22 hornet

[gandydancer]

I picked up a real nice CZ in 22 Hornet 2 weeks before Xmas traded off a couple of scopes for it a 2.5 leupold 4 a pistol & a Kallus(wrong spelling) 4 power that needs new cross hairs. the CZ has a set trigger I forget the model # I put it in the safe and forgot about it until just now.. any loads for it? will a 22 hornet do well with a cast bullet? will a 22 hornet do well at all. I had the savage model 40 a few years ago and did not like it. and I'm a huge savage fan. The man that has my old 22 hornet savage model 40 says its the best shooting hornet he has ever owned. any way thanks for any information. Gandy

[Larry Gibson]

Lighter bullets seem to be the craze for 22 Hornets these days but I've already gone through that craze years agon and settled on 40 - 45 gr J bullets to be the best. I prefer the Hornady 45 S Hornet bullet over 13 gr Lil'gun in NS'd WW cases with WSP primers. Velocity is 2940 out of my Savage M40, 2790 fps out of my 21" TC Contender and 2840 fps out of my 22" Ruger #3. All will shoot sub moa with 10 shot groups and the Saveage shoots in the .4s and .5s.

The old stand by load of 11.5 gr 4227 (either flavor) under a 40 -45 gr Sierra Hornet bullet is always a good one to try. 12.5 gr H110 is also a good load for the 40 gr J bullets in many guns.

Cast bullets shoot well in the Hornet also with 225107 and 225438 being my choices for Hornets with 16" twists. The 12 and 14" twist Hornets will also shoot the 225462 quite well, especially at higher velocities. I use 225415 in the faster twists from 600 fps to 2000 fps for very good squirrel loads. I also use cases drilled out for LR primers with .22 cal pellets for indoor fun.

Larry Gibson

[l h jenkins]

aa 1680 is also an excellant powder both for the hornet and 218 bee. check you manuals for loading.

[gandydancer]

Thanks larry. & Jenkins I will try it all. gandy

[1Shirt]

I like H-110 and 2400 in my Hornet and K hornet. I like hard cast, above Lino hardness, and prefer HP cast boolits. Have 225438 and 225415 both in as made and in HP's done by Buckshot. Good luck!
1Shirt!

[uscra112]

Lighter bullets seem to be the craze for 22 Hornets these days but I've already gone through that craze years agon and settled on 40 - 45 gr J bullets to be the best. I prefer the Hornady 45 S Hornet bullet over 13 gr Lil'gun in NS'd WW cases with WSP primers.

Larry, 13 grains looks awfully hot to me - I've gone that far in my 14" Contender (same bullet) and had a lot of case failures. And Quickload puts it at 55000 psi, too. Do your cases hold up? (I've since "K'd" mine, so case issues may abate if I try it again.) Last summer's loads were 11.9 grains and gave good results.

I don't shoot cast in mine - I'm afraid of ricochets. This gun is used on chucks in the garden, and I'm not always able to pick a shot with a perfect backstop.

Phil

[PB234]

The CZ should be a terrific rifle. Have you slugged it yet? I read somewhere that it measures .2235 as opposed to the older Hornets at .223 or the newer ones at .224.

[CATS]

Yes, be sure to slug that thing. Jacketed bulllllets can be purchased in.223 or .224.

[bearmn56]

I have a CZ527 American in .22 Hornet. I have fired over 2 thousand rounds in it using Lil'Gun powder, small pistol primers and 34-45 grain bullets.
My current load is 13.5 gr Lil'gun, a CCI 500 primer and a 34gr Dogtown bullet....velocity is 3100fps and the small pistol primers show modest pressures.
I use 13.0gr of Lil'gun with the 40gr Sierra Hornet...again very modest pressures...velocity is around 2970fps. I use 12.5gr of Lil'gun with the 45gr hornet for around 2900fps. All of these loads are deadly on prairie dogs and ground squirrels out to 150yds if one is careful.
I have used AA1680, 2400, IMR and H 4227, AA#9 and H110....in the Hornet. For my money Lil'gun is THE powder for the Hornet. I have used both of the 4227s with good success...but Lil'gun gives the best velocities and accuracy by far.
The new Speer loading manual lists the exclusive use of the CCI500 small pistol primer for all Hornet loads. I have been using small pistol primers in the Hornet for over 20 years and have had the same results as Speer has reported....better velocities, less extreme spread and lower pressures.
Bearmn56
Montana Territory
PS I ALWAYS only neck size my brass. Hornet brass is quite thin and the CZ527 will chamber even tight brass with no problems. Firing relaxes the brass for easy extraction. I just love this cartridge....cheap to reload, great accuracy and very deadly for my purposes.
Bearmn56

[PB234]

And if you did not get a manual for the rifle or a chance to play with it then I should mention that it has a single set trigger.

[canyon-ghost]

Lyman 225438 gas checked mold, 7.5 grains of IMR 4227. Makes a dandy handgun for Hunter's Pistol 100 meter matches.

[Iowa Fox]

Congrats on a fine little rifle. Been looking for one myself, just can't seem to find it.

[gandydancer]

Thank you all very much. I will post on here when I get a chance to work with it. I am a fair weather shooter if my feet are not warm I go home. Thanks again. TOM

[frnkeore]

Hodgdon list only 43k even for a 55 gr J bullet with 13.0 gr LilGun. Under 32k for the 45 gr j.

Frank

[Larry Gibson]

Larry, 13 grains looks awfully hot to me - I've gone that far in my 14" Contender (same bullet) and had a lot of case failures. And Quickload puts it at 55000 psi, too. Do your cases hold up? (I've since "K'd" mine, so case issues may abate if I try it again.) Last summer's loads were 11.9 grains and gave good results.

I don't shoot cast in mine - I'm afraid of ricochets. This gun is used on chucks in the garden, and I'm not always able to pick a shot with a perfect backstop.

Phil

Don't know about "Quick Load" as I've not computed that load in the Hornet. However, I have pressure tested 13 gr of Lil'gun under the 45 gr Hornady in my 21" Contender barrel using a M43 Oehler. MAP for the 22 Hornet is 30,000 psi (peizo). Win factory 46HP runs 24,900 psi(M43). The 45 gr SP with 11.5 H4227 runs 26,000 psi(M43). The 45 SP with 12.5 gr H110 runs 29,400 psi(M43). The 13 gr load of Lil'gun under the same 45 gr SP runs 20,000 psi(M43). Most all articles with knowledge of psi's state Lil'gun loads produce higher velcoities at lower psi's than factory loads.....exactly as my tests have confirmed.

BTW; I've not lost any cases so far(?) with that Lil'gun load. It is often published with bullets of 35-40 gr also as it is a case full and is compressed. However, while accuracy is usually pretty good with such lighter weight bullets I get very large ES in velocities and psi's with them. This shows Lil'gun is actually too slow for consistent ignition with those lighter weight bullets. Can't argue with the accuracy though......... I just prefer the 45 Hornady SP for the consistency of the load and accuracy to 250 yards plus it is devestating on small varmints yet does a very good job on coyotes.

Larry Gibson

[PB234]

As long as we are talking Lil Gun how would it work for a 37 grain cast gas check boolit out of a Hornet? Just something better about lead over jacketed if I can.

[303Guy]

I have an Anschutz with a generous chamber and 223 bore. I've developed a load delivering 2740fps with 55gr spire points. The trick is to use R-P cases as they are thinner and no neck sizing. Well, one would have to size the neck so the bullet can be finger seated. I 'glue' the bullets in place with a wax/stick lube/STP mixture (which has to be molten). Powder charge is 13.8gr Lil'Gun, pre-compressed to seating depth. Case life is indefinate provided they are lubed. Because I don't neck size and use a paper seating cup, I can headspace on the case mouth. The cases do need squaring and do 'grow' slowly until they headspace on the mouth. The same loading in a WW case opened the primer pocket! I should pint out that my model Anschutz was designed for 222 Remington so pressure is only what the case can withstand, within reason and bolt face thrust is not an issue (the hornet case is so weak it doesn't take much thrust anyway).

Oh yes - it's important to use a low power primer! I use Federal SR primers. Others use pistol primers.

[405]

I bought a CZ 15 years ago, new. I see that most of the posts center around such and such velocity out of the Hornet. Most of the ground has been covered as to various bullets and powders for the Hornet. A little but not so much about accuracy. Strange, since the little 22 is all about accuracy. My 10" skinny barrel Contender out shot the rifle- badly. I sold it so hope you have good luck with it.

[303Guy]

The accuracy out of my Anschutz is pretty good with my load. It didn't do too well with conventional loads. It was only when I started getting the loads 'up there' that it shone. I suspect the higher loads give a more consistent powder burn. Also, it can be tricky centring the bullet to the bore with neck sizing. For me it was all about accuracy with a huge chunk of punch thrown in since I wanted a bit of reach as well as the ability to hunt goat. I didn't stretch the ranges with goat - 100m max.

[robroy]

I've got a Ruger 7722 Hornet. It has a 14 twist and likes the 225462 (WCWW) checked with Hornady checks and tumble lubed with LLA topping off a full case of H4198 lit by CCI small pistol magnum primers (all I could get at the time). It's good for about 2.5 to 3 inches at 100 yds. I picked up some small pistol primers of a couple flavors to see if I can shrink that group a bit.

That full case of H4198 puts Hornady 55 gn FMJ into an inch at 100 Yds. I also got a pound of Lilgun to see what happens with it.


This was the first gun in which I tried cast loads and unfortunately I haven't been able to do as well with my 35 Rem. Go figure.