36 Gr. Varmint grenades

[Gibbons85]

Looking for any knowledge someone would be willing to share. I plan on trying some 36 gr.varmint grenaders for Ruger 22-Hornet 1-14 twist with H110 powder. I also have a stevens 22-250, and a ruger mini 14 223. I have accurate 2700, and accurate 2015 respectively. I am new to reloading, and the forum. Needless to say i greatly appreciate the knowledge folks share

 

[Jager]

I don't have a Ruger in that caliber, but do a lot of shooting and loading of .22 Hornet for an Anschutz 1730D with a 1/15.7" twist. The Hornet makes a really nice middling-distance varmint caliber.

H110 should do well for you (W296 is my go-to .22 Hornet powder).

Don't be surprised if you find wide accuracy variation between different bullet weights and styles. My Anschutz doesn't like 35-36 grain bullets nearly as much as 40-45 grain projectiles.

Some of the newer tipped bullets may force deeper seating depth than you'd like, in order to feed from your magazine. I've got a nice, very accurate load using the Hornady 40gr V-MAX, but it has to be single-loaded. You shouldn't have any issue with the 36gr Barnes, if those work in your rifle.

You will probably find that Small Pistol primers are a bit more accurate in the Hornet than Small Rifle.

Case capacity of the .22 Hornet is small enough that minor charge weight variations matter more than they would for higher capacity cartridges. Precision is your friend.

Good luck! The .22 Hornet is a lot of fun.

 

[JSH]

Can’t add much to what has already been posted.
Ditto on the pistol primers. I pay little attention to flat primers when doing so.
Handle the cases with care. Rough handling will cause one grief.
Don’t try to magnumize it, it is what it is
Your 1-14 twist should be fine. I had a CZ that was 1-16, a big disappointment as far as I was concerned.

 

[biggun2869]

I have a CZ and love it. It shoots better than a walther I have and not as expensive. I use a 34 grain dogtown bullet from midway and 10 grains of 2400. It could go a lot hotter but its easy on brass there and I limit a hornet myself to 100 yards. It'll always do 1" mostly less. I initialy went to mag pistol primers but I happened onto 1000 6 1/2 remington primers last shortage that are better yet. Gary

 

[SSL]

Looking for any knowledge someone would be willing to share. I plan on trying some 36 gr.varmint grenaders for Ruger 22-Hornet 1-14 twist with H110 powder. I also have a stevens 22-250, and a ruger mini 14 223. I have accurate 2700, and accurate 2015 respectively. I am new to reloading, and the forum. Needless to say i greatly appreciate the knowledge folks share

On the Western-Accurate Loading site, AA2700 and AA2015 aren't listed at all for the Hornet or .223 for any bullet weight and 2700 is not listed for the 36-grain bullet in .22-250 until 50-grain and heavier bullets.

 

[Jim Hankins]

My CZ shoots really well with the 30 grain VG bullets and 296,spp.

 

[scasa]

I don't have a Ruger in that caliber, but do a lot of shooting and loading of .22 Hornet for an Anschutz 1730D with a 1/15.7" twist. The Hornet makes a really nice middling-distance varmint caliber.

H110 should do well for you (W296 is my go-to .22 Hornet powder).

Don't be surprised if you find wide accuracy variation between different bullet weights and styles. My Anschutz doesn't like 35-36 grain bullets nearly as much as 40-45 grain projectiles.

Some of the newer tipped bullets may force deeper seating depth than you'd like, in order to feed from your magazine. I've got a nice, very accurate load using the Hornady 40gr V-MAX, but it has to be single-loaded. You shouldn't have any issue with the 36gr Bergers, if those work in your rifle.

You will probably find that Small Pistol primers are a bit more accurate in the Hornet than Small Rifle.

Case capacity of the .22 Hornet is small enough that minor charge weight variations matter more than they would for higher capacity cartridges. Precision is your friend.

Good luck! The .22 Hornet is a lot of fun.

Why would the pistol primers be more accurate than rifle primers ? What would you think the pressure limit would be for pistol primers ?

 

[Jager]

Why would the pistol primers be more accurate than rifle primers ? What would you think the pressure limit would be for pistol primers ?

Because the .22 Hornet has a very small case capacity (for a centerfire rifle); and because its maximum chamber pressure of 43,000 CUP is fairly mild. The brisance of a standard Small Rifle primer - the energy and strength of the primer detonation - can easily overwhelm the very small powder charge, leading to somewhat more erratic chamber pressures and resulting velocities.

The pellet in a Small Pistol primer is smaller and produces less energy and is generally more suited to the small powder charges the .22 Hornet is dealing with.

The caveat is that the cup in a Small Pistol primer is typically softer than that of a Small Rifle primer. You might get pierced primers - resulting not from too much pressure, but from the striker in the rifle being designed for the heavier cup in Rifle primers.

The .22 Hornet is the only rifle cartridge I would consider using Pistol primers in. But it usually works great in that caliber, bringing a noticeable improvement in accuracy.

 

[SEM]

From my own experience for the Hornet don't waste your money on the 36 grain get the 30 grain VG you will be impressed, The 36 grain really needs 1-10 to 1-9 the 22-250 will do good with the 30 Grain also but will need to be throttled back, the Mini 14 may do good with the 36 grain if the twist is fast enough, In my slower twist 1-14 22-250 I did get really good results with Hornadys 35 grain NTX almost 4400 FPS SPLATTERS coyotes, For what ever cosmic reason the 36 Grain VG just dose not work in a 1-14

 

[Gibbons85]

On the Western-Accurate Loading site, AA2700 and AA2015 aren't listed at all for the Hornet or .223 for any bullet weight and 2700 is not listed for the 36-grain bullet in .22-250 until 50-grain and heavier bullets.

BR

I don't have a Ruger in that caliber, but do a lot of shooting and loading of .22 Hornet for an Anschutz 1730D with a 1/15.7" twist. The Hornet makes a really nice middling-distance varmint caliber.

H110 should do well for you (W296 is my go-to .22 Hornet powder).

Don't be surprised if you find wide accuracy variation between different bullet weights and styles. My Anschutz doesn't like 35-36 grain bullets nearly as much as 40-45 grain projectiles.

Some of the newer tipped bullets may force deeper seating depth than you'd like, in order to feed from your magazine. I've got a nice, very accurate load using the Hornady 40gr V-MAX, but it has to be single-loaded. You shouldn't have any issue with the 36gr Barnes, if those work in your rifle.

You will probably find that Small Pistol primers are a bit more accurate in the Hornet than Small Rifle.

Case capacity of the .22 Hornet is small enough that minor charge weight variations matter more than they would for higher capacity cartridges. Precision is your friend.

Good luck! The .22 Hornet is a lot of fun.

Thanks I love my hornet just wish i could find some new brass. I start seeing case issues after they've been fired twice have heard this is common. Is there any make of brass you would recommend?

 

[Gibbons85]

Can’t add much to what has already been posted.
Ditto on the pistol primers. I pay little attention to flat primers when doing so.
Handle the cases with care. Rough handling will cause one grief.
Don’t try to magnumize it, it is what it is
Your 1-14 twist should be fine. I had a CZ that was 1-16, a big disappointment as far as I was concerned.

Yeah as far as reloading goes i start seeing some case issues after twice fired. I am more or less trying to load new brass if i can find any

 

[Gibbons85]

From my own experience for the Hornet don't waste your money on the 36 grain get the 30 grain VG you will be impressed, The 36 grain really needs 1-10 to 1-9 the 22-250 will do good with the 30 Grain also but will need to be throttled back, the Mini 14 may do good with the 36 grain if the twist is fast enough, In my slower twist 1-14 22-250 I did get really good results with Hornadys 35 grain NTX almost 4400 FPS SPLATTERS coyotes, For what ever cosmic reason the 36 Grain VG just dose not work in a 1-14

Thanks a bunch I've had decent results in my mini with hornady 55 gr fmj-bt, but like the idea of the grenaders for yote hunting. I havent tried anything for my 22-250, but being a less expensive Stevens, i heard I'll need a lighter bullet because of the slower twist.

 

[SSL]

Thanks a bunch I've had decent results in my mini with hornady 55 gr fmj-bt, but like the idea of the grenaders for yote hunting. I havent tried anything for my 22-250, but being a less expensive Stevens, i heard I'll need a lighter bullet because of the slower twist.

For your .22-250, I'll guess it is a 1-14 twist. If it is like my Ruger #1 (1-14" twist), 55-grain is about the heaviest it will shoot well...although there are always exceptions. My Ruger really likes Hornady 52-grain HPBTs and loves 52-grain Hornady AMax bullets (Now listed as ELD-M) over a bit under maximum load of Hodgdon CFE223 powder. Don't try the 53-grain VMax as it won't stabilize in your twist rate. Under no circumstances use any of the thin-jacketed bullets like the Hornady SX series at top speeds. They will usually just blow up before they reach the target.

 

[Jager]

Yeah as far as reloading goes i start seeing some case issues after twice fired. I am more or less trying to load new brass if i can find

BR

Thanks I love my hornet just wish i could find some new brass. I start seeing case issues after they've been fired twice have heard this is common. Is there any make of brass you would recommend?

The .22 Hornet has a very light, thin case. It doesn't hold up well to heavy use (or abuse) as well as the heavier, thicker cases in more modern cartridges.

To extend case life in the .22 Hornet, it's important not to overwork the brass. You can either neck size only; or you can full-length resize the very minimum necessary.

Setting a full-length resizing die like all the manufacturers show in their instructions (die screwed down until it touches the shell holder, then a bit more so the press cams over) will overwork those small .22 Hornet cases in short order.

Running above-maximum loads in a .22 Hornet will also significantly reduce case life. I'm perfectly happy running right up to SAAMI maximum, but then I'm modeling any prospective loads in QuickLoad and I'm very confident about when I'm approaching SAAMI max. Using conventional reloading practice to determine excessive pressure (flattened primers, heavy bolt lift, case head smearing, etc.) will have you running considerably higher pressures.

I like Nosler brass in the .22 Hornet. But any of the major brands should work well if it's treated nicely.

 

[jds holler]

36 gr VG's were just not the thing for me. Tried them in both my Bee, and 222, and just didn't hit a decent load for accuracy.

I went to the little 35 gr. V-Max, and "BINGO" !!

The Bee is similar in power to your Hornet, just a little more mojo. My powder for years now has been IMR 4227. jd

 

[snert]

The VG in 36 grains is a real test for slow twists.

Get some 35 grain Vmax and Lil gun, carry on.