.22 Hornet ( more load data)

247sniper

Well-Known Member
Hi guys,

Crap day weather wise so loaded up more rounds for the Hornet to try. This time some heavy weights to try. Ok so the 40 grain v-max load I developed is awesome but wanted to try some heavier higher BC 50 grainers as well in search of better 150-250+ yards ballistics.

I think though that the 40's with their higher MV's and slightly lower BC's will be a touch better then the 50's with their slightly high BC's and slower MV's, but it's worth a try an experiment and well worth a test I think.

So from 12.2 grains of lil-gun upto 13.4 grains loaded in batches of 5.... Stay tuned to see what happens.





Cheers guys.

p.s I have some 35 grain v-max for sale if anyone is interested ?

Steve.
 
The high BC for the 50 grain V-Max comes at the cost of length, which is the evil nemesis of the 1-16" twist most Hornets are shipped with. I suspect your long range stability will be sacrificed. This is my favorite Hornet load.

It does this to small rodents
SeptemberPDshoot3.jpg



From way back there.


SeptemberPDshoot1.jpg


Thirty four grain bullet.~Muir
 
In all my 3 K Hornets, 2205 is the powder for all bullet weights for accurate groups. It didnt quite give the speeds of Win 296, but what goos speed without accuracy?
My Last K Hornet loved 11.5gns (Dont Quote me, It was a coupla years ago) of 2205 with a 50 gn PPU projectile. It worked well on whatever I shot with it also. Shot a heap of hares and a few foxes. The 40 gn Vmax was also a great pill, but the length was a PITA.
Another pill I got to shoot well was the Win 46 gn HP. I never had much luck with the 40 WMR Pills. I used them mainly for case forming. What they did hit they destroyed though.
 
I am going to guess that as long as your hornet stabilises the 50 gners, they are going to work well. Some Hornets have a 1:16 twist which is maginal at 50gn Plus loads
 
The high BC for the 50 grain V-Max comes at the cost of length, which is the evil nemesis of the 1-16" twist most Hornets are shipped with. I suspect your long range stability will be sacrificed. This is my favorite Hornet load.

It does this to small rodents
SeptemberPDshoot3.jpg



From way back there.


SeptemberPDshoot1.jpg


Thirty four grain bullet.~Muir


Hi mate,

I have used the 35 grain v-max for years, they have a very low BC and are crap in the wind. I have recently developed a 40 grain v-max (boat tail) and that bad boy is awesome, far flatter, far far less wind drift and maintains energy and velocity much much better.

The 50 grain SPSX bullet I have just loaded to test is quite a bit shorter then the 40 grain v-max in length that I am currently using with great concistentcy and accuracy out to 250 yards and upto 300 yards.

From what I have researched it seem to be bullet length that's important and not the weight, I'll stand corrected if I am wrong ;o)

The 40 grain v-max is 0.689" in length where is the 50 grain SPSX (not 50 grain V-max) is only 0.595 in length,

From what I have read, heared and believe these 50's should shoot fine.

As soon as I have chance when the weather breaks il test and be sure to give a full report including chrono reading,


Many thanks for your input and please follow this trend to find out how it goes,


Atb

Steve
 
How did you go about modifying the mag mate, was it successful ?

How did you do it ?

You have to strip it then knock the pins out at back of mag to slide out the black plastic guide then sand off some of the back of this to allow longer rounds down. Also need to lengthen the follower either by gluing spacers to back angle or as i did i cut it in half and epoxied a length of metal underneath also leaving a smooth top. it will only take3 rounds though. if you pm me an email i will send pics
 
Hi mate,

I have used the 35 grain v-max for years, they have a very low BC and are crap in the wind. I have recently developed a 40 grain v-max (boat tail) and that bad boy is awesome, far flatter, far far less wind drift and maintains energy and velocity much much better.

The 50 grain SPSX bullet I have just loaded to test is quite a bit shorter then the 40 grain v-max in length that I am currently using with great concistentcy and accuracy out to 250 yards and upto 300 yards.

From what I have researched it seem to be bullet length that's important and not the weight, I'll stand corrected if I am wrong ;o)

The 40 grain v-max is 0.689" in length where is the 50 grain SPSX (not 50 grain V-max) is only 0.595 in length,

From what I have read, heared and believe these 50's should shoot fine.

As soon as I have chance when the weather breaks il test and be sure to give a full report including chrono reading,


Many thanks for your input and please follow this trend to find out how it goes,


Atb

Steve

Sorry! I didn't have my glasses on and thought that a box of 50 grain VMax. But then, you didn't read my post too carefully either so we're even on the oversight count.

I have been shooting the Hornet for 30 years in numerous guns, with varying twist rates from 10" to 20". Through the majority of my shooting I have stuck with the 40 grain. I have a good friend that shoots 40 grain in his Brno and they perform really well. I like them fine but for the lack of feeding in my CZ. I therefore stick to 33 grain VM, 34 grain Dog Town and 35 grain VMax which cycle through my magazine. Ballistically not as good as the 40 grain in the V-Max but I simply compensate by learning to shoot them. The Dog Town 34 grain (MidWay) has a much better BC than the 35 grain VM. If you have a need for a light, explosive bullet you might want to try these. That dead PD in the photo was shot in a 15mph cross wind.~Muir
 
I picked up a box of 45 grain Hornady hornet soft points (No-2230) at the Midland show, anybody tried them ?
The BC is advertised as being .202 with a length of .610"

Neil. :)
 
I've used them in the past. They work well in my Remington Single Shot. I liked them better than the 46 grn Winchester I dote on but the Winchester is cheap and I have a lot of them. Never tried them, in my 1-16" CZ.~Muir
 
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Well that a good start then, and they are cheap compared to the v-max offerings.
Just need some time to load a few now to try.

Neil. :)
 
Neil,

Them 45's you got are longer then the 50's I'm going to try, but shorter then the 40 grain V-max so I'm sure you will be fine with them and the should be a good bullet when load developed.

Again, let us know how you get in with them.

Steve.
 
Right guys, managed to get out tonight between the rain showers and among the howling Gails to try out these 50 Grain SPSX bullets in the hornet.

1st load was shot over the chrono with Muzzle results as shown,

12.6 Grain, bullet seated 10 thou of the lands.
Shot number

12.6 Grains Ftps Deviation from the Average.
1 = 2795 -8
2 = 2818 15
3 = 2812 9
4 = 2807 4
5 = 2783 -20

Avg 2803




12.8 Grains Ftps Deviation from the Average.
1 = 2855 16.6
2 = 2898 59.6
3 = 2807 -31.4
4 = 2849 10.6
5 = 2783 -55.4

Avg 2838.4



Accuracy from the 12.6 grain load was good at around 0.5 MOA which I thought in them windy conditions was quite good with only horizontal dispersion showing on the 100 yard group, this would make sense too as you can see from the MV data list above it has an accurate and consistent MV with quite a low deviation from the average.

12.8 grain load was pretty poor at about 1 MOA, this also tally’s up with the chrono readings.

No this did my head in I lost the light and my chrono stopped working! Typical!

13 grains was about 0.75MOA and so was the 13.2 grain load.

Now this is where I would like to have had my chrono working as this load 13.4 grains showed some real promise, easily less than half inch group, which I am sure with some seating depth work, would come in nicely, shame about the MV data missing.

I tried my pet load 13.2 grains of lil-gun and a 40 grain V-Max for a comparison due to the weather and put in a lovely clover leaf group in, great group in that wind, just goes to show what I said the other day was correct that the slightly lower BC 40 grain V-Max launched at higher MV’s would shine in the wind.

Conclusion

I believe that there is defiantly something there with the 50 grain SPSX bullet (they do work in my 1/16 twist rifle) with either the 12.6 grain load or the 13.4 grain load, fine tuning with powder charge and seating depth I’m sure that would bring them in nicely. However as I have a real nice 40 grain V-Max load that works and with all the ballistic data it would be a waste of my time, powder etc. trying to chase something that I already have but better!
But from an experimental point of view, it worked and showed great promise, just a shame I couldn’t get all the chrono data to confirm my findings and share with your guys.

Hope this has been of some interest for some of you .22 Hornet users and lovers! Lol

ATB guys


Steve.
 
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