Reloading and casting for the 22 Hornet

[ncmn]

I just got an older NEF 22 Hornet with a 12 twist and been searching the forum and looking for all the information I can find on this caliber. I have never reloaded for the 22 hornet let alone cast for it. I saw the information on the 22 Bator mold for .224 55g bullets and ordered one for a start. I hope to be able to use them in a 223 also, but plan on testing them in the 22 Hornet first. I have casted several thousand bullets now Thanks to this great forum, and hopefully I can get those little bullets to cast as good as the others. I have Lil-Gun on hand to start with, both small rifle and small pistol primers. New brass and brass shot in the rifle so when the mold gets here I am off to another casting session.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I know that there's not a question here, but there are a number of loads using pistol powder in the 4th edition of the Lyman cast bullet handbook. The 22 Hornet is a very cost friendly caliber to shoot. Using cast boolits, you can shoot 22 mag velocity loads (and even exceed the 22 mag) for about one fourth the cost of shooting factory 22 mags. I have never owned a 22 Hornet my self, but two of my brothers have and they both really like it. I have a TC 223 with a 21" barrel and I shoot a lot of 22 mag velocity loads in it, along with a 14" TC 223. From my brothers experiences the 22 Hornet is a little more accurate than the 223 using cast boolits, but not by much.

[ncmn]

I know that there's not a question here, but there are a number of loads using pistol powder in the 4th edition of the Lyman cast bullet handbook. The 22 Hornet is a very cost friendly caliber to shoot.

Thanks and I do need to get the Lyman book as my reloading manual does not have much for cast bullets. I guess I did not really ask a question, but I would appreciate any information that anyone could give a newbie on loading this little round. I am a tightwad and that is one of the reasons for picking the hornet. I may have to stick with jacketed but sure do not want to. Does anyone make a mold smaller than 55g?

[waco]

A word to the wise when casting for .22's

Be VERY anal about your boolits. Visually inspect each one for defects, then weigh them and sort down to one tenth grain.

Trust me. It makes a difference.

Waco

[dtknowles]

I got a 45 grain mould from NOE, plain base flat point but they have a GC version too. Lyman has a lighter mould as well. I use pistol powders for plain base stuff. GC and jacketed I love Lil Gun.

Tim

[DLCTEX]

Lyman 225438, mine casts 46 gr. Works better than Bator in my 1-14 twist Ruger.

[rhead]

The two best loads that i found using that boolit were 4.5 grains of 2400 (22 mag type velocities) and near max load of of Lil Gun (just short of a compressed load) for factory type loads. Both loads are more accurate than factory loads in my Handi rifle. I was using a Winchester SPP in both. For the Lil gun load I use the Lee collet type neck only sizer. As mentioned above be very anal at every step. The small capacity of the hornet case will magnify any mistake. For both loads I used oven heat treated boolits. I constructed a small hardware cloth basket that held the boolits upright for the quenching. i did not want them to hit the water sideways and wind up with one side of the boolit being harder than the other. Believe it or not it actually made a difference on the little ones. I cannot tell a difference on thirty cal.

[dudel]

I also have a NEF (Handi) 22Hornet with a threaded barrel, and it's really been a fun gun. I use 22 Bator boolits with a variety of loads to get soft, subsonic rounds; or hot, loud ones in the 22WMRF range.

I've also taken to using just primer and 22 caliber pellets. Stuff the pellet in flush with the case mouth, add a primer and you've got a really quiet pest round.

Along with the Handi, I also have a Contender barrel in 22 Hornet. Brass is rather delicate, so I prefer to work it as little as possible. I do one full length resize, then designate the case for either the Handi or the Contender. Reloads are done with a Lee Collet die to minimize working the brass. It's important to chamfer the case mouth, because any snag from the projectile tends to crumple the case. Try the Bator with and without the gas check to see which works best for you. I also use a Lyman M die to get the case mouth prepped. The M die seems to help. I also use Hornady j-words (lead is a pain to clean in the suppressor). They have a nice boat tail that really makes loading almost foolproof. The Hornet case really appreciates the Hornady inline seater. Get the projectile off center, and say goodbye to the case.

The Hornet is a little more work to reload (I do them all on the single stage), but it's a really fun round. When you find brass for sale, stock up. My first brass came from factory ammo. I really like that the Handi and Contender don't toss the brass.

[ncmn]

Ok guys got the bator mold and its working pretty good for a newbie. Dropping .225 just like I wanted and weight is averaging 50.3 gr without gas check. Once I got the temp right everything started going pretty good. I got a few cases neck sized tonight and loaded some sp primers. I have some trail boss that I am thinking about trying first. I will also try the lil-gun but would rather have a quite target round for 50 to 100 yards. I am looking at the starting load for trail boss and working up. Best I can measure is 3.5 gr to bottom of neck close to where bullet will seat without compression and x .7 gives me 2.45 gr. Does this sound like a starting point that will get the little bullet out to 100 yards safely??? Or would I be better off going with lil-gun??
Thanks
Ron

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Long ago (1966?) I had a Savage 219 .22 Hornet with a 3/4" Weaver 6x scope. I cast the Lyman 225415 (single cavity) sized to .225 with Lyman gas check, lubricant was Lyman Ideal. I used IMR4227 powder and was very pleased with accuracy which was better than the factory ammo of the time. I believe that Savage had a 1-16 twist barrel but I had no trouble with bullet stability. It was a fun rifle and very cheap to run. I used Herter's dies, still have them. I ladle cast and did not have any trouble getting good bullets. I did also have a light load using Unique, but not as accurate as the more powerful load. Light load in a .22 Hornet might only be noticed if it is sub-sonic (less than 1000 fps give or take).

[Orland]

Ncmn, I loaded some 45 gr. j-words with 2.5 gr. of trail boss but has been raining since and have not got a chance to try them. I just bought an H&R handi in 22H with the intention of using a 40 gr. cast at 22 lr. Velocities for plinking and hunting tree rats. I will be following this thread and will post my results when I get a chance to shoot.

[johnnysespresso]

3 or 4 years ago, I got a Contender carbine bbl. and read everything I could find about handloading the .22 Hornet. One tip I found was to use a VLD chamfering tool. Mine is from RCBS and I think Lyman also makes one. Haven't crumpled a case yet.

[ncmn]

Orland I have not loaded any yet, but I will tonight and try them. I loaded some lil-gun with the bator 50gr and a few 52 sierra bthp. I am interested in what you find out for sure.

Johnnysespresso Thanks and yes sir, I did a little benchrest shooting last year and bought a vld chamfering tool then, and used it on all my first loads no problem at all.

Just hope everything shoots good, I will learn a lot from this I think.
Thanks guys

[Pakprotector]

A 12" twist should stabilize up to 60 grains if it isn't boat-tailed. The 225462 is near that, and from the Border Barrels calculator, would only stabilize the '462 when well supersonic in a 14" twist( IIRC; it has been a while since it was running ).
cheers,
Douglas