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Thread: .224 bullets in a .223

  1. #1
    GunLoad Trainee
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    NZ
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    Default .224 bullets in a .223

    This might be a bit of an old chestnut to some, but I have gone through the archives and can't find a thread that satisfactorily answers this question.
    I have a 1959 Brno (now CZ) .22 Hornet - a set-triggered creature of rare beauty and craftsmanship from the days when humans still made rifles. It's the dog's bollocks for hares and goats. I bought it about 15 years ago, mint. It had been stored unfired since new.
    Its bore is .223 and I have always been scrupulous in avoiding using .224 bullets. However, over the years the choice of .223 Hornet projectiles has diminished while the range for .224 has grown.
    Lyman apparently claims that no .223 Hornet barrels were produced after WW2. While that may be true in the US, the Czechs were certainly making them well into the 1960s.
    Is it possible to shoot the larger-diameter bullets in a .223 Hornet barrel with any expectation of accuracy, and . . . by doing so do I risk damaging or placing undue wear on the bore?
    Thanks in anticipation.

  2. #2

    Default

    I shouldn't think there'd be any problems at all.
    Tom

    Warning! Does NOT play well with others!

  3. #3
    Dogs Like Him versifier's Avatar
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    Dec 2005
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    New Hampshire
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    1,854

    Default

    Welcome to the Guide, accipere.

    There is no problem at all with using .224 bullets in your Hornet. As to accuracy, only your rifle can answer that for each different bullet you try. If you will be hunting anything with it, be aware that most .224 bullets today are designed for 5.56 (.223Rem) and .22-250. They may not expand at the low velocities of the Hornet. Sierra, if you can get them in NZ, makes both .223 and .224 40 and 45gr bullets of light construction especially for the Hornet. Considering the price of jacketed bullets these days, you might also have a lot of fun trying some cast in it.
    "Stand your ground.
    Do not fire unless fired upon.
    But if they mean to have a war let it begin here."
    - Capt. Parker, Lexington Militia, April 19, 1775

  4. #4
    GunLoad Trainee
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    Apr 2010
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    NZ
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    Default

    Many thanks, all. Your responses are much appreciated

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