22 Hornet powder

[Marks]

A friend of mine is looking for the best powder, for a 22 Hornet, in a T/C Contender 14" barrel.

Mark Schronce

[trotterlg]

I use AA 1680, it is ball powder, meters and loads easily. Larry

[TinMan]

I use W296 and AA1680 mostly. Another good one is Lil'Gun. Let the barrel decide what it likes. I have a few Hornets and they all seem to like different powders. For bullets, be sure to try the Hornet-specific bullets from Hornady and Sierra, but 40 VMAX seems to work well in most.

[Daryl]

I worked up to 13.0gr. in a Winchester Contender with 40gr. Vmaxs with no pressure problems. This load is straight out of Hodgdon's annual mannual. In fact, they use 13.0gr. LG right to 55gr. bullets. Their recorded velocities are incredibly low, for some reason. That load chronographed 3,140fps in my buddies 20" Contender.

[GLWenzl]

Like Larry I have used 1680, it’s been a very good accurate powder for me but have a 14" Contender K’d that likes 4227 better. Never got around to trying lilgun in either the 14”/K-Hornet or the 10”/22 Hornet barrel but I have a gut feeling it may be a better powder for the short barrel???

In a long barrel 77/22 Hornet lilgun was the only powder that would allow me to shoot a respectable group and it did equally as well in the NEF too but the NEF would do pretty good with other powders too.

[Chuck Miller]

IMR 4227, in both my 22 Hornet and K-Hornet. I keep trying the lil-gun for those sky high velocities. One minute I'm plugging along, next minute I pierce a primer. Granted these are on loads approaching max, backing them off groups go south. Using a 12.5gr lilgun load and a 45gr Sierra in my Martini K-Hornet will guarantee me having to dig them out and a pierced primer every 5 rounds. With 10.8grs of IMR4227 and the same bullet it's smooth sailing and about 150fps slower. I keep trying to get on the lilgun bandwagon and then I fall off the wagon

[Daryl]

Chuck, I don't know what the problem is. I crimp using a Lee crimp die. It is an extra step in loading, but produces excellent accuracy and low standard deviations.
When I chrno'd the .17 AH on Friday, I also chrono'd one load out of my 'new' CZ Hornet, the 14gr. in RP brass, 40gr. Varminator.(just about out of those - dang) They averaged 3,230, a full 100fps slower than the first CZ Hornet. Thanfully, the new one is almost as accurate as the first.

One thing I did notice about the new Hornet, is it doesn't care whether I use a small rifle primer, magnum pistol primer or standard pistol primer. the accuracy is pretty much identical. The first rifle did not like rifle primers, only pistol primers.

[fat cat]

H110 or IMR4227.

[Dean2]

I am a Lil'Gun fan big time in the Hornets. I have tried all the other standard powders but could never come up with one laod that works in multiple guns.

12.6 grains of Lil'Gun, Privi or WW brass, Fed Small Pistol primer and a 40 grain BK at 1.810. As I have often said elsewhere I shoot this exact load in 6 Hornets. Worst one groups just under .7 at 100. Best two, as CZ and the new Browning will do this with it at two hundred yards. (The squares on the Target are 1/2"x1/2")





And This is one of the more unusual ones that likes the load.

[adavo]

Hi All

Unfortunately in Australia we can not get Lil Gun. Does anyone have a recommendation for W296 in a Brno ZKW465 22 Hornet?

Cheers
Davo