.22 Hornet downloads

[Jebus35745]

Just to make the hornet more useful, anyone download the hornet to .22 mag velocity or lower. What bullet and powder do you use? Looking at a rifle in hornet and may buy. My manual doesn't have reduced load formulas for the hornet like with the .223. Thanks, Larry

 

[mtgianni]

Lymans cast 225348 is a good one for a reduced load hornet.

 

[Zoner]

i have screwed around with that a little, not with cast but with jacketed bullets and Unique, 3.5 grs with a 34 gr jacketed bullet. I was looking for a load at 22lr velocity or a bit faster thinking i could make these loads for about the same price as 22lr ammo. This project needs more work so i'll be watching this thread

 

[Jebus35745]

Hey Zoner, looks like no one plays with the hornet. Most of my shooting is at an indoor club and would be nice to use the gun more then the few times I make it to an outdoor range. Shooting the hornet at .22 long rifle velocity makes sense to me. Oh well, Larry

 

[Wee Hooker]

I don't own a hornet anymore but I used to play around with downloading it when I did. I settled on the Hornady 45 gr 218 bee bullets (with a gaping hollow point) but tried a few others as well. As I recall, this bullet still gave me explosive results at lower velocities. For range shooting any number of 40-45 gr bullets should work fine.
To drive it I used bluedot shotgun powder and pistol primers. I forget the load though.
These days, I use the same components to load 223 from 1400-2500 fps. They shoot good in the 223! Very mild report too since the powder burns quickly in short barrels.

As I recall if you google "Reduced 223 " or Bluedot 223" you'll get some threads around the net that mention experiments with the Hornet.

Meanwhile, this might get you thinking a bit.

To Bee Or 223, That Is The Question (Revisited)
BE safe!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Leave a 1/16" gap between the base of the bullet and Trail Boss. That will be safe and pretty slow. Depends on the twist for bullet weight; 1:16 & 1:14 for the 35 and 40 grain, 1:12 for the 45 and 1:10 for the 50. I have that bullet mold that uses a gas check, It does great in my old Savage 340, and not worth beans in the T/C 10"Contender or the Anschutz rifle (it is great in the 218 Bee No.! Ruger too!) Remember all modern 22 Hornets use .224" bullets, I size you cast bullets .224" also, not .225"!

Ivan

 

[rwsmith]

Though it's supposed to be discontinued...

If you can find any SR 4759 it makes great reduced rifle loads. A 45 grain bullet can be loaded down to around 2000 fpm.

 

[38SPL HV]

Never downloaded it - I used 2400 powder and standard 45 gr bullets.

2400 was developed for the 22 Hornet - "2400" was fps requirement with the early 22 Hornet loadings and the powder was named for the velocity.