22 Hornet and cast bullets?

[Canuck Bob]

This is a response to some target pics from Chuck 100 yds over on the 30-30 group thread.

I have a 22 Hornet Handi with the 1 in 9" twist and thought 22 and cast was not worth the trouble. Chuck's groups would make me some proud!!!

Any advice or experience with 22 cast bullets.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Thanks for the compliments friend. I think the worst part of casting and lubing a bullet that small is just the difficulty of handling such a tiny slug.
I have read in The Fouling Shot (cast bullet assn.`s magazine) that .22 cal cast bullets can be very accurate and of course you can make a bunch of them with just one pound of alloy.
Give it a try. Have fun!!!

[TedH]

Go for it! I cast for my 218 Bee with a Ranch Dog mold. It was a little tricky handling those tiny gas checks, but I got pretty good results.

[w30wcf]

Bob,
Yes indeed, the .22 Hornet can be a great cast bullet shooter. When I think about it, it's hard for me to believe that its been 26 years (!) ago when I first tried cast bullets in the .22 Hornet. I got pretty good results from the start and ended up using the same powder and charge that I did for jacketed.

One thing I had read was that linotype alloy should be used but I found that was not the case at all. I used air cooled w.w with 2% tin added. I found that they shot groups as well as the jacketed at close to 2,700 f.p.s.

The reason that the 12 b.h.n. alloy worked so well is because of the low sectional density of the .22 cal 45 gr bullet.

Here's a line up of .22 Cal cast bullets I have used.
The NEI 45 and both versions of the 225438 & 225415 old style are the ones I have used successfully in the hornet.



Have fun!
w30wcf

[6pt-sika]

I had a Marlin 1894CL 218 Bee for awhile and cast the Lyman 225415 for it . Casting little bullets is actually a bit more difficult then casting BIG bullets .

I got mine shooting well enough at 25 yards and at about 1100 FPS to kill a couple squirrels and after that I was done with the whole thing !

[Borregos]

The one thing I did not like about using cast bullets in the 22 Hornet was needing to bell the case mouth to accept them.

[earlmck]

The hornet is a wonderful cast bullet cartridge. That beautiful long neck has all the grease grooves protected both from powder below and dirt above. The case capacity is perfect for hurling a 60 grain bullet (which is what the .225462 casts up) to about 2200 fps which is deadly on jack rabbits or sage rats. Accuracy from my ancient old hornet with 16" twist is quite good -- 10 shot groups in the 1.5" range (I never could get a 10-shot group under an inch, but came close a few times).

The only "difficulty" with casting 22 cal bullets is that the small bullet is going to take longer to get the mold up to temp, so you'll have to reject more bullets in the beginning. But this is more than offset by the mold being easy to keep up a rapid pace without overheating once you are up to temp and moving along.

[J35]

Bob,
Yes indeed, the .22 Hornet can be a great cast bullet shooter. When I think about it, it's hard for me to believe that its been 26 years (!) ago when I first tried cast bullets in the .22 Hornet. I got pretty good results from the start and ended up using the same powder and charge that I did for jacketed.

One thing I had read was that linotype alloy should be used but I found that was not the case at all. I used air cooled w.w with 2% tin added. I found that they shot groups as well as the jacketed at close to 2,700 f.p.s.

The reason that the 12 b.h.n. alloy worked so well is because of the low sectional density of the .22 cal 45 gr bullet.

Here's a line up of .22 Cal cast bullets I have used.
The NEI 45 and both versions of the 225438 & 225415 old style are the ones I have used successfully in the hornet.



Have fun!
w30wcf

There must be a third version of the 415, the one I use looks different than both of yours in the nose shape, I will try and post a picture tomorrow, mine weighs 53 grs ww+ 2%.

----J

[J35]

The hornet is a wonderful cast bullet cartridge. That beautiful long neck has all the grease grooves protected both from powder below and dirt above. The case capacity is perfect for hurling a 60 grain bullet (which is what the .225462 casts up) to about 2200 fps which is deadly on jack rabbits or sage rats. Accuracy from my ancient old hornet with 16" twist is quite good -- 10 shot groups in the 1.5" range (I never could get a 10-shot group under an inch, but came close a few times).

The only "difficulty" with casting 22 cal bullets is that the small bullet is going to take longer to get the mold up to temp, so you'll have to reject more bullets in the beginning. But this is more than offset by the mold being easy to keep up a rapid pace without overheating once you are up to temp and moving along.

Spoken like someone who has been there and done it.

W30wcf has a remedy for getting the mold to temp and keeping it there, it makes for smoother bases as well, I will wait for him to tell you, I hate stealing another man's thunder.

-----J

[J35]

The one thing I did not like about using cast bullets in the 22 Hornet was needing to bell the case mouth to accept them.

Did you actually bell or expand?

I use a M- die expander or a custom diameter of the same basic style for everything I cast for.

Even when I use to load jacketed i used a M-die in the Hornet. It helped to keep things concentric.

----J

[J35]

Bob,
Yes indeed, the .22 Hornet can be a great cast bullet shooter. When I think about it, it's hard for me to believe that its been 26 years (!) ago when I first tried cast bullets in the .22 Hornet. I got pretty good results from the start and ended up using the same powder and charge that I did for jacketed.

One thing I had read was that linotype alloy should be used but I found that was not the case at all. I used air cooled w.w with 2% tin added. I found that they shot groups as well as the jacketed at close to 2,700 f.p.s.

The reason that the 12 b.h.n. alloy worked so well is because of the low sectional density of the .22 cal 45 gr bullet.

Here's a line up of .22 Cal cast bullets I have used.
The NEI 45 and both versions of the 225438 & 225415 old style are the ones I have used successfully in the hornet.



Have fun!
w30wcf

There must be a third version of the 415, the one I use looks different than both of yours in the nose shape, I will try and post a picture tomorrow, mine weighs 53 grs ww+ 2%.

----J

And here it is if you can see it

[Canuck Bob]

I was considering trying the Horn. 55 gr. SX bullet and if it shoots settle on that. I do worry that my hands will make me clumsy casting, sizing, and handling gas checks with these little bullets.

Sadly my stash of lead got forgotten and now I have to shovel off the snow and dry it out real well before casting up some ingots.

I've geared up for casting with a Waage ladle pot and a modified fish fryer and cut propane tank for cleaning and casting ingots. How would this impact casting 22 bullets?

[Borregos]

The one thing I did not like about using cast bullets in the 22 Hornet was needing to bell the case mouth to accept them.

Did you actually bell or expand?

I use a M- die expander or a custom diameter of the same basic style for everything I cast for.

Even when I use to load jacketed i used a M-die in the Hornet. It helped to keep things concentric.

----J

I was belling, did not have an M die. I do nothing before seating the 55gr FMJ ones that I use, they are boat tails and I only seat then shallow.

[J35]

I was considering trying the Horn. 55 gr. SX bullet and if it shoots settle on that. I do worry that my hands will make me clumsy casting, sizing, and handling gas checks with these little bullets.

Sadly my stash of lead got forgotten and now I have to shovel off the snow and dry it out real well before casting up some ingots.

I've geared up for casting with a Waage ladle pot and a modified fish fryer and cut propane tank for cleaning and casting ingots. How would this impact casting 22 bullets?

Forceps are your friend, I use them for unpacking my lubed bullets, other wise I end up knocking them all over trying to fish one out with my fingers.

Your lead will dry out in the propane tank as it is heating up, once melted just don't add any to it that's wet. When you finish making your ingots leave some lead in the bottom it will speed up your melt the next time you use it.

20lbs of lead will make a pile of 45-55 gr bullets, like 2500-3000 or so.

I use the Waage pot with a #1 Rowell ladle for all my casting #1 buck to 45 cal, before the Waage I used a Coleman three burner stove, the Rowell ladle and 20 lb cast iron ladle pot.

Have fun---J