.22 Hornet heads

[strebblo]

Yes, most merkins are struggling to get a lot of types of ammo these days - it's been going on for a few years now, same as with a lot of powders too.

Have you not heard that anywhere? It affects us pretty badly as a big percentage of our shooting supplies come from the US.

[223AI]

Thanks for the reply I thought all .22 would fit that were less than 55g, I spoke to Krank's and they said they weren't suitable for the hornet. So I put this thread up for info from people on here.

That may be due to the fact that they are going to be too long for some magazines and also with that weight the velocity will be dow meaning they are not 'suitable' for the hornet.

I did offer to pay for them as he's holding a Rapid on fac for me, but he said we'll sort it when you pick the rifle up and thats why my licence is in for a variation. When I rang the firearms department they said two weeks so I put it in. It's now going into the sixth week.

I have a book called "The complete reloading manual for the .22 Hornet" (one book one calibre ) in the back it shows bullet heads with a Coyote, Prairie dog and Target by the side,they are Barnes 40g I automatically thought they were non expanding it also shows a solid Lyman head 41g on page 36. Being new to reloading I thought you could get these over here.

As its an american book my guess would be they have slightly different views of quarry Vs. target, Barnes' bullets are all expanding as far as I've seen. Is the Lyman's head a cast bullet by any chance?

[angrybear]

Yes, most merkins are struggling to get a lot of types of ammo these days - it's been going on for a few years now, same as with a lot of powders too.

Have you not heard that anywhere? It affects us pretty badly as a big percentage of our shooting supplies come from the US.

I did hear a story that one "major" UK importer contacted their US supplier to place an order & was told that the next two years production had already been sold, when they got shirty the US agent informed them that "we have one shop in Texas that sells more than the whole of the UK, How much do you think we care about your business ?" and then hung up on them.

Kind of puts it in perspective.

[strebblo]

Yep, thas the one!

It's bloody crazy. If it was me on the phone I'd have said if they'd already sold the next 2 years production, then they obviously weren't producing it fast enough!

[amc577]

Must be European suppliers..Sellier and Bellot do target bullets for Hornet..just needs a few UK importers to make the connection. I suppose Hornet target bullets are not in great demand however... I have stopped buying any USA powders .....using Lovex and Vihthavouri.....I may try casting Hornet bullets if I get desperate!

amc577

[tacfoley]

I did hear a story that one "major" UK importer contacted their US supplier to place an order & was told that the next two years production had already been sold, when they got shirty the US agent informed them that "we have one shop in Texas that sells more than the whole of the UK, How much do you think we care about your business ?" and then hung up on them.

Kind of puts it in perspective.

Yup. A few years back I was at a benchrest shoot in Washington State, and took a wander over to where the one of the local-to-Washington BR specialist suppliers was parked up. They were selling mostly Berger bullets to shoot, literally within minutes of being bought. I got talking to one of the salemen there, as one does, who asked if I had ever shot Berger bullets. Sure, I replied, but only once, on account of the truly eye-watering cost in the UK.

He then handed me three boxes of three different weights of .308 bullets - just to try them out. Take 'em, he said, we probably sold around $20,000-worth of bullets today, I'm sure we can show a little generosity for a real long-distance shooter...

Back when we had to hand over our handguns, I struck up a conversation with an old friend in TX, a Viet Nam JAG veteran who had spent the 30-something years as the county freebie lawyer in Nacogdoches. When I advised him of the number of handguns that had actually been handed in - around 70,000 in total, I recall, from about 57,000 handgun shooters, he nigh-on wet himself laffin'.

There's probably twice that many many handguns in our little county, he noted with a chuckle. He himself had over two hundred handguns, he pointed out without a trace of boasting, but I really needed to see his brother-in-law's collections, HE was pretty seriously into Colt SAAs and had started his collection at age eleven, and had literally lost count.

Different world.

tac

[amc577]

Most of the commercially available bullets seem to be softpoint or "varmint" bullets which are classed as "expanding ammunition" and for which you would need a permission on your FAC. There is very little choice for the target shooter. Cast might be the answer.

amc577

[SandyB]

Most of the commercially available bullets seem to be softpoint or "varmint" bullets which are classed as "expanding ammunition" and for which you would need a permission on your FAC. There is very little choice for the target shooter. Cast might be the answer.

amc577

The above is the same in other .224 calibre bullets, with typically only the heavier 69 grain and above being available in target bullets with the exception on the 52 grain A-max

[roughcoat]

That may be due to the fact that they are going to be too long for some magazines and also with that weight the velocity will be dow meaning they are not 'suitable' for the hornet.



As its an american book my guess would be they have slightly different views of quarry Vs. target, Barnes' bullets are all expanding as far as I've seen. Is the Lyman's head a cast bullet by any chance?

Thanks for the reply. Yes it does look a solid bullet.

[Graham2]

The above is the same in other .224 calibre bullets, with typically only the heavier 69 grain and above being available in target bullets with the exception on the 52 grain A-max

Not so.

Sierra make 52 grain HPBT Match Kings, 53 grain Boat Tail Match Kings, 55 grain FMJs and 55 grain HPBT Match King bullets.

Speer make a 52 grain Match bullet.

Hornady make a 52 grain Boat Tail Match bullet.

I'm not saying they'll work in a Hornet but thought I'd let you know what's available.

[Eligus]

The actual length of the bullet is the critical part, not the weight, although a Hornet might not handle heavier bullets all that well. Most Hornet bullets are less than 0.600", however longer ones (V-Max; Nosler 49gr. etc. at 0.700+) will fit in the cases fine if you are prepared to feed them singly, may not fit in the magazine.

You would need to check your chamber length to ensure they are not touching the lands.