Firstly, having just joined this forum today, I'd like to say hello to all the like-minded people out there! My name is Lee and I live and operate a small pest control company here on the south coast of England. I've been shooting, hunting, fishing, reloading etc for the past 30-years and despite gaining an awful lot of knowledge and experiences over the years, I still have much to learn and learn something new each day! I'm fortunate enough to own around twenty firearms, but my "daily use" calibre's are .308 for deer and foxes, .22lr for the shooting of foxes in urban and built-up areas and a .45-70 which is mainly for fun and the odd deer or fox. One of the weapons that I use on occasion is my Thompson Centre Encore in .22 Hornet. I've used this little gun out to 150-yards for foxes and have head-shot a few hares with it too! Because this little carbine has been used for vermin control, I've not been too bothered about the damage that the rounds do when they strike their target. The main aim for my home-loads was accuracy and a humane kill. Therefore, when after much experimentation I found that my Encore shoots sub-1" groups with a 50-grain Speer TNT with 12.6 grains of Lil Gun behind it, that became my load of choice! The thing is, these zippy little bullets are great at knocking down (or blowing up) vermin, but it now want to use my .22 Hornet Encore for shooting "for the table". I'm looking to shoot mainly rabbits and really want to get away from the explosive TNT's and probably even a slower charge in case body-shots are required as opposed to just head-shots. The other thing is that I may start keeping some of the fox skins? Over here in the UK, we are a bit limited when it comes to .224 heads as most shooters use the heavier 55-grain plus bullets for use in their AR's. V-Max are pretty much the "norm" for the few people over here that use .22 Hornets, but these really arn't the answer to my problem. Lightweight FMJ's are no good for me as I need some expansion / mushrooming but without the fragmentation of the TNT's. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Cheers, Lee.
.22 Hornet
- Thread starter Leezie
- Start date
3Ackleys
Gold $$ Contributor
Welcome aboard!
I have used my Hornets (Ruger 77/22h and t-c contender) on Coyote and Fox out to 150 yds with the 45 gr Speer Spitzer with very little fur damage.
On the T-C Encore and Contender here is a link to Mike Bellm's site with tons of great info and parts for these guns.
Good luck!
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/
I have used my Hornets (Ruger 77/22h and t-c contender) on Coyote and Fox out to 150 yds with the 45 gr Speer Spitzer with very little fur damage.
On the T-C Encore and Contender here is a link to Mike Bellm's site with tons of great info and parts for these guns.
Good luck!
http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/
welcome and glad to hear from you.
this may not be what you need for longer shots past 50 yds, but the lyman 224438 or 224415gc cast bullet molds were designed for the hornet and should go under and inch easily out to 50yd.
I have had excellent accuracy with the 224415gc out of hornet, 221 and 222 when I take care to work loads up in the 1600-1800fps range. it seems 3+gr of unique and small pistol primers are the most used, you may vary the load based on your results. the lead can be just plain wheel weights, nothing added.
they don't expand.
Bob
this may not be what you need for longer shots past 50 yds, but the lyman 224438 or 224415gc cast bullet molds were designed for the hornet and should go under and inch easily out to 50yd.
I have had excellent accuracy with the 224415gc out of hornet, 221 and 222 when I take care to work loads up in the 1600-1800fps range. it seems 3+gr of unique and small pistol primers are the most used, you may vary the load based on your results. the lead can be just plain wheel weights, nothing added.
they don't expand.
Bob
Welcome, and try some Remington 46 grain soft points in your 22 Hornet. I used Nosler hornet bullets for a long time, but they are discontinued so I am looking for a replacement also. The Remingtons work pretty well, they expand, but are not explosive at hornet velocities.
Thanks again fellas. My Hornet barrel is a ,224 and I have my local gun shop looking into getting hold of a box of Barnes for me to try out, but he's not sure that he can get hold of them. 
As for the Remingtons, I cant find a UK stockist for them? I've found a stockist for the Sierra 40 & 45-grain soft points (at the equivalent of $30 per 100 
) and may give them a go?
As for the Remingtons, I cant find a UK stockist for them? I've found a stockist for the Sierra 40 & 45-grain soft points (at the equivalent of $30 per 100 ) and may give them a go?
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