of my reloading is done with an Arbor Press and In-Line Dies which I can have sitting right beside me out on the shooting bench. I also use a Chrony during the first development stage simply to give me an idea of velocity and what changes then that's the last I use a Chrony.

Working on Varmint Rifles and Target Rifles is two different stories and that in itself is a whole new story for discussion sometime.

Not one of my Varmint Rifles has rounds that are jammed or even close to the lands, Be it may that it was just the way it worked out but in my view for a Hunting/Varmint Rifles do not ever have rounds that are close to the lands or jammed as it is just looking for trouble. If you get the measurement incorrect you might just end up with a stuck bullet in the chamber and powder everywhere if you have to extract the live round for any reason. Not a safe practice,

Again, might just be my luck but the likes of the .22 Hornet the rounds ended up quite short of the lands for best accuracy. In my Sako 85 Varmint .204R the bullets are seated very short of the lands and also the same with my mate's CZ 527 Varmint .204R where we are talking accuracy of about 0.3 MOA and the accuracy I aim for with Varmint Calibres. My favourite Varmint Calibre BTW is my Single Shot Sako S491 22BR which is a deadly long range varminter.

Anyway... enough rambling.

Twist rates in Factory Rifles is what I'm stuck with. I would love to try a .22 Hornet with a slightly faster twist rate like say 1:15 or even 1:14 and the same goes for my .204R which doesn't like 40gr Bullets at all with it's 1:12 Twist Factory Barrel. BTW, the .204R in any I have tested works best with a huge jump to the lands.

Hope I have provided some food for thought that leads to greater accuracy.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 17 Jun 2018, 4:10 pm

I might add that all my load development/testing is done under the best ideal conditions I can manage and with the best gear I can afford off a shooting bench similar to the concrete benches found at most shooting ranges. I use a Coaxial Farley Front Rest and very heavy "Big Foot" Rear Bag. I want to know what the best my development can achieve. I also love VERY light triggers and know how to use them. My Target Rifles have a trigger pull of less than 2 ozs and so do a couple of my Varmint Rifles. Some are "Set Triggers" and have been modified in set mode to be just as light.

Whole different story out in the field but I know what I can achieve with my setup.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by bigrich » 17 Jun 2018, 4:30 pm

thanks for some more info apollo. i have a hornady OAL gauge myself. bin seating my 6.5x55 20 thou of the lands and my hornet 30 thou. i might have to try bullets with less bearing surface in my hornet, 35gr v-max or 40gr sierra sp might be the go. i have a real nice light trigger on my krico hornet, these rifles were built for a class of comps in germany apparently. you've definately given me a lot to digest, i shoot at the range and try to improve just for myself. not a comp shooter. enjoy going out for a hunt though. bought my hornet for the bunnies that stay out of 22lr range ,and cats and foxes. and the report of a hornet doesn't make everthing in a 5 kilometer radius take off either. i'll keep plodding along and see what i can work up. thanks again, cheers apollo
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Apollo » 17 Jun 2018, 5:26 pm

Well, I was a competition shooter. Haven't been for a couple or so years but I'm booking in for a national shoot in August. It's 500 & 300 Metre Fly. Funny you mention the 6.5mm Swede as my favourite is a 6.5x47L which is a little different but not much. My best target has been 1.18" at 500 Metres and I'm looking at getting that under 1" which might be a dream but why not try. I also shoot that at 300m with a best at just on 0.4" for a 5 shot group. My Sako Varmint 243W at 300m has got me a 1st place in Factory Class so I'm hoping to repeat that over that weekend.

Enjoy the Hornet, it's a great calibre.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by GBD » 20 Jun 2019, 7:06 pm

I have found Win 296 and Hodgdon LilGun works better and faster velocity. Winchester Australia bring them. I found the loading Data on the Hodgdon website 296 & H110 are the same powder also try crimping. My Ruger is 1:14 twist most 22 hornets are 1:16 which needs faster velocity and stabilizes a bullet up to 40 - 45gr hornet projectiles.
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Re: .22 Hornet loads

Post by Oldbloke » 21 Jun 2019, 6:56 pm

Suggest u use the search option. There has been a few threads about reloading the hornet
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