.22 Hornet bullet

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I want to load .22 hornet ammo. What is everyone’s go to bullet? Will mainly be used for woodchuck hunting. I’m looking at vmax 35, 40 and 45 grain bullet shooting out of a Ruger 77/22 hornet.
 
My 77/22 loved 40 gr Ballistic tips with Lil gun powder and small pistol primer. Don’t remember load but a little less then max and neck size only
 
35 grain V-Max shoot good in my Ruger, so does the 30 grain Barnes. I use LilGun also with a 6 1/2 primer.Chamfering the neck helps seating the bullets.
 
Originally Posted By: parsonMy 77/22 loved 40 gr Ballistic tips with Lil gun powder and small pistol primer. Don’t remember load but a little less then max and neck size only X2
 
Not a 77/22H but my Sav. 219 22H love the Winchester 46gr HP that they loaded in their factory rounds, over a dose of Lil-Gin they were sub MOA for me. You used to be ale to get them bulk quite inexpensive, glad I stocked up on them although I gave the rive to my niece.
 
I traded my model 40 Savage for a 527CZ a couple of years ago, bad mistake. CZ is a 1-16, would only shoot with standard hornet style short bullets.
I got a call yesterday took the CZ back and got my Model 40 again. The 40 is a 1-14 twist and shot well.
 
Just food for thought. About 20-30 rounds out of my Ruger Hornet and it was turned into a K-Hornet. Loading flat base bullets is easy now as the necks don't seem near as frail and you gain some velocity to. They look cool too!!
 
I had two of the ruger77

The 40g speer spire point was very, very accurate. What is unique about this bullet is that you can seat the bullet to touch the lands and still use the magazine!!! Accuracy as a result was supurb.

225 yard shots on half grown ground squirrels was easy, and further.

I killed quite a few coyotes with the 77 that had the all weather stock on it, same 40g speer spire point. I shot AA1680, but today I would start off with little gun.

My wood stock 77, I turned into a K, tad more velocity, same level of accuracy. I had Pac Nor put a barrel on the wood stock, got the same accuracy as the factory barrel...$700 down the drain!

I really enjoyed hunting coyotes with this round and all weather rifle. I hate that I traded it off.

I got rid of the 77 Wood stock in 22 K hornet, Sako AI custom 17 MachIV, custom 17 Rem, Kimber 25 M switch barrel in 22 K hornet and 17 K hornet all at the same time, down sizing to 223 in Rem 788 and 22/250 Ai Rem factory rechamber.

Some things seemed to help hornet accuracy,

touch the lands with the bullet(40g Speer spire point)

Glass bed with free floating barrel

Trigger job

Lee factory crimp die

Good luck!

 
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I have gotten great accuracy and velocity with the 35 and 40 grain grain V Max, both over Lil Gun and 1680. The 40 grain V Max is too long to fit most Hornet magazines without seating it too deep. The 35 fits great but runs out of steam pretty quick with its low BC, but within its range it is amazingly destructive.
 
Originally Posted By: hornet112Go with the 35gr VMax and 13gr of LIL gun and you will be happy

Yep! Great load for the little Hornet.
 
Originally Posted By: lhitchcoxAckleyman, have you looked at shimming the two-piece bolt? That seems to increase accuracy a lot.


I shimmed the bolt and changed trigger springs. I also bed the action and floated the barrel. Still get an occasional flyer but not as bad as before. Usually I get a pretty tight group but I'm still breaking it in and searching for the "Perfect" load.
 
I shot hornets for years. It was a sometimes love/hate relationship. Savage & stevens 322, Cz 527, and 2 Ruger 77 (standard & varmint model) and more. Those CZ's were slow twisted and .223 instead of .224, but it didn't seem to matter, they were great shooters and great rifles. Ruger NEVER understood what they had in their 77/22H, but I would say that applies to about all Ruger products except the revolvers.

One bullet not mentioned that I liked really well was the Speer 33 grain HP. I didn't get to work with it a whole lot as it came out just as I was leaving the hornet nest but it showed a lot of potential to me. Also liked the Speer soft points. A lot of guys hunting with the hornets liked the Sierra 45's. Same with Little Gun powder, although I had great results prior with imr4227 and aa1680.
My procedure was chamfered necks, neck size, sp primers, and factory crimp die.

I spent YEARS working with the hornets. I started out with a Lee hammer kit at the kitchen table, something seldom seen today. Today's "modern caliber" rifles sometimes are so accurate from the factory that there is very little improvement from hand loading. I think a lot of "improvements" most guys make now are more aesthetics or personalizing. Not so with the hornets of yesteryear. It was very satisfying to tinker with various things to see what helped. Some improvements big, some slight but a pleasure to see it happen.
 
I tried crimping and saw no major difference in accuracy. The groups actually opened up a little. I found it is not worth the extra step.
 
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