The Ruger77/22 Hornet & what I had to do to make it a shootet

Ruger77KH

New member
Ok most people say a 22 Hornet is not accurate. I have owned 4 over the past 20 years. All of them shot alright But none have been tack drivers. Every one threw flyers .So I got a Ruger 77/22 Hornet stainless laminated stock.It's a wonderful feeling rifle. same problems 4 shots could place a dime over then 2 shot would open my group to 1 1/2" not acceptable from a $800 rifle. So did everything I could think to try to eliminate the flyers .Reduced the trigger pull weight, got down to 1 1/4 "group with my handloads. Did a lot of research online seems most 77/ Hornets have this problem .Floated the barrel & bedded the action got it down to 1" group better but still not acceptable for my taste. Shimmed the bolt now it's down to 3/4 of a inch . So it was get rid of this rifle or go for broke & make it a K Hornet . Did a lot more research & bought a chamber reamer & made it a K Hornet. Was easy just put my boresnake in the barrel filled it with tap magic ran the reamer in the original chamber with a 3/8 drive extension I actually did it by hand took half hour & was the best thing I have done to this rifle outside of reloading .I also have a Browning 1885 Hornet which shot 1" groups I made it a K Hornet. seems head spacing off the shoulder instead of the rim is the ticket for accuracy on this small round & a added plus is it will hold about a full grain of powder.Both rifles are tack drivers & I can shoot my reloads in either rifle. The 1885 likes hornet style or 218 bee bullets & Ruger loves the 40 gr NBT & both shoot regular hornet ammo just fine
 
The only mod I did to mine, a Ruger M77 Sporter, was the Timney spring and sear kit, to lighten and smooth the trigger pull.

Using a Lee Collet Die to neck size, Lilgun powder and small pistol primers got me to MOA with the 45gr Barnes XLC, and slightly better with a 52gr Sierra Match bullet.

Fun little round.
 
I use redding KH neck sizing dies lee factory crimp die & put a slightly heavy crimp , lil gun , SP primers & 40 gr NBT , 45 gr hornady SP hornet , 45 gr Bee HP Bullets. 45 gr bullets shoot half inch Lower at the 100 yrd mark with the same charge of 12.7 gr of lil gun.so I load rifle 1 NBT in the chamber the next in my mag is a Bee/SP (in case a cat happens to show up) then the rest NBT . Think NBT may be a little hard on a cat hide from what everyone tells me.
 
I had a beautiful 77 in 22 hornet. Wasn’t accurate enough for me so it went down the road. Sometimes I wish I would have messed with it more !
 
My suggestion to anyone who has a Hornet & it throws flyers it to Make it a K version . Rent a reamer. I bought 1 & have done my 2 riles as well as 2 others for close friends & all of them took care of the flyers. The stainless barrels seemed to ream easier than the blued steel .
 
One thing that I found out was that hornets are very particular about bullet jump to the lands. The 40g Speer spire point is designed to where you can touch the lands and still use the magazine. Accuracy improved greatly when I started using the 40g speer spire point. I killed a LOT of coyotes with this 40g spire point, which shoots holes through shoulders if/when you need to.
 
Originally Posted By: Ruger77KHMy suggestion to anyone who has a Hornet & it throws flyers it to Make it a K version . Rent a reamer. I bought 1 & have done my 2 riles as well as 2 others for close friends & all of them took care of the flyers. The stainless barrels seemed to ream easier than the blued steel .

That's great that it cured your rifle from throwing flyers but curing your "flyers" problem was an indirect by product.

Reaming a chamber from the original 22 Hornet case/shoulder design to a K Hornet design would have nothing to do with one design having flyers and the other not.
 
My 77 never actually threw flyers but I liked the K case so much better I had mine reamed. I think it makes reloading a little easier as well. Seems the bullet has less tendency to start crooked. Might just be me?? I did order a trigger spring and bolt shim kit, floated the barrel and bed the action. It still isn't a one holer but it shoots 3/4 inch groups at 100yds on a regular basis. On a good day and I haven't had to much coffee it will do better. But even on a not so good day, its a ball to shoot and I can bang a 3" steel at 200yds pretty easy. Just a fun rifle all in all.
 
From the way I have understood from all the other sites and input is that the hornet head spaces off the rim & the K version head spaces off the shoulder centering the bullets much better in the bore. different cases , different thickness of cases will all effect accuracy. Not a gunsmith but can only tell you all of my hornets, even with handloads have shot flyers & after making a k version of the 2 I still own they don't throw flyers . I did change other factors like K hornet dies. But even cheaper factory hornet loads (Remington)will shoot into a dime size group at the 100 yrd mark .If the flyers were to still happening with regular hornet ammo I would say it was the new dies .
 
If a Hornet, or any other cartridge for that matter, headspaces off of the shoulder has to do with how the brass is sized in relation to the chamber in which it is fired, not whether it is any specific cartridge.
 
Originally Posted By: Ruger77KHFrom the way I have understood from all the other sites and input is that the hornet head spaces off the rim & the K version head spaces off the shoulder centering the bullets much better in the bore. different cases , different thickness of cases will all effect accuracy. Not a gunsmith but can only tell you all of my hornets, even with handloads have shot flyers & after making a k version of the 2 I still own they don't throw flyers . I did change other factors like K hornet dies. But even cheaper factory hornet loads (Remington)will shoot into a dime size group at the 100 yrd mark .If the flyers were to still happening with regular hornet ammo I would say it was the new dies .

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Do you have any idea concerning what I need to do to my regular Hornet rifles to get them to shoot flyers. None of them do.

Being truthful, neither does the K- Hornet that I own. Am I doing something wrong?

This quote from B23 is the truth...........

Originally Posted By: B23

That's great that it cured your rifle from throwing flyers but curing your "flyers" problem was an indirect by product.

Reaming a chamber from the original 22 Hornet case/shoulder design to a K Hornet design would have nothing to do with one design having flyers and the other not.
 
Not gonna bite ...& I'm not here to argue. I can only speak on my findings & the research I have done there are many sights out there that discuss this. A hornet head spaces off the rim .A k hornet head spaces off the shoulder. Factory hornet rounds fired in a K hornet chamber swells to match the chamber of the k hornet ( fire forming )before the bullet leaves the case . This is how you get K Hornet brass to reload .so if the normal hornet round has formed its self to the k hornet chamber it is now head spacing off the shoulder instead of the rim .
 
Originally Posted By: Ruger77KHNot gonna bite ...& I'm not here to argue. I can only speak on my findings & the research I have done there are many sights out there that discuss this. A hornet head spaces off the rim .A k hornet head spaces off the shoulder. Factory hornet rounds fired in a K hornet chamber swells to match the chamber of the k hornet ( fire forming )before the bullet leaves the case . This is how you get K Hornet brass to reload .so if the normal hornet round has formed its self to the k hornet chamber it is now head spacing off the shoulder instead of the rim .


A Hornet case sized properly can also head space off the shoulder after firing in the rifle chamber, albeit it does not have as steep a shoulder as a K-Hornet. In addition, have you ever heard of neck sizing a Hornet case to improve accuracy in a plain-jane Hornet rifle?
 
Been shooting for 47 + years . & Most american made rifles are not chambered to the standards I demand . & I never said a hornet isn't head spaced off the rim aK hornet uses the shoulder .Let me guess you are the type of guy who uses a 50cal for chipmunk hunting just in case you miss maybe you can hit him with debris & call it a good shot
 
Been shooting for 47 + years . & Most american made rifles are not made to the standards I demand . & I never said a hornet isn't head spaced off the rim a K hornet uses the shoulder .Let me guess you are the type of guy who uses a 50cal for chipmunk hunting just in case you miss . maybe you can hit him with debris & call it a good shot
 
Originally Posted By: Ruger77KHBeen shooting for 47 + years . & Most american made rifles are not made to the standards I demand . & I never said a hornet isn't head spaced off the rim a K hornet uses the shoulder .Let me guess you are the type of guy who uses a 50cal for chipmunk hunting just in case you miss . maybe you can hit him with debris & call it a good shot

This is worth two
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You've got me pegged. Guilty as charged...
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So who is this Bill you are referring to Bill Clinton??? Possibly the only other person with the same views as you.Aint that right Barrack .Ain't that right Hillary .Ain'that right Osama ...
 
Originally Posted By: Ruger77KHNot gonna bite ...& I'm not here to argue. I can only speak on my findings & the research I have done there are many sights out there that discuss this. A hornet head spaces off the rim .A k hornet head spaces off the shoulder. Factory hornet rounds fired in a K hornet chamber swells to match the chamber of the k hornet ( fire forming )before the bullet leaves the case . This is how you get K Hornet brass to reload .so if the normal hornet round has formed its self to the k hornet chamber it is now head spacing off the shoulder instead of the rim .

I don't think anyone is trying to argue with you and I mean this with all due respect but your understanding of how it works is limited because based on your writings, you're assuming a lot.

I'll say it again, whether or not the case is headspacing off of the shoulder or rim has nothing to do with what your rifle is chambered in but rather how you size your cases. Just because you reamed your chamber from standard 22 Hornet to K Hornet and fired a round in it does NOT automatically mean that case is now headspacing off of the shoulder.

Do you neck size only with a neck size only die until you have zero headspace or do you use a FL die to size your brass?

Also, did you cut any of the thread off and set the barrel back before you ran that K Hornet reamer in or did you just ream your factory barrel to K Hornet?
 
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