Looking for NEF 22 Hornet reloading advise

[glwenzl]

I have a friend that has a NEF Hornet that I talked him into buying. He now wants to reload for it and I am wondering if most of you FL size the case or NK size?

The reason I ask is because I have heard that some have had troubles with cases not ejecting when Nk sizing… Mine didn’t have this issue but it is now a K-Hornet anyway….

[Tunaman]

I fl size. Remember, the brass in the neck is very thin and will have to be trimmed with every loading. Also, My brass usually only gets loaded twice at the most.

[quickdtoo]

Many find the Lee collet die works great on the Hornet, I've loaded mine several times(3x so far) with max loads of Lil'gun and the 35gr Vmax, they're still going strong. Sticking brass is a non-issue on modern extractors, even ejectors can be "tuned" to eliminate the issue, mine is an ejector and I've never had brass stick.

Tim

[Tunaman]

Tim, What brand of brass are you using? I am using Remington and My necks are getting very thin after the second loading. I am loading with little gun as well but I am using speer tnts

[Hofs01]

I second Tim's comment. I use the same and have not had a problem.

Keep the cases clean from the lube after reloading. That will make the stick as well

One thing I have started doing, is to resize using the FL die on the press and then seat the bullet with the Lee Classic Loader.
http://www.nextag.com/Lee-Classic-Loader-22-74763306/prices-html.


This ensures my bullets are exactly lined up with the brass when seating. I have had problems rolling over the brass loading only hornets and this fixed my problem.

[Bob A]

I am using the Lee collet die to neck size only. Case life has actually been very good. Using Win  and Hornady cases from some initial Loaded ammo I bought when I first got the Hornet.
I have over 5 reloads on some of the Hornady cases. Win cases seem to hold up well too, I just haven't used them that much.
Using Lil'Gun powder keeps the pressure down and neck sizing avoids over working the brass.
I run the cases through my manual case length gage/trimmer and rarely take off any excess length.
I can honestly say that none of the standard "Hornet Loading Issues and Concerns" have been an issue. Great accuracy with 40gr VMax and Lil'Gun and easy to load.
I guess the only issue I have is stuffing as much Lil'Gun as possible in the case is a bit of an art. I have found best accuracy at 13.5 gr, which won't fit if you don't  settle the powder some before adding the last bit.  I have gotten pretty good at this but it was a problem for my fat, arthritic fingers at first.
Also, I have found that crimping with the Lee Factory Crimp Die is a definite plus for accuracy, even though the 40 Max does not have a cannelure.

Bob A

[Bob A]

I second Tim's comment. I use the same and have not had a problem.

Keep the cases clean from the lube after reloading. That will make the stick as well

One thing I have started doing, is to resize using the FL die on the press and then seat the bullet with the Lee Classic Loader.
http://www.nextag.com/Lee-Classic-Loader-22-74763306/prices-html.
This ensures my bullets are exactly lined up with the brass when seating. I have had problems rolling over the brass loading only hornets and this fixed my problem.

I forgot to mention. The 40 VMax not only gives me great accuracy and killing power, it is a boat tail bullet that is very, very easy to seat. So, I don't have the issue of rolling for the brass when seating.

Bob A

[quickdtoo]

Tim, What brand of brass are you using? I am using Remington and My necks are getting very thin after the second loading. I am loading with little gun as well but I am using speer tnts

I was using Win brass, but learned that Rem brass has a little more room being slightly thinner when I tried some 40gr Vmaxs, which has its caveat as it sounds like you have experienced, both seem to last good for me so far tho, but I haven't shot as much as others. As Bob said tho, Lil'gun pressures are a lot less than other powders and likely has a lot to do with brass life. Hodgdon lists a max load of Lil'gun under a 35gr Vmax at 2842fps @ 24kcup, H110 as 3060fps but at 41.4kcup, and H4227 at 2896fps and 42.5kcup. That ~16-17kcup higher pressure has a big affect on brass life.

Tim

[Tunaman]

Tim, thanks for the info. I will pick up some Winn brass next time I buy some and see if that changes anything for me.

[glwenzl]

Thanks for the info guys.

He already has Hornady dies and doubt he will spring for anything else right now…

The Bullet will be a 45 grain Rem SP #786720 that I think was intended for the Hornet??? And the Powder will by my old stand by 4227…. Both because I got a real deal on em and we are trading some stuff…..

I too am a lilgun fan; it turned my 77/22 hornet into a real shooter along with the Lee Factory Crimp die. 35 and 40 grain V-Max was the lead poison I gave them PDs at the time…That was 8 years ago but it has been turned into a 77/17AH for a couple three years now….

You guys may also want to try pistol primers with your Hornets, I have had good success with them and when working up a load especially with the standard hornet WSPs have been very good to me but I also use Pistol Mag primers too both CCI and WWs. I have 1K of the Fed 200 that I plan to try on a Hornet later this winter just to see how they compare to the WSPs….

Sounds like I may have heard wrong on the case sticking and since the brass came from his riffle nk sizing will be where he starts at unless I hear differently.

Never new case lube made a case stick in the chamber? That is backwards of my pea-brain thinking and I have always heard the worse thing about a lubed case was creating more thrust on the bolt or action in this case…

All three of my K-Hornets get the nk sizing job and work just fine but I was a little concerned about something I read that may have been wrong….

Thanks again….


Oh yeah, if you think the lilgun is good in a Hornet you ain’t seen nothing yet… Try it in a 218 Bee!

Don’t try this load of lilgun in a standard riffle but it works well in a Ruger #1, brass has been loaded 11 times and is still good!!! Turned at 2+ inch riffle into a 400 yard PD riffle!

[BCall]

My recent experience with loading for the Hornet has been helped by the Lee collet die. I found it does not work the brass as much, as already stated, and it does not size the necks down quite as much as my RCBS dies. The RCBS dies sized the neck down so much it was very hard to seat a flat based bullet, and you could see the bullet was not centered when seated, as one side of the case neck would bulge from the bullet, but not the other. I attribute this to the brass not being the same thickness on both sides, and the bullet not being perfectly centered when seating. The collet die did not size the brass as much, and the bulges in the case necks stopped. Groups shrunk, and were much more consistent with way fewer flyers. I also had an occassional neck collapse when seating a bullet before the collet die, not one since. I just got a pound of lil gun, so that is my next test.

I would also reccomend checking your brass if bought new. The 100 cases of Winchester brass I just bought had 3 cases that were .040 longer tham listed maximum length, and would have probably crushed when seating a bullet, or had trouble in the chamber. My gun is a Ruger no 1, but now I have a new Handi on the way, so I'll report if I find anything else that helps. Billy

[omcforever]

I load 13.2 grains of AA1680**(MY load data!!!!!do not use in yours unless worked up properly)** with a nosler BT just off the lands and use a collet. I usually get 4-5 loadings and trim twice. Rem brass has a slightly larger capacity versus win brass.