short barrel fast twist 22 Hornet expirement... results coming in

[Magnum Wheel Man]

So, most know I built a custom 8 shot 22 Hornet "change barrel" ( ala Dan Wesson style ) revolver, & since it was a totally custom barrel, I used a chunk of 1 in 9 twist 223 barrel... my 1st barrel is 6" long, & I've begun testing the 100's of different variables of hand loads that I did up while waiting for the revolver to get completed

I had to try a few of my handloads... so I picked the middle load to test ( no chrony today ) of 3 different bullets / weights, & 3 different powders... one I've never seen used in the 22 Hornet before I'm still shooting off the bench, with a field rest at 60 ft...

of couse I wanted to try the heavies 1st, but wanted to use a standard powder, so my 1st 8 handloads were the middle charge of 4227 with the 55 grain Sierra Game King BT spitzers... if I throw out the worst 2 "fliers", ( hey... I never said "I" was a good shooter ) I had 6 shots ( nice round holes ) that would almost cover with a quarter... hmmmm... I've still got just as ugly a mug, & no bleeding or damage to the gun... in fact the recoil was less than the factory loads I shot just before... whew...

2nd group of 8 were the middle charge of Lil Gun, with the 45 grain Barnes Banded Solid Spitzer BT... hmmm.... I'm still alive & feeling good... the group ( again all nice round holes ) I could cover with a quarter vertically, but I had about 4" of horizontal stringing albeit perfectly across the 4" black bullseye I was aiming for...

so, I was feeling lucky, & I go for broke... the 36 grain Varmint Grenades ( I hoped they wouldn't "blow up" bridging the barrel / cylinder gap ), & a middle charge of AA #9 ( I highly recommend no one load 22 Hornet with this powder, because there is no published loading data for AA #9 ) again, perfectly round holes, & overall the tightest group ( today )

another interesting thing, was all 3 rounds ( different powders & different bullets & bullet weights, all hit to point of aim. I was asked about cartridge OAL with the heavy bullets on another forum...

Cartidge OAL is stretched a bit over published 22 Hornet specs, but limited by the cylinder length on the revolver... my standard revolver loading length is 1.785" for heavier spitzer type bullets, shorter for typical Hornet bullets & most charges can eccept the longer barnes lead free bullets, or the Sierra Game King BT Spitzers ( 55 grain )without problems... I do have a couple loads ( one a Lil Gun load ) that is lightly compressed, which I haven't tried yet, as it's a stout charge for the bullet weight, but I was kinda suprised ( I was expecting the worse ) with both the 55 grain bullets & the Varmint Grenades, with the weight & the fragile nature, but the loads I tried were no hotter than a factory load ( as far as recoil, & case expansion ), so I'm trodding onward...

next step for me is to build a chrony specific shooting bench to set out in front of my shooting shack ... so I'm thinking about this design for a "dedicated chrony bench", a 2 X 10 that is 10' - 12' long, with kinda sawhorse like legs for stability, & the pistol rest can go on one end, adjust the height to my pistol backstop target holder, or 50yard or 100 yard target holders & mount the chrony on the other end... maybe a 1 x 4 along each edge for stability... this could easily fit in the storage area under my shooting shack, & would make chronying all these loads I need to test this summer easier to do, & the groups could also be saved as they were shot from a bench & a rest... maybe I can have that completed in a couple weeks & start recording velocities of these custom handloads