The .22 Hornet as a reload-only shooter's cartridge

Ardent

Ardent

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Well I'm looking for a new varmint rifle in a small centerfire, right now I have a .22 CCM Cooper M38 and a .221 Fireball CZ527 filling the role, and the .221's too much gun and the CCM's just right but too scarce for brass to shoot in volume and there's no factory ammo should I run dry of my loads in the field. As a solution I've come to eye the Hornet, a cartridge that with factory loads I'm content with, though with reloading I've yet to try. I do a lot of loading, and don't mind a little finesse required, but all the horror stories of collapsing cases etc with the Hornet have me leery of picking it up seeing as I'm typically a handload only guy. So, from those who've loaded plenty and played with the Hornet, just how bad is she to load? How's the case life, ease of volume loading, etc? Would love to hear some educated opinions from Hornet lovers and haters.
 
You'd have to be pretty ham-fisted to have problems reloading for the Hornet. I've had zero problems whatsoever with this round, and I take no special steps. Neck size in a collet die, charge with the Chargemaster, seat with a standard seating die... no issues. I chamfer brass when new, and have not yet had to trim anything. Some of my brass is past the 10 load mark, and still working great. 13-ish grains of lil-gun behind 35 and 40 grain bullets is VERY light on the pressure while producing excellent velocities and accuracy. I typically shoot between 800 and 2000 rounds a year with this gun
 
I just sized 100+ fired cases the other day and didn't have any "collapse" I had one with a dent in the shoulder which I think was due to the way I lubed the cases (shook em in a ziploc with some RCBS lube).

I have yet to put any powder in them, in fact I still need to clean the primer pockets on about 70 of the 100+. I picked up some Lil Gun the other day and have some IMR 4227 in the wings as well.

Do they collapse on bullet seating or sizing? If the collapse on bullet seating then maybe a VLD chamfer tool would ease the stresses of seating? I picked one up yesterday and did it ever make a difference in the amount of force to get the bullets started.
 
Go for a K-Hornet. It can still fire/fire form regular Hornet cartridges. The fireformed cartridges then headspace on the shoulder instead of the rim.

For full length sizing, I polished the inside of my hornet dies with a shotgun bore mop covered with Flitz, about 60 seconds in a cordless drill. This smooths out the die and helps prevent collapse of the case. (also works for other calibers)
 
Ardent
The problems are always to much lube and the result is shoulder dents, the cases last for ever. The load mentioned by prosper with the 13grns of Lil'gun and a nosler 35grn is awesome and will kill a ground hog at 200+ yards no problem. You will love the hornet. With the addition of Lil'Gun powder the K-hornet conversion offers little advantage in my opinion.
Regards
 
Sandroad beat me to it, the rim and sloping shoulder make the Hornet a tough nut to get shooting good as well as have the brass last. I'd go with the K-Hornet, or Ackley Bee before a std. Hornet as they both should headspace on the shoulder.
 
Zero problems so far with my 527 American.Great cartridge and real easy to load.I've been using vmax with no loading difficulties. They are as accurate as hell with lil gun.
 
hornet fans are very dedicated. I have not had any prob. reloading. as for the K, try it standard first you may not want to change. they are great & we all love them!! now you have my .02 AJ
 
Great cartridge for around the ranch. No loading issues here, necksize, chamfer with a vld deburr tool, seat over lilgun with RCBS comp seater, haven't ruined a single case. also have a 204 and 223 but will always have a hornet, considering a 17 Khornet after watching a buddy nail gophers out to 300+ on a calm day.
 
The Lee collet die makes the K hornet obsolete. And you can add the advantage of not needing to lube the case, the Lee die makes the Hornet a large volume varmint shooters dreams come true.
 
I had a Hornet and loved it. More bang than a .22 magnum, but less fuss than a .222. I don't recall any problem with case life, but the case neck is very thin and care must be taken when seating the bullet, particularly flat base bullets.

One of the neatest little rifles I've ever seen was a 17-KHornet built on a small Martini action, with a heavy-ish but short barrel. I saw this rifle in Winnipeg more than 30 years ago, and although I don't recall the exact OAL, it was well under 3'. (Phil, if you're on this board let us know if you still have it)
 
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