In my experience, most of the lower cost 22 Hornets are 1 ½” rifles. There are a number of simple little things you can do - ammunition wise - to help the situation.
All of this assumes the rifle shoots reasonably round groups of 1 ½” with few fliers.
Again, my experience has been that few older Hornet rifles have been shot very much. It is a good idea to clean the barrel.
I had several 22 Hornet rifles which have given me fits while attempting to reduce group size under 1 ½” at 100 hundred yards. Here is what worked for me:
First, use brass of all the same brand, preferably new.
Trim this brass to the same length.
De-burr the case mouths and flash holes, uniform the primer pockets.
Fire the brass in your chamber, neck size the cases and seat the bullets no more than .224” deep.
Use a high quality bullet such as the Nosler Ballistic tip for your accuracy test. I suggest the 45-grain Ballistic Tip and 10.0 grains of Winchester 296 or Hodgdon 110 for a start, seating the bullet just short of the lands. Use rifle primers.
Later when you have established your rifle will shoot, IMR or Hodgdon 4227 and Lil’ Gun are powders to try but for your starting point, the above tactics should produce results. This load will give you 2,425 fps or a bit more.
Should the above fail, switch to the 46-grain Speer Bee bullet seated to touch the lands - but not jammed into them - and 10.4 grains of Winchester 296.
As stated, later on you will try lots of powders and bullets but to establish an accuracy base line, the above techniques should produce results. These loads are not the fastest but they have proven accurate in a variety of chambers.
All of this assumes the rifle shoots reasonably round groups of 1 ½” with few fliers.
Again, my experience has been that few older Hornet rifles have been shot very much. It is a good idea to clean the barrel.
I had several 22 Hornet rifles which have given me fits while attempting to reduce group size under 1 ½” at 100 hundred yards. Here is what worked for me:
First, use brass of all the same brand, preferably new.
Trim this brass to the same length.
De-burr the case mouths and flash holes, uniform the primer pockets.
Fire the brass in your chamber, neck size the cases and seat the bullets no more than .224” deep.
Use a high quality bullet such as the Nosler Ballistic tip for your accuracy test. I suggest the 45-grain Ballistic Tip and 10.0 grains of Winchester 296 or Hodgdon 110 for a start, seating the bullet just short of the lands. Use rifle primers.
Later when you have established your rifle will shoot, IMR or Hodgdon 4227 and Lil’ Gun are powders to try but for your starting point, the above tactics should produce results. This load will give you 2,425 fps or a bit more.
Should the above fail, switch to the 46-grain Speer Bee bullet seated to touch the lands - but not jammed into them - and 10.4 grains of Winchester 296.
As stated, later on you will try lots of powders and bullets but to establish an accuracy base line, the above techniques should produce results. These loads are not the fastest but they have proven accurate in a variety of chambers.
