22 hornet accuracy question

[BULLET 05]

Savage model 25T in 22 hornet. 35 grain v-max. Shooting my 22 hornet at 100 yards my gun shoots good groups. 1/2" groups fairly common. When I take it to 200yds I am lucky to get 3" groups. Any ideas? One shot will be high right the other low left. Is it the light stubby 35 grain v-max? Any ideas

 

[JASmith]

What are the wind conditions? Speed? Direction? Gusts?

 

[Bangs OH]

I’ve owned two of those Savage 25s (.17 and .22H); neither shot as well as the Model 40 I regret selling to buy the first one. Have a CZ .22H now — much better, but still not a rifle I would depend on for accurately hitting any varmint past 175 yards (I have .221 Fireballs for that). For what it’s worth: both my M25 Savages had burrs on the inside of the barrel crown that affected accuracy, one bad enough that it had to be sent back to the factory to fix, but neither one was ever close to being a tack driver.
Could be that the stubby Hornet V-Max isn’t helping things. I prefer the Speer 45 gr. PSP as a good groundhog killer with a better BC.

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

I have owned four, a very old pre-64 Model 70, a Ruger #1, and two of the Ruger heavy barrel laminated stock 77H versions. The Winchester liked the 40gr SP from every company, an occasional group under an inch. The Rugers were a bit fussy, but shot about an inch. The #1 (1:14 twist) shot the 52gr Speer HP's under half inch on a regular basis. All of them favored AA1680. a case full.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

My Hornet is a Ruger. It was horrible until I sent it to Randy at CPA. Now it's good to 200. I use 40 Hornadays. Wouldn't say it' a tack driver but there are a ton of Pdawgs That beg to differ.

 

[BULLET 05]

What are the wind conditions? Speed? Direction? Gusts?

Almost zero wind. This wasn't the first time I have checked this. 100 yds the gun does great. 1/2" very regularly and a few here and there smaller. Then jump to 200 it doesn't go to 1" to 1 1/4" it goes to 2 1/2" -3".

 

[Bill K]

It just could be showing that this load, in this rifle is not a good one at 200. You probably will have to work that load over for a 200 yrd group.

 

[Tim s]

Yeah, it’s very straight forward, that slug, like most hornet pills, has a mediocre BC and it’s running out of gas pretty fast past 150yds.
That’s why you’re looking at a 125-150 yard range more or less.

 

[MrMajestic]

35 gr. V-Max, 2500 fps, 1 mph 90 degree wind, 1.8 inches@200 yds...try JBM ballistics. Is 1 mph almost zero wind?

 

[snert]

If the gun shoots at 100 and not at 200 then most of these posts are meaningless. It is a function of the bullet/speed/BC and or scope/shooter.

I bet it is bullet. what say you JDSholer?

 

[mike4aera]

I trust my Model 40 out to 230 yards. It is a tack driver with 40 gr. vmax or Nosler 40 gr ballistic tips. We use Lil Gun. It is our favorite caliber for ground squirrels.

 

[stacy]

I trust my Model 40 out to 230 yards. It is a tack driver with 40 gr. vmax or Nosler 40 gr ballistic tips. We use Lil Gun. It is our favorite caliber for ground squirrels.

MIKE IS SPOT ON MY MODEL 40 HORNET SHOOTS WELL ALSO WITH 35GR BERGER HP WITH LIL-GUN

 

[SmokinJoe]

The 35 V-Max is not generally considered accurate past about 150 yds. Try the 40's as mentioned above. I am using the 40 Nos Varmageddons with really good results.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

My Hornet rat rifle has been tweaked to 22 K-Hornet, and loves the old Nosler 45gr Solid Base bullet, but lately I've been feeding her the Barnes 30gr Varmint Grenade for spectacular rat-o-batics in the field.

Either way, the rifle loves a full load of A1680 with both bullets.



I sold my nice Kimber M82 Hornet, so my little Low Wall gets the rat chores now.....



A great shooting little Hornet in the rat patch sure brings a smile!

 

[Clavius-Walker]

My Hornet rat rifle has been tweaked to 22 K-Hornet, and loves the old Nosler 45gr Solid Base bullet, but lately I've been feeding her the Barnes 30gr Varmint Grenade for spectacular rat-o-batics in the field.

Either way, the rifle loves a full load of A1680 with both bullets.



I sold my nice Kimber M82 Hornet, so my little Low Wall gets the rat chores now.....



A great shooting little Hornet in the rat patch sure brings a smile!

Rick, are you finding the K version of the brass easier to deal with and reload?

My first reloaded round was the 22 Hornet for an old Anschutz, seemed trying to mess with twice fired brass was pointless and almost that with once fired cases, I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was an issue with the thin cases and very low angle shoulder. Supposedly the K shoulder really helped out with that, just wondering what your real world experience has been with both chamberings.

 

[mike4aera]

Since I live in California I have been working on the lead free bullets, I found a load with 35grain tipped Noslers that is likes with W296 powder, but it does not like the 40 grain pills. The 1/14 twist may be part of the problem. I have had two instances where the case separated in the chamber. I backed off my powder charge of Lil Gun from 12.8 grains to 12.0 grains and no more separations. Will be interesting to see how the 35 grain bullets do this coming squirrel season.

 

[Conaso]

mike4aera - I'm surprised you had a case separation with that Lil-Gun load. I use Remington cases, CCI #400 primers, Hornady 40gr V-max, and 13.0 Lil-Gun - pushing it to 3021fps. I go through three reloads, trim, three more reloads than toss the brass. My rifle is a Win High-Wall with a 26" octagon barrel.