22 Hornet (again)

[JAT]

I don't post much but this was giving me a fit and I found this thread here
(search- Re: .22 Hornet Load Problem) and it is a problem that will be repeated.
I am new to hornet and ruined a number (many) of cases the same as (Re: .22 Hornet Load Problem)this Guy.
Anyway i was loading 12 gr of Lil Gun with a sierra 40 gr HPFB and randomly blowing primers and having fits. Oh yeah it shot real good. 13 grains worked even better.
11.5 grains was worse, blew a chuck out of a case.
I am convinced it is the hornets light necks not being able to hold shallow seated bullets.
 Being seated up to the rifling is no worse or better than being .020 to .030 off the rifling.
Pistol primers would not cure the problem, less powder seemed to make it worse?
  But as in "Re: .22 Hornet Load Problem" Seating the bullet deep .230, which in my gun is about .100 off the lands, fixed the  pressure problem. Now I can shoot 13 gr probably more (13 gr shows no sign of pressure -at all.) cases just fall out of the chamber.
 Now if I can get it to group like the long seated loads used to, about .5" I will be happy.
 Hope this isn"t to jumbled to understand but it might save some one some  trouble,
strange things were happening.
For the full story read "Re: .22 Hornet Load Problem" on this form, same thing.

[ratdog]

gave my hornet to my son got a 223 they are to problematic to reload. problems solved.

[Gaz-52]

   Do you full length resize? I had similar story with my hornets, loose primers , split cases and such . Neck sizing with a collet die set reduced the split cases a bit , but I finally cured the problems by reaming the chamber to k hornet and trying a range of powders till I found an accurate load with less pressure . Imho people try to push the Hornet  too hard ,then complain about its shortcomings .
           The .22 Hornet and its variants have limitations as do all calibers/ chamberings .But if a relatively quiet , economical , medium range varminter is what you need then it's well worth it to take the time to find a load /bullet combination that suits your hornet. It is just a matter of picking thru the many helpfull posts on this site and a bit of trial and error using whatever suitable cases,primers,powders & bullets are available to you . Don't be discouraged , we have all been thru it  . Enjoy the journey, it can be more fun than arriving at the destination.    

[JAT]

 Thats why I bought a hornet , the challenge.
About a year ago a major ammo manuf. had a bad lot of 22 hornet shells. A few rounds in the lot received no powder charge. The result you can guess was some ruptured cases.
The round with just the primer would send a bullet into the throat unknowingly the next round would go over pressure and go pop! I didin't shoot any myself but fixed about 4 guns that did.(shattered clips and split stocks mostly, no bad barrels)
My point is, that is basically what is happening with the shallow seated bullets, you get a bullet stuck in the barrel and then add gun powder.
Long seating bullets is fairly common I would think, just got to be careful with hornet cases and weak necks and probably some chambers make a difference.
Shooting 13 gr lil gun now same bullet 0 signs of pressure.

[Gaz-52]

     Cheap ammo usually has an extra price to pay ,  I bought some Highland.22 hornet ammo which is Prvi Partizan in a fancy box . Three of the first six shots split cases. I pulled the rest and weighed the powder charges , up to 3gn variation . Thought it best to start from scratch so I pushed the primers out then annealed the cases and reloaded the rest of the batch. Problem solved . Cheap Ammo? NO WAY.
           Cheers Gaz.

[martineta]

Wow,,, surprized to hear.  I have loaded and shot probably a thousand 22 hornet rounds.  I have only used H110 powder but tried all sorts of bullets between 35 and 45 grain.  Most accurate have been the 45 gr Bee bullet.  I only neck size and shoot out of a contender and an encore.
 

[Gaz-52]

           I agree wholeheartedly on the neck sizing . Also very important is to have consistent neck tension . and if you have more than one firearm in that caliber it is advisable to keep the cases fired in each gun in separate lots. To make it easy I separate cases by their headstamp and have slightly different loads due to one brands cases being thicker / less volume than the other brands cases.
            My handi 1/9 twist gets fed a diet of 55gn cast bullets ,while my martini with 1/14 twist gets 45gn Sierra  or Speer varminters depending on whats available.I have cases that have been reloaded 8+ times, and usually get retired from service when the primer pockets start to get loose. Hope this may be helpfull.
         Cheers Gaz.