First Casting Session...

[bdoyle]

First in over a year! Too many home projects and finishing work started by people I paid to do the job. But this weekend I was able to crank up the pot and cast a handfull on 225415 and some bator 22's. There are a lot of these little guys in a good size handful. I have a tc hornet and one of them new Savage model 40 hornets. They shoot pretty good on them other bullets (those bullets and 22lr held me over - shot a bunch of 22's) but I need to get back on the true path. Seems like I hardly used any alloy but I have around 400 of the lymans cast. Going to have to try some of these in my rem 700 223.

Brian

[USARO4]

How do you like that Savage? Could you post a picture of it? Also how fast do you drive the Hornet with cast boolits?

[bdoyle]

I am hoping to emulate a 22wrm or a bit better. Looking to be in the range of 1800 -1900 fps. Going to start with Unique, 4759 and RL7. I have only shot jacketed 45 gr bullets (w/Lil'gun 12.5gr) but I did get a 5 shot 50yard group of .300 but usually hovers around a half an inch. I have made a spray paint can dance at 200 yards and various other small objects (hardly a solid quailifer but it was fun). I don have any pics but it is on the Savage web page at:
http://www.savagearms.com/40Varmint.htm
I put on a Nikon Monarch 4-16x scope that will focus @ fifty yards. The only thing I don't like about the rifle is that the action (in my rifle) is not well supported at the rear at the trigger. The barrel is fully floated but the stock is cut out for a magazine that does not exist and you can actually bind up the bolt by snugging up the rear screw. I made up a spacer the fills the gap between the stock and the action so you can snug it up with out binding.
I couldn't find any gas checks locally(22) so I am waiting for a care package from midway. It is a pretty decent rifle for the money spent and it is fun to shoot.
Brian

[Dale53]

I have had good luck with the Lyman 225415 gc with the Hornet and 3.0 grs of Unique. I haven't chronographed that load but it is deadly on squirrels and other small game.

In the .221 fireball TC pistol I use the same bullet and 4.0 grs of Unique. This gives ½" groups at fifty yards off the bench.

The Hornet is a pretty versatile little cartridge. Using the Hornet kind of puts the "hunt" back into varmint shooting. I have always wanted to take a turkey with the Hornet and cast bullets but neither Ohio nor the tri-state area allow rifles to be used on turkeys (nor pistols).

Dale53

[lovedogs]

I've always wanted to try a Hornet, maybe modified to a K-Hornet. And it seems like it'd be really fun to pop things with cast bullets with one. Most of my casting is for .45-70's though and when I go down to smaller bullets, like .44's & .357's they seem so tiny. Gotta be quick on the pot handle. It seems like it'd be hard to pour those tiny little .22 bullets. Sure sounds like fun though.

[bdoyle]

It seems you won't live long enough to empty the pot with the 225415. I was running the alloy hot @ 800 deg and really had no issues keeping a good pace. I thought I would have a lot more trouble but it was pretty easy.
I am also just sizing my brass only about 1/4 inch, just enough to grab the bullet not fully size the case or even come near the shoulder.
Brian

[HORNET]

The 225415 is fairly easy to cast once you get the blocks hot. Getting them warmed up can be a trial but, then, the blocks don't overheat very easily either so you can keep on going and going and....:holysheep
Ran 6-1/2 pounds of 225107's once from single cavity, took all afternoon. Sure got a lot of the little buggers though.......mebbe 900 or so. Ought to be fun for tree rats.[smilie=1: