Author Topic: .22 Hornet Shooters (Read 4220 times)

45LC-Man · « **on:** November 05, 2004, 11:15:18 AM »

I just got a 77/.22 Hornet and I need some very accurate loads. Mine is the standard 20" barrel. What is a good accurate load?

The Cast Bullet Kid · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2004, 11:38:36 AM »

Hi
I always had good success with W296 in my Hornet. 11gr for a 45gr bullet and 11.5gr for a 40gr.
It was a CZ rifle and was never fussy with bullets.
Liked a Lyman 225415 GCFN on 5gr of 800X too.

45LC-Man · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2004, 01:22:28 PM »

That Lyman load sounds like it might work good for squirrels. How many FPS were you getting?

drags · « **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2004, 04:06:07 AM »

I have a 22 hornet in c-z I shoot .223 sierra 45gr hornet bullets withe lil-gun powder and cci small pistol primers, accuracy is great.
Drags

Lawdog · « **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2004, 07:44:13 AM »

drags,

Quote

I have a 22 hornet in c-z I shoot .223 sierra 45gr hornet bullets

Question if you please. Why .223 diameter bullets when all new .22 Hornets are .224? I use the same .224 bullets in my Hornets as I do any of my other .22 centerfires.

45LC-Man,

My favorite Coyote load is 9.6 gr. of H4227 for 2,449 fps. using the Barnes 50 gr. VLC bullet. For smaller critters I use 11.0 gr. of H110 for 2,853 fps. using the Nosler 40 gr. Ballistic Tip Varmint bullet. Both these loads group at/under 0.5 in both of my Ruger .22 Hornets(No. 1 and 77/22). Watch the c.o.l. in your 77/22 as the rotary magazine, at least on mine, wont allow them much over 1.810". Lawdog

drags · « **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2004, 09:10:46 AM »

Lawdog, I tried the .224 bullets first and could only get 1 3/4 groups, I called c-z and they told me the grove diameter on there hornet barrels are.223 so I tried the sierra .223 hornet bullets and they shot around an 1/2 an inch at 100yds with the lil-gun powder ane cci small pistol primers. It may be just my gun but it wouldn't shoot the .224 bullets. I used the sierra hornet bullets because I wanted them to feed in the c-z clip.
Drags

The Cast Bullet Kid · « **Reply #6 on:** November 14, 2004, 12:38:57 PM »

45 LC man.
The cast bullet load produced just on 2000fps from memory. Top wee bullet being a FN. Real game stopper.
I now load it in my .223 to 2000fps too on 6.5gr Green Dot.

Lawdog · « **Reply #7 on:** November 15, 2004, 11:35:17 AM »

drags,

The reason I asked was I though all newer, post 1960 era, .22 Hornet rifles came with .224 diameter barrels. In fact when I talked to a CZ dealer he told me that the CZ also used .224 in their rifles. What i didn't know is the clip on the CZ limits the length of your reloads just like the rotary magazine on the Ruger 77/22. If they would only make the magazines 0.15" longer then the old .22 Hornet would be perfect. Lawdog

BruceP · « **Reply #8 on:** November 15, 2004, 02:18:26 PM »

Lawdog, when I called Browning and asked about the groove diameter on the Low Wall hornet I was told it was .223 also. I have not worked much on loads though so I have not tried .223 bullets.
BruceP

Lawdog · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2004, 07:50:33 AM »

BruceP,

According to the engineer that I talked to at Browning this morning Browning changed the bore diameter over to .224 at the same time as everyone else did, 1960 and before. They stayed that way until the Low Wall was discontinued in 2000. What year is your Low Wall? Lawdog

BruceP · « **Reply #10 on:** November 16, 2004, 01:38:39 PM »

I'm not exactly sure but it would be in the 90's. I had thought that it would be a .224 but I read somewhere (I belive it was here on GBO) that they were .223, so I called and asked. I spoke to a lady whose name I don't remember and she had to put me on hold and go ask someone else. When she returned she said "he", whoever he was, had said it was .223. I really don't know the answer then. Maybe It's not really the year the gun was made but who you get on the phone when you call.

Anyway I hope the one you spoke to was right. I would prefer it to be a .224 because of the better light weight bullets.
BruceP

45LC-Man · « **Reply #11 on:** November 16, 2004, 02:19:24 PM »

So Bruce, now that we got that settled how about some pet loads from your pet .22 Hornet. :-D :-D

drags · « **Reply #12 on:** November 17, 2004, 03:19:59 AM »

Lawdog, What c-z told me was the hornet barrels are .223 grove diameter and their other .22 cal. barrels are .224 grove diameter, also I called sierra and they said the c-z hornet barrels were .223 diameter. 45lc-man I don't have much experience handloading the hornet but my gun liked the 45 gr sierra .223 hornet bullet with lil-gun powder and cci small pistol primers. From my research on the hornet lil-gun powder and a 40 or 45 gr bullet is a good place to start for accuracy and velocity.
Drags

ajj · « **Reply #13 on:** November 17, 2004, 07:03:02 AM »

Every Hornet shooter who has accuracy problems should try the 40 gr. Hornady V-Max.

BruceP · « **Reply #14 on:** November 17, 2004, 04:30:52 PM »

45LC-Man, I wish I could help on the loads. This is one of the rifles that I really need to work on loads for. For the last few years I have done more "collecting" than shooting or hunting. This has got to change! I have only tried one handload in the hornet and It was not a good one. It used Lil'Gun powder and a Speer 40 gr bullet. I have seen such a big difference on max listed charges for Lil'Gun in the hornet it may be that the one I tried was to hot for good accuracy. Sometime after deer season I will crono that load and see if it might give more velocity than reasonably expected. For now the Browning is shooting right at 1" at 100 yds. with the Remington 45 gr factory ammo.
BruceP

Lawdog · « **Reply #15 on:** November 18, 2004, 12:18:11 PM »

45LC-Man,

In my 77/22 I use 11.6 gr. H110 for 2,893 fps. using Nosler 40 Ballistic Tip bullet. Just make sure the length isnt over 1.810 so they will work through the magazine. Lawdog

45LC-Man · « **Reply #16 on:** November 18, 2004, 12:26:08 PM »

Has anyone had accuracy problems associated with the 77/22?

Lawdog · « **Reply #17 on:** November 19, 2004, 10:38:23 AM »

45LC-Man,

Quote

Has anyone had accuracy problems associated with the 77/22?

Not after I got rid of the dumb Ruger trigger and replaced it with a Timney adjustable one. Lawdog

hedditch · « **Reply #18 on:** November 21, 2004, 03:47:20 AM »

I am new to the list so please forgive me if I spew previously talked about information.

I have a CZ Hornet I had reamed out to a K-Hornet. Yes, the CZ has a tight barrel because the standard reamer pilot wouldn't fit in the barrel. I had to send the reamer out to get the pilot turned down to .223. The rifle shoots average 1/2 inch five shot groups at 100 yds going 3000 fps using lil'gun powder, forty grain .224 pills and small rifle primers.

If anyone wants to rent the K-Hornet reamer for their CZ, let me know. Why rent? No sense buying one and it will help me recoup some of the cost. It has only been used once.

I also have a pre 64 Mod 70 carbine in 22 Hornet. It went from 1 1/4 inch five shot groups at 100 yds to 1/2 inch averave when I switched to Lil'gun powder using Blitzking and V-Max 40 gr. bullets. I found a difference of 100 fps using small pistol primers vs small rifle primers, 3000 vs 3100.

Alll that being said, the CZ K-Hornet uses less Lil'gun powder because of the tight barrel to achieve the same velocity as the Hornet. I found little difference in accuracy between the .223 bullets and the .224 bullets in the CZ.

I have a friend with a Ruger 77 hornet and it doesn't shoot. We have run out of options without changing parts, ie new trigger, etc.

Lawdog · « **Reply #19 on:** November 21, 2004, 07:38:45 AM »

hedditch,

Quote

I have a friend with a Ruger 77 hornet and it doesn't shoot. We have run out of options without changing parts, ie new trigger, etc.

To anyone that owns or is thinking about buying a new(er) Ruger rifle the best thing you can do is get rid of the stupid "lawyer" trigger that is standard on Ruger rifles. One is hard pressed to get acceptable accuracy out of a rifle when the trigger pull is 5 lbs. or more(most often MORE). Install a good adjustable trigger and then do your accuracy work. Saves a lot of headaches, time and money by doing so. Lawdog

45LC-Man · « **Reply #20 on:** November 21, 2004, 08:38:54 AM »

Hedditch I would like to rent your reamer. How do we do this?

hedditch · « **Reply #21 on:** November 23, 2004, 09:22:24 AM »

45SLC-man. Did you get my off list e-mail to you concerning the 22K-Hornet reamer?

Dave Hedditch

45LC-Man · « **Reply #22 on:** November 23, 2004, 09:33:48 AM »

No I didn't and I just checked my mail.

Thanks,

Edwin

hedditch · « **Reply #23 on:** November 23, 2004, 03:35:36 PM »

Edwin,

Apparently I cannot e-mail you from this forum. I keep getting a system error. E-mail me at drh29@bitterroot.com and I will reply.

Dave

Jim B. · « **Reply #24 on:** December 28, 2004, 04:53:45 PM »

For those interested in having someone else do a rechamber job, CPC (http://www.ct-precision.com/ )is known for their accuracy work with the Ruger 77/22H. I am sending my Ruger out to them next month.

Jim B. in IN

dave375hh · « **Reply #25 on:** December 29, 2004, 04:21:29 AM »

45LC,
The Ruger 77/22's (blue models) all seem to have very long throats as well as rough bores. If your going to rechamber I'd suggest setting the bbl back one thread before recutting the chamber. That will eliminate the STUPID LONG throat. My bbl. was so rough it would rip patches. the muzzle crown was uneven also. The throat would have required a round to be 2.035 long to touch the rifling. SAAMI loa 1.723, or in other words a 40gr Nos BT can't touch the case mouth and the rifling at the same time,...IGNORANT!!! For some reason these problems, other than the trigger, don't seem to affect the stainless models. My Friend has one (SS) that shot .4" right out of the box??? Don't bother calling Ruger either I did and the MORON I spoke to said 3" groups were within to spec's for a Hornet. Graybeard won't let me repete what I told that IDIOT!!!

Lawdog · « **Reply #26 on:** December 29, 2004, 10:55:32 AM »

dave375hh,

Quote

Don't bother calling Ruger either I did and the MORON I spoke to said 3" groups were within to spec's for a Hornet.

Ruger isnt the only firearm company that will tell you that or something similar when you call in and complain. Remington will tell you that a 4 group is well within company standards. Winchester says very near the same thing. The main thing to remember when reloading the .22 Hornet for the 77/22 is to keep the OAL at/under 1.810 or the cartridge wont work in the rotary magazine. From the guys that I have talked to that own CZ and Charles Daly rifles they have to watch the OAL too. That is why I really like the Ruger No.1 as you dont have to worry about a detachable magazine length problems. Lawdog

creekchub · « **Reply #27 on:** February 19, 2005, 01:40:04 PM »

with these problem you are stating i am thinking about steering clear of a hornet and getting a .221 fireball that i can take out into the field. i have a .221 fireball in the rem 700 classic and i hate to take it out in the field hunting but it is a fine bench gun. maybe ill get the cz 527 in .221 fireball insteda of the hornet

earschplitinloudenboomer · « **Reply #28 on:** February 19, 2005, 08:51:20 PM »

creekchub;
...I have loved the Hornet forever, however, I had the back of the barrel on a Mark X Mini Mauser .223 shortened and rechambered for .221. The twist on the .223 barrel makes me use heavier bullets (53's shoot great), but loading is much easier for the Fireball. I guess I'm kind of fumble fingered, the Hornet case is so small that after loading several rounds my hands would develope cramps, I don't have this problem with the slightly larger Fireball brass. You should have a little larger powder selection with the Fireball also. Fireball in a rifle seems to exhibit the "inheirant" accuracy associated with the .222. The Hornet is a great round but if you are going to reload I think your openess toward .221 might prove very pleasing.

creekchub · « **Reply #29 on:** February 20, 2005, 12:55:52 PM »

what grain of bullet and design would you use in the hornet. i was thinking of using a 40 gr. nossler bt. but somebody told me to stick with the hornet style bullets for yote and fox, something about the polymar tiped bullets exiting and the solid points not. i would of thought it was the other way around!