I have had a desire for a 22 Hornet for years and saw a 24" Model 77 at a gun show about 6 weeks ago and decided to take a chance. In my research here at THR it was clear that the 77 hornet's are hit or miss when it comes to accuracy, but I figure if it was a dud I would send it off and have it re-chambered for the K-Hornet.
When I got it home I rummaged through the scopes I had and decided to go with the Leupold M8 6x42 so I mounted it and bore sighted it. I then worked up loads in three bullet weights (Nosler 35 Grain lead free, Hornady 45 Grain VMAX and Nosler 50 Grain BTSP) using IMR 4227 and Lil Gun. I had never loaded for the Hornet before and it was an experience; every load was compressed and I had a few shoulder bulges that looked ugly but chambered OK. The biggest problem was I was having necks buckle when seating, but on one of the many posts I read here at THR I remembered someone saying the the expander ball on some of the RCBS dies is .223 (the original Hornet bullet diameter) so I swapped it out with the .224 expander from my 22-250 dies and that resolved the problem
It seemed like it took forever to get to the range but I finally had a chance to get out for an hour and thought I would give the 50 grain Nosler a shot and see if I had a good one or a dud. I started with the Lil Gun and was immediately happy with 11.9 gr and 12.1 gr loads as they turned in about 1" at 100 yards, but the smiles definitely brighten when the 12.3 and 12.5 gr loads tightened up even more; turning in .75" and .55" (center to center) 5 shot groups. I then moved to the IMR 4227 loads, but they didn't perform as well with the best load coming in at about 1.5".
All in all I am very happy with the rifle, even the trigger is OK (probably 7 lbs but no creep and a clean break), now I need to get out and see what the other loads do and drag my old Oehler chronograph out and see how they perform; but I know I have at least one good load.
When I got it home I rummaged through the scopes I had and decided to go with the Leupold M8 6x42 so I mounted it and bore sighted it. I then worked up loads in three bullet weights (Nosler 35 Grain lead free, Hornady 45 Grain VMAX and Nosler 50 Grain BTSP) using IMR 4227 and Lil Gun. I had never loaded for the Hornet before and it was an experience; every load was compressed and I had a few shoulder bulges that looked ugly but chambered OK. The biggest problem was I was having necks buckle when seating, but on one of the many posts I read here at THR I remembered someone saying the the expander ball on some of the RCBS dies is .223 (the original Hornet bullet diameter) so I swapped it out with the .224 expander from my 22-250 dies and that resolved the problem
It seemed like it took forever to get to the range but I finally had a chance to get out for an hour and thought I would give the 50 grain Nosler a shot and see if I had a good one or a dud. I started with the Lil Gun and was immediately happy with 11.9 gr and 12.1 gr loads as they turned in about 1" at 100 yards, but the smiles definitely brighten when the 12.3 and 12.5 gr loads tightened up even more; turning in .75" and .55" (center to center) 5 shot groups. I then moved to the IMR 4227 loads, but they didn't perform as well with the best load coming in at about 1.5".
All in all I am very happy with the rifle, even the trigger is OK (probably 7 lbs but no creep and a clean break), now I need to get out and see what the other loads do and drag my old Oehler chronograph out and see how they perform; but I know I have at least one good load.
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