20 Hornet (Hornady)

[Bill]

Righto got a hankering for a 20 cal, anyone here playing with a 20 Ackley hornet or a 20 Hornet ( Hornady 25deg) ??

Had always fancied a 20 Killer Bee but finding a suitable bolt gun seems near impossible

[RoginaJack]

What about a 218 Bee improved? There's lever and Martini plus bolt actions around..? just a thought.

[Bill]

already got a 218 Bee and 40gr Vmaxs hum along at 3340fps but its only a single shot. Just fancy filling the gap between 17 and 22. Got a hornet action and a mate said I could use his reamer, 32gr at 3400fps sounds pretty interesting

[SCJ429]

If you want it, why not. Should be a fun little thing. I think 20 cals are great. Every boy should have one.

[Bill]

Yeah thats pretty much my thinking SCJ429, I briefly had a 204 but some missing rifling meant it was dud.

Gunna go a fast twist barrel so 40s and 50s should be doable too.

[gunnnie]

Had the same desires Bill but I ended up going with a 20-222Rimmed on a Martini Cadet action. Should be able to push a 32gn pill at 3400 without any major issues in the Cadet.

[Bill]

So I mocked up a dummy round and it feeds like ducks nuts in the rotary mag. As I was heading to Bathurst on sat I dropped in on the gunsmith who has the PTG reamer and had a quick chat and left the ruger with him

Have settled on 20 inch barrel LV profile, barrel will be a 1:8 twist stainless Im getting off a mate, 2 or 3 weeks build time hopefully



256 WM and 20 Hornet in there mags

[Bill]

picked up my Ruger 20 Hornet yesterday, Gunsmith a performed top job

He even threw a 204 expander threw some of my resized 17 Hornet cases and we tested feeding of a few diff projectile combo's from the magazine, all feed perfectly.

[Bill]

first run out at SIlverdale on friday, lots of cleaning, Magnetospeed didnt work with the 20 cal.

46 rounds down range, all fire forming loads. 3 shot groups with 32gr Barnes and 32gr Vmax both went around 0.5 moa or less.

32gr Sierra BK went 2 inches at 50m, maybe overspun in the 1:8 ??, fairly long projectile so happy to drop em , more to come



only shot the two 100m groups, last group I fired for the day at 50m was 12.6gr Lil Gun and the 3 shots went 3mm, time pressure meant I didnt collect the target

[GQshayne]

Looks like a nice thing mate.

[Bill]

cheers GQshayne , almost too much fun watching paper getting cut with SFA recoil.

keen as mustard to do a bit more load development and stretch it out to 200m at silverdale

[JGR]

New to this forum and would like to hear more on your 256 win mag Bill, tried to send a pm but haven't worked it yet

JGR

[Dmp_383]

Digging up an old thread.

New here, long time reader, first post.

Just wondering if anyone knows the gunsmith Bill used?

I have myself a nice Brno Fox 2 that needs a new barrel.

Cheers, Dave

[Oldbloke]

Digging up an old thread.

New here, long time reader, first post.

Just wondering if anyone knows the gunsmith Bill used?

I have myself a nice Brno Fox 2 that needs a new barrel.

Cheers, Dave

Mmm, they are nice. Got a pic?

[Larry]

I get my magneto working with 22 cal but you need to set the sensitivity to high. and use the thin spacer.

[Bill]

New to this forum and would like to hear more on your 256 win mag Bill, tried to send a pm but haven't worked it yet

JGR

well one of the 256 WM has been converted to 25-35 WCF, its off to the range tmw for more flame throwing from the 19 inch Carbine barrel

[Bill]

Digging up an old thread.

New here, long time reader, first post.

Just wondering if anyone knows the gunsmith Bill used?

I have myself a nice Brno Fox 2 that needs a new barrel.

Cheers, Dave

Dave I currently using 4 diff gunsmiths, some are good at certain jobs, some do jobs quickly and you roll the dice

Picking gunsmiths can also be about ya budget

[OzzyRZ]

Gday Bill.
I know that this is an old post, but a 20cal Hornet would be my dream gun. I noticed you stated that you were in Bathurst. I am in Mudgee.
I would love more info on how your gun is going and who did the work for you. Also any info regarding dies, forming gear and loads would really be appreciated mate.
Cheers Matt

[Billo]

Gday Bill.
I know that this is an old post, but a 20cal Hornet would be my dream gun. I noticed you stated that you were in Bathurst. I am in Mudgee.
I would love more info on how your gun is going and who did the work for you. Also any info regarding dies, forming gear and loads would really be appreciated mate.
Cheers Matt

Hey Matt, how time fly's, the 20 Hornet sat unloved for in the safe as other rifles got used. Unfortunately I started shooting a 204 Ruger and it made me realize how bad some of the brass isues I had with the 20 Hornet were. Anyway long short story I recently rebarreled the Ruger back to a stock 22 Hornet albeit with a fast 1:8 stainless varmint barrel off a Howa mini. Currently shooting a 36gr OEP projectile at 3000fps.

The 20 cal barrel will be screwed back onto a Howa mini at some stage to do a 204 Ruger short, which is the 204R shortened to utilize 223 brass and chopped 204R dies.

John Clapham was the gunsmith who did the original 20 Hornady Hornet but he didnt own the reamer, you might have to move on from this sort of improved but flawed hornet