Hornet cases best sizing method

[mule]

In all the hornet configurations 17, 19, 20,22.

what is the best method of sizing the brass is it recommended for just neck sizing only or fulling size or a combination of both

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Others may differ, but as my K-Hornet is a 1885 Browning, F/L sizing seems best, as the very thin Hornet brass expands enough to make chambering a fired round without F/L sizing very difficult. So in this rifle, the decision was an easy one.

 

[Bill K]

I have found that by annelling after 3 reloads and Neck sizing only, I get the most reloads out of a case, prior to (usually) the neck splitting. This is one my 17 HH. Seems to not matter the brand of brass used, this has worked out for me the best.

 

[AWS]

I just used my 218 Bee FL die to neck size my 22 H. Mine was a 219 Savage SS, very accurate with Win 46gr HP.

 

[moorepower]

I have tried Lee collet, RCBS and Wilson neck bushing die for the straight hornet, and the Wilson is by far my favorite, no crimp, fyi. I use the .17H Wilson neck bushing die for my .17H. It's nice to be able to use a different bushing for different neck thickness brass. Wilson inline seaters for both.

 

[TheCZKid]

On my 17 HH I use Redding S bushing die, and full length size each time. As Rick said, the brass is thin and stretches, so I find it's best to always just full length size for consistency and easy chambering. I mainly have Hornady brass, so it's all current version and same neck thickness from what I can tell. I do have some Federal brass from shooting some American Eagle ammo, but I don't see any noted difference to the Hornady in neck thickness.

 

[B23]

I do have some Federal brass from shooting some American Eagle ammo, but I don't see any noted difference to the Hornady in neck thickness.

That's because it's the exact same ammo. Hornady loads it for Federal the only difference is one has Hornady head stamp on the brass and the other has Federal AM. I talked to Federal/AM a couple years ago and they're who told me it is one and the same.

I have 17HH brass from multiple different Lot #'s and just about every Lot # I have has different thickness necks ranging from 9 to a little over 12 thou in thickness and because of this I keep my 17HH brass segregated by neck thickness and use a different bushing sizes based on it so I can maintain more consistent neck tension.

 

[Soup]

I have a BullBerry .22K Hornet and Fred told me to full length resize always.
Soup

 

[TheCZKid]

That's because it's the exact same ammo. Hornady loads it for Federal the only difference is one has Hornady head stamp on the brass and the other has Federal AM. I talked to Federal/AM a couple years ago and they're who told me it is one and the same.

I have 17HH brass from multiple different Lot #'s and just about every Lot # I have has different thickness necks ranging from 9 to a little over 12 thou in thickness and because of this I keep my 17HH brass segregated by neck thickness and use a different bushing sizes based on it so I can maintain more consistent neck tension.

If Hornady loads the Federal, which I don't dispute with you as you seem sure, I do think the load itself is different. As the Hornady Superformance does not shoot as accurately in my CZ as the American Eagle.
I turn the necks on my 17 HH brass now, after I have shot them the first time, and that seems to help uniformity.

 

[moorepower]

If Hornady loads the Federal, which I don't dispute with you as you seem sure, I do think the load itself is different. As the Hornady Superformance does not shoot as accurately in my CZ as the American Eagle.
I turn the necks on my 17 HH brass now, after I have shot them the first time, and that seems to help uniformity.

It is exactly the same ammo. Lot to lot variation. Same ammo, same bullet, same brass, same powder, same primer.

 

[B23]

If Hornady loads the Federal, which I don't dispute with you as you seem sure, I do think the load itself is different. As the Hornady Superformance does not shoot as accurately in my CZ as the American Eagle.
I turn the necks on my 17 HH brass now, after I have shot them the first time, and that seems to help uniformity.

What you've experienced with the Federal AM 17HH 20gr Vmax ammo shooting a little better than the same Hornady 17HH 20gr Vmax ammo is something I've not only heard before but I too had the AM, slightly, shoot better than the Hornady on different occasions. All I know is what Federal themselves told me on multiple occasion when I've talk to their techs and they say it is all the same stuff loaded by the same manufacture.

I've shot, A LOT, more of the Hornady 17HH ammo than I have the Fed. AM stuff but more often than not I don't get nearly as many stretched cases above the rim with the Fed. AM ammo as I do with the Hornady. I asked the Federal Techs about this as well and though they wouldn't completely commit to saying the earlier Hornady ammo was slightly different, whether it be primers, powder blend, or the actual cases themselves, they did admit with kind of a wink and a nod that it sure seems something was different with the newer Lots and were better, all the way around, then the early stuff.

With the necks in 17HH brass having a pretty healthy variance neck turning all of them to the same thickness is the way to go if you want them all the same. My problem is I really don't enjoy turning necks I'd almost rather have my fingernails pulled out with a rusty pair of plyers than turn the necks on a couple thousand pieces of 17HH brass so I just keep them in their own bags based on their neck thickness and swap out bushings. But, for ultimate accuracy and consistency, turning them all to the same thickness is probably the better way to go. As long as my 17Hornets can shoot MOR (minute of rat) consistently out to 300-ish yds that's good enough for me. If I need better than that, I'll be reaching for a different gun.

 

[TheCZKid]

Here's my experience over my chrono and the groups sized on the right. The Hornady SP seem to average about 1.0" groups, and Federal EA averaged about .5" and that's a HUGE difference from my perspective. YMMV. That's out of my CZ Varmint. I was able to buy a case of 500 of the Federal before the whole covid BS really took a grip, plus I think 5 boxes right before that.
The speeds seem to be about same average, the average group sizes are not (3 shot groups all above, then last three are 5 shot groups, all 100 yds).

Factory Ammo:				SD	SD	FPS	FPS				Size
Hornady NXT	15.5					3875	3984				0.70	0.51
Hornady Super	20			27.8	23.5	3586	3642				0.78	0.98
				8.3		3622					1.06
				19.3		3662					1.01
Fed AE	20			42.7		3631					0.58	0.35
				13.9		3641					0.60
				27.7		3680					0.38
										5 shot groups	0.38
										5 shot groups	0.49
										5 shot groups	0.59

I also don't like neck turning, but in my quest for accuracy I was willing to go that extra mile.

 

[kenacp]

I guess I am the odd man out. I like to use a FL die, backed out to only size a portion of the neck. This is for my Bullberry KHornet and Browning 1885 Hornet.

 

[snert]

K- Hornet here...neck only until it gets tight, then MINIMAL bump with FL