reloadable .22win mag

Jimbob

In my previous life, working on dairy farms in PA, I killed thousands of groundhogs with all manner of firearms. From my experience, on a 15-18 pound groundhog, a .22 LR is a 50 yard cartridge and requires a head shot to anchor a big groundhog. With a chest shot with the 22lr, the groundhog would more often than not make it into his hole. It was most likely dead within a minute or two, but it does not anchor them.

With the .22 WMR 40 grain hollow point, a chest shot is much more dramatic, if the groundhog moves, he does not go very far, usually DRT. I consider the .22 WMR a 100 yard groundhog round in an accurate rifle.

I am not arguing your point about economy, I handload for a myriad of cartridges, and agree with the cost factor. However, I do NOT agree that the 22 WMR offers very little extra performance, I have used both enough to know better.

What I like about the 22 WMR is the delightful rifles it as chambered in, like my 9422
 
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Saves you digging a hole to bury it, don't it?
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Here Here!

I have gotten a little sick of disposing of the nuisance raccoons around here after a careful head shot. I like to shoot them so they can still run a couple hundred yards before tipping over. Especially the mangy ones. Never know what kind of ugly they might be carrying.
 
when I want 22lr -.22mag -22 hornet performance I have some .224 lead bullets that I load up with various loads of 4759 powder for my savage 22-250.
Accurate enough for sure kills
 
@RaySendero:
Im reloading for 308win, 6,5x55, 10mm auto and .44rem mag

@hornetguy:
I was interested in the .22 Hornet, almost got a cz527 American chamered for it. But ive read so much about super thin cases and that you need special dies that i changed my mind.

I think the Savage in 5,7x28 is a great thing but there is no ammo, dies or shells available for it in my area...
 
I just miked an empty .22 Hornet case and the brass is about .009" thick at the mouth, as opposed to .012-.013 for most other cases. It's not super thin, it's just a little thinner.
Even before I got the Forster seating die, I only ruined one or two after loading hundreds of rounds, one reason is that I use a progressive press and the force needed to resize on station 1 makes it hard to tell if something is not square on station 3.

It's not like the other calibers are completely un-ruinable and I recommend the premium seating die even if you are reloading some other caliber.
 
mooner said:
I have gotten a little sick of disposing of the nuisance raccoons around here after a careful head shot. I like to shoot them so they can still run a couple hundred yards before tipping over. Especially the mangy ones. Never know what kind of ugly they might be carrying.
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It would just be my luck that it would run underneath the house to die.
 
I like both big... & little cartridges & I found myself in the same position... looking for a reloable cartridge with lower power recoil & report... looked all over for CCM stuff, even thought about building a custom revolver in 25 acp

I currently load 17 K Hornet, 22 Hornet & 5.7 X 28... I have 221 Fireball barrel for my Contender, but haven't started loading that cartridge yet, but the brass is much thicker if thart worries anyone, also Remington has standardized the 17 Fireball & is selling correctly sized brass... Hornady is currently standardizing the 17 Hornet & will sell corrrectly sized brass

really the thin brass is a pain, but not the end of the world... I don't mind loading it... in fact I've put fast twist barrels ( 1 in 9" ) on a revolver & on a Ruger bolt action & can load 68 Grain bullets in the lil 22 Hornet case...

another option might be to go to a bigger albeit older case & look at something like 32 S&W long if you have anyone that could rebarrel a rifle for you... there are several older yet easy to reload cartridges, that are accurate & mild shooting...

along that same line, I reload many cartridges with Trailboss & had very good luck with most... I've never tried it in the .223, but have loaded it in some bigger cartridges with good accuracy, so I'd expect it could be used in the .223 with good results
 
The 22 hornet has alot more power than the mag does. If you want to stay on a equal playing field the .17 hornet may fit your needs better
 
Hornet, Bee, Swift, 222, etc.

I am a big fan of the .224 centerfire varmint cartridges. With them I am able to handload ammunition that is less expensive and more accurate than any magnum rimfire ammunition.

The most expensive is my 220 Swift long range loads. At 3800 fps, they are meant for 200+ yards. That is 55 gr. Berger Varmint bullets with 37.5 gr. of IMR 4064, Remington brass and CCI 200 primers at a total cost of about $.43 a round, assuming I reuse the brass 5 times.

After that, everything gets a lot less expensive. I have a reduced velocity load for the Swifty (2200 fps) with bulk surplus bullets at a total cost of under $.30 a round. My 218 Bee can be loaded for even less. My 222 Remington is intended for competition, so cost is not so important in loading for it.

I still have my very cool (and expensive) LH Precision 10/22M. It is a fine rifle but have to admit I enjoy the flexibility, range and power of my centerfire varmint rifles more. My next rifle will probably be a 22 Hornet.
 
Hello, I agree with hornetguy. Never had any problems with case being thiner than say the .222Rem. which I also load for.
Have been shooting cast bullets in both calibers for about 15 years..equalled best jacketed bullet accuracy with them at 100yds.
There are some smaller wildcats based on the hornet & bee cases..the .22 Squirrel comes to mind..case about 1/2 length of hornet. Small Caliber News
is devoted to these little ones.
Interesting thing about that CCM (Cooper Centerfire Magnum)..it is size for size, just about a perfect copy of the old blackpowder .22-10-45 Maynard round of the late 1880's.
Of course the hornet is derived from the old .22-13-45 WCF.
 
There are so many great low-power cartridges that arent available...22ccm, .22sqirrel, .25acp, ....
screw the magnum caliber hype, i want a low end caliber hype!
There is no real reloadable .22win mag or lr alternative out there and available at the moment!
 
I gave up on progressive reloaders years ago, due to the number of "mistakes" and damaged components. The force needed to resize a case hides the resistance you feel if something in the seating process isn't right, leading to damaged components and wasted money. Its single stage presses for me, and I reload for about 30 different rifle and pistol calibers.

The .22 Hornet is a little more difficult to load than some rounds, because the brass is thin. But you don't need special dies. All you need to do is take your time, use care, and make sure there is a slight chamfer on the case mouth.

.38-40 pistol brass is very thin too, but nobody seems to say its impossible to reload for.

I like the Hornet. Its just cool. Yes, you can down load any of the bigger centerfire .22s (and keep accuracy) by using the right powder, and maybe a case filler, but the Hornet is just sweet about it. You have more wasted space in a target load .38 Special than in the Hornet loaded at .22LR or .22WMR velocities.

The only gun I have in .22WMR is the spare cylinder for my Ruger Single Six, and I never use it. When I want/need something more than the .22LR, I use the Hornet.
 
44 AMP said:
I gave up on progressive reloaders years ago, due to the number of "mistakes" and damaged components. The force needed to resize a case hides the resistance you feel if something in the seating process isn't right, leading to damaged components and wasted money. Its single stage presses for me, and I reload for about 30 different rifle and pistol calibers.
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I kind of agree with you, although a progressive press is wonderful when you need to mass produce a bunch of reloads for a cowboy action match.
I rue getting rid of my old single stage press when I got the progressive press. It would be so handy for reloading small batches of the calibers I don't shoot that much. When you only plan to reload 20 rounds, it takes more time to set up the progressive for that caliber than it actually takes to reload the ammo.

However, my progressive works quite well in single stage mode also.
 
TheBear wrote:

Im reloading for 308win, 6,5x55, 10mm auto and .44rem mag
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Bear, I think you should give the 22 hornet a try. Yeah, there are +/-s reloading the for it. It sounds just like what your wanting and even if it doesn't workout for ya - You can always say "been there done that" rather that speculating on what could have been!
 
Not sure what you mean or the objective of loading centerfire down to 22WMR levels? I agree with others, load it right and go. I load tons of .223 Rem with 50 gr V Max for target practice and varmints/predator hunting. Its a great round to 300 yds and the V Max disintegrates on impact so you have minimal risk of richocet. Last time I checked I think it was about .18-20 cents a pop to reload that.

If you want a little more range from a rimfire do not forget about .17HMR. Very accurate to 150-200 yds although a cross wind will blow them around. The V Max bullets in those also minimize richocet risk and they are deadly on rabbit squirrel and prairie dog size animals.
 
Make One

;) Ah , but 17 HMR costs more than .22 Mag and that's where this whole thread came from . TheBear , you need to wildcat yourself what you want I guess , as there are no suggestions that meet with your approval !
 
I got myself a .223 but didnt manage to make some good and accurate light loads, there are still big differences in muzzle velocity despite the fact that i use a very good scale for reloading. I made some great loads in the ~1500fps area but as soon as i go down to ~1000fps the groups start to open up...

Could buy a used CZ .22Hornet for 300 Bucks...

I`m searching for a .22ccm or .22 sqirrel rifle know, but its pretty unlikely that im going to be succesfull with my search.
 
How about a Pellet Gun ?

;) When you reach 1000FPS you are slower than standard velocity .22 LR ammo . So I think you overshot the runway just a tad ! My pellet gun is 1000 FPS w/ lead pellets .
 
How about a pellet gun?

A .22 Hornet makes a dandy pellet gun. A small rifle primer by itself and no powder shoots Crossman .22 caliber pellets about 340 fps out of my rifle. Makes about as much noise as dry firing, you mostly hear the pellet hit the thing you are shooting at.
 
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