22 Hornet ...

[TheOtherZilla]

I love a 22 Hornet. Got my Ruger 77/22 Hornet out for the summer. Had some issues with accuracy. Been playing around with bullets and powder. Noticed today that my Nosler brass has very tight primer pockets and my primers are getting crushed. Had some Remington brass on hand and primer seating is much better. Loaded 15 rounds in the Rem brass, noticed the powder level is lower. Also trying to use different bullets to find accuracy. Berger 40's do well. Then I noticed that my 22 hornet seater die is messing up the Berger tips a bit. Same with VMax. And a Speer 40. Sierra 45 grain is OK. I am thinking the thin brass on the varmint style bullets is the culprit.
What are others using for bullets?

Powders I am using
W296
H110
Lil Gun
A1680.
Primers
Small pistol or
Rem 6-1/2

 

[Davers]

I use Hornady 46 grain hollow point (Bee) bullets when reloading my .22 Hornet. For powder I like Lit'Gun the best, for regular loads and Unique for light loads. Your Ruger 77/.22 Hornet would be more accurate if you replace your factory sear & trigger spring.

 

[danny]

I love a 22 Hornet. Got my Ruger 77/22 Hornet out for the summer. Had some issues with accuracy. Been playing around with bullets and powder. Noticed today that my Nosler brass has very tight primer pockets and my primers are getting crushed. Had some Remington brass on hand and primer seating is much better. Loaded 15 rounds in the Rem brass, noticed the powder level is lower. Also trying to use different bullets to find accuracy. Berger 40's do well. Then I noticed that my 22 hornet seater die is messing up the Berger tips a bit. Same with VMax. And a Speer 40. Sierra 45 grain is OK. I am thinking the thin brass on the varmint style bullets is the culprit.
What are others using for bullets?

Powders I am using
W296
H110
Lil Gun
A1680.
Primers
Small pistol or
Rem 6-1/2

It is only goofing up the very tip of bullets?

Danny

 

[TheOtherZilla]

It is only goofing up the very tip of bullets?

Danny

Yep.

 

[SmokinJoe]

As you have found, the Remington brass has the most volume of any Hornet brass and the Nosler probably the least. Without a picture of the damaged bullet tips it's hard to help with that but a little de-burring or lapping of the seater stem will probably fix that problem. Some of my best accuracy results with my K-Hornets is with 40gr Nosler Varmageddon bullets. Easiest load is a full case of AA1680 for decent velocity, accuracy and no pressure problems. Rem 6 1/2 are good but have used Fed 100 pistol primers also and use NLA Wolf SR (copper) primers, all with good success. Wish that Remington would produce some more of their old time brass but I think I have seen loaded ammo available if you are willing to go that way.

 

[Leo_B]

Is there a better rifle round than .22 Hornet for shooting? And small critter hunting? No. Maybe equivalent, but not better. YMMV

 

[snert]

I had a Ruger 77/22H. Pretty, svelte, handy...and the absolute worst CF I ever owned when it came to accuracy. I tried everything with that rifle when it came to handloading. I later learned that the gun had a rep regarding the design of the bolt and there is some kind of shim fix for it. I sold it and never looked back...till years later the guy I sold it to told me it was the best rifle he ever bought. Good lord, I'd hate to see what other rifles he owned. That thing wouldn't shoot a 3 inch group at 50 yards!

Good luck and I hope your efforts are rewarded much more than mine. BTW, I later became a fan of the K using 1680 and a Vmax in either 35 grain for squirrels or 40 grain for bigger and farther critters.

 

[Rocky Mt High]

I’m a dummy. With my 77/22 I just load 13 grains of Lil Gun , CCI small pistol primers, and Hornady 35gr Vmax, any handy brass. That 35gr blows 1 1/2” holes in crows with no exit.
My groups are about 3/8” and most times better ( I’m no benchrester). I did change out the trigger to a Rifle Basix, no other mods.. Am I just lucky? I load the Dog town 34 grain hp and get same results.
No idea of year of manufacture but I have another 77/22 hornet that is early years and wonder if it
will shoot different? Was there a bolt design change somewhere along the years? Don’t know rite now as I have not used it. By the by, my Savage model 40 shoots the same with same load.
The Ruger is a handy rifle with a nice stock design, luv it.

 

[White Eagle]

I shoot a CZ for my k-hornet
just a blast that little rifle

 

[Bangs OH]

No idea of year of manufacture but I have another 77/22 hornet that is early years and wonder if it
will shoot different? Was there a bolt design change somewhere along the years?

Yes. Two-piece bolts in older 77/22 Hornets were the cause of serious accuracy issues; triggershims.com has a DIY kit that should help. Ruger has (apparently) fixed the problem in newer rifles.

 

[357Mag]

I love a 22 Hornet. Got my Ruger 77/22 Hornet out for the summer. Had some issues with accuracy. Been playing around with bullets and powder. Noticed today that my Nosler brass has very tight primer pockets and my primers are getting crushed. Had some Remington brass on hand and primer seating is much better. Loaded 15 rounds in the Rem brass, noticed the powder level is lower. Also trying to use different bullets to find accuracy. Berger 40's do well. Then I noticed that my 22 hornet seater die is messing up the Berger tips a bit. Same with VMax. And a Speer 40. Sierra 45 grain is OK. I am thinking the thin brass on the varmint style bullets is the culprit.
What are others using for bullets?

Powders I am using
W296
H110
Lil Gun
A1680.
Primers
Small pistol or
Rem 6-1/2

Otherzilla -

Howdy !

If you find a bullet you really like, you might ask the seater die manufacture to make you a custom seating stem; specifically taylored to fit/work well w/ your bullet.

I like to shoot Hornady .224" cal 55SX from my .224" cal wildcat-chambered rifle.
These have a .009" thin jacket. I was already using a few Hornady dies sets, to cover
my reloading needs for 3 different wildcats, so I asked Hornady to make me a custom-fit seating stem specifically dedicated to seating their 55SX.
They charged me a whopping $7.50 for it, and I received it inside of 2 wk. Works great !

Hornady also made the die set for my " .358AutoMag wildcat. When they did, they even
threw in a custom small base die... for free !

Best of luck in your endeavors !


With regards,
357Mag

 

[TA17rem]

Is there a better rifle round than .22 Hornet for shooting? And small critter hunting? No. Maybe equivalent, but not better.

221 F.B.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Otherzilla -

Howdy !

If you find a bullet you really like, you might ask the seater die manufacture to make you a custom seating stem; specifically taylored to fit/work well w/ your bullet.

I like to shoot Hornady .224" cal 55SX from my .224" cal wildcat-chambered rifle.
These have a .009" thin jacket. I was already using a few Hornady dies sets, to cover
my reloading needs for 3 different wildcats, so I asked Hornady to make me a custom-fit seating stem specifically dedicated to seating their 55SX.
They charged me a whopping $7.50 for it, and I received it inside of 2 wk. Works great !

Hornady also made the die set for my " .358AutoMag wildcat. When they did, they even
threw in a custom small base die... for free !

Best of luck in your endeavors !


With regards,
357Mag

I am considering that option. Thanx.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I shot thousands of rounds in Contenders during my handgun silhouette days. I load tested using a 12x scope. 1 inch guns at 100yds depending on the bullet. I only ever used 1 powder, 2400.

 

[L.Sherm]

If you find a bullet you really like, you might ask the seater die manufacture to make you a custom seating stem; specifically taylored to fit/work well w/ your bullet.

Just bed the stem to your bullet.
Just make sure you drill out the tip of the bedding so the OAL difference of the bullets doesn't influence your seating depth.
I do it on my 223 seater for my 20P and couple others. I also make sure the dummy round i use the runout is straight.
Don't forget release agent on bullet.

 

[Ackman]

My 77/22H was never particularly accurate. Handloads didn't equal factory Winchester stuff no matter what I tried. That factory stuff was good enough for squirrels to about 150, but still blah. People at Winchester said their load was with 680 powder, which had been discontinued for sale to the public because of lot to lot consistency difficulty, but was tailored for each run of ammunition. I had it rechambered to 22KH, still not great. The rifle got sidelined. Early 90's I started shooting a 17AH T/C carbine. Wow. Sent the 77/22 to Wessinger Custom and made into a 17AH.......best thing ever done for that rifle. The 22H is a blah cartridge, the 17AH shoots way flatter, kills groundsquirrels to rockchucks very well, and is much more fun.

 

[Springer2]

Anyone have a good 22 Hornet, K Hornet load for a plain base cast bullet? I have 47 grain bullet that everything I tried so far has been too fast. I had one 700X load the slowest at 1225 and no surprise it shot a little better but the charge is so light at 2.1 grains that about every 5-7th round I would get a flyer. It grouped around 1.8" @ 50 yards with an extreme spread of 98 fps. The others were faster than book numbers and shot over twice the size groups.