Squirrel Loads for a .22 Hornet

[dovehunter]

I would like to develop a good squirrel load for shooting at up to 50 yds. or so with a .22 Hornet. To start off I will be using .225" dia. Beartooth 45 grn. gas check bullets in new Winchester cases with CCI SR primers. I'll be shooting this in an NEF Handi-Rifle. I'd like to use Unique powder as I have a good supply on hand and everything I've been able to find so far suggests that it is a good powder to use for reduced loads in the Hornet. So far I have seen recommendations of 3.0-3.5 gr. of Unique. Any suggestions?

[StarMetal]

I would like to develop a good squirrel load for shooting at up to 50 yds. or so with a .22 Hornet. To start off I will be using .225" dia. Beartooth 45 grn. gas check bullets in new Winchester cases with CCI SR primers. I'll be shooting this in an NEF Handi-Rifle. I'd like to use Unique powder as I have a good supply on hand and everything I've been able to find so far suggests that it is a good powder to use for reduced loads in the Hornet. So far I have seen recommendations of 3.0-3.5 gr. of Unique. Any suggestions?

Try some loads and change the primer to a small pistol primer. I found with my CZ rifle that the small rifle primer was blowing the powder and the bullet up the bore before the powder was burning good. My accuracy increased with the switch. Just don't use them for high end jacketed loads.

Joe

[BABore]

Ditto on the SR primers. Ditch them and try some CCI 500 small pistol primers. The lil Hornet doesn't have much neck tension, especially with lead boolits. The rifle primers blast everything out of the case to varying degrees on each shot. This varys your combustion chamber and give erratic results.

I started at about 3.0-3.5 grs of Unique with a plain based version of my 226-47 GC. I tried both air cooled and water dropped boolits and lube seperate trial batches with both alox/motor mica and LBT soft. The alox and soft boolits shot best. Since then I've continued upping the Unique charge and keep getting even better accuracy. 50 Yard groups have been running under 3/4 inches at a book estimated 1,800 fps.

[leftiye]

Lil' Gun seems to be in a level by itself in the Hornet. For lower velocity loads with it see Beagle's article on Castpics. Ditto on small peestole primerz!

[Charlie Sometimes]

7/10ths of a grain of unique, wsr primer, bator boolit. near silent, and 1"@35 yards. it will go clean thru a woodchuck at 40 yards.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=70277

This was posted on another 22 Hornet thread here- don't know if it works, but I was going to try it eventually.

[elk hunter]

My favorite grey squirrel gun/load is a Winchester Model 43 in Hornet. I used to shoot factory seconds of the CCI? 22 magnum solid bullets, that I found at gun shows dirt cheap, ahead of a Federal small rifle primer and 4.5 grains of Unique. In my rifle this load would make one small ragged hole with five shots at fifty yards, when I did my part. The Hornet, since it is very small, is sensitive to primer changes and very small changes in powder charge. One tenth grain either way would show a marked difference in group size. I started to develop a cast bullet load a few years ago, but didn't finish up as the squirrels have all but disappeared where I used to hunt. I may get back on this project as I sure enjoy shooting the Hornet.

[NHlever]

The 3-3.5 grains of Unique has shot well for me with the 50 gr cast boolits I have. If your H&R is new, it may have the 1-9" twist, so I'll be interested to see how it shoots for you, it sounds interesting. I"m with the others on the pistol primers, in fact the new Speer manual worked up all new loads using pistol primers instead of rifle primers, and they said they got higher velocities, and more consistant pressures with them. They caution against using any of the loads in the new manual with rifle primers.

[jimwill48]

I found in that same rifle a: 55gr Lyman Cast Flat Nose GC (don't have the mould # in front of me), 1.2 gr Trailboss and a SP primer will punch one hole all day at 25 yards and will penatrate 3 inchs into endrain of a White Oak Log. Plenty of power for Squirrel.

[303Guy]

Just don't use them for high end jacketed loads.I use Federal small rifle primers with the understanding they are little if any more powerful than pistol primers. I have switched to pistol primers for testing with the same loads and saw no difference in primer flattening. My loads are not mild. Not for a hornet anyway. I use zero neck tension. Cases last forever! Just my findings - your milage may vary.

[Bullshop Junior]

I found in that same rifle a: 55gr Lyman Cast Flat Nose GC (don't have the mould # in front of me), 1.2 gr Trailboss and a SP primer will punch one hole all day at 25 yards and will penatrate 3 inchs into endrain of a White Oak Log. Plenty of power for Squirrel.
We tried Trailboss in a 22 Hornet and it was poo poo. It would not even kill a rabbit.

[Bullshop Junior]

This is the load that I developed for my 10" contender for hunting squirrels.

CCI #550 Magnum
1.7gr Winchester WST (Same as bullseye)
50gr Lyman RNPB mod @.225" with Speed Green
R-P 22 Hornet cases.
OAL 1.675"

The boolits are available from The Bullshop.

This load was very accurate out of my contender. I tried several primers, SP and SR standard and magnum, and the CCI #550 shot the best.

[hornsurgeon]

7/10ths grain of unique and the bator boolit. works well in my hornet for short range and has the power to kill grounhogs. it has much better penitratrion than the 22 cb shorts from cci i was using.

[bigdog454]

Back in the day, (read years ago), I used a 25-20 with a buckshot seated flush with the case and a little grease over the ball for lube. It was very accurate to about 125 feet and deadly on squirrels. I would think that maybe a #4 buckshot sized in a lee sizer for the hornet loaded the same would work very well.

[NHlever]

7/10ths grain of unique and the bator boolit. works well in my hornet for short range and has the power to kill grounhogs. it has much better penitratrion than the 22 cb shorts from cci i was using.

Using Quickload, I get a warning message on this load that the bullet start pressure is higher thant they think it should be, or peaks too much before the boolit is engaged in the rifling. On the other hand, loads that light with Titegroup don't give that message although the velocity is low ( 617 fps), and something like 1.5 grains might be more versitile. (1045 fps)

[hornsurgeon]

i just workded it down till the boolit stuck, then slightly increased till i got fairly consistant velocity. i wanted it as quiet as possible, but accurate.

this is from paco kelly's website. it's where i got the idea.

The Hornet case is so small that with a 24 inch barrel a silent load is fairly simple...a ½ to 3/4ths grain of Bullseye or Clays will do it. I welded 3/4 inch steel plate around the back of my Outers pellet trap...it will now stop a 44 magnum handgun round. I placed a inch piece of plywood in front of the trap...and the 55 grain Lyman flatnose over 1.2 grains of Clays from my Ruger 20 inch barreled bolt action rifle, surprisingly punched right thru it. Glad I had the trap behind the wood. Even from the 20 inch barrel the sound was fairly low, around a kid’s cap gun level of sound, inside my reloading facility. And a vital shot on any varmint would ruin his whole day..without the neighbors calling 911...about shots fired.

[w30wcf]

dovehunter,
A load approximating the old .22 W.R.F. and .22 W.C.F. in the Hornet (1,450-1,580 f.p.s.) would be just dandy. I have found that 3.0/231 gives 1,510 f.p.s. with a 47 gr. cast bullet with great accuracy. Primer used was the CCI 500.

As has been mentioned 3.0-3.5/Unique would work well also.

Have fun.
w30wcf

[303Guy]

The thing about the hornet is that it has so much fun potential!

I was shooting No2 air rifle pellets to supersonic vecities. I went up to hypersonic velocity and the pellets dissapeared into a time warp! At very close range those were more powerful than a 22LR. I wanted a devastating round with little or no 'over shoot' danger. Never did follow up with that one.

[Screwbolts]

9.5 gr of 4227 out of my brothers 22 Hornet Handi cronos 2047 FPS and shoots great with the Boolitz from NOE Group buy Mold. :-) :-) My Stevens 322 K Hornet won't stabilize them with it's 1x16 barrel. :-(

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg84/flyboyd8/NOEBoolitzontowelcooling.jpg


But I believe I now have the Holy Grail Boolit for my Mini MarkX in 223. This is a 10 shot 50 yard group, using 11 gr. of 4227 I was just resting my hands on the bench, didn't have enough light to justify getting any rests set up. Fired 5 shots mixed brass FC, RP and a S&B, quickly reloaded same cases and fired 5 more. ( Lee collet sizer and Lee seat die, chamfered necks, not belled, boolit seated to nearly cover grease groove, GC at bottom of neck) GC were seated and sized w/ a LEE .225 PT Die. then lubed in a .224 Lyman sizer with white label 50/50. We have a .225 Lyman sizer and several K of GC coming. Alloy is WWs air cooled, The boolitz were not sorted they do weigh 59.6 to 59.7 gr as they drop from my 5 cav. mold with my WW alloy, nothing added. :-) I will crono this load today and play with more powders.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg84/flyboyd8/Tenshot50yardgroupNOEBoolit11gr4227.jpg

Ken
central, NY

[Charlie Sometimes]

Okay, I'll show a target too.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c164/BaptisteBrown/225438targetSmall.jpg

[dk17hmr]

3.3gr of Trailboss in the hornet with a 225415, no gascheck, lubed with a light coat of LLA than 2 good coats of JPW. Dont know the velocity but its not really loud and it does bring squirrels out of the top of oak trees.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/dk17hmr/22hornetSquirrel.jpg

This wasnt really hunting but I did shoot it with a cast bullet. 25 yard shot, between the shoulder blades and out the front of the chest, bullet didnt really expand it was a water dropped bullet so it was hard and a squirrel isnt hard enough to make them expand. The rifle is a 22 Hornet loaded with a 225415, 56gr lubed and checked, about 3gr of Reddot, I dont know how fast it was going maybe 1500 or so but it is pretty accurate, and not extremely loud like the jacketed bullet loads I have for the rifle.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/dk17hmr/DSCN0339.jpg

I have been making my 225's out of 50/50 WW/Pure air cooled. They open up pretty good on p-dogs out of my 218 Bee at less than 2000fps.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/dk17hmr/9-1.jpg

[rhead]

Bator boolit with a gas check 4.5 grains of 2400 and a Winchester small pistol primer. Around 1500 fps and sub moa groups out to 100 yards off a bench and bags. Head shots are doable at 50 yards with a casual rest.