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Thread: My Savage 24F 22 Hornet chamber AOL seems pretty long

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    My Savage 24F 22 Hornet chamber AOL seems pretty long

    I didn’t have any fired brass so I loaded up some once fired Winchester cases I traded for here. I seated a 40 grain vmax at 1.938”. I chambered them at the long length anf they dropped right in. I know the extractor sits out pretty far so I closed my action. I did this on four rounds. Three of the four OAL shrunk to 1.932” and one shrunk to 1.918”. I decided to seat them at 1.908”. Seems Sami says 1.793 and I see some listings in my book at 1.810” I know since I have a single shot I can load long. I’ll have to put a few of the 40 grain vmax in a couple of fired pieces of brass when I shoot these to determine the max OAL. I also loaded up some 40 grain Nosler ballistic tips to try at the same OAL. I chambered a few and closes the action. They stayed the same OAL like the 40 grain vmax. I would assume my chamber is longer than most or is this common to have a longer chamber in my savage 24F?

    I only loaded up 25 rounds today. First time loading a 22 Hornet. I chamfered the inside of the brass vert lightly. All bullets seated nicely with ease. The neck tension wasn’t super hard but I’m sure it’s enough to hold the j words in place. Im guessing with the thinner brass I’m not going to get super tight neck tension with the hornet. They look good but I was just wanted to make sure they’re not too long. I would assume the longer the better for groups. The trigger is still horrible in the gun after polishing it for time so I still will have to work on that another day.

    40 grain Noslers loaded at 1.908. I would assume loaded long they will probably be 40/50 fps slower than the advertised book load at 1.793/1.810”?






    I did check to see that I didn’t have a shell plate holder for my trim dye so I couldn’t trim my cases. I would assume I have a 22 pilot? Maybe not I do have a pilot for a 223 which I would assume is the same? I didn’t look at the book to see if they were the same or not since I didn’t have a shell holder.

    I ended up loading these with H110. I found that even with the max loading of 11.8 and 11.5 grains I was no where near a compressed load. I first tried lil gun powder but decided against it. I would have had to be close to a starting charge in order for it not to be compressed and didn’t want to be undercharged with a long OAL. My Hornady manual said max load was 13.2. At that charge it was to the top of my case neck! My case was a Winchester which is what Hornady listed the load as well. I would have had to drop a good 2 to 3 grains just to get the bullet to seat with lil gun imo so I shred away from loading with it.

    I can seat my loads to max Sami OAL if needed. Would you suggest to shorten my OAL to max Sami specs with these or shoot at the longer 1.908”? The bullets just stick way out so the loaded ammo just looks to long to me.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 12-31-2022 at 05:18 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master



    atr's Avatar
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    hornet brass is very thin and can be easily damaged. You might want to invest in a collet die.
    when I loaded for the hornet I seated the bullet with three things in mind: a good grip by the neck, would it chamber properly and would it stack and feed in the magazine. Since yours is a single shot you really only have to deal with grip and chamber.
    your rounds look good, have fun with that cartridge, they are fun to shoot.
    best
    atr
    Death to every foe and traitor and hurrah, my boys, for freedom !

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    I first tried lil gun powder but decided against it. I would have had to be close to a starting charge in order for it not to be compressed…
    Just compress it, you are missing a great powder for 22 Hornet.

    I use a regular FL die but I have it adjusted up so it only sizes a portion of the neck and leaves the rest fireformed. The gun will shoot MOA with FL sized brass but the groups shrink to 3/8” sizing only a portion of the neck.

    It’s not something I do on any other round just stumbled across it trying to get my Van Horn barreled Contender to shoot well.

  4. #4
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    I use a Redding bushing die to NS my Hornet cases. I then use and M die so even jacketed bullets are slightly started in the cases before seating. Since using the M die I have not "scrunched" a case.

    As mentioned, Lil'Gun is not bother by compression. I use 12.5 gr under a 45 gr Hornady Hornet bullet which does compress the Lil'Gun. It is by far more accurate than my older H110 loads. The Lil'Gun also runs a a much lower psi.

    What twist is you Hornet barrel?
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    I was told by another member here 1/14 twist. I think my biggest obstacle will be to get the trigger light enough to notice an accuracy difference between powders. I stoned, polished, and tested it four times the other day. It still will bury my 4 pound scale and takes a good yank past the 4 pounds to brake. I will try and remove more of the “shelf” on the tiger sear. I think I’d be better off getting a replacement main spring so I have an extra and cut a coil or two off of it? I’d like it down to around 3 pounds or less. I just don’t think it’s possible to do with the stock main spring? There still is a lot of “sear shelf” left on the trigger even after stoning. I’ll have to load up some lil gun and test once I get an optic mounted on it. The weaver 74 scope base showed up the other day but haven’t got around to installing it. Looks like I have three Allen head screws in the welded on factory rail I need to remove first. I have a 1-4 30mm business engage German reticle red dot scope I want mount on it but am having trouble with finding old school see through 30mm iron sighter or kwik site scope rings that has no “shelf” at the bottom of the ring bases when mounting. Maybe I’ll have enough clearance with a modern ring and will eventually have to order and rest a few to see if I can see the open sights. My goal is to sight the 22 hornet an inch high at 100 yards so it’s flat out to 175 yards or so and use the adjustable open sights for the shotgun as I’m sure it will never be perfectly regulated. I did read that lil gun powder was the goto powder for the hornet. I’ll have to see how much I can can get way with “stuffing” the case with lil gun and a bullet on top. Bought the gun on an impulse buy from the neighbors right before Christmas. I was told it was never shot. They had a few of them. I have always wanted one with a 223 on top. My dad had one back in the 70’s. It was a 22 mag/20 gauge. He always tells me he sold it for $60 to keep food on the table. Tried to buy it back years ago wane was told no. I don’t think. The guy has it anymore because I asked his son about buying it and he never knew he had one. I am learning a lot about these guns since I recently bought it. About how poorly regulated the barrels are and don’t both shoot to the same POA and how rotten and heavy the triggers in them. My trigger now has zero creap and brakes crisp but is still to heavy for this trigger snob. There has to be a way to lighten it more. I figured see through sights would be the way to go so I can zero the rile to an optic and the shotgun to open sights if needed. Always thought it would make a great predator calling gun…till I’ve heard about the triggers and lack of barrel regulation. Sounds like a challenge! I also need to find a tight grouping 12 gauge choke for it to shoot some turkey loads, lead BB, and #4 buck.




    Who knows maybe both barrels will be regulated as it says this one is in this particular article…

    https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs...-vs-savage-99/

    I do already have Warne scope rings on the 1-4 optic. I’m gonna rob the scope and rings off of my 44 carbine that I never use. If anything I can always put a different optic on it I have some 1” 2 1/2 by 10’s laying around.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 01-01-2023 at 01:59 PM.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    I mounted up the weaver 74 base along with my 1-4 Bushnell Engage optic today and bore sighted it. I also stoned and polished the trigger again three more times and tested along the way. I have it braking at a crips 4.5 pounds. Well…. within 4 pounds 7 oz to 4 pounds 10 oz to be precise. My trigger scale only goes to 4 pounds so I had to get creative. I took a bore snake and tied it like a bow around two boxes of Sierra .358 Boolits. They weighed 4 lbs. 6 oz. I then made a loop on the opposite end and put it around the Trigger. I cocked the Hammer and lifted the action. It almost broke at the 4 lbs. 6 oz. I believe it actually did once or twice right on the tip of the Trigger. I kept lifting it off the ground once I moved the string to the middle of the trigger and it didn’t break. I then added a few more bullets to one if the boxes. The total weight after adding a few more bullets totaled 4 lbs. 11 oz. Every time I lifted action with the 4 pound 11 oz payload tied to the trigger it broke before the boxes left the ground. I never re adjusted the weight between 4.11oz and 4.6oz to see exactly where it was breaking. So I’ll call it 4.5 pounds. It’s really crisp so it actually feels lighter than a 4 1/2 pound pull to me. Sure I’d like a little lighter pull but I’m gonna leave it the way it is until I go out to zero the optic and group test it. I also will see if both barrels are regulated or if I have to keep looking for see-through 30mm rings for it. Think I have a 1” 2.5-10 I can always mount on it and see throughs are easier to find in a 1” configuration.







    The optic is a good three 3 1/2 inches from my face so I shouldn’t have to worry about getting my eye hit from recoil. I actually have to move my face up a little closer for the eye relief since I can’t get it to come any further back with the rings I’m using.

    I thought I had some dirt in between the barrels. It looks like there’s some solder halfway down in between the barrels. I would assume it was either done for stability and or regulation? Would assume it was by the factory as well. I’ll have to get out and shoot it in the next couple days but there’s an ice storm coming tonight so I doubt it will be tomorrow as much as I would love to go pull the trigger on it. There is plenty of clearance to cock the hammer and toggle the switch between barrels with the current ring height for me.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 01-03-2023 at 12:18 AM.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

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    Looks light the scope is canted slightly to the left. If so it can cause the groups to be off to the side at longer distances.
    Spell check doesn't work in Chrome, so if something is spelled wrong, it's just a typo that I missed.

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    No that’s just the angle of the picture. I had to hold the camera way to left when taking the photo to show the lighted up dot. You see the black off set around my optic because I didn’t have the phone all the way up to the eye relief and off center. You can clearly see there is more black on the left side of the optic from my angled photo. She is dead in line with the sights. I also put a level on the gun and hung a string on the wall to line the cross hairs up before tightening the scope rings down. Glad you made me pull it out and check because I left the red dot on! Been on since about 3:30 and still going strong.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 01-03-2023 at 11:09 AM.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

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    Glad I helped.
    Spell check doesn't work in Chrome, so if something is spelled wrong, it's just a typo that I missed.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    I loaded up a few more test loads today since it’s been snowing, raining, and sleeting on and off the the last fours days. I loaded up a half dozen 40 grain Nosler ballistic tips with 13 grains of lil gun. The powder fills the case all the way to almost the top of the neck. Maybe a 1/8” from the top. It compressed just fine as the posters here said it would. It said in my Nosler #5 load manual the 13 grain load is 118%…compressed with the 40 grain ballistic tip. In the updated Nosler #7 manual is said 11 grains was max at 100% with the same 40 grain Nosler ballistic tip. I also loaded up a few 40 grain vmax with 3.2 grains and also 3 grains of trail boss. My measurement to a 40 grain vmax seated depth was 3.6 grains of trail boss so I backed off just a hair from 100% fill for testing. I forgot I traded my .224 bullet inventory (40’s,50, & 55’s) away for .358’s and .243’s! I’m down to a few 40 grain and 60 grainers. Darn it! I’ll have to do some shopping and or trading.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 01-05-2023 at 11:24 PM.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Here is 13 grains of lil gun...



    I have yet to take out the new gun to try it along with my hand loads. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 01-13-2023 at 09:20 AM.

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