.22 hornet

[Daveo26]

Right Iv loaded my first 5 rounds with my lee loader

10.3 grains of lil gun, I know it's a very light load!

40 grain Sierra soft point. .224 marked "Hornet" on the box.

Winchester brass, fired from my gun originally.

CCI 400 primer

Oal 1.725.

How does that sound?

When I shake the rounds I can hear the powder inside!

I measured the brass after neck sizing and they all measured under 1.400"

Any input appreciated.

Cheers Dave

[Craig83]

That's fine, if it's not a compressed load then you will do.

[wymberley]

Having noted your original thread regarding distance, and whereas it's impossible to be certain as the charge is well below the recognised starting level, you might just find that equates to 22WMR performance - or even less. Have you got access to a chrono?

[Daveo26]

Iv loaded at the suggested starting load that came with the reloader.

That is the sensible thing to do in my mind.

Iv loaded 5,

Isnt the method to start low and work up?

[Walker570]

Yes, correct and you might very well find the most accurate not to be the maximum. 10.3 is a very light load and max in my loading tables is 13.7 with a 40gr Vmax.

Try the five and see what grouping you get, then move up to another five at 11gr .... 12gr .... 13grs if you don't have a good grouping by then. 13grs is going to give you around 2600fps and I personally would use this as your max load as a 1/10th gr can start to up pressures quickly from that point on. I believe you will find a very accurate load before reaching that point however and the rabbits will not notice the difference :-)

 

My loading contacts in the States rate the Winchester cases as the strongest/best.

 

(ASIDE ... I have a few 15gr HPs 17 cal, if anyone has a 17 Hornet, they are too light in my 17 Rem and tend to blow up about 5 paces from the muzzle !!

Would suit a 17 Hornet)

Edited August 28, 2016 by Walker570

[Daveo26]

Yes, correct and you might very well find the most accurate not to be the maximum. 10.3 is a very light load and max in my loading tables is 13.7 with a 40gr Vmax.Try the five and see what grouping you get, then move up to another five at 11gr .... 12gr .... 13grs if you don't have a good grouping by then. 13grs is going to give you around 2600fps and I personally would use this as your max load as a 1/10th gr can start to up pressures quickly from that point on. I believe you will find a very accurate load before reaching that point however and the rabbits will not notice the difference :-)

Thank you.

[wymberley]

Iv loaded at the suggested starting load that came with the reloader.

That is the sensible thing to do in my mind.

Iv loaded 5,

Isnt the method to start low and work up?

Yes, absolutely.

 

It's just that the powder manufacturer's suggest a starting load of 12 grains for that particular combination. With the exception of the bullet, I use the same components and have found that they work well with, perhaps, a slightly higher velocity than that predicted. I know that you don't want the most energy possible but with that bullet you should - if you so wished - get some 2900 ft/sec from below the makers specified top end of 13 grains. With an eye on future use perhaps, once you start to go over, say, c12.6 grains dependent upon the bullet, any further charge increase offers very little increase in velocity at the expense of accuracy.

 

I hope that this concurs with the final point of your first Post on this thread.

[TONY R]

sounds like a good load to me, its on the light side imagine it will be accurate the thing with hornets is donnt try to push them hard that load is using not a max load for lil gun and brass life reloading etc should be trouble free, you got sierra bullets the best and proper hornet construction bullet.

the 40 grain bullet although slightly under the 45 typical for hornets will in that light load be im just guessing with lil gun, 2700 fps sort of area so typical hornet speeds with a slightly lighter bullet. IDEAL really i think you chose well, good luck with it.

PS arnt those lee loaders a fantastic bit of kit.? se now why i load all my ammo on wilson dies.

[Daveo26]

Yes, absolutely.

 

It's just that the powder manufacturer's suggest a starting load of 12 grains for that particular combination. With the exception of the bullet, I use the same components and have found that they work well with, perhaps, a slightly higher velocity than that predicted. I know that you don't want the most energy possible but with that bullet you should - if you so wished - get some 2900 ft/sec from below the makers specified top end of 13 grains. With an eye on future use perhaps, once you start to go over, say, c12.6 grains dependent upon the bullet, any further charge increase offers very little increase in velocity at the expense of accuracy.

 

I hope that this concurs with the final point of your first Post on this thread.

Thanks for the input, very useful.

sounds like a good load to me, its on the light side imagine it will be accurate the thing with hornets is donnt try to push them hard that load is using not a max load for lil gun and brass life reloading etc should be trouble free, you got sierra bullets the best and proper hornet construction bullet.

the 40 grain bullet although slightly under the 45 typical for hornets will in that light load be im just guessing with lil gun, 2700 fps sort of area so typical hornet speeds with a slightly lighter bullet. IDEAL really i think you chose well, good luck with it.

PS arnt those lee loaders a fantastic bit of kit.? se now why i load all my ammo on wilson dies.

Well they seem to be if a novice like me can knock a decent looking bullet up.

One issue is the part that sets the seating depth, the opposite end to that keeps unscrewing when I'm neck sizing the cases so Iv added a bit of lock tight to hopefully stop it happening.

Thanks for the info, you are a gent

[Daveo26]

Right Iv loaded up

10.3 grns, 11 grns and 12 grns.

I would not be able to fit 13 grns of lil gun in these Winchester cases.

It fills them to the brim!

Going to try them today.

[wymberley]

Right Iv loaded up

10.3 grns, 11 grns and 12 grns.

I would not be able to fit 13 grns of lil gun in these Winchester cases.

It fills them to the brim!

Going to try them today.

Yep, it obviously depends on your chamber size but I can't use any more than 12.8g which is lucky as that's all I ever need - speaking to the guy that makes the stuff, he said that a gentle squeeze is fine but you really don't want to hear the kernels crushing. That's for a fire formed case. In a full length resize this drops to 12.4.

 

However, my gast is well and truly flabbered - good guess Tony R. Using the Hodgdon figures and the Lee fiddle factored formula (which for 243, 223 and Hornet has always proved reasonable accurate), for 10.3g somewhere down below 2500 ft/sec was predicted. However, as said, the Hodgdon figures are often on the low side.

 

Being undecided and using the same components as yourself - except for the bullets as I now use 50g - I had a look at the odds and **** kicking about and found just 5 of the Sierra 40g Hornet which I loaded up to your spec' with the 10.3g for the want of something better to do. I think you can stop playing about as as Tony R suggested, you're home and dry for your needs. Nipped up to the farm and put them over the chrono and to my surprise got 2631 ft/sec. Converting this on the Sierra Suite from the distance I shot at to the velocity at the muzzle in round figures this gave 2650. Yep, obviously there'll be some discrepancy between my barrel and yours

 

Enjoy.

 

Edit: Addendum: Just had time to check and the Sierra Infinity Suite albeit at 1.720" CoL and a Federal 205M primer gives 2800 ft/sec for 10.6g. Just goes to show, the only way to be sure is with a chrono'.

Edited August 29, 2016 by wymberley

[TONY R]

Watch the cases it all starts to get sour pretty fast with the Hornet if you push it too hard, its not a .222 and my advice is dont try and make it perform like one.

Take your time running the groups get on a stone with sand bags or your eagle claw whatever and put a couple of wind flags in your line of sight if your onb open or high ground etc, it is more for longer ranges but pays off if you want to get your timing right in a shot string, do every shot the same one consistant hold same possition everytime.

Its important to be consistant reliable or your development of the load wont be reliable, Write everything down take pictures on your phone even down to the rock bag ...rest rifle set up, sometimes you can look back and see you were using a bag not the rest or visa versa and corect an otherwise mystery problem down the road.

[wymberley]

Watch the cases it all starts to get sour pretty fast with the Hornet if you push it too hard, its not a .222 and my advice is dont try and make it perform like one.

Take your time running the groups get on a stone with sand bags or your eagle claw whatever and put a couple of wind flags in your line of sight if your onb open or high ground etc, it is more for longer ranges but pays off if you want to get your timing right in a shot string, do every shot the same one consistant hold same possition everytime.

Its important to be consistant reliable or your development of the load wont be reliable, Write everything down take pictures on your phone even down to the rock bag ...rest rifle set up, sometimes you can look back and see you were using a bag not the rest or visa versa and corect an otherwise mystery problem down the road.

+1

This is particularly true if you try to use bullets not designed for the calibre. Loading something like a 40g V Max or Nosler where the bullet/rifling engagement covers a larger area than that for the Hornet types can put the pressure way up before you can blink.

[Daveo26]

11 grains 2.2" group

12 grains 1" group

12.5 grains 0.8"

At 100 yards

One of the 11 grain loads had a flattened primer.

All the 10.3grains I fired showed flattened primers so I didn't bother trying to group them.

Why's that? There was a fair bit of air space in the case.

[TONY R]

Ok that obviously likes close to max loads then, Thats not bad for a hornet, you could try getting a bit more in on the formed cases now, try for 13, or a bit more 13.4 i think some hold, but watch carefully my guess is its not going to do much better, try seating it back a little further, .22s seem to like a bit of a jump at times. keep accurate records of what worked and what didnt. try REM 7.5s too CCI small rifle primers are not the most consistent i find.

But in truth its not at all bad for a hornet and what you have done so far.

[Daveo26]

Thanks Tony,

The cases were all once fired, from my gun I just neck sized.

I could possibly get 13 grains in but it would compressed by the bullet

I'm pleased with that and it felt good shooting clays at 120 yards with rounds I'd made myself.

So reduce the oal?

I measured the ones I'd made up they were pretty consistent,

Then I measured the factory loads......... Wow, I don't think they own any verniers at Winchester !

[TONY R]

Just draw them back in about 2 though each time just do three your wasting ammo doing any more, no more than 6 though but saw a 223 once it liked ten,

[Daveo26]

Quick update........

I bought a lyman no 55 powder measure today for £15 and a case prep kit.

Set it up throwing 12.4grains and its revolutionised the process for me.

No more weighing out each powder charge.

So far I've spent

Lee classic loader £30

Nylon hammer £6.50

Case prep £10.50

Length gauge £4.50

Powder measure £15

Already had a powder scale and verniers.

£66.50 and I'm reloading better than factory.

Thanks everyone who offered advice.

[Salop Matt]

Any photos of your setup ?

 

[Daveo26]

Edited September 6, 2016 by Daveo26

[Daveo26]

Balls forgot to add the ultra sonic cleaner

£30 of the bay