22 hornet way over pressure

[brokeasajoke]

On another note if it's related, I'm getting light strikes that barely ding the primer. I can work the bolt again and fire it. I have disassembled and cleaned the pin and front half of bolt. Maybe the spring is weak. The gun will fire occasionally with just working the bolt too fast.

 

[Jager]

The gun will fire occasionally with just working the bolt too fast.

?!?! That's incredibly bad news. I'd be questioning the smith who reamed the chamber. Your loading issues pale in comparison to the integrity of the rifle itself.


At whatever point you get the rifle squared away...
I did pick up a fresh canister of LilGun last week. Looked and smelled like normal smokeless powder. Re-ran the ladder I mentioned in post 38.

The good news is that the erratic velocities I reported in post 38 were gone. The bad news is that velocities were significantly less than the previous ladder. Everything exactly the same, save the cans of powder.

Dunno if that's because of (some pretty serious) lot-to-lot variation in the two lots of LilGun, the fact that the original canister was clearly going bad, or some combination of the two.






No doubt in my mind that one could dial in a reasonably accurate load with LilGun. But, man, those are some pretty dismal velocity figures! I'm glad I've got W296/H-110 working in my gun.

Have a good smith take a good look at your rifle. Keep us posted.

 

[brokeasajoke]

?!?! That's incredibly bad news. I'd be questioning the smith who reamed the chamber. Your loading issues pale in comparison to the integrity of the rifle itself.


At whatever point you get the rifle squared away...
I did pick up a fresh canister of LilGun last week. Looked and smelled like normal smokeless powder. Re-ran the ladder I mentioned in post 38.

The good news is that the erratic velocities I reported in post 38 were gone. The bad news is that velocities were significantly less than the previous ladder. Everything exactly the same, save the cans of powder.

Dunno if that's because of (some pretty serious) lot-to-lot variation in the two lots of LilGun, the fact that the original canister was clearly going bad, or some combination of the two.

View attachment 1301782

View attachment 1301783


No doubt in my mind that one could dial in a reasonably accurate load with LilGun. But, man, those are some pretty dismal velocity figures! I'm glad I've got W296/H-110 working in my gun.

Have a good smith take a good look at your rifle. Keep us posted.

I may replace the trigger. It is extremely light. Someone may have got a little to aggressive with lightening it. The woinchester ammo looks like it has the nosler bullet but I can't confirm that. The barrel may like those rounded bullets better. I have some hornady 35s with the same profile I may try.

 

[lawman29]

Take a live round, pull the bullet and inspect, pour powder out and weigh and inspect for possible type...

 

[Steve K]

I had pressure problems using Lil'Gun in .221 FireBall. I loaded below minimum and had the pressure so high I couldn't open the bolts on my Cooper 38 and Remington 700. "Lil'Gun hates being loaded light" PigButton stated and it is true. I wish I know that when I was having these problems.

 

[rebeltex]

I'm wondering about the chamber in your rifle,
There are several variations of the 22k reamers with the difference being the position of the shoulder.
Your statement of misfires and the fact of the primers backing out make me think your chamber's shoulders are quite a bit longer than the shoulder on your reloaded ammo.
Measure the shoulder on a fireformed case with a comparator.
Then size the case as you are doing and measure again, how far did you bump the shoulder?
i have found that my best loads for my several 22 hornet K's are from just neck sizing the brass. I just dunk the neck in some graphite and neck size only.
Theoretically the hornet case should headspace on the rim, but in a K you can use the shoulder to headspace and it seems to help accuracy quite a bit.
Maybe the reamer was run in too deep and cut the rim of the chamber too deep causing the firing pin to push the case forward when fired, if the case shoulder is too short then primer ignition would be very erratic which would cause the velocity swings you are seeing.

My 22k hornets really shine with 13.0gr of Lil'Gun, Rem 6 1/2 primer, Win brass and 40 gr Nosler B tips with no pressure signs. But you have to work up very carefully since even a 0.1 grain powder increase is quite a jump in that small of a case.

Hope this rambling helps you out.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I'm wondering about the chamber in your rifle,
There are several variations of the 22k reamers with the difference being the position of the shoulder.
Your statement of misfires and the fact of the primers backing out make me think your chamber's shoulders are quite a bit longer than the shoulder on your reloaded ammo.
Measure the shoulder on a fireformed case with a comparator.
Then size the case as you are doing and measure again, how far did you bump the shoulder?
i have found that my best loads for my several 22 hornet K's are from just neck sizing the brass. I just dunk the neck in some graphite and neck size only.
Theoretically the hornet case should headspace on the rim, but in a K you can use the shoulder to headspace and it seems to help accuracy quite a bit.
Maybe the reamer was run in too deep and cut the rim of the chamber too deep causing the firing pin to push the case forward when fired, if the case shoulder is too short then primer ignition would be very erratic which would cause the velocity swings you are seeing.

My 22k hornets really shine with 13.0gr of Lil'Gun, Rem 6 1/2 primer, Win brass and 40 gr Nosler B tips with no pressure signs. But you have to work up very carefully since even a 0.1 grain powder increase is quite a jump in that small of a case.

Hope this rambling helps you out.

I may just start necksizing. I've been bumping the shoulder .002. It requires a 50gr bullet to touch the rifling. Haven tries a 45gr as I don't have any.

 

[PigButtons]

I just recently started to tune my loads via seating depth. I found out that for the Nosler 40gr Ballistic tip Varmint bullet the sweet spot seems to be around .020 to .025" jump. The rifle I used them in the most went from a 1/2MOA gun to a 1/4MOA gun with just that one change. Before this they were seated at about .006" jump. I tried from .001" jam to the .025" jump and it was very clear when I got to the sweet spot. I never would have thought of trying that without the expert knowledge found on this site.

 

[snert]

several years ago HaroldM, who often posted here and on Saubier sent me a white paper on his work with Lilgun and the k and hornet. He is a scientist. I am not, but am willing to test stuff...

Short story...the Lilgun was all over the place on peak pressures.

I still use it but I am no where near the max load shown and it shoots ok. If I were to start over, I would load 1680.

snert

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Oil in the chamber or lube on brass?

 

[dellet]

If I were to use H110/296, I would probably use a magnum pistol primer, if a Remington 6 1/2 was not available

.

These velocities posted posted by Jager, seem pretty normal when I have tried Lil’gun. More so the right hand column, what he indicated as new powder.

Velocity climbs, levels off, then spikes. I would be wondering about 11.0 and 11.2.

I know you said you were looking for 1680, if you run across Shooters World Blackout, you might give it a try and use 1680 data starting low. I find it to be comparable to a hot lot of 1680 and get comparable velocity with about 3-5% less powder. It also has slightly less bulk, so in general capable of slightly higher velocities.

 

[nakneker]

This has been a good thread for me, I really applaud all the help forum members offer here, refreshing. I’ve been wanting to get a 22 hornet and 17 hornet. Sounds like a finicky little round but a lot of fun. I think I’m gonna start with a CZ and go from there. Maybe try reaming them out to Ackley’s after playing with them awhile.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I have some 1680 powder coming so hopefully that will help settle groups in. A member helped out with some hornady 35gr vmax as well.

 

[JLT]

This has been a good thread for me, I really applaud all the help forum members offer here, refreshing. I’ve been wanting to get a 22 hornet and 17 hornet. Sounds like a finicky little round but a lot of fun. I think I’m gonna start with a CZ and go from there. Maybe try reaming them out to Ackley’s after playing with them awhile.

Big fun with cast bullets, too. A 45gr. lead bullet in the .22 Hornet or K-Hornet at ~ 1,600 fps is great for plinking and small game. A few pounds of Bullseye is a lifetime supply.

 

[brokeasajoke]

Looks like 1680 really tighten things up at 100yds. I can live and work with this. 14grs of 1680 is almost to the base of the bullet though max is over 15. I'll never fit that in the case. 35gr vmax on left and 40gr sierra #1385 HP on right both with 14gr 1680. No pressure signs. I may take the lilgun out side and light it just for my aggravation. I may end up using the h110 in something else. May get a Lee FCD and try crimping.

 

[oregonshooter]

Whoa!!! Good catch there

Not really its pretty standard practice to run small pistol primers in a hornet regardless of what the load says.

 

[Homerange]

Not really its pretty standard practice to run small pistol primers in a hornet regardless of what the load says.

Educate me please, why ?
Years since I played with a Hornet and never had much success with it despite trying a few different projectiles specifically designed for the Hornet. Do they really prefer SP primers ?

 

[Jager]

Educate me please, why ?
Years since I played with a Hornet and never had much success with it despite trying a few different projectiles specifically designed for the Hornet. Do they really prefer SP primers ?

As @oregonshooter notes, a lot of devoted .22 Hornet handloaders use small pistol primers rather than the SRP for which the caliber is nominally spec'd. The lessened brisance of SPP matches up better with the small case capacity of the Hornet.

In a word, better accuracy.

 

[brokeasajoke]

Educate me please, why ?
Years since I played with a Hornet and never had much success with it despite trying a few different projectiles specifically designed for the Hornet. Do they really prefer SP primers ?

What wasn't successful? 1680 shrank my groups by half or more. I was about ready to sell it off.

 

[brokeasajoke]

14.1gr of 1680 gave me 2830fps with a cci 500 primer all under a 40gr sp. Sierra lists 2900fps with a 205m primer. Primer looks a little flat but no leaks like I had before.