Cast bullets for the .22 Hornet

[David LaPell]

I am thinking about getting into some cast bullets for my .22 Hornet. I have an H & R Handi rifle and was wondering if anyone had any ideas which would be a good powder / bullet combination.

[beagle]

I shoot .22 Hornet in the summer by the hundreds. Lyman's 225438HP over 3.5 grains of Unique gives me a load that is deadly on starlings and blackbirds and fairly quiet as well. Velocity's about like a .22 WMR./beagle

[JeffinNZ]

My old BRNO Hornet used to rather like the old style 225415 over 5gr 800X for 1900fps.

[stubshaft]

What twist is your Handi?

[303Guy]

For some inexplicable reason the hornet seems to defy the boolit weight to twist rate rules. A 60gr Hornady j-word stabilizes in a 1-in-16 twist just fine so a cast boolit of similar weight and shorter form should work too. So, 55gr cast should work. My attempt at casting 55gr boolits from my mould were a disaster. I still have that mould but would rather not.:-|

[Larry Gibson]

I've been shooting cast in the 22 Hornets since '75. Started out with a couple Savages and a M70 (not mine:cry: ) and ended up with a nice Ruger #3 which I still have. They all had 16" twists. I found quickly that my 225415 would shoot very nice at 50 yards in the 2000 fps range but lost it shortly thereafter with groups at 100 yards being very disappointing and not worth loading. I found that a 225107 was and excellent bullet to 150 yards with velocities in the 1800fps range but the mould I was using back then also was not mine. In the early '80s I picked up a Contender 10" barrel that had a 14" twist. The 225415 does very well in it.

Over the years I also picked up a 225107, 225438 and a 225462 so along with the 225415 it gives me a good array of cast bullets to use. About 10 years back I picked up a 21" Contender carbine Barrel with a 12" twist. A couple years ago I also picked up a Savage M40 with a 14" twist. The 225415 does very well in the 12 and 14" twist barrels as does the 225462. If I had to pick one cast bullet that does well in all of them it would be the 225438.

Larry Gibson

[7br]

I use the RCBS 22-55 in a 10" contender over a dab of WW231. Iffn it weren't for the gas checks, I could shoot them cheaper than .22 lr.

[Gohon]

For some inexplicable reason the hornet seems to defy the boolit weight to twist rate rules.

Ain't that the truth. In my Browning with the 1 in 16 twist, anything above 45 grains tumbles. No real surprise there. On the other hand my H&R with the 1 in 9 twist does well on everything from the 35 grain V-Max up to the 55 grain V-Max. That little H&R seems to love the 40 grain V-Max. With casts I've only tested it at 50 yards and both the Lyman 225415 and Ranch Dog TLC-225 both grouped at 1/2 inch with 2274 fps and 2320 fps respectfully, ahead of 8 grains of 2400. Those same cast loads in the Browning also group at 1/2 inch which still has me scratching my head. Still, strange things happen to bullets between 50 and 100 yards so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for those upcoming tests.

[303Guy]

In my Browning with the 1 in 16 twist, anything above 45 grains tumbles. No real surprise there.Mmmm.... I'm going to have to pull out my hornet and make some boolits for it and see what does. I know it stabilizes the 55gr RCBS but accuracy was not good. That'll be due to the poor casting quality. The holes were perfecly round. Velocity would have been closer to 2500-2600 fps. I'd have to check on that. I have a 60gr smooth side mold I can try first.

[303Guy]

Here is a 55gr RCBS casting alongside one I swaged down. I knurled it to hold the lube.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-309F.jpg

This is a fired 55gr boolit.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-307F.jpg

Here is 59gr boolit that looks swaged? I must have cast it first or maybe it is as cast.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-328F.jpg

This is how I seat bullets or boolits in my hornet. No neck sizing, just keeping them exactly to chamber lenth. They actually headspace on the case mouth. (Can't be done it the neck is being sized).
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-168F_edited.jpghttp://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-133F_edited.jpg

There is a trick to seating in a 'paper cup' as I call it. The seated boolit then gets dipped into molten lube (mine has wax added to harden it for a bolt gun) up to the paper rim which then soaks the lube up into it and of course, leaves a layer of lube on the boolit. Easy![smilie=1: It helps to have special little tools made up for the task.:mrgreen:

There another little trick and that is to leave enough space in the case for some wheat bran filler which acts as a wad. I would do the wheat bran filler/wad anyway.



A loading press is fine for swaging 224 boolits. I takes about as long as seating a gas check but then knurling and lubing still have to be done.:roll:

[michiganvet]

I didn't have real good result with the hornet. I feel that the highly tapered case is part of the problem. I have a Sako that was really lame with jacketed bullets as well with case head separations another problem. There is a solution, however. It is called .22 K Hornet. I bought a Clymer finishing reamer and WHAT A Difference! I haven't tried cast again yet, but my .224's in .22 short jackets with a 1 cal ojive HP are devestating.