22 Hornet

[32ideal]

Thanks again 303Guy, went out to the pole barn this morning but it was only about 25 degrees so will wait until tomorrow and try again to make up a die! Did you use a chamber reamer to form you cavity for the Hornet paper patch cross cut die?

Any way i sure am pleased to get this new idea and try it out, will probably try it in other calibers after I get used to using it with my K-Hornet!
Have a great day, 32ideal

Included a small photo of my 22 K-Hornet Low Wall...

[wayneb]

I have martini cadet(w.w.greener),in.22 hornet it has a 20"bbl so it is really a little rifle.It has an older Burriss mini 3x9 and I restocked with a higher comb pistol grip stock to get my head up enough to see thru the glass.Mostly i shot the rcbs 55gr boolit loaded over 2400,unique,RL7,velocity was close to factory loads for the most accurate loads.The hornet has always been a pain for me to reload;a good many ruined cases,but still worth the effort.I need to go look thru my saved targets that have the load data on them.I haven't fired that little rifle in years,but it is now on my mind.
Wayne Byram

[303Guy]

Did you use a chamber reamer to form you cavity for the Hornet paper patch cross cut die?

No, it's parallel with an enlargement in the bottom to sit over the case mouth. The chamber reamer idea is good!

[32ideal]

Have been digging around looking for the 22 K-Hornet reamer, may have loaned it out. Will try your method with straight sided holes and make the neck hole to fit my case necks, ream them to plus +.001 or +.002" over fired neck size, or should it be bigger for when you insert the patch i'd think the neck has to expand some.
Thinking of using some .002" thick white Poly material that I have, used the thicker version of it for wads under breech seated bullets.

Again thanks 303Guy,
32ideal

[303Guy]

It's not critical. I just made the thing up in a hurry and it worked well enough for me not to make a 'better' one. The bore is neck ID. Ideally there should be no way the case mouth can catch on the cup as it's being seated. The little push rod thing I used was pretty ramdom too. It needs to be small enough not to compress or tear the paper and to be withdrawn easily and big enough to sort of fill the neck. It's a lot easier to seat a cup onto the powder charge as that sets the seating depth. The boolit also neds to seat onto the powder. I have done it with an air-gap. Can be done.

Here's a pic of the tool.



The trick is to have a smooth transition from flat to cylindrical so the paper 'flows' easily. I got it right first time by just 'eyeballing' it. I'm not sure that the rim is necessary.

Some pics I found.


Hornet power!

This is what I was looking for ...



It's a shear I made for cutting the paper strips.

I did mention that the paper is paper hand-towel? Two ply.

When the boolit and neck gets dipped into molten 'waxy-lube' the lube gets soaked up into the paper and 'glues' it in place. It is held sufficiently tight to not move in the magazine or with handling. Someone with strong fingers can pull them out (I think). I can't.

[303Guy]

I hope it works for you. I had a whole heap of fun developing this system and the loads. The hornet is ideal for this as the case is thin enough to self-size in the chamber. Also, the case head is weak enough to open primer pockests should the load be too hot - we're talking a medium pressure cartridge. SAAMI 43 000 CUP.

I use Federal small rifle primers because they are 'soft' and are low power - pretty much pistol primer equivalent.

Do remember that I was relying on a heavy for hornet boolit and a 'hot' charge to give conitant ignition and complete powder burn. Cast boolits may not like that level of power. But then, why not in a good bore (mine is badly rust pitted which does pic up lead).

A 1-in-16 twist should stabilize a smooth sided cast boolit of 62gr just fine. It's the same length as a 55gr Spire Point J-word.

[32ideal]

303Guy, must be from the looks of your bench you have been playing with PP boolits for awhile, tried them with a 40-65W roller & black powder, soft cores patched at bore size, they shot very well out to 300yds, but past that they were very wind sensitive, they were to light 411grs with a large flat nose, the club I belong to shoots BP target matches out to 600yds, Will try some better bullets this year when they have practice Saturdays.

Make my own pan lube a variation of Darr lube with some high pressure lube added I will try with this project, have some very strong tracing paper that is .0015" I use to wrap a grooved bullet and size them to fit a 1903 Springfield, so far results are inconsistent but fun!

Have a great weekend,
32ideal