Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles bullet choice for 22 hornet

Hey guys back again.it's been a busy summer,but back with some more silly questions.working with an old savage model 342 hornet and was wondering what you would suggest for bullet choices.right now i'm working with 30 gr. james calhoon double hollow points with 12.2 gr of lil' gun powder,remington brass and winchester small rifle primers.i have quite a few 52 gr speer hollow points as well as 35 and 40 gr v-max bullets i would like to make a load for to get them used up.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'd try the 35 and 40 grain V-Max's you have with somewhere close to 13.0 grains of 'Lil-Gun, using small pistol primers.
With 'Lil-Gun, I don't think you can get too much in the case to have pressure problems.
However, my Hornet shoots H-110 best, better than 'Lil-Gun. But, most guys report 'Lil-Gun as the best powder in their Hornets.

Don

I have a Savage 23D that absolutely loves the 35 grain V-Max, 40 grain V-Max almost as well. 50 grain and above fly all over the place. Haven't completed testing with Lil' Gun but so far it's worked very well at about 13 grains (with 35 gr. V-Max, 13.2 in this particular rifle, right at 3100 fps).

Edit: Small pistol primers, Winchester.

I have a ruger 77/22 hornet that loves the 35 gr. v-max and 13 grains of Lil' Gun. A friend of mine just gave me a couple hundred rounds of loaded ammo (He sold his rifle, which was identical to mine), His loads used the 37 grain calhoun bullet and 13 grains of Lil' Gun. It's hard to tell the two loads apart accuracy wise.

The plain old Win 46gr HP shoots extremely well in my Savage 219 with lil'Gun.

erich

I've always felt that LilGun works best with slightly heavier bullets - at least in my rifle. So I stick to 40s and 45s exclusively. THE recipe in my Browning is WW brass, Rem 6 1/2 primers (NOT 7 1/2!!!), 13.0 LilGun and the 45 Nosler Solid Base crimped lightly with the Lee FCD.

Sadly, the Nosler bullet is discontinued, but I get almost as good results with the Hornady, Speer or Sierra 45, so you should be able to do as well in your Savage.

I have the same feeling but my rifle prefers 35 and 40 grainers with any powder. Interesting that the chronograph shows greater shot-to-shot variation than other powders but the target shows groups as good as or better than other powders. And more velocity of course. More testing needed, hopefully before some hunting season interferes(!).

I agree with most of these guys. Its hard to do wrong with a 35 gr. V-max, 40 V-Max, BT, BK. Sierra's semi-points work well if you want over 50 gr. bullets in that 1 in 16 twist. Li'Gun is my powder as well in two Hornets and one K-Hornet. Under MOA five shots and pressures are not a concern. I have used small pistol and small rifle primers, but both seem to produce similar groups.
Small pistol primers do let you know when the edge is hit with powders like H100/296, which also work well.
Slug your barrel! Brownings use .223 dia. barrels while most modern guns are .224. With a gun of your vintage I would find the diameter, start low and work up, especially if you pick an H110/296 load!
If you want a non blow up bullet or coyote bullet use the 46's available or the solid base Ballistic Tip. Nosler's Solid Base 46 was a great bullet. An outstanding bonded or "plated" bullet is Speer's 33 gr. TNT, and hold together well a Hornet speeds.
Good luck with so many options!

That higher shot-to-shot variation (or extreme spread) is exactly what led me to the conclusion that LilGun prefers a bit more mass ahead of it to burn consistently. My ES and SD dropped into lower numbers with 40s, and very low numbers with 45s. Accuracy got better, too. I get very consistent 0.6" groups (5100) and 2850 fps with 45s.

One happy camper.

Question for Hawk1: what is your source of info that says Browning uses .223" barrels? Not arguing, but Browning tells me otherwise.

30 grain Calhoon HP, 37 grain Calhoon HP, 30 grain Berger HP Varmint and the 35 grain Berger HP varmint...

Seafire, you are clearly a "faster is better" believer, LOL!

I shoot the .22LR, .22WMR, Hornet, a Bee, a Fireball and .223s. No gap in my velocity fence!

Rocky,

I didn't state what velocity I would load them too, just what was a good bullet for that round...

I probably spend more time loading slower than factory velocity, than higher than factory velocity...

Those are just good bullets in the under 40 grains dept...

Another vote for the 35 gr. Vmax. My Ruger #1 in 22 Hornet likes this bullet with W-W 296 powder.
Virgil B.

Rocky,
Would you believe my investigation was wrought by a question on a gun forum?
I read that someone had actually slugged their barrel, and discovered this. Another fellow also called Browning, with a response just like you recieved. But he too slugged his barrel...
Being the naysayer that I am I actually slugged MY barrel. Lo and behold, .2231 at the muzzle, .2234 at the throat!
I shoot cast out of almost everything I load for (the Hornet is a peach at full power as you probably know) and slugging is very important. A pure lead slug is precise, better than Cerro IMHO, and I guess the gun shot so well it never even occured to me! I was however curious as to why some loads, especially those with H110, were always far below manual listings, but produced max velocities. Yes, H110/296 vary a lot and are very subject to temp, but something really did not jive at the time, even changing lots more than once. It was bad enough that I switched to Lil' Gun ( with lower than usual charges, but not like H110!).
FWIW most barrels have generous groove dimensions and many of our jacketed bullets are undersized; jacketed bullets can ride lands, lead cannot! Slug your barrel precisely with a 1 in. micrometer, and measure your bullets.
So there is one man's experience. Please slug your barrel and let me know what you find!
I went back to the post (April 07). Who did you talk to at Browning? One fellow talked to a Linda and another talked to a Denny Wilcox. Those two said .223! They also stated the .223 Rem. was .224, and the Hornet barrels are not the same because of twist. Like I said, slug that puppy Rock!

If you have enough magazine length for 40-grain plastic tips, whether V-Max or Ballistic Tip, they will shoot a lot flatter and drift less in the wind than anything light or hollow-pointed, even at their somewhat lower muzzle velocities. You can get around 3000 fps with them safely with Li'l Gun, which turns the Hornet into a 300-yard prairie dog rifle on reasonably calm days--and 400 is not out of the question.

But if most of your shooting is under 250 yards the lighter bullets work fine.

JB

Seafire,
I have never tried the others you have listed, but the 30 gr. Bergers will not stabilize in two Hornets I have tried them in. Both are 1-16 in twist. Any ideas, or have your guns been built with a 1-14?
Rocky, no 222?

actually, I was shooting them out of a 223, with a one in 12 twist, loaded down to hornet velocities...

they are a long bullet for their weight, so that might explain why the 30 and 35 grain Bergers won't stabilize in a 1 in 16 twist...

however, I do have an acquaintence whom has a Mauser, that he modified the bolt to chamber 223s in, and it has a one in 16 twist as it was originally chambered for a Hornet ( it being a take off from a Euro hornet Mauser.... he reports that those and bullets up to 50 grains stabilize just fine...

Seafire, I see. USUALLY, the guys loading those ultralights are also pushing them to Warp Six. Unnecessarily, as you and I seem to know.

HawkI, I just may do a slug, now that you have raised my eyebrows. I can't recall who I talked to, it was while I was writing my review of the rifle for GUNS magazine, years ago. But I never bothered to verify it with a slug. On the other hand, I have my pet loads for it, so why dink with a sure thing, huh?

Also, nope, no deuce. I do have a rare .219 Zipper barrel for my Contender, though. (Which I am strongly considering selling - it burns double the powder for the same results as the Fireball). No .22-250, either. I'm actively pursuing the admittedly odd goal of being the only gun writer in history who has never owned a .222, a .22-250, a .30-06, .270, any magnum rifle, a .45 ACP or .44 Mag!

My anchultz likes 40grn v-max's with lil-gun, and it not bad with the ol 46grn and H-110 either.

I dont like super-light bullets in the hornet. If you need more speed go to a 222 or 223.

Seafire,
That makes sense. I have fired these bullets out of 222's and 222 Mags with 1-14 twists obviously with ease and great accuracy. The Hornets hated them.
Rocky, if your gun is a HighWall than yes, it is .223. This Mr. Wilcox was the engineer on the project, according to the post, which was done by the moderator of the particular forum. I have an A-Bolt, but its specs were .223 as well. Like you it really does not matter, as my rifle SHOOTS as well. I only brought it up for safety reasons, for those who just pour in powder.
Oddly enough it shoots 50gr. V-Maxes good at 100 yds. The A-Bolt is one of the few magazine guns that allows far out seating to the lands and long pointy bullets. I am surprised they are not more popular in this cartridge.
I sympathize with you Rocky. I have no .223, 22-250, 30/06, or .270 I do store a buddy's 270.I never really want any of them either!