Ruger 77/.22 Hornet accuracy

[c.latrans]

Has anyone had any luck getting one of these rifles to shoot well? I picked one up at an estate sale earlier this year in like new condition. Its initial accuracy was dismal, consistently shooting 3.5 inch 5 shot 100 yard groups with any factory ammo I could get my hands on. I have gone through the check list...crown is good, scope screws are tight, the trigger sucks but its not THAT bad...and have floated the bbl. After hand loaded extensively for it this summer trying to find an acceptable combination without much success, even trying a number of bullets which are not designed for the hornet. The best load I have been able to develop so far is with the 45 grain Nosler offering. This load produces solid 2" groups repeatedly, which is not what I am looking for out of this rifle. I have bedded dozens of actions over the years, and although this one does not lend itself to a particularly easy bedding job, I am looking at that option as about my last straw.

The only other Hornet I have played with was a Contender, and it shot little bitty dots for groups, so while I know the Hornet is not known as an "accuracy" round, I also know it will do better than this rifle is showing. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with experience with this particular rifle, good or bad. If I cant make it settle down.....down the road she will go. Thanks in advance!

 

[Walkalong]

AA 1680 made mine shoot, while many swear by Lil Gun. Mine loves the 40 Gr V Max, while others swear by the 35 Gr V Max.

They are not the most accurate rifles out there, and group size will vary from group to group, day by day, as they tend to throw a shot here and there, but I enjoy mine a lot. Under MOA is possible, and sometimes it will hold long enough to do better, but sometimes it will throw one or two shots and make you wonder if the scope is about to fall off or something.

 

[c.latrans]

Thanks WALKALONG, and very interested that you mentioned flyers. I have fought with the odd ball bullet hole out of the blue throughout the whole process, and attributed it to operator error.....which can still happen now and then...LOL. It is a fun little rifle, and with the Nosler I mentioned it will lay a coyote low at 100 in a heartbeat with as little pelt damage as one would see with a .22wmr. I may keep it for a close range calling gun as it would be kind to fox pelts, etc. and it has plenty of accuracy for that. Not shooting the heads off of prairie dogs with it, though.

 

[Bwana John]

Mine shoots to ~ 2 moa, I have replaced the sear and trigger spring, and am considering glass-bedding the action and free-floating the barrel.

I did notice that R-P brass seems to shoot best regardless of the projectile.

 

[rule303]

Many 77/22 Hornets need the 2 piece bolt shimmed before they will shoot really well. Mine would shoot under 1 MOA once I had that done. I love Rugers, but my only Hornet is now a Savage which will shoot .5 out of the box. Most factory .22 Hornet ammo is dismal, try Lil'gun with a 35 or 40gr V-Max over a CCI small pistol primer in R-P brass.

 

[c.latrans]

rule303...thanks for the tips. I will piddle with the shims before trying anything else.

 

[Saleen322]

I don't have a Ruger Hornet but I have a NEF single shot, a model 40 Savage and an old 340 Savage all in .22 Hornet. I haven't shot any factory stuff that performed. The best loads for me have been bullets from 34 to 40 grains with IMR-4227 or Lil'Gun powder. Best loads group in the 1/2" to 3/4" range at 100 yards.

 

[redneck2]

Ruger is not the shining example of accuracy in .22 Hornet. I went thru the same thing you have. The rifle went away. I'm planning on replacing it with a CZ some day.

If you go over to Varmint's Den, you'll find a number of guys in the same boat. In my world, it was more trouble than it was worth in the Ruger. Guys with CZ's and Brownings are getting .5's or better.

The Hornet is a way cool round. Has 90% of the performance of a .223 with less than 1/2 the powder.

 

[Saleen322]

Hornet Load

I fellow member here PMed me about some hornet loads. The best bullet for me has been the Sierra Blitzking 40. But Midway had some light 34 grain dog town bullets they were selling cheap and they shot real well for what they cost. I took my Savage out and I had my scope set for the 40s but here is a 5-shot group @ 100 yards that is right at 3/4" center to center with the midway 34s. These were the first 5 down the barrel. You may want to give them a try. YMMV

 

[c.latrans]

Thanks all. Stayed up past midnight doing "the shim trick" but the bold light of day at the range today showed no improvement....so....this one is going down the road on a trade of some kind in the near future. Thinking it is time to jump on the CZ band wagon. I have never owned one, always wanted one and am hearing lots of good things about them in a Hornet.....the stars just seem to be lining up!

 

[Still Shooting]

Fixing the Ruger 77/22

Connecticut Precision Chambering made my Ruger 77/22 a nice gun to own. The owner, Randy, explains that the problems are these:
(1) The two piece bolt has play, and needs to be pinned so it behaves like a solid bolt.
(2) The lede (throat) is over-long, and permits bullet "wobble".
(3) The chamber is a max size.
(4) The trigger's not very nice a-tall.

The CPC cure goes as follows:
(1) Pin the bolt with a tapered pin after shimming, so it becomes a "one piece bolt."
(2) Cut the barrel shoulder back 0.100" to shorten the lede,and
(3) re-chamber to a minimum chamber. No extra charge to have it turned into a K-Hornet, which is what I did.
(4) Hone the trigger-sear assembly.

I dropped the rifle off in person on my way through Conn., and it came back to me in 10 days exactly. In addition to the above, I had Randy do a recessed 11 deg. crown on the barrel. Total cost, including postage back to me was $238.00. -And I challenge anyone to examine the rifle and find any cosmetic signs that it has been worked on.

At first, I wasn't sure the accuracy had improved all that much, but after following Randy's advice about barrel break-in, the gun now shoots slightly sub-moa groups with no fliers. The trigger is a nice, crisp 2-1/4 oz. break, and I'm a happy Hornet fan.

I don't know if Randy is still doing business as CPC (I took my rifle to him about 6 years ago), but if he is, the guy is tops.

 

[Still Shooting]

Connecticut Precision Chambering

Still doing good things to Ruger 77/22's. Here's the link:

http://www.ct-precision.com/ruger77.html

 

[Agsalaska]

I have one of these. This old guy and I went thru about 20 rounds mostly shooting at beer cans. It seemed accurate enough until I dropped it, knocking the aim point on the scope off by a couple of feet at 100 yards. I did this with two bullets left.

I hope I have more luck than the rest of you. I dont shoot much but was planning on using it over the winter on coyotes and maybe a doe if I got close enough. But I would not try that last shot without proving it on a tight group. If its not accurate I will sell it in a heartbeat.

 

[itsa pain]

I love the hornet round and the ruger is way to much money and the horrible bolt system would not lock up good enough for a pellet rifle. I cant imagine adding another 300 to have it worked over. I bought a handi rifle for 150 new and it shoots great. if the savage was around I might have bought that much better then the ruger

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have an M82 Kimber in .22 Hornet, and was frustrated with it. My M82 is a beautiful little rifle, but it just wasn't all that accurate. To me, the Hornet is like a red-headed woman -- alluring, frustrating, attractive and capricious. Being a rather stubborn type, I set out to master the Hornet, and eventually developed a load that will regularly shoot sub-inch groups at 100 yards. Here is the secret to the Hornet.

1. Fire form your brass. The case is a sloppy fit in the chamber, but once fired in your rifle, it is a perfect fit -- in your chamber.

2. Disturb the brass as little as possible. The standard reloading die puts a lot of stress on a case, and Hornet brass is thin. We have to remember that when neck resizing, all the force is transmitted from the head to the neck through the walls of the case. I use a Lee Collet Die, where the only stress is radial.

3. Don't resize the whole neck. The Lee Collet Die is designed to size the whole neck and activates when the base of the collet tube contacts the shell holder. You can't adjust it by screwing it in or out. I put a couple of washers on the shell holder, around the case. The collet tube contacts the washers and activates early. You can look at my neck-sized cases and see a line around the neck, about half way between mouth and shoulder. The unsized portion of the neck acts as a pilot, centering the neck in the chamber.

4. Use Hodgdon’s Li’l Gun – it develops lower pressures than other powders, but with its prolonged peak, it produces high velocities. Typically, a case full of Li'l Gun will develop about 28,000 CUP, and the Hornet's max is 40,000 CUP. I don't weigh my charges; I use the case itself as a dipper. I fill the case and strike it off (draw a straight edge across the case mouth to brush off any excess powder) then tap the case lightly to settle the powder a fraction of an inch. This load breaks 3,000 fps over my Shooting Chrony.

5. Use the right bullet. No rifle will shoot more accurately than the bullets it is fed. I use the 35 grain Hornady V-Max. It shoots accurately, and is deadly on everything from crows to coyotes. But it has one even more important characteristic. Hornets usually shoot best when the bullet is loaded close to the origin of the rifling. This usually results in an overall cartridge length that won't feed through the magazine. V-Max bullets in .22 caliber all have about the same shank length -- the weight differences come in the length of the nose. The 35 grain looks like it started out to be a round-nose bullet, and changed its mind at the last minute. You can load the 35 grain V-Max out to where the shoulder of the bullet actually touches the origin of the rifling, and still have an OAL that will feed through the magazine.

 

[c.latrans]

Well, several of you guys have proven once again that the hornet WILL shoot. Not sure I am ready to plop down nearly as much as I paid for the rifle to have a gunsmith work it over....still decisions to be made. Thanks one and all.

 

[redneck2]

The CPC cure goes as follows:
(1) Pin the bolt with a tapered pin after shimming, so it becomes a "one piece bolt."
(2) Cut the barrel shoulder back 0.100" to shorten the lede,and
(3) re-chamber to a minimum chamber. No extra charge to have it turned into a K-Hornet, which is what I did.
(4) Hone the trigger-sear assembly.

Weird thing about the Ruger's is that some seem to shoot well (as the one above), but most are extremely difficult to get to shoot well. I got mine used, and I wondered why someone would trade off a rifle that looked brand new. After shooting it, I knew why.

To me, it didn't make sense to dump 50% of the original value into a rifle that MIGHT finally shoot decently and either way wouldn't be worth a penny more. If you do decide to sell it, kiss the $250 good bye.

I'm gonna take the extra $250 (or probably more now) and put it towards a rifle that was made right from the factory. Nice thing about the Ruger was that I was able to get what I paid, so no harm. Either way, it's your money so do what makes you happy.

 

[itsa pain]

I have an M82 Kimber in .22 Hornet, and was frustrated with it. My M82 is a beautiful little rifle, but it just wasn't all that accurate. To me, the Hornet is like a red-headed woman -- alluring, frustrating, attractive and capricious. Being a rather stubborn type, I set out to master the Hornet, and eventually developed a load that will regularly shoot sub-inch groups at 100 yards. Here is the secret to the Hornet.

1. Fire form your brass. The case is a sloppy fit in the chamber, but once fired in your rifle, it is a perfect fit -- in your chamber.

2. Disturb the brass as little as possible. The standard reloading die puts a lot of stress on a case, and Hornet brass is thin. We have to remember that when neck resizing, all the force is transmitted from the head to the neck through the walls of the case. I use a Lee Collet Die, where the only stress is radial.

3. Don't resize the whole neck. The Lee Collet Die is designed to size the whole neck and activates when the base of the collet tube contacts the shell holder. You can't adjust it by screwing it in or out. I put a couple of washers on the shell holder, around the case. The collet tube contacts the washers and activates early. You can look at my neck-sized cases and see a line around the neck, about half way between mouth and shoulder. The unsized portion of the neck acts as a pilot, centering the neck in the chamber.

4. Use Hodgdon’s Li’l Gun – it develops lower pressures than other powders, but with its prolonged peak, it produces high velocities. Typically, a case full of Li'l Gun will develop about 28,000 CUP, and the Hornet's max is 40,000 CUP. I don't weigh my charges; I use the case itself as a dipper. I fill the case and strike it off (draw a straight edge across the case mouth to brush off any excess powder) then tap the case lightly to settle the powder a fraction of an inch. This load breaks 3,000 fps over my Shooting Chrony.

5. Use the right bullet. No rifle will shoot more accurately than the bullets it is fed. I use the 35 grain Hornady V-Max. It shoots accurately, and is deadly on everything from crows to coyotes. But it has one even more important characteristic. Hornets usually shoot best when the bullet is loaded close to the origin of the rifling. This usually results in an overall cartridge length that won't feed through the magazine. V-Max bullets in .22 caliber all have about the same shank length -- the weight differences come in the length of the nose. The 35 grain looks like it started out to be a round-nose bullet, and changed its mind at the last minute. You can load the 35 grain V-Max out to where the shoulder of the bullet actually touches the origin of the rifling, and still have an OAL that will feed through the magazine.

good info vern but I heard the hornet is very powder sensitive as to the weight. 1/2 grain making big difference. I see lil gun has low pressure but the way you top off the case makes me wonder about consistent accuracy

 

[Walkalong]

To me, it didn't make sense to dump 50% of the original value into a rifle that MIGHT finally shoot decently and either way wouldn't be worth a penny more

Which is why I have not done anything to mine, other than clean up the trigger. I just live with the fliers. It is still a fun gun. I was shooting 10" steel plates at 300 yards a few weeks ago and was able to center most of the shots. One of these days I'll buy a better .22 Hornet, but for now, I am enjoying my 77/22, warts and all, now that I finally found a load it likes.

 

[bracer]

I gave up on using the old rimed base long tapered thin walled 22 hornet cartridge. The modern 221 Fireball cartridge has non of the problems found with the 22 Hornet case. The Fireball is eazy to reload but takes a bit more powder but the case life is much longer. I spent more trying to find an accurate reload for my Kimber Mdl 82 22 Hornet rifle than any other rifle I have owned. But I do have a Hornady 17 Hornet CZ brand rifle on order. The 17 HH case is a K type case with more brass in the side walls and neck.

 

[eastbank]

i had a brand new 77 ruger hornet and it went back to ruger two times and still would not shoot better than 2-3 inch groups with anything. i sold it after it came back from ruger the second time. and after some looking i came acrossed this used CZ fox mod-2 and bought it and mounted a 6x leupold scope and it shoots 1/2-3/4 inch groups with factory .22 hornet privi ammo,i bought 10 boxs and don,t plan on reloading for it untill i run out of the privi .22 hornet ammo. eastbank.