Hello all,
I have my first 22 Hornet on the way. A CZ 527 "Luxe". I have the same style in a rimfire and really enjoy it. I have done a little snooping around in the load manual sources I have and I seem to have most of the powders mentioned. I have some 40 and 45 grain bullets somewhere. Sierra if my memory serves. I have a rule of sorts but I've broken it a few times lately and it is when I'm looking for accuracy I usually start with Sierra. I also have several bags of Winchester 46 grain hollow points, which I have high hopes for. I think I have a small sampling of Hornady 45 grainers. What are your favorite powders with mid-40's weight bullets. I'm leaning toward IMR4227 and H110. Please let me know what has worked for you.
Thanks,
Rick

Skip all the load development and go straight for the Holy Grail of Hornet loads. Case full of Lil Gun, 40 grain ballistic tips of your choice, and CCI small rifle mag primers. 3000 fps + and plenty accurate.

You can thank Mule Deer later.

That's pretty much the bottom line.

Here's a rather long thread on the .22 K-Hornet. Lots of stuff about the K and std Hornets. More details.

You'll have to wade thru a good bit of B.S., but this IS the Fire, don't ya know.....

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

DF

you will enjoy shooting your Hornet , i use H110 but there are plenty other powders to choice too .Good luck,Pete53

Thanks everyone!
I'll read and study that thread when I have a little more relax time.
Take care!
Rick

A fairly recent development for me is a mid-range load using 9gr of H110, Speer 46gr FPs, and SP primers. LG likes the CCI 450s, but H110 seems to dote on the SPs. Those Speers can be had very cheaply, about half the price of the Hornadys. They are not however, a bullet for long range; 40gr VMaxes do that. Also, I’ve gotten good accuracy with the 30gr Varmint Grenades and H110.

My rifle is a falling block and takes loads that are too long for most magazine-fed rifles. I use a Lee Collet die set and sometimes a Lee Loader; don’t even own a FL die (yet).

My Browning is my all-time pet of pets. If forced to keep only one, it would be that one, and I’d make it work for everything from squirrels to deer (legal here); turkeys too.

I do this exactly, except I use pistol primers. Have loaded and fired 1000s with that load.

I found that as the Hornet has a listed effective range of 200 and the little 35 grain FB Ballistic Tip or Berger has the same, you can get a ragged hole at 100 with H-110 at near 3,200 and it detonates on the skin of an aluminum soda can full of water. Handy for thin skinned critters or soft backstop location where you do not want a bullet to go skipping off into the next county.
Best of luck with the Hornet, they are fun to shoot and load for.

I bought a CZ527 in 2012 and have killed many a critter with the Sierra 40 gr, a case full of Lil Gun, small pistol primers, over 3000 fps. Drops about 2" at 200 yards and bullet will go thru green 2 x 6" boards at that range, Will ruin a coyotes day at that also. Shot one few years ago at 80 yards facing me, hit him under the chin and when I picked him up he sounded like a bowl of jelly.

12.5 g W680 , Lil Gun
35 g Vmax
SPP - Really prefer CCI

Another LilGun fan.

I've been using Lilgun in my RugerM77 since around 1992-95, or so. When I read Lilgun could produce 200fps more than other powders, and greatly reduced pressures, 42k psi vs 32k psi, I tried some.

My standard Hornet load is 13.0grs lilgun, Winchester small pistol primer, and a 45gr Barnes XLC. That's the coyote load for it.

I use a Lee Collet Die and this load shoots MOA.

Alliant 300-MP.

I’ve got an Anny bolt action 22 hornet and a 527 in 17HH. Both shoot amazingly well. Most of my 22 hornet bolt action loads have used 40/45 gr sierras and H110 but lately have switched over to lil’gun. To me the sierras act a little “hard” at hornet velocities. Most of the unlucky vermin I’ve shot with those bullets did a little dance before they succumbed to the inevitable. I’ve shot many hundreds of small game with 40BT/vmax out of my #1 Hornet and they are far more effective in my experience than the lead tip sierras. I bought a few hundred of the 35vmax to try in the Anny. BC sucks but due to mag length restrictions my Anny won’t shoot the pointy bullets. You might give the 35vmax a try. But with that said, I think I’d rather have the sierras if coyotes were in the mix. Hope you enjoy your new rifle.

I own four .22 Hornets (well, three, I'm still building the fourth) and am prepared to sing the praises of Lil Gun. I'm more interested in maximum accuracy versus maximum velocity and Lil Gun provides both in two of them. The third one obstinately prefers 2400 for accuracy. I have so many "old fashioned" 40-45 grain Sierras and Speers that I doubt I'll be able to shoot them up before I hang up my shooting hat, so I haven't stepped into the world of V-Max's yet.

Don't ignore reduced loads in your Hornet either. They really expand the versatility of the gun, and there's nothing saying that every shot you fire has to be a screamer. One of mine actually shoots a charge of 6 grains 2400 + 50 grain cast bullet as accurately as its best HV jacketed load. (Bless its European heart, it has a 9" twist barrel.)

The cz527 22 Hornet I had, would not stabilize anything it the little short stubby original style Hornet bullet.

Watching

I had a H&R .22 Hornet for a while. One day I had to dispatch a large shaggy chow and the 35gr V-Max factory load I was using failed miserably. He just kept soaking them up. Probably took a half dozen shots to finally put him down for good.

ww 296 cci bench rest primer nosler 45 hornet bl. ww 296 and h110 are the same . p-dogs hate them!!
mod 70 pre war by the way.

It’s no longer available but when the Hornet and Bee were woodchuck kings the best of all powders was Win 680. I’m pretty sure Lil Gun is the right substitute these days. Warren Center of Thompson Center was well known for very accurate Hornet barrels and chambers. For a long time it was one of their top five chamberings. But he told me that Olin/Winchester developed this ball powder just for cartridges like the Hornet, Bee and all of those early 22 cal wildcats. As I recall there wasn’t much powder out in the early to late 50’s that was tailored to these cases. I used 4227 for a while but never got the accuracy like 680 or would it meter out as easily as those small balls. I still have three metal cans of 680 so won’t ever need to move on to Lil Gun before I go to the marble farm. I think AA has a powder that some say is similar I believe it’s 1160 (?) . But Lil Gun apparently is the right medicine.

Rick

I use Lil Gun in both a stock Hornet and a K Hornet and like it a lot. One thing I found when sighting in years ago, shooting a 30-06 w/ 180gr spitzers and a factory hornet load (WW 46gr HP) in a 10-15 kt crosswind is that the30-06 gave me tight groups about 3 inches to one side at 100 yards, while the little Hornet was barely on the paper--10 to 12 inches to one side. Those short little 46 gr bullets just dont buck the wind very well.

1680

I bought a Ruger M77 Hornet a couple of years after they came out and stumbled across a few pounds of AA-1680 and several bags of Winchester 46gr HPs. I wreaked havoc on the local varmints (mostly groundhogs, coyotes, a few crows, and a few badgers). My loads weren't all that hot, but they were accurate. In 2003, I was renting a house right in the middle of a one square mile section (640 acres) of land in northern Missouri. The land-owner had cleaned out several old fence lines and there were a number of brush and stump piles on the property, making it a varmint paradise, so I kept the Ruger loaded and standing in the corner of the kitchen, and it stayed busy almost daily, sometimes morning, before work, and evening after work.

One evening, I had just started fixing dinner and happened to look out one of the kitchen windows, to the north, and noticed something out in the soybeans. I picked up a pair of binoculars that I kept handy there in the kitchen and looked. A little over 200 yds straight north, there was a coyote standing in the beans looking at the house, but only its head was visible above the beans. I grabbed the Hornet, eased the window open, laid a folded dishtowel on the windowsill, leaned over the edge of the counter, and rested the rifle on that dish towel on the windowsill. I lined up the crosshair to put the bullet right between his eyes and squeezed. The coyote disappeared. I half expected to see it pop up somewhere out there, running. After waiting a bit, the dogs and I went out and found him, DRT. I had literally made a canoe out of its cranial cavity. Its skull cap was gone and all of its brains were splattered on the beans for several feet behind where it had been standing. Its face looked like a cartoon with its ears at weird angles and its eyes literally bulging out of its head. Not a difficult shot, but a very memorable one.

A buddy at work also had a M77 Hornet and he got turned on to the Lil' Gun medicine and shared it with me. That lifted our rifles' performance to a whole new plane. I finally shot up all of the Win 46gr HPs and started using several different bullets, but they all benefitted from the better performance of Lil' Gun powder.







.

My Hornet shoots very well with Lil’ Gun. It would be where I would start. Once you find your load that will be all you need. Great little cartridge.

My current fav .22 K-Hornet load is the 33 Shock Hammer over 14 gr. 300MP with CCI 450 primers.

Shoots one hole at 50 yds. and is reportedly a good bullet for varmint sized critters. I’ve not drawn blood with it, yet.

Have not clocked it. Supposedly running a bit over 3K fps.

DF

Those CZ’s are 16 twist. Wish they were 12 twist.

I like 300 MP slightly more than Lil gun. 300 MP won’t stick to the powder measure like Lil gun sometimes does. YMMV. I have used both and if I ran out of 300 MP would not hesitate to use Lil gun.

CCI 450’s are JB’s fav primer in the Hornet. They do work.

With 16 twist, the 33 gr. Shock Hammer is short enough to work well. And as a mono, it won’t blow up on ‘Yotes sized critters.

Agree with Limapapa, those stubby little bullets aren’t the best long range choices. But they do well what they’re designed to do.

DF

my CZ will shoot the 40gr plastic tips good , dont know what the twist might be

My Browning has a slight preference for H110 over LilGun, but not enough to really matter. These days, it might come down to what primers you have or can get, SP or CCI 450. LilGun does run at a lot less pressure, so case life might be a factor if your supply is limited. I have a lot of WW brass and have never had a split neck or other issue with my collet-sized brass.

Another good bullet is the 30gr Varmint Grenade. It can go pretty fast and is accurate in my rifle. I also want to try the 45gr TSX which might come in handy for popping a doe if the opportunity arises.

I use the 46 grain Winchester bullet over 4227, H110, or Lil Gun.

It’s put a lot of deer and hogs in the freezer in the last 20 years.

Any 40-45 grain bullet over about 13 grains of lil gun. My contender barrel had a decided preference for Winchester small pistol primers.

I had the opportunity on Friday to shoot my Hornet for the first time scoped. With a Leupold 2x7 gloss compact I had lying around the first three shot group at 100 yards was just under 1/2". Can't argue with that. The load was 11.8 grains of Lil'Gun with a 45 grain Sierra Hornet bullet. I think I need to use a drop tube to get more powder in the case. I think I'm gonna like this. Now to get a coyote to volunteer for testing purposes.
Thanks, and take care!
Rick

For me I find in all my hornets the seem to like the short lighter bullets best like the 33 gr tnt and 35 gr v max
It’s my thought the Sami twist is too slow for anything much heavier than 45
I have been tempted over the years to build a faster twist hornet
33 and 35 s work just fine to 150 yds
Any ferthwr and I have bigger rifles for

Just got a used #1B redone to K Hornet.
Gonna try some Hornady factory ammo in it this week (zero).
Try it out on chucks in a couple months.

AA1680 and a small pistol primer .

I've had a number of Hornets and K-Hornets and they all liked Li'l Gun a lot. Biggest load I ever tried was 13 grains and the little 40 grain bullet topped 3,200 fps from a Ruger #1. 1/2" groups of 3 were easy.

I've had several K-Hornets, and have had the best luck with hotter small-rifle primers, including the CCI 450, and the Winchester SR. (Winchester only makes one SR primer, which is hotter than other "standard" SR primers, sort of a compromise between "standard" and "magnum.)

Along with Li'l Gun, A1680 and Alliant 300-MP are well worth a try.

I've read where the remington 6.5 primer is really good in the hornet? Any experience?