Author Topic: K hornet, need help (Read 720 times)

HappyHunter · « **on:** June 07, 2005, 02:08:54 PM »

Just bought a 10 inch Contender barrel, in 22 K Hornet.

I need brass, dies, bullets, and powder.

Can I buy K Hornet brass?

Must I fire form regular brass to become K Hornet or will the sizing die do this?

If I must fire form regular 22 hornet brass, will my K Hornet dies work or will I need 22 Hornet and 22 K Hornet dies?

What is a good powder and bullet to start with? And for fireforming?

Any suggestions of reading material on reloading this cartridge would be helpful.

Thanks,

Fred

ricciardelli · « **Reply #1 on:** June 07, 2005, 04:51:52 PM »

Go buy yourself a few boxes of factory .22 Hornet. Put them in your Contender and have fun. When you are done you will have K-Hornet brass.

Save yourself a lot of work, and have fun not doing it.

As for loading data...(yup...here it comes....)

http://stevespages.com/223p_2.html

Jim B. · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2005, 05:42:24 AM »

I am also working with a new K-Hornet (Ruger 77/22 H). My question relates to just forming brass. I have severl hundred new hornet brass and I hate to waste useful powder and bullets just for fireforming.

I do have some Red Dot on hand (no other real pistol powders) for reduced rifle loads. Could I safely use a small quantity of Red Dot with some sort of filler to form my new brass?

Jim B.

MT4XFore · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2005, 08:51:35 AM »

Jim B.:

As stated above, reload your favorite regular hornet load and have fun. They will be accurate and deadly, the only difference will be when you eject the case, it will then be a K-Hornet. Dont worry about reduced loads, shoot regular hornet loads and have fun!

Jim

HappyHunter · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2005, 12:10:20 PM »

I normally order a "quantity" of components...in this case 2-3 hundred cases. Now I will need to order regular Hornet brass, will I be able to use K Hornet dies to FL size and seat the bullets? Then of course I will fire form these.

I don't want to seem cheap (but I am), but a box of 50 factory Hornet is $34 at local gun shop! It would possibly be cheaper to buy reg. Hornet dies and reload these just for fire forming!

All I have so far is the Contender barrel, I am planning on ordering Redding 3 die set with both FL and neck sizing dies.

So here are my specific questions:

Will K Hornet dies work to FL size and seat bullets in new Hornet brass so
that I can fire form to barrel? (This will keep me from buying 2-3 hundred factory rounds).

Is neck sizing particularly helpful in this caliber?

I like the Lee Factory Crimp die, and noticed that it is available only for the regular Hornet, will this work on the K Hornet?

This Handgun (10 Contender) will be used primarily for Silly Wet shooting what would be a reasonable weight bullet.

Thanks for any help.

Fred

Nobade · « **Reply #5 on:** June 08, 2005, 04:10:22 PM »

The K hornet dies will work fine to load the brass you bought. Red Dot works fine for duplicating 22 LR loads, consider 2.0 gr. to be the max. I use 1.4 gr. and the RCBS 55gr cast bullet at 1200 fps out of a regular hornet. Use Lil' Gun for full loads, it rips. Unless you're shooting at a local match that doesn't enforce the rules, the K version isn't legal for NRA Hunter pistol or IHMSA field pistol matches. Only the regular version is.

Catfish · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2005, 05:13:18 PM »

You should have no trouble useing the K-Hornet dies to load the Hornet cases. Just load them to hot Hornet loads for fire forming and go for it. You can get data from about any reloading manual or from the powder manufacture web pages. Sounds like a sweet little gun. We have one gal that shoots a K-Hornet in the off hand matches at the local club and she holds her own.

ricciardelli · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2005, 07:54:25 PM »

"a box of 50 factory Hornet is $34"

Damn! I have seen them for between $16 and $17 for 50...

Duffy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 10, 2005, 11:18:46 AM »

Fred,
As stated before you can load the Hornet cases with your K dies. You really don't need to size the new cases before reloading so that shouldn't matter except for maybe a mashed neck. I also tried the Lee crimp die but found no advantage in accuracy with it. I have on some rounds but nothing that really stands out here. I have three die Reddings also but have found that I usually get the best accuracy with the FL die set just to keep the shoulder at the proper headspace. These cases are thin and can get out of whack pretty easy so you don't really want to set the shoulder to close hard when chambering. Another addition to your dies that makes sizing the little bugger easier is Reddings carbide expander button. In fact it's pretty nice on all the calibers. I usually fireform with some cheap bullets and just load them up to regular specs and blaze away. It's sometime helpful to seat the bullet lightly into the lands to form a bit off the rim. Winchester brass seems to have a bit of variance in rim thickness and I haven't gotten any Rem yet to try/measure but they are suppose to be better. I've also had some of the neck's come out of the sizer a bit longer on one side but a quick trip to the trimmer takes care of that.
It's a fun cartrige, I really enjoy mine.

I also have a 100 or so K- brass that won't size down enough for my Bullberry bbl that may work in yours. After you fire some measure the expandtion around the head and I'll check some of these to compare. Make ya a heck of a deal.