22 Hornet

[dave]

I have only reloaded for a few piston cal. and some 30-06. I have an older Savage 23D in 22 Hornet I would like to start reloading for. Nothing special, just to shoot paper and maybe occasional varmint that wonders near.
Friend died years back and left a bunch of bullets to me. Many cal's and types. Among then are .224 bullets running from 50 gr. (3 box) to 63 gr. (1 box). There are soft point, spire point, hollow point, super explosive, Etc. they run in length from .224", 52 gr. to .386", 63 gr, and in between.
A Mar. A.R. article stated a ideal 45gr. Hornet bullet is .535". How can this be when looking at what I have?
Any ideas what these bullets are for? .223 Rem? I do not think they would work well in the Hornet, I do not worry about the .224 in my .223 barrel, however being so short they may be OK in the 1-16 twist?
Any thoughts, please.

[mikld]

Not a Hornet reloader, but I have reloaded some .223 Remington. First, for my info., what's the .386" and .535" dimensions? Length of the bullet? I believe most .22 caliber bullets will work in the Hornet, but groove diameter and rifling twist need to be considered for accurate ammo. Early Hornet barrels (don't now dates) were .223" and rifling twists were for light 45-50 gr. bullets. I'd find out the barrel dimensions, .223"or .224", and rifling twist before I expected much in the way of accuracy, but I think using the bullets you mention will be safe.

Someone more familiar with the .22 Hornet will post soon, I'm sure...

[Sunray]

The Hornet uses .223" bullets. The .223 Rem uses .224" bullets. ".223 Remington" is marketing.
The lengths don't matter.
Hornady makes one 45 grain, .223" bullet marketed for the Hornet. And a 35 grain .223" V-Max. Hornady, of course, is not the only game in town. Sierra makes a 40 and a 45. Speer markets a 33 grain JHP they call a Hornet.
I'd just pick a bullet and work up a load.

[dave]

I would like to know what I can do with these bullets, for one thing. Also I am asking how can a .535' bullet weighing 45 gr. and a 63gr bullet be .386". Longer bullet should be heavier, other things being equal. The rifling twist is slow so shorter bullets are in order, .535' max length for a 1/16 twist. Length certainly does matter! What I have are all shorter ----so how can they be so much heavier? And being so short would they stabilize in a faster twist .223 barrel?
Don't know what you mean by ".223 Remington" is just marketing. .223 Rem is just a short abv. for .223 Remington, which is the full name of the cartridge.



So does knowledge.

[kcw]

The Hornet uses .223" bullets. The .223 Rem uses .224" bullets. ".223 Remington" is marketing.
The lengths don't matter.
Hornady makes one 45 grain, .223" bullet marketed for the Hornet. And a 35 grain .223" V-Max. Hornady, of course, is not the only game in town. Sierra makes a 40 and a 45. Speer markets a 33 grain JHP they call a Hornet.
I'd just pick a bullet and work up a load.

My understanding is that the older 1-16 twist Hornets are .223 bore, while the later 1-14 Hornets are .224.

[Tuna]

My understanding is that the older 1-16 twist Hornets are .223 bore, while the later 1-14 Hornets are .224.

I believe you are correct about this but the Hornet no matter what will only shoot the lighter bullets with good accuracy. The heaver bullets if they cannot be stabilized by the 1 in 16 or 1 in 14 twist will just keyhole. If I remember right the standard factory load is the 40 gr. bullet weight. Again if I remember right Remington was the last US factory to make it.

[kcw]

I believe you are correct about this but the Hornet no matter what will only shoot the lighter bullets with good accuracy. The heaver bullets if they cannot be stabilized by the 1 in 16 or 1 in 14 twist will just keyhole. If I remember right the standard factory load is the 40 gr. bullet weight. Again if I remember right Remington was the last US factory to make it.

The manuals seem to agree that there's no point in using anything heavier in the 1-16 guns than the 45gr bullets for reason related to stabilization. Most of my manuals do list loads up through 55gr (obviously for the 1-14) but note that velocity may be so low that they may not open up properly; an obvious problem for chuck hunters. I seem to recall that a friend of mine loaded a Spire point, flat base .224 50gr. for his Savage 340. Because he loaded it just off the lands it was too long for the magazine. With the bullet loaded out so far he was able to install some extra "juice" behind it without any excess pressure signs. Squarely hit chucks out to 200 never went anywhere. Of course he's one of those who gets bored with guns that shoot "too accurately" , so he traded it and his Hornet loading gear away for the next new thing. Did the exact same damn thing with a Remington 788 in 22-250. The very 1st load we whipped for that one would pack 5 shots in a dime @ 100yds, but that one was also too much of a yawner.

[mikld]

My understanding is that the older 1-16 twist Hornets are .223 bore, while the later 1-14 Hornets are .224.
True...

[Dave in NGA]

It's been a while since I loaded for the 22 hornet but back in the day I used the Sierra 45 grain bullet in .223 diameter. I used Winchester 680 powder and my Winchester model 43 was very accurate with most loads. I killed many a squirrel with head shots. I lost this rifle in a fire and the Kimber 82 replacement is very finicky as to what load it will shoot. The Kimber won't shoot the .223 diameter bullet and the Sierra 45 grain .224 is the bullet it prefers. Heavier bullets are a waste of time in my experience. The Hornet is a great caliber for small game and allows you to see the 'hit' since the recoil is so light you won't lose your sight picture.

[dave]

The Kimbers were bored for .224 bullets.
So, I will ask again---what would these bullets I have be good for??

[emmagee1917]

They are good in all .224 bored rifles . The 1 in 16 twist .218 Bee , and the Hornets up to the 50 gr. bullets , maybe 55 gr. The 1 in 14 twisted Hornets , .222 Rem , .223 Rem , .222 Rem mag , .219 Wasp and Zipper , and the .22 PPC can use all up to the 60-ish grainers . The faster twist 5.56 Nato barrels had to stablize not only the heavier ball ammo , but the tracers , too . Tracers are very long for thier weight due to tracer pellet chemicals being much lighter than lead / steel , ergo the fast twist.
HTH , Chris

[mikld]

If you don't wanna try them in your Hornet, they would be OK in almost any other .22 cal centerfire...

[Tuna]

The 63 gr. bullets will not be stable in a rifle with a twist slower then a 1 in 10. A 1 in 12 will not work with them and they will tumble.

[dave]

Thank you.

[Parashooter]

. . . Among then are .224 bullets running from 50 gr. (3 box) to 63 gr. (1 box). There are soft point, spire point, hollow point, super explosive, Etc. they run in length from .224", 52 gr. to .386", 63 gr, and in between.
A Mar. A.R. article stated a ideal 45gr. Hornet bullet is .535". How can this be when looking at what I have? . . .

There's something very wrong with Dave's measuring tool or technique. (Perhaps he failed to zero his caliper?) Bullets of this class are significantly longer than he reports. Here are pictures of a couple examples. (Yes, I did zero my caliper.) -

http://i61.tinypic.com/af979e.jpg

As can be seen, both of these examples are much longer than the .535" reported in the March edition of American Rifleman, not as the "ideal" but as the maximum bullet length for good stability in 16" twist Hornet barrels.

Tuna - the 63-grain Sierra semi-spitzer was designed short enough to stabilize in the 14" twist typical of many older .22 centerfires. See Sierra's description at https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/1370/224-dia-63-gr-SMP

[Tuna]

Para, They won't stabilize in my 1 in 12 SP1 at all. And yes the bearing surface is too long for it to work properly in it. Anything up to a max of 60 grs. works very well and with the right load is one hole at 100 yd. for 5 rounds consistently.