22 hornet

[doublegunner]

I've loaded about 300 rounds 22 hornet, not sure how I did it but they are not the same size as factory ammo and will not eject out of my rifles (savage 40 and NEF Handi.)
  Question: what did I do wrong and can I resize them with them being loaded. I know the standard answer is no but how could it go off in my Rockchucker press with nothing to hit the primer.

Thanks
Bob

[torpedoman]

if they load correctly you have the size right try throwing them in a tumbler to clean them up a bit.

[doublegunner]

I ran them in the tumbler before I loaded them, they are as shiny as new ammo.  I did something wrong sizing them. They load into the rifle fine and shoot great, just want come out after being shoot. When you mic them they are different than factory rounds, most were once fired and 100 were new brass.

Bob

[billy_56081]

You sized them with a full length sizer to where the die made contact with the shell holder? Are the shell holder and the die of the same maufacturer?  Did you trim the cases?

[Graybeard]

If they chamber and shoot fine that does NOT sound like a sizing problem to me. If they then will not come out after firing it sounds to me like way too much pressure is being generated. Will they eject if not fired OK?

[sr sawyer]

I had a simalar problem with my 22 Hornet.  I was shooting factory ammo in a TC and some in an H&R 158.  The ones that were fired in the TC first, even after properly full length sizing and reloading, the case would stick in the chamber of the 158 and require a rod to remove.  The case was not hard to remove but the ejector would not move it without the light bump of a cleaning rod.  It did not matter with the TC whether they were shot first in it or the 158,  it would extract the case.  

I think the long shoulder and neck could make this round a little sensitive to reloading with once fired brass from one rifle to the other.  That said your dies should with correct adjustment and size everything to factory specs.  At the time I had plenty of factory ammo and new brass and just delegated  each to its own with no more problems and have done no more investigation to the actual cause.  

A little off topic but I bought this 22 Hornet 158 barrel in the early 80's for $10.00 at a local sporting goods store.  A man had traded it in with some other stuff and the store where he traded could not find a receiver to accept the barrel.  My 158 receivers would not accept it either but I had an AR frame that with minor adjustments it locked up perfectly.   Even with a little pitting in the bore when I got it still shoots MOA.

Almost forgot, the answer to your sizing question is NO.  Primer has nothing to do with it.  The fact that a bullet is in the case will prevent any sizing as the neck of the loaded round is to large to enter the sizeing die.

Ken

  

[LaOtto222]

+1 with Bill. In my experience with a 22 Hornet, if it chambers OK , but does not want to eject, then you are way over pressure. If you had a problem with getting them into the chamber, then you have a sizing issue. Pull them down and back off the powder. Good Luck and Good Shooting

[Lloyd Smale]

it too agree with bill. The hornet brass is reliativly thin and the small case is very pressure sensitive. Just a 1/2 a grain of powder can be the differnce in a safe load and over pressure.

[doublegunner]

Thanks for all the help. I didn't even think about the pressure. I used 2400 but don't remember the charge.  I'll pull one this weekend and check.

Thanks again
Bob

[Autorim]

I agree with the over pressure also. I would also clean the chamber really well - could be some fouling build up also contributing to difficult extraction. It is not a sizing problem if the round chambers and fires.

[Ladobe]

Thanks for all the help. I didn't even think about the pressure. I used 2400 but don't remember the charge.  I'll pull one this weekend and check.

Thanks again
Bob

You don't remember what the charge is and have to pull one to find out?   

[GameHauler]

You can't go to your loading log book
or look at the little sticky you pasted
on that box of reloads to know what
they are in the futher

I am some what of a newbie to loading
and I may be out of place but you NEED
to go back and reread the introductory part
of every reloading manual you own.

[woodchukhntr]

You really need to keep track of the load you are using!  Even if you only load a few for testing, write the load on a label or piece of masking tape and attach it to the cartridge box.  Start a notebook and put every load you make down in it.  That way you can keep rtack of what you loaded and can note accuracy and other information.

You are lucky with the .22 Hornet since the rifles it is chambered in have plenty of steel around the case, but the case can still rupture and shower lyou or a range partner with hot gasses and brass particles.

Also, is there any indication of rifling engraved at the front of the neck?  The cases could be too long for a short chamber.

Load a few using less than maximum charges and shoot them to see if they still stick.

[Autorim]

Maybe you are not seating the bullets deep enough. If so, the bullet will engage the rifling leade when you chamber the round. This can raise pressure. Contrary to a previous post, the cartridge case itself will not engage the rifling.

I suggest starting with IMR 4227 and back off to a starting load. It is a bit slower than 2400 and not as likely to create a sharp pressure spike.

Personally, I like the Nosler solid base Hornet bullets.

[Lloyd Smale]

my favorite bullet in the hornet is the vmax 35 grain and favorite powder is 1680 or 680. Ive allways had my best luck with cci small rifle bench rest primers. Im not a big advocate of bench rest primers as it think for the most part there a waste of money but in the hornet it seems to help.

[securitysix]

Personally, I like the Nosler solid base Hornet bullets.

Not to sidetrack the thread too much, but are these still made?  I was under the impression that the 45 grain Nosler Solid Base had been discontinued.  I also understand that they were the absolute premier coyote bullet for the Hornet.  I have a few of these that were left by a friend of my dad, and my K-Hornet Contender carbine barrel does pretty good with them with the one load I've tried (don't remember it, but it's in my spreadsheet for later reference).

Back to the topic at hand...

If the OP doesn't know what his load is and doesn't have a way to check short of pulling a bullet and weighing a charge, something is horribly long.  My dad used to keep all his loading data in a 3-ring binder.  He keeps it in an Excel spreadsheet now, which is how I keep mine.

Even a regular old spiral notebook beats the "I used Powder X, but I don't know how much".  If it's a good load, you need to be able to duplicate it.  If it's a bad load, you need to know to avoid it.  How can you do this if you don't even remember what you loaded?  You also need to be able to go "Huh...this load seems to show excessive pressure...oh, I see why.  My notes say I'm a grain over the maximum.  Wonder how I did that?"

[LaOtto222]

I use load labels for all my ammo boxes or containers that I have loaded. I put the date, what bullet I loaded, what powder and how much, what case I used, what primer was used and it even has a check off at the bottom, so I know how many times hI have reloaded these cases. When I started, I did not do this, I worked from memory, but I did not have that many different guns I reloaded for. But my hobby grew and some of the stuff set around over the years and I forgot what I loaded. So I made up my own in an Excel Spread sheet. I print it out on 60 pound paper and then cut them out. I would include a copy of my sheet, but can't figure out how to attach a file. I will copy and paste 1 label here so you know what it looks like. The fonts and spacing are wrong, but it gives you and idea what it looks like. When I made it up there are 9 on a sheet and they are just the right size to fit into a small ammo box. I print out a few sheets at a time and then cut them up and have a stack on my loading bench for ready use. Now when I open a box, I know exactly what I have, when I loaded it and how many times it has been loaded. On the outside of the ammo box, I label it for the specific gun it was loaded for. I presently have 3 different 223's and they all like some thing different + they have different sized chambers - so I label the ammo box for which rifle they are for. After firing, I return the empty case to the ammo box. When all have been shot up I start the reloading process up for that batch, retaining the load label. When I get them loaded up again, I tick off the next number at the bottom and I am ready to go again. It is just my way to keep up with what I loaded up, so I know exactly what I have in my hand.

    Load Label

Date_____________
Caliber___________
Powder_________wt______
Bullet__________wt______
Case_____________
Primer___________
OAL_____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15

Good Luck and Good Shooting
 

[Autorim]

I pretty much follow the same process as LaOtto. I keep a 3x5 card with each batch of brass with all data on it. I usually keep all brass and loaded rounds in zip locs with the card inside. I can make range notes on the card. I designed my own targets and print them on 8.5x11 paper. When I shoot, I note all load data on the target along with the date, firearm and whether it was fired with iron sights, scope,red dot or laser. Test targets are then kept in file folder for each firearm along with any load data from forum sites that I want to test. Chrono info is kept in a zip loc in each file folder and is firearm specific.

Electronic record keeping is a good idea also, and I need to go there along with maybe scanning the test targets. Oh well - good winter project.

[JamesIII]

I would agree with the others, if it loads and shoots fine, then it is not a sizing problem. Do remember that NEF handi's like very clean chambers. I would gets some Flitz and polish the chamber. I was getting an occasional stuck case in my NEF and polishing it eliminated the problem. I also see you have both 1 fired and new brass, do they both have the same problem in both guns? If you find your load is not causing excessive pressure, I would look for excessive case lube not being completely cleaned by dirty media or some other simple procedure thing. I also agree that you may want to dedicate brass to a single firearm. Oh yes, when checking those loads make sure your scale is not the culprit. Good luck JamesIII

[stimpylu32]

As far as not knowing the load data of his rounds , I will admit that I have this problem before too , I used to write my data on a slip of paper and put it in the box of ammo , only to come home from the range and find that it had blown away . now I tape the data to the box lid 

The fact that he is having the same problem with both rifles is what is confusing me here , I would look for crud in the chambers or case lube left on the brass first .

stimpy

[woodchukhntr]

Maybe you are not seating the bullets deep enough. If so, the bullet will engage the rifling leade when you chamber the round. This can raise pressure. Contrary to a previous post, the cartridge case itself will not engage the rifling.

I suggest starting with IMR 4227 and back off to a starting load. It is a bit slower than 2400 and not as likely to create a sharp pressure spike.

Personally, I like the Nosler solid base Hornet bullets.

Autorim, you are right, I don't know what I was thinking about.  I should have asked: when you chamber a round and extract it without firing, is there any rifling marks on the bullet?

Thanks for the correction.

[doublegunner]

I feel like I just got spanked.  I've been reloading for over 30 yrs and  I know you wright down your loads. I also know the only way to know 100% whats in a round is to pull one.  I got my load out of my Speer # 10 manual: Max 9.5 gr 2400 CCI 400 primer. and that is what was in the round I pulled. It has to be over pressure.  The Savage 40 has only been shot about 25 times worked great w/ factory ammo but would not extract with reload.  My extra Handi barrel has only been shot once and the case also stuck in the barrel.
The only other thing I can think of is my 2400 has to 20 plus yrs. old (always keep in my house) maybe that has something to do with it.
I also got my cal. out and the reload is the same size as a factory case.
Don't know what else it could be.

Thanks again
Bob

[securitysix]

Drop down to the starting load in your manual and work up slowly.  Stop when you get a sufficiently accurate load or you start seeing pressure signs, whichever comes first.