22 Hornet trick

[Blanco]

I Just recently picked up a nice little Savage 219 in 22 Hornet, only to discover almost no ammunition available, or priced unreasonably. So I get all the necessary dies and gear up for a new caliber.
Hornet brass is fairly fragile I have discovered and all the proper weight bullets are flat based. Needless to say I did wrinkle a few before getting used to what works.
I found fairly early on that reloading would be enhanced by flaring the mouth of the case just a hair. I do have a Lee universal flare die that I obtained for loading some .375 Winchester, but have had limited success with it.
I had been previously trimming 25-06 brass on my RCBS Trim Pro and was thinking of trimming/checking some of my Hornet brass and an idea hit me .... use the 25 caliber mandrel to flare the Hornet brass. I spun a piece and applied gentle pressure. I could actually see and feel the mouth of the case expand. I can run a bunch of brass thru fairly quick. Since using the expanded brass I have not wrinkled a single piece!
I know ... Not a huge discovery....Like a new element or planet, but it's something useful. I know this is probably not the first time something like this has been attempted on this kind of equipment, but it may just help one person

[fatelvis]

Or you can drop this in your Lee expander body.
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...2vrsmjjt564cm6


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[Drphilwv]

Thanks for the idea! Have a 22 TCM I needed to flare. Saved a an M die purchase


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[koehlerrk]

Had the same exact problem when I started loading for my Hornet. I bought the Lyman M die and haven't looked back.

[barrabruce]

First centre fire case I ever loaded.
Mine is a khornet but tis the same.
About 20 yrs before I had ever heard of an M die this is.

I learnt to chamfer the mouth with the deburring tool.

I got into a habit of holding the projectile in the case mouth with thumb and forefinger and letting it case glide through my fingers into the seating die.

Helps to keep the bullet aligned.

One should fell the bullet slowly sliding into the neck.

It ain't bash away at it like a thick necked 223 or 308 brass.
There is a supple difference..... as you can easily feel a bullet hang up and relieve pressure as with a thick neck modern stuff you can just bump it through.

hope it helps.

[Blanco]

I had tried to hold the wee little projectiles in the neck while pulling the handle ever so gingerly.
it does take a bit of finesse and you still rumple one up on occasion

[sparky45]

Or you can drop this in your Lee expander body.
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...2vrsmjjt564cm6


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That's exactly what I did, works great.

[Three44s]

I use a VLD chamfer tool and the gentle easy approach like barrabruce does.

I also own a few Lyman M dies ....... but not in the .22 size ........

I like that NOE part and own the Lee expander die ....... so I'll be getting my mitts on that for sure!

Three 44s

[jmorris]

Hornady 35 grain NTX and 40 grain V-max bullets are the easiest to use in .22 hornet. You would have to work at it to ruin a case with them.

[tstowater]

At the recommendation of another shooter, I went to Barnes 40 Gr Varmintor bullets in the Hornet. https://www.natchezss.com/varminator...r-per-100.html This makes a really nice load for prairie dogs.

It is a flat based bullet so I generally will chamfer the neck so the bullet goes in easier. You still have to pay a lot of attention when dealing with Hornet brass. I'm getting better, but still will run into a 5% attrition some times. Thinking about buying/building a 17 Hornet of some nature but I'm guessing that is buying even more trouble.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I now use a NOE specific expander plug in the lee Universal Flare die,
BUT,
I use to use a Lee 257rob FL die (it could be any larger caliber) to flare my 22 hornet cases on the press...The Lee dies have a real gradual expander, they call it a Ez X expander. Looks like this

http://leeprecision.com/custom-overs...-expander.html

[JSH]

Hornady seating die helps a bunch. I use an Mdie for cast though.