Browning 1885 .22 Hornet

[kenacp]

Primers make a big difference. CCI 450's work great with a case full of Lil Gun or MP300. Other than that, small pistol primers usually do good. Also try 1680 with 6 1/2.

 

[Cbashooter]

.223 barrel is WRONG! The .223 grove diameter is typically pre-WWII based upon the wildcat development of the Winchester .22 Centerfire, they used .22 rimfire barrels due to availability and low cost. The Browning 1885s are recent manufacture.

"The 22 Hornet's ancestry is generally attributed to experiments done in the 1920s using the black-powder .22 WCF at Springfield Armory. Winchester adopted what had so far been a wildcat cartridge in 1930, producing ammo for a cartridge for which no commercially-made guns yet had been built. It wasn't until 1932 that any company began selling commercially-made guns for the cartridge. Older guns generally have a slower twist rate of 1-16" of barrel length for lighter bullets with a .223 caliber dimension. Newer guns feature a faster 1-14" twist for 40 to 45-grain bullets in the more standard .224 caliber."​

.22 Hornet​

History​

Developed by American wildcatters in the 1920's, the .22 Hornet was adopted and officially introduced by Winchester in 1930. At the time the most commonly used rifle for converting to .22 Hornet was the 1922 Springfield .22 long rifle. Because the groove diameter of the .22 long rifle measured .223”, the Hornet was loaded with .223" caliber bullets. The Production of commercial rifles eventually saw the change from .223" to .224" groove diameters, today, Hornet projectiles are still offered in either .223" or .224" calibers.

Also, I would not recommend using a CCI 450 - unnecessary. Try a pistol primer for such a small case, many find improved accuracy. I have a semi-custom HW in .22 Hornet, 1-16 twist, .224 barrel.

your history of the Hornet is a bit off.

Grosvenor Wotkyns, Col. Townsend Whelen and another(Woody?) at Springfield developed it. Bob Sears owned that original 1922 Hornet and I talked to him about it at a match back in the late nineties. He may have bought it off of Whelen when he was working for the NRA.

 

[Conaso]

My info was based upon a quick Internet search in an attempt to reinforce my emphasis that modern .22 Hornet uses .224 caliber bullets. I would imagine .223 dia accuracy would be lousy. Still mea culpa, .y bad. Forgot about Whelen.

 

[Dennis22]

My info was based upon a quick Internet search in an attempt to reinforce my emphasis that modern .22 Hornet uses .224 caliber bullets. I would imagine .223 dia accuracy would be lousy. Still mea culpa, .y bad. Forgot about Whelen.

Browning/winchester 1885 22 Hornet barrels are .223 i first read that on another forum in a post by greybeard warning of the difference in a reloading forum. Found other references to confirm and then called Browning they took some time and finally had to check with an old timmer. It is .223

 

[Dennis22]

Having said it is .223 nearly all are reloading with .224 bullets in the 36 to 45 grain weight with no issue I had good luck with 40g V max and 42g Calhoon double hollow point

The For end is on a hanger and should be free floated, it is a better system than the Ruger Number 1

For me mine was very picky about powder bullet and load. H110 was over 3 inch groups

I finally got good results with 13g lilgun and small pistol primers it is a case full in the PPU brass

FWIW

Lee collet dies with an undersized collet

neck tension is minimal, magnum primers and rifle primers can move the bullet before full powder ignition

There is a huge difference in case capacity between different brands of cases

you may need to do a lot of experimenting to get the right load

I shot a lot of ladder tests

OAL makes a difference

Have fun

 

[Conaso]

Browning/winchester 1885 22 Hornet barrels are .223 i first read that on another forum in a post by greybeard warning of the difference in a reloading forum. Found other references to confirm and then called Browning they took some time and finally had to check with an old timmer. It is .223

I stand corrected. Why in the heck would Browing use a .223 barrel when .224 has been a standard for years?

And I found this on the boolit (cast bullets) forum - "I have one in .22 Hornet and have measured the bore dia. and twist on four separate occasions and come up with a.223 dia. bore and a 1-17 3/8" twist!! I know it's advertised at 1-16 but this one is definitely not."

 

[Dennis22]

. Why in the heck would Browing use a .223 barrel when .224 has been a standard for years?

No one knows, best guess browning said they wanted a 22 hornet ,Miruko did the research and found the original specs, Or lost in translation

finicky but beautiful and they can shoot with proper coddling

Id buy mine again

 

[Conaso]

I wonder how accurate is the 1:14 twist rifles.

 

[Kivaari]

I know this is an old thread, but wanted other M1885 22 Hornet owners to know. Just acquired late model Winnie that slugged .2215 at muzzle; did it twice..