Thoughts on primers for the .22hornet

Leadbelly

Leadbelly

New member
I've been shooting the hornet for a while now and was getting 1moa groups on average with a slight crimp and federal pistol primers with most brands of bullets. Recently I tried rem 6 1/2 primers with no crimp using Sierra 40gr hornet above 13.0gr of ill gun. Now I'm getting pretty consistent 3/4 inch groups if the wind ain't to bad. Anyone else have a similar experience? Most folks I'd talk with when I started loading this round said pistol primers and a gentle crimp would make this round shine and it did but I was suprised that going the other way improved accuracy. Most factory stuff used rifle primers and I only got 1 1/2 inch groups with it, and the same Sierra slug I'm using only got 1 1/4 inch groups with pistol primers under the same powder charge. Never loaded a round that was primer picky as this.
 
I've always had good luck with Rem 6 1/2 primers, about 13.2 of LilGun, and either the 35 Hornady V-MAX's or 34 grain Midway "Dogtown" hollow point bullets out of my CZ 22 hornet. But I am looking for a better fur load now and so will be trying 40 V-MAX's with LilGun, IMR-4227, or even W296 shortly. I picked up some CCI 500 small pistol primers, as well as Federal pistol primers to try as well.

I have the Sierra 40gr hornet bullets as well and these shot pretty good in my gun with about 13.0 exact of LilGun (Rem 6 1/2's still), but they weren't as good as the 35 V-MAX. Some have said the Sierra 40 HP's shoot great and are good on fur too. But I think if I can keep the speed down on a 40 V-MAX (2600-2700fps), these ought to do real well for me.

I think the Rem 6 1/2 primers are very mild, so I'm not convinced that a pistol primer is going to do that much better, but have to at least try this theory out.
 
IMHO, with such a small case capacity, anything you do to the Hornet will have a larger effect on this cartridge, as compared to a larger capacity cartridge. Kind of like the old Bryl Cream commercial, "a little dab will do you." Minor variations have a dramatic effect on this round.

My ruger 22 Hornet (all weather laminate) loves the 35 gr. VMax with a moderate crimp ahead of 13.0 gr. Lil Gun and a CCI small pistol primer. 5 shot groups of 3/4-1" are the norm at 150 yards with little to no wind. Not benchrest accuracy, but more than adequate for varmits out to 200 yards.

Great cartridge. almost no recoil (pleasant to shoot and you are able to see your target thru the scope after the shot), economical to shoot, low noise level compared to bigger cartridges, and very fur friendly on smaller varmits.
 
I used the CCI 400s, tried the small pstol primers and didn't see much difference, then tried CCI 450s and got better accuracy using 13.2 grains of Lil Gun and Sierra 40 grain hornet bullets. As always safe in my four hornets but work up in your rifle.
 
I use Wolf/Tula Mag Small Rifle in all cartridges requiring small rifle primers. Just cuts down on the confusion and they work great.

Tom
 
Several years ago, had a cadet Martini action barreled to 22 Hornet. Gunsmith that did work highly recommended I use small pistol primers in my reloads. Another gunsmith in my area had strung a number of metal shipping containers together to create a form of indoor shooting range to do load development/testing....actually had sensors he could attach to rifle action/barrel that were linked to a computer. Anyway, his testing showed using small pistol primer was superior to small rifle primers.....faintly recall he found rifle primer reloads produced two separate detonations on his test equipment and pistol primers only had one detonation.

I've used both rifle and pistol primers in my hornet reloads with Lil Gun powder. Pistol primers reloads were more accurate for me in my Martini 22 hornet.
 
Those martini rifles are very nice I passed on one some years ago and regretted it. I believe it was a westley Richards. It had redfield aperture rear sight and globe front. I've fished up some other small pistol primers Winchester, cci, and Remington to test, but I think I'll hunt this fall with the 6 1/2 Remington caps and the Sierra 40gr slugs hopefully they don't shed coon and fox hides up.
 
Leadbelly said:
Any of you guys used the 40gr Sierra hornet slugs on fur. They seem as they might be fur friendly. Thanks for the replies.
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Haven’t tried them yet, but somebody just gave me a few boxes of them to load up. I also have four or five bags of the Remington 45 grain hollow points that are hornet specific. I need to get out and test them.
 
I have one load load using Rem 71/2 primers, that shoots MOA, or slightly better.

All my other loads use small pistol primers.

LilGun powder, of course.

When this post was fresh, in 2013, DGW pointed to a possible issue using a SRP. The more powerful SRP might push the powder and bullet for a fraction of a second, stop, then start again when the powder burn catches up.

Crimping should help with that, if is indeed an issue.
 
I wish I could get my hands on some more 7 1/2 primers. Bought a few bricks three years ago for 20 bucks a brick from somebody. Not gonna pay today’s prices that’s for sure. Luckily, I got another extra can of lil gun powder laying around. I use that powder for 450 BM and also heavy 2.5 and 3 oz 10 gauge loads to.
 
I loaded a few Hornet rounds today. Rem 6 1/2 primers and W296. I used 40gr Speer, 40 grain Bergers, 40 grain V-Max and 40 gr Sierra BlitzKings. I usually use LilGun but had a brain fart and used the W296 today. Gonna shoot them out of my Contender pistol. The Remington 6 1/2 is the only primer I've ever used.
 
CCI small pistol, Lil gun and believe it or not sierra 45 grain hornet bullet shoots the best in my Ruger. It kills coyotes just fine too.
 


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