Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles T/C Carbine Accuracy

Running a hunting tapered 21” Hornet barrel on my G2 frame. Been tailoring a reload for it last few weeks & my best group so far is a 5 shot into 1.48” @ 100m. I’m shooting off bench rest and have a 6-24x on top, is this the best I can expect?

41

41,

I have a 22 Hornet Contender with a 23” factory that will put 3 into a 3/4” group at 100 yards. From what I’ve heard that is not particularly good for a Hornet. Have you checked if the fore end is binding anywhere on the barrel? Check the action screw and see if that is lose. Another thing to check is the scope, rings and base. Try swapping the scope with one that you trust.

If you are still having troubles after checking the basics, try sending our Bobby Tomek a PM and ask him for some help.

The Hornet is way too much fun to not get the most out of it.

Actually the Hornet though a really nice round will not usually give the accuracy a 221 fireball will but I expect you can get better than an inch out of it. It is one round where a tenth of a grain of powder can make a real difference in accuracy. Measure carefully. I had the best accuracy from my Hornet barrel using the Sierra 45 gr. semi pointed bullet and IMR 4227 popped with CCI BR4 primers.

Best you can get?

Probably not.....

My .30-30 barrel sez you can do better.


So too do my other Contender barrels.

I have a long relationship with the Hornet and will say it is one of the most persnickety cartridges I've loaded in one breath, and also one of the most educational. It is easy to load them with a lot of run out, and due to small case capacity small inconsistencies with the primer/powder charge have a large effect. I've had my best success with Federal primers (srp/srp match) and Li'l Gun.

You don't list your load. First, since it's a single, you can get very close to the lands. My loads run about 1.9" with 40gr VMaxes. My standard load in my Browning is 11.1gr of H110 with either a FGM100M or CCI500 primer. The more or less goto load for others here has been 13.0gr of LilGun with CCI450s. I have yet to do a thorough comparison of the two in my rifle, but the LilGun load is probably faster with much less pressure.

All loads in older Winchester brass. No experience with the new stuff as I stocked up long ago. I use either a Lee collet die set or occasionally, a plain Lee Loader. Don't own a FLS die, yet.

My load is as follows.
Nosler 40 grain Varmageddon Tipped
Lil Gun @ 13.0 grains
WW brass (new)
CCI 41 primers

Chronograph reporting an average of 2796 FPS with an SD of 17 extreme spread was 41

I’m running my OAL at 1.85

Reloaded with an old set of RCBS dies (have been doing the full length resizing with my older brass) this new WW brass was just ran over the expander ball and then trimmed to 1.39”

I have the Lee Collet die for neck sizing but have no experience with one.

41

Probably overcoming the bullet run out will be my biggest hurdle I’d bet that’s why I’m getting flyers. Seating those flat based bullets in an unflaired case neck and getting it all square is tough

I also use Lil’Gun and a 40 gr bullet in my 1885 hornet. One thing that helped the accuracy was a Lee factory crimp die. Made my load much more consistent. Maybe this would help your Contender too.

I'd spring for the Lee seater too. Your dies could be the problem. Learn to use the collet die and use the Lee seater, and you'll get the most your barrel to offer. If you have the equipment, check your runout and neck uniformity of your brass. Have no idea what WW is making now.

Here are mathman's directions, which work very well:

Mathman directions for Lee Collet die


The first thing I recommend is to ignore the instructions supplied with the die.

The second thing I recommend is to ignore whether or not the press you're using cams over at the top of its stroke.

The die squeezes the neck onto a mandrel, so for a given neck thickness there is a finite limit to how much sizing you can achieve. This die will need adjustment to suit different thicknesses of brass.

Raise the press ram to the top of its stroke. Thread the die into the press until the bottom of the sizing collet (not the die body) just touches the shell holder. Measure the neck OD of a piece of brass.

Run the brass through the die using a full press stroke. It should take no effort since if you're set up as described the die has done no sizing. Turn the die into the press about 1/4 turn. Run the brass in again. You probably won't feel much sizing going on, but give the neck a measurement just to see. If it's still nothing, screw the die in another 1/4th and try again. You'll may start feeling a bit going on as you work the press handle, and if so you'll be able to measure a little sizing taking place.

Rinse and repeat using 1/16th turn in increments for the die. You'll feel increases in the force required for the sizing stroke. Since you're measuring the neck after each pass you'll eventually find two increments where the neck didn't get any smaller. NOW STOP TURNING THE DIE INTO THE PRESS. Remember you're squeezing the brass against a solid steel mandrel which isn't going to give, so even if the press stroke didn't feel like it took very much force the neck is as small as it's going to get.

There's a learning curve to the die, but it isn't hard.

I like to run cases through the die twice, spinning the case about 1/3 turn (rather than the 1/2 turn in the instructions) between passes. This means the parts of the neck that were under the splits in the collet fingers on the first pass will get hit on the second.

Used totally without permission, but he posts it from time to time.

Try different primers. you never know.

OK I'll get the Lee neck sizing collet die figured out, what about this seating die?

22 Hornet Matchmaster Competition Seat Die

Very nice, I have a 3-shot group, from a TC 10" back years ago, 2x scope, its ONE hole.....using RP Corelokt of all things, yes factory - at 50 yds.

My 6 TCU carbine - Bullberry shot around 5/8, a 223 factory shot around 1/2" - they are quite capable. Gen 1, great trigger.

Dunno, but I'll bet it costs a LOT more than the perfectly good Lee. Actually, Mule Deer ran a test where he loaded uo a bunch with the Lee Loader (don't recall if he dipped, weighed, or threw the powder) and the results were about as good as with his standard method. IIRC, he only pressed the cases into the die using the bench top, not a hammer.

OK I'll order up a Lee collet die set and give it a go.

Got my existing 22 Hornet Lee collet die working but only on the Winchester brass, for some reason the PPU brass will not go into that die, could it be greater neck wall thickness??

i suspect that you may have compressed the collet while trying to get it set properly. Take the die apart and using a round shanked screwdriver pry the collet slightly open, reassemble the die and try it then.

drover

Thanks drover, I’ll try that I may have done just that

p.s. - put some lube on the inside of the die where the collet slides.

drover

A tapered punch works too.

👍