I only purchased my first Hornet 18months or so ago and have to wonder why I never got one 50years ago. Wonderful cartridge. Regards Stephen.
I only purchased my first Hornet 18months or so ago and have to wonder why I never got one 50years ago. Wonderful cartridge. Regards Stephen.
I to just got the "BUG", mine is a CZ 527 with set trigger
so far the only powder I have used is W/296 and Lil-gun
all the primers have been small pistol primers although I did try
SRP and the groups opened up but that was the only 1 trial so I expect to do more with those
so far I have only used jacketed bullets from 30-45 gr the 30's shoot real well as do the 45 gr. Speer's
I do have older loading manuals that list heavier bullets that 45 gr. I may try those at some point as well
great ,fun little cartridge wonder why it took me so long
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
also what's with this claim that Hornet brass stretches like a rubber band?
I have shot some of my brass up to 3 times and have yet to trim any of it
another wives tale I assume
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
Having shot 1000's of Hornet and K Hornet in both Ruger and Cooper rifles, I use nothing but
AA-1680 and 40 grain BT bullets getting sub .500 accuracy using neck sized only
Win brass that lasts and lasts...
Can't yet speak to stretching, however. . .
There has been a fair bit of attrition on the Prvi cases. Since my Dad decided to simplify his High Wall to Hornady brass, he donated his Prvi loads to me. Since they'd been loaded as standard Hornets a time or two without annealing, some of this was not surprising, although it has continued on a few cases that we did anneal, and also on several that have already been formed and neck-size only. Conventional wisdom seems to be that the cases are generally thin-walled across the board.
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
Decided that the project is pretty much "DONE!" yesterday:
Did a test on two targets, alternating between five rounds of WW+2% on one, and a linotype-ish 42/42/16 on the other. The rifle clearly liked the hard stuff, and I shot that 10 final shot group fighting a good bit of gusty crosswind. The 2:00 flyer I can't account for a cause of outside of "variables in small cartridges will kick your butt". It's acting like it'll be a sub-minute load if the wind cooperates, but between bullet shape, low mass, and 2000 fps, it's going to be a wind-twitchy round no matter what.
Anyway, it's no longer a shotgun and will reliably bust drinking water bottles at 100 yards if I do my part. HOOF! That was exhausting!
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
love it when a plan comes together
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
Last week I retargeted my T/C carbine Hornet for iron sights and reaffirmed what I knew years ago (and forgotten) that that barrel loves 2400 for jacketed 50 gr bullets but prefers 4198 with the "old style" Lee soupcan style 53 gr CB's. at 50 yards. That barrel doesn't like the more modern style CB's from either the new Lee mold or the NOE 55 gr mold which both my 222's and 223's prefer. Every barrel has a personality to be discovered.
The original 22 Lee Bator mold is my go to CB mold for the Hornet and Bee.
Every Hornet I have seems to prefer a different powder, but I noticed that Alliant 300 MP hasn't been mentions and it makes my 22 Hornet hum.
My 22 Hornets and K-Hornets have always proffered IMR 4227. I to find it unnecessary to hotrod my K Hornets, the case life gain is worth the K chamber reamer cost.
Read post #2 about boolit selection. The age of the 43 would indicate that it surely has a 1x16 barrel and will defiantly struggle to stabilize the length of the 52 gr boolit.
I do feed all of my Hornets with the 46 gr boolit from a BRP mold that the NOE boolit is a copy of.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Je suis Charlie
Remember Lavoy!
I'll cling to my God and my guns, and you can keep the "Change".
I could write a book on the Hornet but will refrain!
My Ruger M77/22H KBZ (laminated stock, gray stainless) shoots best with Lil’Gun and a 40gr bullet. Preferably Sierra’s. But is decent with some bulk 33gr Remington accutips (Hornady v-max blems) over #2400.
Best cast is a Lyman 224415 50gr Ptd- FNGC over either 4.5gr Unique or 6.2gr #2400.
My Marlin 1894CL in .218Bee is a darling! Haven’t ever done a real work up with cast but a Lee 55gr FNGC over 4-5gr of Unique shows promise. Fastest load is same as .22Hornet, a 40gr Armscor FNHP over 12.5 Lil’Gun. Max is 13.1 but craters primers and isn’t as accurate. 3,000fps-3,100fps.
Best accuracy with a jacketed bullet is a 45gr Sierra semi ptd over 14.0gr of IMR4198 and a CCI 500 SPP. Slow at 2,850fps but 1.25” 5-shot groups. (Compressed load).
These little guns are addicting!
Hint on sizing Hornets; size the neck but just bump the shoulder. I use a full length sizer but only partially full length sizer. I’ve had a Lee collet neck sizer but never warmed up to it. My Ruger has a chamber that looks to have been cut by an angry beaver!
I did recently stick a separated case head. But case dated to 1976 when I got my first Hornet!
Last edited by GooseGestapo; 05-08-2022 at 10:23 PM.
Been using 4227 and 1680 in my K Hornet with no complaints.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |