Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Ruger 77/22 K hornet

Picking up a new to me Ruger 77/22 Hornet that was rechambered to K Hornet. Having never worked with the hornet family. Anyone have any big suggestions for squeezing the max accuracy from this rifle including mods to the rifle itself?

Both my 77/22’s, on 22 lr and one in the standard hornet, benefitted from shimming the bolt. The difference was enough that shimming the bolt will be the first step if I get another one.

Other than that, any 35 gr bullet and Lil Gun powder would be where I’d start.


https://www.triggershims.com/ruger_m77.php#7722_bolt_shim

i have a newer Ruger 77, this 22 Hornet came with a 18 inch barrel i made into 22 K-Hornet shots good , i was able to find another Ruger 77 , 22 Hornet but this 77 had a 24 inch barrel ,i cut the barrel to 18 inches and made another K-Hornet out of it . i see know reason why anyone needs a 24 inch barrel with around 12 grains of powder in a any 22 Hornet or K-Hornet . i still prefer Hammer 33 gr. shockwave bullets to kill critters with. good luck,Pete53

Pete did you happen to have any issues with feeding the khornet from the standard hornet magazine?

Pards and I are good for over a dozen KHorn's. Hint.

Ruger mags are flawless,though trite. Shims are a Goat Fhuqk,but minimum positive headspace is not. Nobody had any luck with Lil'Gun,but '296/'110 is amazing. Chop to 20" and rejoice. Hint.







There's been alotta Bucks & Bears killed with same. Hint...............

I would love to find a Ruger 77/22 and punch it KHornet. I think that's the ticket for short range vermin work. And a far better choice than a 17 Hornet.

I've had the 77/Hornet since about 1990, or so, and a buddy bought a copy of it 2-3 years later. Ours are the Sporter, with the 20" barrel.

Ours are both standard Hornets. I thought of doing the 'K' treatment to it, but, with Lilgun, I get enough velocity to make me happy with it. When I need more power, I'll grab the 222RemMag.

Both rifles are MOA, usually a bit better.

We changed the trigger spring and sear with a kit from Timney. It took the trigger pull from maybe 4-6lbs, down to about 2lbs. That helped the accuracy.

I only use a Lee Collet Die to resize the necks, That also helped the accuracy a bit.

Another piece of the accuracy puzzle for our rifles was LilGun powder. Gave us quite a bit more velocity and the accuracy improved, especially when we got to 12.8-13.0grs of powder.

Most of my loads are more accurate using small pistol primers, though I have a couple that really like a Remington 7 1/2 primer.

Neither rifle has had the bolt shim done.

Remington brass holds slightly more powder than Winchester, at least with the cases I have. The Remington brass I use dates back to when I bought the rifle.

Something to the effect of “take notes, apply same” is often said by a member here.
Hint……chop at 20”, H110/296, 35 V-max.

Cool picture.

Found this on another forum.

Performed the steps on Bridgeport mill on my Ruger Model 77 Hornet.

OEM Trigger before 5lb 7oz
OEM Trigger after 2lb 5oz
OEM Trigger after with hardware store .029 spring replacement 1lb 10 oz

Trigger passes all safety/bump tests with no discernable creep and zero slam fires when aggressively cycling action.
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I'm picking up my new 77 that's punched out to the k hornet and can't wait. It's going to be on my shoulder all year on the property. Hoping to plug a bobcat with it yet this month.

Also thinking of setting it up with a thermal to do a walk about varmint gun

Look forward to your report on that K-Hornet. And, what you end up with for your thermal.

When K-Hornet is mentioned, I like to post this piece. Lots of B.S., maybe too much, but this IS the Fire don't ya know.

But some good info, load data from JB, etc.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11390994/1

I really like my K-Hornet, even though it is a 16 twist. Wish it was a bit faster, but I've made the most of it.

DF

those Ruger magazines work super even with K-Hornet ammo for me, i really like how they fit so even with the bottom of the stock too.

Agree, much better than CZ.

dF

My K hornet is a custom classic Kimber 82. It’s quite attractive and shoots about 3/4” groups at 100 yards, five shots of course.

over the last 5 -6 years i bet i have killed over 200 kritters with my K-Hornet Ruger s.s.77/22 , i done very little maintenance on this garage rifle or the clip / magazine . this rifle hangs in the garage all year long from 90 degrees to 20 something below using my unloads of Hammer bullets and still shoots good and never has failed . that`s why i purchased a 2nd for a spare 77/22 s.s. rechambered it too a 22 K-Hornet also had to cut barrel off to 18 inches like the older 77/22 came from the factory this newer one always goes to deer camp with me. i put Burris 1-6 x24 - 30 tube illuminate scopes on both of these rifles. i did purchase a another 77/17 s.s this summer in a 17 Hornet and this rifle will be my new to me prairie dog rifle when and if i go this summer.

glass bed and float the barrel , have a gunsmith work on trigger put a decent brand scope on your rifle , use Hammer bullets when you reload.

Thanks for that link DF! Much appreciated!

Dale, is yours a factory chambering or did you have it punched out? I have a LH 82 that I'm considering making a K hornet.

Mine has K chamber. Load Calhoon bullets. They work good.