Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 22 Hornet Dies

Hoping to get some input on 22 Hornet dies. Just read John’s article on die design in Aug/Sep 19 Handloader. The trouble with the hornet tipping in the die while sizing due to the case taper makes a lot of sense, even if I would have never thought of it....!

I just picked up a Ruger #3 and getting set up to load for it.
What dies work best with the Hornet to produce concentric ammo? Are Lee collet neck sizer dies good? This is the first Hornet I’ve loaded for.

Just let a reformed old gunwriter load for it

Well if you load them as good as those 30-40 loads that will work!

I use RCBS dies for my Hornet and haven't experienced any problems.

you will enjoy the 22 Hornet loading and shooting , one of my 22 Hornets " 22 Hornet Ruger s.s,bolt with a clip, 4x Leupold" is always loaded and ready in and at my home to shoot critters i want gone for good ,great little cartridge ,cheap to shoot if your a hand loader,accurate and handy little rifle. enjoy,Pete53

I reamed mine to K Hornet, did it myself with rented reamer. I like that round better. Lee neck sizer works for Hornet and K Hornet.

DF

Dirtfarmer do you get that much increase in performance with the K hornet? I have often thought of one for shooting prairie dogs and general plinking. Maybe find a Browning Low Wall. My Hornet is a P64 M70 so no reaming there.

Some increase. Just easier to get a full charge of the slower powders in the case without drop tubes, etc.

DF

And case stretch is virtually eliminated.

The Lee Collet dies are an excellent choice. They are what I use for the Hornet and for others.

Normal FL dies adjusted to resize only 1/2 of the neck will work surprisingly well. Try it.

I have gotten excellent results with this technique, as well as Lee collet dies.

But the most accurate handloads I've assembled for the Hornet were made with the original Lee Loader.

There’s a certain, hard-to-descibe satisfaction I get from using the Lee Loader too. At times I’ve used a nearby drill press as a makeshift arbor press for some operations that require too much hammering for my old, tired hands. IIRC, you have simply pressed the Hornet cases into the die against the benchtop.

I have not tried them all by any means, but have used both Hornady (just after they came out with the sliding sleeve bullet seater, New Dimention? Bought in the mid to late eighty's?), and Redding. The Redding dies definitely seat the bullets much more concentrically. They have given better accuracy out of my Hornets, though they cost more.

Have heard and read of others with Hornady dies however that get great results. Maybe they have tightened up tolerances of late? Maybe mine were made on a Friday?

Not sure, but I'll take the Redding dies. I also partially size the cases.

Great tip, I will try it. Thanks for all the ideas I’ll play around with what I’ve got for now and see how it shoots.

I thought it was dead a long time ago...

I forgot to mention above that when I partial size the cases, I remove the expander, then re-install the expander in the die at its lowest possible position, and expand the cases on the up stroke. I carefully run the cases into the die only far enough to expand the neck, without letting them go far enough to be sized again. I do this with the expander plug left un-tightened by the little nut/collar so that it is free to wobble a bit and center in the case rather than force the neck off center.

This method has been written about both here on the fire, and in articles written by Mule Deer (12th post above).

The method works and helps keep the cases concentric.

I used my 218 Bee die to neck size the Hornet brass that is from the same gun I'm loading for and a Lee FL die to size unknown brass. I use the Hornady seater with the sliding sleeve great way to keep the stubby bullets from tipping like they do half way up a regular seating die.

The 22 Hornet is one of those cartridges that doesn't see 100s fired in one sitting, although I am sure someone will say they do. The Lee Loader is perfect for this cartridge. It connects you to the zen of reloading and shooting. It's also nostalgic. Turning the clock back occasionally is good for your mental health.

I use Redding dies, three piece with neck and full length sizers. But don’t recall ever using the neck sizer. They’ve loaded many rounds for a variety of 22 hornet rifles. I shoot a couple of Anschutz rifles with Lil gun powder, pistol primers, and various 40 grain bullets. This set up works great for me.