Any 22 Hornet Reloaders?

[wickll]

So I am getting ready to reload for my 22 hornet in my TC contender. Bought some 40 grain sierra's (already have 50 grain Vmax). But before I go any further, I noticed that the "22 hornet" sierra's I bought are .223 diameter while according to what I have found, most newer 22 hornets are .224 diameter bullets.

Apparently the older 22 hornet rifles used .223. Does anyone know if I can safely use the .223 in my contender? Expect satisfactory results?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

How old is your barrel?
I have an older one and I'm using .224
I've never actually seen any .223 bullets.

 

[wickll]

I am unsure on the age. It is a 14 inch and made by TC. I couldn't find a serial number on the barrel.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

I am unsure on the age. It is a 14 inch and made by TC. I couldn't find a serial number on the barrel.

Yeah they don't have numbers.
Anything T/C should be .224
My old T/C load data book is all .224 with exception of the 22 Jet.

 

[Nicholst55]

Back in the olden days (say, the 60s and before, maybe the 70s), the Hornet used .223" groove diameter barrels; I forget the reasoning, though. Everyone that I'm aware of used .224" groove diameter barrels these days. To answer the OPs question, yes, he can safely use .223" bullets. Accuracy won't be great, more than likely, but it won't hurt anything.

 

[TreyG-20]

Shot my first hog with a hornet. I've been obsessed ever since. I don't have one but am I the prowl for a Ruger 77/22 hornet. If I see one it is mine and I'll buy the dies shortly after.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

Shot my first hog with a hornet. I've been obsessed ever since. I don't have one but am I the prowl for a Ruger 77/22 hornet. If I see one it is mine and I'll buy the dies shortly after.

I recently saw a set of dies for $25 on market place.

 

[wickll]

I was able to reach out to the guy from whom I bought my contender. He said he use .223 in his hornet rifle with no issues. Said he even had good accuracy. But I will give it a shot. pun intended.

 

[Vaquero]

I always figured the hornet to be the ultimate varmint/fur harvest round.
I never acquired one. Regrets.

 

[hornetguy]

I've shot the hornet quite a bit, both it and the K-Hornet. As stated above, you can certainly use the .223 bullets, and accuracy will likely be ok.
They are capable of good to excellent accuracy. I had a TC 16" barrel carbine that shot VERY well, but I wanted a slightly longer barrel, so I went with a 20" Bullberry barrel in K-Hornet. It was an honest minute of angle, or less little gun.
I started with an HR topper in regular hornet, went to the TC in regular hornet, then K-Hornet. I sold the TC a few years back because I wasn't getting out and shooting it much. I missed it so much that I bought another HR Topper in regular hornet a couple of years ago.
I had, for a very short time, a Ruger in the stainless heavy barrel version. I was not impressed with its accuracy, so I moved it along.

For reloading, the two best powders are AA-1680 and Hodgdon Lil Gun. For top velocities, it's nearly unanimously the Lil Gun... right around 13 grains of either, but develop what works in your gun... the Remington 6 1/2 primers work very nicely in those little cases. I know of some people even using small pistol primers with good success, but I don't know if I'd use them for really hot loads...

 

[wickll]

Thanks, Hornetguy. I have 1680 on hand. So I will probably start with that and the 40 gr. .223 bullets.

 

[Bracko]

Recently inherited a 77/22 22 hornet. My grandpa reloaded so I got the dies and a rock chucker. He had already reloaded a bunch of rounds and I trust his reloads so I don’t need to load any soon. In central Illinois the most your shooting is coyote, fox and maybe ground hogs. Feral hogs are a few counties to the south and not here yet.

 

[hornetguy]

I imagine you can kill nearly any animal with nearly any caliber, but if I intended to use the hornet to shoot hogs, I think I'd go with a hard cast bullet, loaded to "pretty zippy". At the least I'd use a FMJ bullet, and plan on head shots.
Hogs are tough, and bullets designed for the hornet are usually pretty explosive.
Unless you head shoot them (in the right place) the hornet is going to be marginal. Not that it won't work, but just be aware that the hog might just look at you and run off.

I had intended to try my K Hornet on our small whitetails, but never got the chance. I planned to use hard cast, and take nothing but a head shot. Anything else, I would pass up. There's just not a lot of excess power there.
I did kill a coyote with mine, using a VMax bullet, and the bullet blew up on a bone trying to get into the chest cavity. It killed the coyote, but it wasn't very decisive...

I have taken turkeys, jackrabbits, and several crows with it, all with great success, though.

 

[deemus]

Shot my first hog with a hornet. I've been obsessed ever since. I don't have one but am I the prowl for a Ruger 77/22 hornet. If I see one it is mine and I'll buy the dies shortly after.

I have dies and brass for sale. And maybe some 40g bullets I’d throw in the deal.