Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 22 Hornet with Lil gun and MP 300

Hey,

I have my brass and dies set-up to load some 40 grain polymer tipped bullets in my 22 Hornet. What charge are you guys using? I loaded up 12.0, 12.5, and 13.0 grains of Lil gun and it looks like 13.0 grains is compressed and 12.5 may be lightly compressed. Is this your experience too? I used a long drop tube to help.

What velocities are you getting with your 22 Hornet and Lil gun and MP 300? If you could list your charge weight too, that would be greatly appreciated.

There is a thread titled K- Hornet with lots of discussion on the Hornet and K version.

Am out of town. When I get back to my computer, will post the link.

Fire Search function may or may not find it. I don’t find it to be the most robust search engine.

DF

What kind of rifle? Those two powders are easy to load for single-shots where OAL doesn't have to be as short as it does for standard Hornet-length magazines. Some bolt-action magazines are also longer than standard; had a Brno K-Hornet for a while with a magazine that easily allowed larger charges.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11390994

Found it using iPhone. First time for everything

DF

Hi Mule Deer,

It's a Cooper 38 and I can seat out to about 1.938" o.a.l. to touch the lands with a 40 grain Nosler ballistic tip. It's a single shot bolt action, so magazine length isn't a problem.

Thank you.

Long time back I had a Ruger #1 .22 Hornet, and Li’l Gun hit the market about the time I had it reamed for the K-Hornet. No data out there so I called Hodgdon. Rep said I could fill the case w/o hazard. Worked up the loads so 40 gr Ballistic Tips as I recall. 12.5 was the schizzle, both for accuracy and velocity. 1/2” groups and around 3,100-3,200 FPS as I recall. 13.0 grains topped 3,400 FPS and expanded the primer pocket. YMMV

Mine’s a K Hornet, I like MP-300 with CCI 450’s.

DF

Thank you, Digital Dan. Did you ever shoot it as a regular hornet first?

Yes, but it shot much better as a K, and I really don't know why.

How did you size the std?

The K does a bit better aligning the neck to bore, even if FL sized.

The std, FL sized, may lie at the chamber bottom a bit, inducing some artificial runout; I partial re-size, leaving a bit of a hump on the shallow shoulder to headspace and align in the chamber.

I use 13 grs. Lil Gun in R-P cases with 40s and 12.5 with WW brass to get similar velocities and not use a drop tube.

Obviously, you got what you got, but Hodgdon data shows much lower pressure with Li'l Gun than with other powders, one of the reasons Mule Deer has cited for using it himself. 3400 is pretty sporty for that charge level as well.

There's a reason for what happened, probably lost in the mists of Time......Not an experiment I'd care to attempt though. 13gr in my plain old Hornet works just fine with Vmaxes, with CCI 450s.

IMO, the K version is just a better round.

DF

That has not been my experience, but then my "standard" Hornets have all been single-shots, with plenty of room to seat bullets out. The latest is an old BSA Martini .22 target rifle converted to Hornet, which shoots the same 40-grain Ballistic Tip/Li'l Gun handloads used in my No. 1B Hornet very similarly for 5-shot groups at 100 yards--around 3/4" and sometimes 1/2". Velocities aren't different enough to make enough difference in the field for me to notice--though the barrels of the Ruger and BSA have been long--29 inches in the BSA. There can also be feeding problems from magazines in K-Hornets, though not usually converted CZ 527s.

As HawkI mentioned, the K-Hornet does full-length size straighter than the standard Hornet, due to the case being close to parallel-sized. But I manage to size standard Hornet cases straight as well, using at couple of techniques.

But have also mentioned here and there that I prefer the .17 Hornady Hornet to either of the .22 Hornets.

Agreed.

I bought a CZ 527 in .22 Hornet about 10 years ago. The first (and only) handload recipe that I tried was a winner - 40 gr. Hornady V-max, 13.0 grs. Li'l Gun and a CCI SRP. Clocks around 3,010 a few feet from the muzzle and makes nice little 3 shot clusters measuring under ½" at 100 yards when I do my part. Easily my most accurate rifle and ammo combination.

Guess I should have stated I like it better.

And, I do. No regrets converting two Hornets to K. Did it myself with a rented reamer. Not that hard.

DF

How much LilGun? Depends on the brass. 13.0 grains of LilGun will not fit in PPU brass but it will fit in Winchester brass. PPU brass is heavier than Remington, Winchester

Check how Gunner500 loads his Hornet cases with Lil gun. He shares his secret on the link I posted above.

That’s another reason why I like the K Hornet better. Just easier to get enough MP-300 or Lilgun in the case.

DF

For what I use mine for I run 11gr lil gun with both 40 and 45gr bullets. Both are accurate. For a while I used 12.5-13gr and was only getting 2-3 reloads before that thin brass split.