Cast in 22 hornet

[olafhardt]

I have long craved a Savage 219 in 22 Hornet. I got one at the huge Tulsa gun show. I got the idea some where that casting 22 cal boolits didn't work so good. Do any of you have any experience with the Hornet?

[reed1911]

Oh my no, not in any sense of the idea. In fact there are so many reasons the .22 hornet is perfect for cast that I can't see where the idea of not doing it would stem from. I run from the very soft (8bhn) to rather hard (15bhn) depending on speed. For duplicating the .22 LR or .22 Mag speeds a soft plain base bullet and small powder charge is had to beat, I have a 45g WFN that I cast soft behind 3g of powder that costs about 5 cents to make (you can't buy good rim-fire for that anymore). If I need to speed things up to full velocity I run a 37g GC with a stout load of magnum powder that will anchor small game in place. I've used others HP cast but have not as of yet bought a mold for varmints, but it is on the want list.

[kenyerian]

I like the Lyman 225438 and the 225-37-FN225107 that NOE offers. Also the Lee 22 Bator for a 55 grain boolit.

[Tackleberry41]

I have fired the lyman 55gr out of my hornet with no problems. Powder coated could fire them full velocity, actually higher. They go down the barrel easier, so was getting an extra 200fps out of them.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

hey reed! I see you are a fellow okie! where do you hail from, it seems you have a shop, going from the name of your e-mail? haven't seen you around, I don't know why , I saw you post count. but a late welcome to the site to you! Have a good day! Travis

[reed1911]

Dead center in OKC. We are a manufacturer and I don't have a customer counter, which is generally why no one realizes we are here.

[roadie]

I have long craved a Savage 219 in 22 Hornet. I got one at the huge Tulsa gun show. I got the idea some where that casting 22 cal boolits didn't work so good. Do any of you have any experience with the Hornet?


I guess a lot of casters find the smaller .22 a bit harder to turn out good bullets. I found mold and alloy temps were critical, but when it's right, they cast as well as anything else. The Hornet is a natural for cast, I think the chambers you run into will be more problematic that the cartridge itself.

[JSH]

I swapped off a couple of Winchester 22rf rifles for a nib savage a few years back. I have plenty of match ammo, but the cheap brick ammo is no more. So I said the heck with it and went to the hornet. I had loaded jacketed for my TC years back, but that was a lot different than what I wanted in this rifle.
Taylor the load to the guns chamber and you will be fine. If you want to load so it will chamber in anything,be a lot more lenient to your out come on paper. One other thing, cull your cast bullets very hard, accept no blemishes. It is just to easy to recycle. My groups thus far from 25-100 are a joy to shoot.
I forget the model my savage is but it got a lot of bad press. Why, I have no idea. It is shooting weplay enough that an upgrade in optics is on the list.

[wistlepig1]

I have long craved a Savage 219 in 22 Hornet. I got one at the huge Tulsa gun show. I got the idea some where that casting 22 cal boolits didn't work so good. Do any of you have any experience with the Hornet?

One tip that I used and worked well for me in a Hornet. LiLgun powder and SMALL pistol primer is a good place to start. FYI

[45-70 Chevroner]

I think when the 22 Hornet first came out most of the ammo was loaded with lead bullets.

[runfiverun]

it's how 2400 got it's name.
it was the powder that gave 2400 fps to the little round.

[JeffinNZ]

Second the NOE 225107. This what it my daughter's Hornet will do with that bullet at 50m and Lil Gun powder.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Shooting%20stuff/87da06e9-a68f-4373-81e2-4fd3b16d415a_zpsqviwsx8f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/JeffinNZ/media/Shooting%20stuff/87da06e9-a68f-4373-81e2-4fd3b16d415a_zpsqviwsx8f.jpg.html)

And with the new style Lyman 225415 over 8.0gr H4227.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Shooting%20stuff/8.5gr%202205_zpsqeybixvx.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/JeffinNZ/media/Shooting%20stuff/8.5gr%202205_zpsqeybixvx.jpg.html)

Both doing 22-2300fps.

[richhodg66]

I have a Savage 219 and a plain based 45 grain WFN mold. With two grains of Bullseye and a small pistol primer, it's very accurate at realistic small game ranges and it has become my favorite squirrel rifle.

[Prodigal Son]

I have a NOE mold GC drops 39 gr that is very accurate in my Win model 43! I'd have to look at notes for the data but it's great, even shot a 40 lbs hog one day drt !

[Tackleberry41]

I have not found a bullet that does poorly in my hornet yet. Drills 40gr Amax all day. And the cast ones were really accurate. 55gr is usually a bit much, but a cast bullet tends to be shorter for the weight than a jacketed. Lil gun is the powder to use.

[quilbilly]

I have been shooting CB's in my Hornet for years - mostly the old style Lee Bator 53 gr CB. Accuracy has been steady at about 1.25 MOA with a load of 9.4 gr of 4198. 2400 shoots slightly better but since it recently became made of unobtainium, I switched to 4198. I will soon be trying it with the newer updated Lee 57 gr CB as son as deer season is over and look forward to comparing the accuracy of the new design and weight.

[wistlepig1]

I got to say that I was using the old style Lee Bator and Lyman 438. My Savage like the 438 best. When I was much younger I had a Win#43 that I finely shot out with J words. I found that when I went to LiLgun my brass life was much better than in the past it was 2400 all the way. It would be interesting to see what others here has seen in brass life with diff powders!

[JSH]

I have kept most of mine pretty slow.
Are you using H or IMR4198. Either is a pita to measure,I just use my old B&M powder measure.