Reloading .22 Hornet

[MikeSD]

I picked up a Springfield M6 rifle this week, in stainless steel. It's almost mint condition. But now I have an ammo problem. I knew this would be the case when I bought it.

.22 Hornet is all but impossible to find. I've see a few ads for it going for over $100/box, or $2/round.

So, I got the components to reload for this caliber. But I have a question about the bullet sizes. I know it's 0.224 diameter, but the weight is confusing. All commercial ammo I have seen ranges from 35gr to 55gr, with 45 being common.

While looking for bullets, I have found some .22 bullets at 36 grains, that mention .22 Hornet. But I've also found some Sierra .224 HPBT, at 69 grains. They say .22 but I don't know if that will be too heavy or advisable for this M6 rifle.

1) Can the M6 handle 69grain Sierra .224 HPBT?
2) or is 55 grain bullets the highest recommended?
3) I did buy some commercial ammo at a $1.50/round so I have a hundred brass for reloading, but does anyone have some .22 Hornet brass they want to sell or trade for. I have some primers to trade.

 

[mkl]

I have used 55 grain FMJ in my hornet and they did stabilize. I would think think the 69 would be too heavy to stabilize given the fairly low velocity the hornet would be able to drive them, but I have never tried anything heaver than the 55. I used the 55 FMJ for hunting wild turkey when they were beyond shotgun range -- that's legal here in Texas. Minimum meat damage. I take both a shotgun and the hornet to my turkey blind since my turkey calling sucks and I can seldom get the turkey within shotgun range.

I think you will find bullets in the 35 to 45 grain range the most efficient for the hornet when used for target or varmints.

 

[stringnut]

No hornet in the world is twisted fast enough to handle a 69 grain bullet. Let me qualify that. No production hornet is twisted fast enough. Who knows what someone may have built. Anything over 45 gr can be iffy. Bullet length is the issue. Some 55 and 50 gr bullets are flat based and , relatively speaking, fairly blunt. This keeps the length shorter for weight of the bullet. A friend used to shoot all kinds of 50 grain bullets from his Ruger No. 1 hornet. Flat base and blunt ogive were very accurate. Anything with a boat tail was hopeless often keyholing at 100 yards.

 

[Bandit67]

PM sent

 

[Walkalong]

Do yourself a favor and get a couple of varmint type bullets in the 35 to 45 grain range.

Mine likes the 45 Gr V-Max and 1680. Lots of folks swear by the 35 Gr V-Max and Lil Gun.

 

[jmorris]

If your M6 is anything like mine, your not going to be setting any accuracy records with it. I have gone up to 55 but not over with the Hornet, mostly use 35-45 gn though. Also agree with Lilgun being the goto powder for the Hornet.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Most .22Hornets have a 1/16” twist rifling and do poorly with bullets exceeding 55gr.
Even 55gr is pushing it except in Ruger Hornets which are 1/14” twist.

Nothing is really gained with the Hornet with bullets exceeding 50gr.

The best bullets for most uses are 40-50gr. The Hornady 35gr V-max is an excellent explosive varmint bullet but may give accuracy issues in some guns.

I doubt you’ll see a high level of accuracy from the M6 given certain aspects such as trigger pull, overall weight, and ergonomics. But highly useful ammo can be assembled.
My favorite load is a Sierra 40gr Varminter HP over 12.5gr of Hodgdons LilGun.
An excellent low cost bulllet is the Armscor 40gr RNHP intended for the .22TCM. LAST I bought in early 2019 were $60/1,000.
Another top performance powder is H110/Win296.
For best long range performance try the Nosler 40 and 50gr Ballistic tips. Same goes for the Hornady V-max.
Don’t over look cast bullets. My Hornets shoot splendidly with 4.2gr of Unique or 6.2gr of #2400.

Two more excellent powders are H4227, and H4198.

 

[joneb]

I have a H&R in 22 Hornet with a 22" 1:9 twist, it does well with 35-50 bullets with H-110, Lil gun, and Accurate 1680. I normally use SRP but other SP could work well.

 

[FROGO207]

Be aware that the brass will often split after 3 or so reloads tried annealing them but was easier to get more brass. The Hornet only bullets in the 35-45 grain range worked best in my Savage 314. This is for hunting loads at Hornet speeds. My best load was a casefull of Lil Gun and compress a bullet in that range over it. About 13 grains. I also have an old .22 LR that has been converted over to Hornet and that works best with .223 bullets of 35 grains. Hope you enjoy yours.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have a T/C Contender carbine (21" barrel) chambered in 22 Hornet. It likes Speer 40 grain spire point bullets but it does well with 45 grain bullets.

I feel the velocities capable with heavier greatly reduce the effectiveness of the cartridges regardless of whether the twist rate of the barrel is adequate for the heavier (longer) bullets.

I've played with some Hornady 35 grain V-max bullets but I prefer the 40 grain Speers. But, the 35 V-max bullets would do well if I could not get the preferred bullets. Ditto for about anything in the 35 to 40 grain range for use in my rifle.

As FROGO207 said, brass life is short. I began neck sizing my 22 Hornet cases and would get a load or two more case life. Case head separation was my most frequent cause of failure.

Someday, I'd like to play with a 22 K-Hornet barrel. Many of the ills of 22 Hornet are supposedly fixed with the K-Hornet. I just have too many projects going.

 

[jmorris]

I began neck sizing my 22 Hornet cases

I don’t even size all of the neck, just the portion that the bullet is resting in. It’s the only round I do this with but was the key to getting my Van Horn barrel to shoot under 1/3 moa. I think it might be the lazy shoulder vs something like the K Hornet and you certainly can’t rely on the rim to keep things centered.

That said, Loading for an M6 anything that safety goes bang should be fine.

 

[cfullgraf]

I don’t even size all of the neck, just the portion that the bullet is resting in.

Right, I also do not neck size the entire neck. My objective is to keep the case body as large as possible to fill the chamber and minimize working the brass.

I might get a little bump in accuracy but my Contender shoots fairly tight groups anyway.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My experience is brass life is good if you don’t over size them “working” the brass.
I have some cases relegated to light cast loads that date to 1977!
Some have over 50 loadings on them.
The Lee Collet neck sizer die is your friend.

 

[FROGO207]

I may have to invest in that neck sizing die and see if it helps me.