Is there a reason these are loaded only to 2460 FPS? I load 45 grain hollow points to 2820 in my Bee which shoots really well. Nice rifle. I bought mine when they first came out.
An exerpt from an article that addresses your question!
"On the negative side, the Bee also arrived with a handicap that may have prevented it from shining more brightly. Whereas the Hornet was designed for use in bolt-action rifles, the Bee was designed for a rear-locking lever action rifle, and for this reason it was loaded to lower chamber pressure. Had both cartridges been loaded to the same pressure, the Bee would have been at least another 100 fps faster than the Hornet."......Layne Simpson, Rifle Shooter Magazine
I bought the loaded rounds as I had sold my dies and brass when I sold my 17 HeBee and two other rifles chambered for 218 Bee. I've found 200 of the Speer Flat Point Bullets and 200 of the Hornady Bee bullets. It was a quick way to get fodder.
Simpson is a little off base here as yes the Hornet was used in bolt action rifles to start with but the first commercial Hornet was the Savage 23D which had a 2 piece bolt with 2 rear locking lugs one of which was the bolt handle. Around 1964 I bought a very nice 23D hornet which was the first rifle I hand loaded for. It was not a particular strong action and current Hornet SAAMI specs call for around 40000 CUP of pressure or a little more, which is about the same as the BEE. Winchester model 65’s could easily handle that pressure level and the Browning’s as we have which use the same action as the Browning 92 which were commercially made in both 44 and 357 Mag. which are loaded to about the same pressure. I had a Browning 92 in 44 mag. which I foolishly traded off. Neat little carbine. I don’t know why CCC would load down their Bee loads but if I had just bought a Bee and considering the component shortage we are facing, I would have also bought a box just for the brass. If you do reload for your Bee take a look at Hodgeon’s data. With their CFE-BLK powder they list a load for 46 gr. Bullets at over 2900 FPS and less than 40000 CUP’s. Looking at Simpsons load data for the Bee I found his Reloader #7 load is the same as mine except for I use Remington 45 gr. Hollow points. That load gives me 2820 fps.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson, 1776
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