Bingo!!!!

[Don Buckbee]

Several years ago I bought a Ruger Number 1 in 22 Hornet. The reason I bought it is because when I was 16 year old kid in 1950, I had a Savage Model 219, single shot, in 22 Hornet. That was my chuck rifle back in Pennsylvania for several years. I couldn't afford anything better then. So, the Number 1 is my way of connecting to some great times spent with my father chuck hunting back then.
Anyway, after getting the Number 1 scoped and some loads worked up for it, I went to our local range and shot all of the ammo I had loaded. The groups were terrible. The best groups had strings vertically about 1 /3/4 inches, but were very good horizontally. That was at 50 yards....
A buddy of mine had a Number 1 in 25/06, and I asked him if he had experienced the same problem. He had the same problem. And, he gave me several articles written with fixes for the problem.. Reading them gave me the clue that there are a bunch of folks out there with similar problems with this beautiful rifle.
So, it was off to the gunsmith for a fix, or what I hoped would fix the problem. Since I wanted to do the least intrusive thing to fix it first, I had him releive all interference between the rib on top and the forend, both with the reveiver. I also had him glass bed the forend.
Shooting it after he did the initial work showed no improvement; still the same bad vertical strings.
So, it was back for the ultimate fix; drill and tap a hole in the hanger that attaches the forend. A set screw is then threaded into the hole and goes up and puts a force on the bottom of the barrel at that point, to eliminate inaccuracy due to barrel harmonics.
I picked the rifle up on Monday. After getting home, I took the forearm off to look at the work the gunsmith did on it. He did a neat job of drilling and tapping a hole, and he put a small pad on the barrel at the point the screw meets it to keep the end of the screw from marring the barrel.
I then loaded up some of Clint Starke's 36 grain bullets with H-110 powder. That's all I had on hand. I used Federal Small Rifle Match primers. After sighting it in, I shot 6 different 4 round groups, with powder charges ranging fom 10.0 gr to 13.0 gr of the H-110. With 11.0 gr I shot a 5/16 inch group at 50 yards!!!! Not too shabby.. You may wonder why I only shot 4 shot groups. That's because Clint Starke isn't making bullets anymore, and I don't have many left. But, I'm a happy camper!!! On the way home I bought a box of cigars.. And, I smoked one on the rest of the way home....
Don

 

[dakotasin]

finally someone that has a hornet success story, and w/ a no. 1, no less!

hornet's seem to be a great way to learn a lesson in frustration. seems to be hard to find a magical load for the beasties...

 

[Don Buckbee]

The Hornet

I had gone to one of the loading manuals and saw that H-110 was the most accurate powder in the light weight bullet. And, before Clint Starke went out of business, I had bought a box of his 36gr bullets to try. If they proved to be the most accuarte of those I was testing, I was going to buy more. But, he is no longer making bullets... The reason I bought his bullets to try is that I had read good reviews about them. And, they worked like a champ in my newly "fixed" rifle.
I shot a lot of rounds getting to where the Number 1 is now in the quest for accuarcy. I was using a Bald Eagle front and rear bag. The front is both elevation and windage adjustable. I used a 24 power scope on the rifle, so I had good optics for the testing, and a very stable platform to shoot from. I also had a trigger job done on the rifle. It's a keeper now....
Take care,
Don

 

[Bullet Bob]

My Browning lo-wall in .22 Hornet has been nothing but a sweetheart, even with factory loads. It wears a Burris 6x compact, and is darn near perfect for it's purpose, lacking only the installation of the Brownell's kit to reduce the trigger pull. I've had the kit for awhile now, but I'm very lazy.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The secret of the Hornet is this:

1. Fire-form your brass. The Hornet, with its taper, sloping shoulder, and so on is not inherently accurate, but fire-forming can improve that.

2. Disturb the brass as little as possible. I use a Lee Collet Die which doesn't put stress on the case walls -- only radial pressure on the neck. The Collet die works by bottoming out on the shell holder, so I adjust it by putting a couple of washers on the shell holder. This results in the neck being sized only about the first 1/4 inch or less. The rest of the unsized neck acts as a pilot when the round is in the chamber.

3. Use Hodgdon't Li'l Gun. The burning characteristics of Li'l Gun give high velocity at low pressures. I fill the case, tap it to settle the powder, top it off, and strike it (draw a straight edge across the case mouth. This is a compressed load with the bark on it!

4. Seat the bullet well out -- nearly touching the rifling. Use the 35-grain Hornady V-Max. This bullet has a shorter nose than others, and can be seated out to where the shank nearly touches the rifling, and will still feed through the magazine.

 

[Mike Hull]

I had a Ruger #3, .22 Hornet back in the late 70's, and I was amazed at it's accuracy.
Even compared to a good bolt gun it shot well.

Unfortunately, I sold it for something else before I ever got around to investigating why it was that way.