Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Privi 22 hornet brass experience in a 22 Hornet rifle?

Considering the purchase of a 22hornet rifle. Though my searches for 22 hornet brass and or ammo has not been successful. Hornady and Privi have been the only 22 H brass sources I have seen available lately.

Now I have used the Prii brass to fire-form to17 Hornet with very satisfying results thus far. 4 x fired with no lost brass to failure and very good accuracy.

With Hornady brass now available is there any reason I may like this better than the Privi option. Suppose I might also hope for a seasonal run of Winchester or Remington 22 Hornet brass.

The rifle I am considering is a CZ 527 22 hornet. Am I likely to notice difference or preference in one of these brass options in this rifle?

The biggest difference in .22 Hornet brass, in my experience, is how heavy it is. I've seen Hornet brass vary almost 10 grains in weight, which is a considerable difference in case weighing around 50 grains.

One of the reason Hornet brass has a reputation for short life is many handloaders use older, faster-burning powders that require loading right up to max pressure for decent velocities--or even modest velocities. Some handloaders aren't satisified with these velocities and even push loads further. This is much harder on thinner brass than thicker brass.

However, if you use some of the newer powders that operate at lower pressures to achieve higher velocities, then even thin brass lasts considerably longer. These powders include Hodgdon Li'l Gun, Accurate 1680 and (lately) Alliant Power Pro 300 Magnum Pistol. Winchester brass is perhaps the thinnest Hornet brass, but I've gotten excellent case life with Li'l Gun, simply because pressures are much lower than with faster-burning powders such as H110.

Li'l Gun is apparently unobtainable right now, but 1680 has been showing up now and then. Unfortunately 1680 (or at least some lots) is so much slower than Li'l Gun that the same sorts of velocities can't be obtained before the case is brimful. But right now 300 MP is starting to appear, and I've actually gotten better accuracy using it rather than with Li'l Gun with some bullets, and the same sort of velocity, around 2900-3000 fps with 40-grain bullets, depending on the rifle.

Privi brass (and Sellier & Bellot) is heavier than most American brass, but no Hornet brass can be considered really stout. They all last longer with slower-burning powders.

Mule Deer

How dense is the 300 MP compared Lil gun, or 1680? Where are you finding data for 300 MP in the hornet?

Thanks for the input!

It's a small-grained spherical powder similar in density to LG or 1680.

Alliant's site lists 11.7 grains as max for a 40-grain bullet, with 2944 fps from a 24" barrel. I worked up to 13.0 grains in my Ruger 1B, which has a longer throat than most Hornets, which averaged just about 3000 fps, what we'd expect with 2" more barrel length. I double-checked pressure by measuring case-head expansion of new Winchester brass, comparing it to case expansion with 13.0 grains of Li'l Gun, a widely published load. Case expansion was less with 300 MP.

Wow, glad I have the LG. Sheeesh.

I just weighed 10 new privi cases (lighty chamfered only) and all weighed between 50 and 50.3 grains. I just got back from gopher hunting and loaded them w/13 gr LG, CCI 450's and 40 gr V-max. The cases were full but not overflowing with that load and did indeed shot very well in my Low wall-Muddy