? - 22 Hornet Lee Loader for K Hornet

[rdlange]

Because it supposedly only neck sizes, can I use a regular Hornet Lee Loader for K Hornet? I've only used them a little for straight cases and shotgun.

Thanks

[dualsport]

Big difference in neck length. Do you have one to try out? Pound that baby in there and see what happens.

[cdet69]

The answer is no. I have tried this and it sizes the neck more than the 22K. You wind up with crushed cases. The collet neck die does the same thing also.

[rdlange]

OK.... And, I thought the Lee collet neck die would work because it' doesn't full length. Haven't tried that either. Just looking for a way to NOT spend $$$ on K dies.

[Mk42gunner]

Off the wall thought of the day:

What about using a set .218 Bee dies to neck size the K-Hornet? I don't have either on hand to try.

Robert

[Pavogrande]

How about a lyman 310 muzzle resizer ?

[cdet69]

The only way I could use my Lee 22 Hornet collet die was to put washers that would fit around the case and be the same diameter or larger of the die face. It forces the collet to close earlier and does not size as much of the neck. Was just a hassle having to keep moving washers from one case to another. But it did work. I eventualy just whent and bought a Redding neck die in 22K Hornet.

[rdlange]

Pavo: Am definitely looking for a 310 set, but might not let the case in far enough to crimp.
cdet: thanks for the tip.

I will contact Lee anyway and find out how to send my collet die in for mod. to K Hornet, which I understand they will do for a nominal fee.

Not a critical issue as I have a fair bit of regular Hornet brass so I can just load it for use and reload the fireformed brass when I run out.

I'll let y'all know how it works out. Thanks.

[fredd.sss]

Maybe this will help you. I have a lee collet dies for my 22 hornet TC contender carbine, not a k hornet. I used a dremel tool and a bullet shaped grinding stone and ground away at the collet from the inside so about 3/16 of an inch contact on the case neck, i used very light pressure so not to create a burr and fine metal sand paper between the collet slots to remove any burrs. I wanted some of the neck to stay fire formed. Sometime in the near future I would like to have my contender carbine chambered to 22 K hornet...let me know if this helps..take care...Fred

[DLCTEX]

The die issue is all that keeps me from reaming my Tarus Raging Hornet to K hornet. It has a tendency to back cases out and bind the cylinder enough to require help in turning.

[fredd.sss]

back in the 60's ruger manufactured the hawkeye 256 win mag, single shot, it featured a swiveling breechblock which allowed an individual round to be loaded and sealed into the frame. I'm not sure if the k hornet would help. I found this..http://pistolsmith.com/revolvers/8782-taurus-raging-hornet.html fred

[Dave Bulla]

I'm trying to remember for sure but I'm picturing the K-hornet as having the shoulder slightly forward of and at a much sharper angle than a standard hornet. If using the Lee Loader kit causes neck deformation I assume it would be because when you pound the empty case into the die all the way the die crushes the shoulder before the case rim bottoms out flush with the die. I think it would be fairly simple to either use washers or make a spacer that would fit over the die body and act like an extension. That way, when you pound the casing into the die, it only goes in to the proper depth to size the neck and does not crush the shoulder.

The only thing stopping this from working would be if the interior shape of the regular hornet die body closely followed the contour of a regular 22 hornet case all the way to the neck. I don't have a die set to look at in that caliber so I'm just guessing. If the die does follow the shape of the case all the way, it'll probably still crush the shoulder due to the inside taper of the die. I don't think the Lee dies are super hard steel so you could theoretically use a reamer or borer to extend the straight taper far enough to clear the K-hornet shoulder.

[1Shirt]

Save yourself a lot of trouble, and just get a K-hornet size die.
1Shirt!

[fredd.sss]

I have a contender 21 inch carbine, and a 8 ½ inch contender pistol in 22 hornet, I use lee collet dies. Using a dremel grinder and a small cone shaped grinding tip. I ground inside the collet die till about .250 of the 22 hornet neck was sized. Later I might have my carbine barrel reamed to 22 K. Just check the neck length of the 22 K, and grind inside the collet, Use a grinding tip large enough grinding wheel so the collet wont touch the neck and body of the 22 K, use very light pressure on the grinding wheel to keep the burrs to a minimum. Use very fine wet dry sand paper any burrs between the collet slots..hope this helps60701