22k hornet

[versifier]

Fryboy, I'm with you. I have had a Contender almost since they were introduced, but I have never owned a Hornet barrel of either variety for it. I loaded for one bolt action hornet years ago but it was not mine and was traded/sold by its owner while I was still in load development with it. I did like it and was starting to really like it when it left. One of these days the right barrel will find me, too, preferably somewhere around 24", but if a shorter Custom shop barrel comes along first I'll snap it right up and I have a mould for it when it does. I already have one custom shop barrel that I love, a 16" .35rem. I wanted a 24" one and had been looking around but a friend called and told me to buy this one. I'm glad I did as it is MOA with its favorite bullets and as a Carbine with peep sights it is a joy to carry and hunt with. A matching KHornet carbine would be fun for small game and pests.

[fryboy]

cabela's is currently out but thanx dan ! i admit i looked about everywhere lolz and i actually bought the first factory ammo i've bought in umm heap o long time just for this barrel ( it feels weird because i've rolled my own for ... ever it seems
the BBT showed up yesterday with my shell holder and some other assorted goodies , it was kind of late when i had time to sit down at the bench , the replacement tapered decapping/expanding stem i bought for the lee dies fits great in their standard multi caliber decapping die ( i use this system to neck up a few calibers ) but it's a wee bit too long as the 6 mm part is way up the shank and barely hits the case mouth , i may either grind the pin and stem down enough to get it where i want/need it or try a 6 mm PPC/WSSM replacement , becaus ethe stem is a much better expander than the old lee dies i'll prolly put it in my 243 dies and go for the PPC one , i did however screw down an old pacific 243 sizer and tried necking up a few cases , the 7 new ones went flawlessly ( hopefully soon i'll be able to get some more ) the 1 x cases i've come across i only did 5 because 2 split the neck , i'll anneal the rest before trying again , the ones that successfully necked up ( both old and new ) i used one to set the FL die to headspace ( looks cool as a 6 mm tho lolz ) and necked back down to .22 , this should give me a slight shoulder for my fire forming loads and hopefully stop case stretching before it happens ( yeah i'm stoked :P and except for brass tried getting most my ducks in a row )
i have a question about your fire forming load charge dan , the 9 grains is easy enough to do but pray tell what bullet weight ? from the data i've gleaned so far i have to assume a lighter projectile , most of those have starting charges above the 9 grains and hornady list 9.1 max ( for the K ) with 50 grainers , oddly enough data for the regular hornet goes from 9.7max to 8.5 max with the 45 and 50 grainers respectively , i had thought of using some 55 fmj's for this duty as i have umm quite a few in stock ( and saving the lighter soft and h.p.'s for load work ups and fun once fireformed )

[daniel lawecki]

I use the Hornady V-Max 40 Gr bullets in my 14" barrel TC this bullet will group at 3/8" at 50yrds. My best group at 100yrds is 3/4" in the winter.

[fryboy]

well things have finally been caught up a bit since i went on vacation and the holiday season is past so i thought i'd share my results with my new to me carbine barrel

the 1 x brass i managed to scrape up lost a few when i tried to neck up to 6mm and back down to give me a false shoulder so i annealed the rest and set a el cheapo 55 grain FMJ to just kiss the rifling , i decided to go with aa 1680 as i have a bit of it ( it's a fav in several other calibers ) the charge i chose was .2 light by one manual and mid load by another so it should be safe , i didnt shoot for groups but to sight in a new scope but had no problem walking it up to the bullseye and then i plinked like mad !! ( it's always more fun when you hit what you're aiming at :P ) of those cases i lost none , i had also purchased a box of PPU factory ammo , of those i lost two and perhaps 3 ( one looks like it may be ready to go ) it was the first factory ammo i've bought in quite a few years , it also shot fair , and now i'm in the process of a real load work up , the way it shot with fireforming loads and factory leads me to believe i got a shooter and am kind of kicking myself for not getting one sooner ( maybe however it'll of been worth the wait ? )

edit for add ..

btw ? the manual's FPS listed and allowing for my 6" shorter carbine barrel i guesstimated that i should be around 1900 FPS not so ... average was 2170-ish with a low enough spread i was impressed , shame that with that heavy of a bullet it wouldnt expand as much as the lighter ones but i'm sure going to try the same load with some 55 sp's and check out the damage , mite be just the thing for a tender jack rabbit !!

[daniel lawecki]

Nice Fryboy now shoot some 100yrd groups. My T/C pistol will shoot 3/4 inch groups and thats no BS.