Anneal or not 22H

[Daryl]

I never lost a case to expanded primer pockets, nor did I EVER blow a primer - small pistol primers were used in that rifle - as rifle primers blew groups out to almost an inch.

500 rounds of brass, almost 7,500 rounds fired with them. THEN - converted ALL to .17AH and have fired them ALL another 4 times each.

I only partially FL sized the brass - 3/16" of the neck only using Hornady dies. I loaded, using a 6" drop tube, 14.4gr. LG - pistol primer - CZ .22 Hornet - RP brass cases only - Lee factory crimp die on all loads - Standard Deviations were high teens - 17 to 18 normally.

Longest gopher kill 454yards.

Hundreds between 300 and 350yards.

[Chuck Miller]

You must have super brass up there, I'm starting to toss cases after about 4 loadings. Not all but it's at that point that I start getting loose pockets and the ocassional split neck. Annealing will usually handle the necks but loose pockets are usually terminal. I use both Rem and Win brass, small amount of Privi. I do FL size as all my Hornet based guns are Martini's. Tried neck sizing them with a bushing die and also only sizing a small portion of the neck with my FL die. Didn't help accuracy and loading them in the Martini sometimes was problematic, ie it ain't going in without a lot of effort. I do use Sm pistol primers and a lee crimper. As for speed my Oehler 35 says I'm not close to the speeds some get. Barrels are Douglas, Pacnor, and a Anschutz barrel that was a new takeoff.

[william t. oviatt]

Chuck

I'm probably not telling you anything new, but when I finish case prep on Hornet-based cases, I burnish the inside and outside of the rims so the brass at the very edge is uniform and smooth. It seems to allow very long life by reducing the imperfections on the rim of the necks that can be initiators of cracks.

I have one of those little RCBS rotating case prep. machines that looks like a Flea Circus when I turn it on and all the little prep bits start turning. Has a nice rhythm-hum to it too! Quite entertaining while I work the cases...

I have loaded some of the hundreds of pcs of 19 Calhoon & Badger brass over a dozen times....

Bill

[moorepower]

The Hornady 45 grain bullet is a thin jacket varmint bullet, with a bigher b.c. than the Vmax. I was a little surprised when I ran the numbers myself. I realize they used a Speer bullet for the tests, so the numbers wan't be exact, but as low as the psi was with a compressed load, I don't think it is possible to go anywhere near over pressure with the Hornady 45 bullet. My 22H load, "not 22K" load is a 40 grain Vmax at around 2900 fps with Lilgun. I do have some Alliant 300MP to try, which gives a 3000fpr book load with the 40 Vmax. My project gun is a Savage Model 40 with a rather long throat. I am going to set back the barrek, and K it for hopefully less working of the brass and perhaps a little better accuracy. The 40 action is a 43 kpsi action, so I am looking for a lower psi load with similar velocity more than building a hotrod. When I saw the CFEBLK powder loadings with the 45 grain and 50 SX I kind of figured I may be able to have my cake and eat it too, IF it is an accurate load. I probably will test the 40 Vmax also as it is an even lower psi load with the CFEBLK, but the sweet spot for the powder seems to be a 45 grain bullet. With the lower psi and the K shoulder, I am HOPING to get a few more shots per case.

[Intel6]

Interesting. I started loading for my Ruger #1B in .22 Hornet and just did the 14 grs of Lil'Gun in an RP case with a 40 gr. Vmax. I seated the bullets out longer to get to the rifling and found a Rem 7.5 was the best primer to use. I am getting right at 3,200 fps with exceptional accuracy and no case problems?

[Daryl]

The 500 RP brass cases I started with back in about 2004 or 2005 in the CZ Hornet, I"m still using as .17AH's. I did pickup some WW brass when I got my second CZ Hornet and used 13.5gr. LG in those, getting 3,200fps with the 40's, mostly Barnes Varminators. The WW brass that I converted to try in the AH, needed annealing after FF in the AH, as the necks started splitting on the second firing in the .17 AH.
I didn't mention it, but I also seated the bullets out long, as long as I could and still hold them with a crimp. I do not use the magazine, which might explain the accuracy I got.