Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 22hp load

Hey folks: Would someone please recommend a load for the 22 HP.

Thanks.

Elwood

h4895 with 70 grain .227 hornady bullet

24gr. 3031 or 25gr. H4895 + any good 70 grain jacketed bullet (which doesn't necessarily mean Hornady). These loads are a skinch light, but are a good compromise between performance and case life and have proven to be accurate for me.

Thanks. I have those powders so I'm good to go.

bubba, how well does that Hornady work? I've heard John Barsness (Mule Deer) and others (including Hornady) say that the bullet often won't stabilize enough in 22HP's to group well. Apparently designed for the Euro version and is a bit too long for many of the older 22HP's.

Haven't tried it myself, though. Got good groups with H4895 and some .224 Partitions, tho.

I'll be letting you know because those are the pills I'm using. My HP is a pretty old one and I've never shot it before. Not sure how accurate it will be with any bullet. We'll see.

Oh, you're shooting pills. Why didn't you say so? I have had good luck with Aleves and Tylenol. Aspirins tend to disintegrate in the bore. I bought a box of Contacs, but I haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Disintegrate you say. Probably loading them too hot.

I have yet to get the Hornady bullets to shoot very well in a typical .22 HP barrel. After trying a while I found out why: It's designed for European 5.6x52R's, which use the same case as the .22 HP--but the European rifles use a 1-10 twist. It's a little too long for the standard 1-12 twist in 99's, even if you file off the lead tip. (It may stabilize in some 99's since the twist rate wasn't all that constant in them, but you'd be lucky if it does.)

Ken Waters discovered decades ago that standard .224" bullets shoot better than the Hornady 70's in most .22 HP barrels. I've gotten my best accuracy with 50-60 grain .224" bullets, including the 50-grain Barnes TSX.

One of the most consistent is the 60-grain Nosler Partition, probably because the rear core "bumps up" when booted with fairly fast-burning powders. I've had really good luck with IMR3031.

elwood, I have had really good luck with Sierra 63grain semi-pointed with 25 grains of H4895 with Federal 210 primer. When I changed to the Federal primers my groups were under 1" with a speed of 2600 fps. I am also using a 6X weaver scope. Good luck Steve

it works very well with 25 grains of h4895 and the hornady bullet my 99 is factory rebarrel with 24 inch barrel. muzzle velocity is 2850 fps. my rifle also likes speer .224 70 grain semipoint bullets.with the same powder charge. would a factory rebarrel have a different twist than the original barrel?

The only way I get the Hornady 70 gr. .228's to work is by filing .10" off the tips. At that point accuracy is on a par with the old Speer and Sisk 70 grain bullets which I have a stash of. That measly .10" doesn't seem like much, but it makes all the difference in the world in my barrels. 100yd. groups shrink from 2"+ down to embarrassingly close to an inch.

Don't overlook the .228's from Buffalo Arms. Their 60gr. bullet is a real barn burner, but the jacket is a tad thin for deer hunting, I feel.

Although I know some here swear by using .224" bullets, and I applaud their results, I just can't get behind them. Aside from having to switch out the expander button to accommodate them, I feel that a steady diet of undersize bullets can't do the 100 year old irreplaceable steel of my throats any good. Jacket material hardness variations combined with the sedate velocities I fire them at (to stretch case life) equal inconsistent 'bump up', which equates to a bit more gas cutting, which means throat erosion. The small quantities of undersize bullets fired while hunting and casual target shooting probably don't matter much in that regard, but, for a period a couple of years ago I put over a thousand rounds down range, mostly through one tube. That much shooting, if done with .004" undersize bullets, can't help but hasten throat wear. Therein lies the caveat.

With proper .228 bullets being scarce (due to being discontinued), or requiring extra labor to produce (via my file trim die), the real answer for someone who has a crazy desire to shoot a lot of .22 HP lies in cast bullets. After the initial setup costs, quality 60+gr. hard cast bullets can be driven at 2000fps� which is none too shabby (but admittedly too light for deer) at a fraction of the cost of jacketed stuff and with near-equal accuracy. Also, with them, early case failure is a thing of the past due to the mild pressures generated by such loads.

1+ on what Gary says, he has helped me on my reloading for 22hp, the man knows what hes talking about! Thanks again Gary!

Wow. Good info. I guess I'll be trying some different loads and see what the old girl likes....if anything. I'm wanting to take a coyote this fall with this gun if I can get it to put out a reasonable groups. If I can get it to shoot 2" at 100 yards it'll go to the field. Again....good info and thanks.

Elwood

Did someone say coyotes and .22 HP in the same sentence? Be still my heart.



I've taken quite a few coyotes in the last couple of years with 63 grain Sierra .224 semi spitzers and 22 grains of Reloader 7. They work just like old Mr. Waters said they would. The bullet clips along at 2,800 fps and is accurate to boot. That's Mule Deers back yard over my shoulder (east side of the Big ---- Mountains.

I love that white phase on that coyote. Good pic.

I need to start a file of the pics he posts!

I'm impressed with all that.

I've got a 22 HP in a combo gun by valmet/savage and I was wanting some ammo reloaded.A lot of people said you can't use .224 bullets so I ended up getting some 55gr .228 from Buffalo arms and had a local reload it using some 25-35 cases.So,can I use .224 bullets?I look like a new guy because my old user name and password won't work anymore.

21-1/2 grains RL-7. .228 70 grain bullet fron Buffalo Arms. I just don't buy into shooting ANY .224 bullet out of a vintage 22HP barrel. 2600/2700FPS.