Reloading .22 Hornet Brass

[Sidewinder]

Anybody on here that reloads .22 Hornet? I'm about to start...and noticed that the brass is "thin". Thinking I might be too ham fisted on my Rock Chucker, I bought a Lee Hand Press. I'm hoping I'll be able to avoid some crushed brass.

Having never loaded any .22 Hornet before, I'd appreciate any tips on reloading this tiny round. I would also be interested in hearing about your "specialized" loads for different game...squirrel, rabbits, racoons, bobcats, coyotes etc.

Have any of you been casting your own bullets? If so, what weight and style.

Finally, I'm particuraly interested in your success in using this little round for hunting. Right now, I'll be shooting mine from break barrel guns...Contender with rifle and pistol barrels and a Springfield Arms M6 Scout. I'm looking for a Savage 24V-D in .22 Hornet over a 20 gauge, and have been for sometime. So, if you know someone that would sell theirs, send them my way.

[roverboy]

I've never loaded .22 Hornet myself but, a friend used to shoot and load a lot of it. He loaded 45 and 50 gr. bullets with H110. I always thought 2400 would be a good powder for it. I have loaded .223 cases with 9.0-10.0 gr. H110 and 2400 and had good accuracy. I used cotton balls to fill up the case. My friend used Hornady New Dimension dies and never had to many cases crumple. If lubed well, they held up good.

Edited September 22, 2015 by roverboy

[Sidewinder]

I've never loaded .22 Hornet myself but, a friend used to shoot and load a lot of it. He loaded 45 and 50 gr. bullets with H110. I always thought 2400 would be a good powder for it. I have loaded .223 cases with 9.0-10.0 gr. H110 and 2400 and had good accuracy. I used cotton balls to fill up the case. My friend used Hornady New Dimension dies and never had to many cases crumple. If lubed well, they held up good.

Roverboy, I have some Lil' Gun and some 2400 that I plan to use on the .22 Hornet. Seems that I remember about 11.0 to 12.0 grains of Lil' Gun fills the case. I thought I read somewhere that the 2400 was designed for the .22 Hornet. I think it was named 2400 because it brought the .22 Hornet up to 2400 FPS.

Anyway, checking through some of my brass of unknown history and found a lot of it had split walls. Most had multiple cracks running perpendicular to the case. They were tiny cracks, but visable with mu magnifying glass. I also noticed some of the primers were backed out a bit and flattened. I'm thinking maybe some hot loads and possibly some worn (loose) chambers. The rest was ok, for at least one more reload.

Thanks for your reply.

[roverboy]

Sidewinder, hope you have good luck. Sounds like some of you brass has been hot-rodded some. You probably already know this but, you really don't need to load the Hornet hot to get good loads. 2500 fps or so will work good out to 200 yards or better. Have fun.

[TNWNGR]

I loaded .218 Bee and .22 Hornet many years ago when I was varmiting with T/C HG and used a Rockchucker odly enough. The RC has a good feel to it if you slowly ease the handle down. Overall you'll lose some shell cases but not enough to worry over spilt beer so just have fun.

[Sidewinder]

Sidewinder, hope you have good luck. Sounds like some of you brass has been hot-rodded some. You probably already know this but, you really don't need to load the Hornet hot to get good loads. 2500 fps or so will work good out to 200 yards or better. Have fun.

Thanks for that tip, Roverboy. I'm a big chicken, so I always like to start on the low side of a "published" load...and ease up to the optimum load slowly.

[Sidewinder]

I loaded .218 Bee and .22 Hornet many years ago when I was varmiting with T/C HG and used a Rockchucker odly enough. The RC has a good feel to it if you slowly ease the handle down. Overall you'll lose some shell cases but not enough to worry over spilt beer so just have fun.

TNWNGR, I'll probably migrate to my Rock Chucker, as soon as I get the feel of loading that thin brass. But, I like the "portability" of the hand press, in case I want to try different loads while outside killing dots on paper.