Author Topic: Can the 22 Hornet be handloaded cheaper than a 22 magnum rimfire? (Read 3526 times)

Canuck Bob · « **on:** October 25, 2009, 01:19:53 PM »

Just looking into shooting economics and was wondering if a 22 Hornet could be shot regularly cheaper than good quality 22 rimfire mags.

gendoc · « **Reply #1 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:41:27 PM »

in my experiance, nope!!! and mostly depends on how accurate you want to be !!!
walmart sells federal wmr ammo for $8.99/ 50 rounds around here..
brass, bullets, powder, primers and the most costly thing to me-----time !!!
but i do perfer the hornet over the wmr for the application i use it in.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:48:00 PM »

I figure I can load hornets for 15 cents a peice.

torpedoman · « **Reply #3 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:49:03 PM »

Don't count the time and you can reload it cheaper, at least i can my 223 but then i haven't had to get any of the new solid gold primers.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:50:51 PM »

And the terminal performance is much better.

gendoc · « **Reply #5 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:57:14 PM »

time... thats why i said "in my experiance"....
it just don't calculate,,, and i said "for the application"
i guess you could say terminal effect....

i wish did'nt have to factor in time.....
man, i could prolly live longer....

dorothy daily · « **Reply #6 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:05:49 PM »

factor the time as therapy to unwind,from your shrinking 401k and save $175.00 on a shrink and pay yourself. cannot afford to not reload. keep smiling it confuses the frowns.

gendoc · « **Reply #7 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:13:00 PM »

i agree about the ... got to reload thing...
i do reload everything except rimfire

45-70.gov · « **Reply #8 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:14:40 PM »

what if you cast for this round

45-70 drains a lead pot much faster them a 357 mould

might take all day to cast 20 pounds of 22s

Drilling Man · « **Reply #9 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:24:36 PM »

Depending on where you live, and the time of year, sometimes a rimfire is legal to be out in the woods with, when a centerfire isn't. Also, at some point you have to replace that hornet brass, and that enters into the price too.

I have more than 50 sets of dies, including hornet, but i choose the 22WMR over the hornet every time.

DM

trotterlg · « **Reply #10 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:39:33 PM »

Todays price for a primer is about 5 Cents, a cheap 22 bullet is about 8 Cents, throw in about 10 cents of powder, amertise out the brass at 5 Cents and you are at 28 Cents a shot. Larry

wreckhog · « **Reply #11 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:47:36 PM »

For me Hornet brass is 25 cents, so 5 cents a shot, powder as low as as 6 cents, primer 4 cents (can used small pistol). If the bullets are free (cast from found lead), then each shot is 15, about what I pay for .22 mag Dynapoints. If they are jacketed then that is at least 10-15 cents more a shot for a much better bullet than the .22 mag will have. Thing is I can shoot the mag at anything. Cans, squirrel, woodchuck, predator. Easy to use 50 rounds. Not so with the Hornet. More of a varmint/predator round, so if I shoot it 5 times in a day, that is a lot.

Mitch in MI · « **Reply #12 on:** October 25, 2009, 02:52:47 PM »

Well, if you can get 500 WMRs for $90, and 500 hornets would be:

100 brass for $25
500 bullets for $80!!! ($75 plus shipping for cheap SP)
500 primers for $20 (if you can find any)
1lb lil'gun for $25 (if you can find it)

I get $150 plus labor for the .22 hornet, vs $90 for the .22 WMR.
No comparison, unless you cast your own bullets. Gas checks are a lot cheaper than bullets. I'm still suffering from sticker shock after looking up those prices, most of the .224s I have on hand cost between $5 and $8 per hundred, the most I ever paid for 7mm was $15.99/100 for A-Max 162gr. Powder hasn't changed much, but the rest of the components have about doubled in the last five years.

I can remember buying 1000 rounds of CAVIM .308 for $150 about ten years ago. Wasn't the most accurate stuff, but good plinking for less than the current price of .22 WMR.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 25, 2009, 03:04:28 PM »

Midway has dogtown bullets for $45 per 500 and Midsouth has varmint nightmares for even less per bullet last I looked. Powder cost won't exceed 3 to 4 cents.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 25, 2009, 03:27:44 PM »

~~Midway~~ MidSouth has 34 grain hollow points at $39.95/500 + shipping. About as cheap as it gets for .224 bullets that will expand.

They do not shoot bad either - Shot on two different days @ 100 yards. The second picture was shot right after I got the barrel back (stubbed Handi) and the first one was after 400+ rounds down the tube. I have never got this kind of accuracy out of a 22 Mag. About 3/4" for three shots is the best I can do. I am sure there are 22 mags taht can do this well out there some where, but they are not going at 3100+ fps

Good Luck and Good Shooting

trotterlg · « **Reply #15 on:** October 25, 2009, 03:56:38 PM »

I also have good luck with the Dogtown bullets in .17, looks like you have the same vertical stringing problem as I do with my 17 FB. Larry

Drilling Man · « **Reply #16 on:** October 25, 2009, 05:10:16 PM »

Quote from: Mitch in MI on October 25, 2009, 02:52:47 PM

Well, if you can get 500 WMRs for $90, and 500 hornets would be:

100 brass for $25
500 bullets for $80!!! ($75 plus shipping for cheap SP)
500 primers for $20 (if you can find any)
1lb lil'gun for $25 (if you can find it)

I get $150 plus labor for the .22 hornet, vs $90 for the .22 WMR.
No comparison, unless you cast your own bullets. Gas checks are a lot cheaper than bullets. I'm still suffering from sticker shock after looking up those prices, most of the .224s I have on hand cost between $5 and $8 per hundred, the most I ever paid for 7mm was $15.99/100 for A-Max 162gr. Powder hasn't changed much, but the rest of the components have about doubled in the last five years.

I can remember buying 1000 rounds of CAVIM .308 for $150 about ten years ago. Wasn't the most accurate stuff, but good plinking for less than the current price of .22 WMR.

Finding primers isn't a problem, but finding them for 20 bucks is! The cheapest i see them is $32.50 and up.

Mitch in MI · « **Reply #17 on:** October 26, 2009, 01:20:19 AM »

Quote from: Drilling Man on October 25, 2009, 05:10:16 PM

Finding primers isn't a problem, but finding them for 20 bucks is! The cheapest i see them is $32.50 and up.

I was finding them out of stock at Midway for $3x per 1000, which I modified to $20 per 500. Are you talking 500 primers or 1000 primers?
The last time I bought small rifle, I got Remington Benchrest primers for something like $1.89 per 100 at my local mom & pop shop. When my present stock starts getting depleted, I'm not going to enjoy replenishing it.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 26, 2009, 06:20:26 AM »

I prefer Remington 7 1/2 primers over any other. If you get desperate - you can get Wolf small rifle primers for under $30/1K at a couple of different places. One is Widener's and the other is Powder Valley, the last I checked (last week) they had them in stock.

tykempster · « **Reply #19 on:** October 26, 2009, 09:59:16 AM »

I just bought 2000 primers for $50 last night, you could cast 40 grain bullets for half a cent each, and cases you could get 20 loads from EASY. 10 grains of powder would run you under 3 cents a load.

So, if you bought some brass for 20 cents a piece and used them 20 times, it's only a cent per piece.

Primer-$.025
Bullet-$.005
Powder-$.03
Brass-$.01
--------------------
$.07 per shot.
$3.5 per 50.

Seems to me that's cheaper than a 22 WMR and probably would be more accurate as well, not to mention better ballistics!

Drilling Man · « **Reply #20 on:** October 26, 2009, 11:11:26 AM »

That last 4 places i've been to in the last month, had primers. The cheapest was $32/1,000, i have seen them in the past for $36/1,000, so i don't think $25 will be the going price for most of us.

Then again, i bought 22WMR for $8.95 per 50 too, so there ya go...

DM

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 26, 2009, 11:34:37 AM »

To answer the original question - This is the way I figure it...

$25 for a pound of powder at 13 grains a load = about $.05/load (I can buy locally)
$40 for 500 bullets = $.08 + shipping, but if you buy other things, the shipping is not so high so $.085/bullet
$30 for primers(if you can get them) + hazmat fee for 5K = $.0345/shot
$25 for 100 cases getting 5 reloads/case = $.05

These are ball park figures, depending on how much you have to pay for your supplies...but I have bought all of these supplies at the price listed, recently.

That adds up to $.2195/shot = $10.98/50 rounds, you can get 22 Mag ammo for that price, but I can not buy the cheap stuff and get any accuracy, so the 22 Mags I shoot cost more like $12 - $14/50 rounds + shipping. If I buy 22 Mags locally there is 7% sales tax and they are much more expensive. Premium 22 Mag ammo costs as much as $19.95/50 + sales tax of $1.40:o - yes ammo has went up in price too. The advantage of the 22 Mag is you do not have to reload for it, just load up the rifle and start shooting. I think it depends on your personal tastes and if you are already reloading. If you need to set up to reload the Hornet, you are much better off going 22 Mag, unless you are going to shoot thousands of rounds a year.

BTW I also shoot 221 Fireball and I can shoot those at about .30/round or $15/50. Same primers, same bullets or a different bullet (50 grain MidSouth @ $45/500), different case, more expensive ($35/100); but last much longer and a little more powder/shot. 16 - 18 grains of it. My Remington 700 in .221 Fireball is extremely accurate and the T/C Contender does not do too bad either (my favorite woodchuck carry gun).

PHATINJUN · « **Reply #22 on:** October 26, 2009, 01:42:32 PM »

I knew one of you guys could stick one in his ear. Way to go larry. kurt

tykempster · « **Reply #23 on:** October 26, 2009, 02:40:41 PM »

I buy powder for $18 a pound, and it's $20 a pound on the shelf. Primers are $2.50 a sleeve off the shelf. Casting bullets saves SO much money, and it's cheap to get started. Brass for 22 Hornet would last forever if not loaded very hot and partially neck sized only!

briannmilewis · « **Reply #24 on:** October 26, 2009, 03:27:46 PM »

Quote from: tykempster on October 26, 2009, 02:40:41 PM

I buy powder for $18 a pound, and it's $20 a pound on the shelf. Primers are $2.50 a sleeve off the shelf. Casting bullets saves SO much money, and it's cheap to get started. Brass for 22 Hornet would last forever if not loaded very hot and partially neck sized only!

I have not bothered to amortize the original brass I got from factory test loads yet. As tykempster tells us and I agree, mild loads and partial necksizing makes brass amortization a moot point, and there is no question a Hornet is cheaper to reload than buying 22WMR, especially if you need to kill coyote and ground hogs from 150yds - 200yds!

kevinsmith5 · « **Reply #25 on:** October 26, 2009, 03:37:53 PM »

I only neck size for my 45-70 and shoot low pressure (mostly) loads and still have every last one of the original 160 cases I bought. Some have been loaded 15 times.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #26 on:** October 27, 2009, 03:19:53 AM »

Quote from: tykempster on October 26, 2009, 02:40:41 PM

Primers are $2.50 a sleeve off the shelf. Brass for 22 Hornet would last forever if not loaded very hot and partially neck sized only!

Where are primers $2.50 per hundred? I'll buy a BUNCH at that price! And, i've loaded thousands of hornets, i've yet to see hornet brass that last forever. I use to lightly load it and N size it for a couple different hornet rifles i had, and that just wasn't my experience.

And, the BEST part of all is, i don't have to reload the 22 mags! Second best is, ALL the rifles available today chambered in 22WMR!

DM

billy_56081 · « **Reply #27 on:** October 27, 2009, 03:50:16 AM »

DM my 22 Hornet will outperform any 22 mag loading out the for 15 to 20 cents a round.

tykempster · « **Reply #28 on:** October 27, 2009, 03:53:13 AM »

I got mine from Grafs, 2000 for $50 out the door. CCI large rifle and large rifle magnum,

tobster · « **Reply #29 on:** October 27, 2009, 06:54:09 AM »

Or handload the Hornet and pay a couple of bucks more for rimfire .17HMR over .22 Mag and live happily ever after!