Reloading the 22 Hornet

SShooterZ · July 7, 2009, 04:54 PM

You guys have always given me great advice in the past so I thought I would ask a new one.

I've been reloading 22 Hornet for my CZ 527 and realized I have an abundance of Remington 5 1/2 Pistol Magnum Primers in my primer cabinet. I think I got them on a trade some time ago.

Anyway, I see there are a lot of loads out there with the Remington 6 1/2 but I was wondering if anyone has loaded the 22 Hornet with the 5 1/2 and if so, what loads and/or advice can you give.

Also, has anyone used UNIQUE with jacketed bullets instead of cast boolits?

Thanks for the any and all input!

PS. I'm reloading right now with WSR and H-110 so I'm asking out of the box questions, not trying to kill myself.

Magnum Wheel Man · July 8, 2009, 09:18 AM

I'm loading alot of 22 Hornet right now... ( I have a 10" Contnder barrel, a custom fast twist 6" barreled revolver, & a couple bolt action rifles )... but am mostly loading for the Contender & revolver right now...

since the revolver is a "pistol" even though it's on a Raging frame, & could likely handle rifle primers, about 1/2 - 3/4 of my test loads are using both small pistol & small pistol magnum primers ( I'm pretty far outside the box trying to load for a fast twist 6" barrel revolver )

IMO, as long as you are not at maximum loads ( because of the low pressure the round operates under ) & your ( rifle I assume ) ( sorry, skipped over the CZ part... I also have one ) does not pierce the primers, I have not tried my CZ with pistol primers yet... you should be fine "testing"... ( also recommend only loading 1 or 2 & trying them 1st

I considered Unique as a powder for my revolver, because of the shorter barrel length... you do realize it's a pretty fast burner, much faster than a "normal" 22 Hornet powder... jacketed bullets offer more resistance down the bore than lead bullets, & the faster powders could pretty easily offer up an intial pressure spike higher than your brass can safely contain... I may still try doing a test batch with Unique & jacketed bullets for my revolver, but if you decide to try it, definately want to stay with small rifle primers & a mellow load...

Red_Eagle · July 8, 2009, 03:52 PM

This is kind of off topic and kind of not. Right now I'm working up a load with 40 gr Barnes VLC varmint bullets, H-110, and Federal small magnum pistol primers. My question is, what increments do you use to work up a load in this cartridge. I'm looking at the load data and it looks like a 1 1/2gr spread from start to max. I've never worked with a smal capacity cartidge before.

Magnum Wheel Man · July 8, 2009, 04:26 PM

I'm not in my shop right now, so I can't give out just what I'm doing with H-110 or Lil Gun but personally I take the difference between the minimum & maximum loads in my books & devide by 5 ( 5 rows in my plastic ammo box ) so some powders might be 0.5 grains, between test charges, some maybe 0.3, some 0.2, etc... then I load up ( normally 10 ) of each, but with my 8 shot revolver I've been only doing 8 of each ( one cylinder full ) & test for group size & velocity consistancy

after I have a favorite "test load" I'll usually tweak 1/2 way between the 2 closest test loads by 0.1 or 0.2 grains to see if I get better consistancy or group size... though this final tweaking is often overshadowed by improvements tweaking the OAL of the cartridge... & I always weigh each charge at this & the previous test loading stage of reloading... the powder measure doesn't even come out until I have finalized a set of loads for each cartridge or bullet combination

SShooterZ · July 8, 2009, 08:17 PM

WMW - Great dialogue and information. Sounds like you've got a lot of info and experience with the hornet. Thanks for offering some suggestions.

What I've done is load up a few rounds with 8.1 gr of H-110 and Remington 5 1/2 Primers with 45 grain Hornady Hornet bullet. Definitely staying on the safe side.

I typically use Unique for loading 20 gauge shotshell but figured with the abundance I had that 3.0 - 3.5 gr would probably be safe with a .223 bullet which should give slightly less resistance than a .224.

Definitely appreciate the feedback.

RE - Your firearm list looks a lot like mine. Nice choices!

July 7, 2009, 04:54 PM	#1
SShooterZ Member Join Date: January 17, 2005 Location: McHenry, IL Posts: 22	Reloading the 22 Hornet You guys have always given me great advice in the past so I thought I would ask a new one. I've been reloading 22 Hornet for my CZ 527 and realized I have an abundance of Remington 5 1/2 Pistol Magnum Primers in my primer cabinet. I think I got them on a trade some time ago. Anyway, I see there are a lot of loads out there with the Remington 6 1/2 but I was wondering if anyone has loaded the 22 Hornet with the 5 1/2 and if so, what loads and/or advice can you give. Also, has anyone used UNIQUE with jacketed bullets instead of cast boolits? Thanks for the any and all input! PS. I'm reloading right now with WSR and H-110 so I'm asking out of the box questions, not trying to kill myself.

July 8, 2009, 09:18 AM	#2
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	I'm loading alot of 22 Hornet right now... ( I have a 10" Contnder barrel, a custom fast twist 6" barreled revolver, & a couple bolt action rifles )... but am mostly loading for the Contender & revolver right now... since the revolver is a "pistol" even though it's on a Raging frame, & could likely handle rifle primers, about 1/2 - 3/4 of my test loads are using both small pistol & small pistol magnum primers ( I'm pretty far outside the box trying to load for a fast twist 6" barrel revolver ) IMO, as long as you are not at maximum loads ( because of the low pressure the round operates under ) & your ( rifle I assume ) ( sorry, skipped over the CZ part... I also have one ) does not pierce the primers, I have not tried my CZ with pistol primers yet... you should be fine "testing"... ( also recommend only loading 1 or 2 & trying them 1st I considered Unique as a powder for my revolver, because of the shorter barrel length... you do realize it's a pretty fast burner, much faster than a "normal" 22 Hornet powder... jacketed bullets offer more resistance down the bore than lead bullets, & the faster powders could pretty easily offer up an intial pressure spike higher than your brass can safely contain... I may still try doing a test batch with Unique & jacketed bullets for my revolver, but if you decide to try it, definately want to stay with small rifle primers & a mellow load... __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust... Last edited by Magnum Wheel Man; July 8, 2009 at 09:28 AM.

July 8, 2009, 03:52 PM	#3
Red_Eagle Senior Member Join Date: February 3, 2007 Location: Western NY Posts: 598	This is kind of off topic and kind of not. Right now I'm working up a load with 40 gr Barnes VLC varmint bullets, H-110, and Federal small magnum pistol primers. My question is, what increments do you use to work up a load in this cartridge. I'm looking at the load data and it looks like a 1 1/2gr spread from start to max. I've never worked with a smal capacity cartidge before. __________________ My Calibers: 22 Hornet, 223 Rem, 22-250, 243 Win, 270 Win, 280 Remington Ackley Improved, 30-30, 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Winchester magnum, 7.62x39mm, 380 Auto, 9mm Parabellum, 38 Special, 357 magnum, 40 S&W, 10mm Auto, 45 GAP, 45 Auto, 12 & 20 Guage

July 8, 2009, 04:26 PM	#4
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	I'm not in my shop right now, so I can't give out just what I'm doing with H-110 or Lil Gun but personally I take the difference between the minimum & maximum loads in my books & devide by 5 ( 5 rows in my plastic ammo box ) so some powders might be 0.5 grains, between test charges, some maybe 0.3, some 0.2, etc... then I load up ( normally 10 ) of each, but with my 8 shot revolver I've been only doing 8 of each ( one cylinder full ) & test for group size & velocity consistancy after I have a favorite "test load" I'll usually tweak 1/2 way between the 2 closest test loads by 0.1 or 0.2 grains to see if I get better consistancy or group size... though this final tweaking is often overshadowed by improvements tweaking the OAL of the cartridge... & I always weigh each charge at this & the previous test loading stage of reloading... the powder measure doesn't even come out until I have finalized a set of loads for each cartridge or bullet combination __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

July 8, 2009, 08:17 PM	#5
SShooterZ Member Join Date: January 17, 2005 Location: McHenry, IL Posts: 22	WMW - Great dialogue and information. Sounds like you've got a lot of info and experience with the hornet. Thanks for offering some suggestions. What I've done is load up a few rounds with 8.1 gr of H-110 and Remington 5 1/2 Primers with 45 grain Hornady Hornet bullet. Definitely staying on the safe side. I typically use Unique for loading 20 gauge shotshell but figured with the abundance I had that 3.0 - 3.5 gr would probably be safe with a .223 bullet which should give slightly less resistance than a .224. Definitely appreciate the feedback. RE - Your firearm list looks a lot like mine. Nice choices!