Savage 340 in .22 Hornet

[351 WINCHESTER]

New to me, an older 340 Savage in .22 Hornet. Would a lee loader make accurate ammo? I've heard the Hornet is hard to get good accuracy. How do I know if my rifle is .223 or .224 (does it really matter)? I'm leaning toward li'l gun as pressure is low.
Any help as to reloading hints greatly appreciated. I've read that the K hornet is better for case life, accuracy and velocity. Does anyone know a qualified gunsmith that could ream my chamber?

 

[jjohnson]

It's 224

I have one, too..... the .340 came along long after the .223 bore hornets. I like mine - it's a nice shooter. I use standard RCBS dies and RCBS "jr." press. You can do okay with Lee loaders, (you're talking about the old "whack it together kit"?) but I don't use them anymore.

Can't help you on the lil gun - I've never used it. The hornet can be finicky since the twist rate ties you to lighter bullets. DO buy the ones sold as "hornet 224" - bullets tough enough to endure launching from a .22-250 or .220 Swift won't expand reliably for you. The little hornet bullets expand just fine on groundhogs.

Hornet casings are thin, and easy to ruin. The difference in going with k-hornet, IMHO, is relevant to humane kills on varmints more than anything. I don't think it buys you anything in accuracy. Mine keeps groups under 2" at 100 yards, but not reliably under 1" - good enough for its limited power. I keep my groundhog shots to under 200 yards, where it starts really running out of gas. I like it for its quiet limited range nature, in places where the boom of a .22-250 is plain unwelcome.

On the gunsmith - you need to find one who's already got a k-hornet reamer, or remove your barrel and send it to one. If your smith has to buy a reamer just for one job, you'll wind up paying for it. See how it does for you before altering it - it's a nice rifle, well suited for what it was designed to do.

 

[qajaq59]

I'd suggest that you start with buying and reading the ABC's of reloading and the Lyman Reloading Manual 49th edition. Then read the stickies that you will find at the top of the forum pages. And the Lee loader is pretty much like any other tool. It is only as good as the guy using it. But I would definitely read everything you can "before" you buy any loading equipment. It'll save you a bunch of money.

 

[Sound Dude]

I have a newer Savage in 22 Hornet and like it a lot. As jjohnson said, the biggest hassle reloading is crushing cases. They are small and thin. Take care to resize new brass before loading for the first time. I mostly punch paper / plink with mine and it's plenty accurate. Lil Gun is my favorite powder to use.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I started reloading back in the '60's with a Lee loader. I've also loaded a lot of ammo with one for the .22Hornet.
It will load decent ammo, but is slow.... I always loaded in sequence; size all cases, then prime all cases, ect....

Also, you'll find that after 3-4 loadings that chambering might start getting a little tight..... This is where you'll want to use conventional reloading dies. But, you might not get much more than 5-7 loadings from your brass.

The two powders that I use in the Hornet for "conventional" loads, is H110, and of course Hod. Lil'Gun.

Of the two I prefer Lil'Gun, but H110 has it's place. For bullets lighter than 40gr, I prefer H110. Especially with the 35gr Hornady V-Max.

For 40gr and heavier, it's Lil'Gun.

I prefer 12.5gr with a 40gr Sierra "Varminter" Hollow Point. It's designed to take upwards of 4,000fps so performs like a "big-game" bullet from the Hornet. I've taken over 20 deer with that above load at 1.78"oal and a Winchester Small pistol primer. This is one of the few loads that will consistently go near MOA from my Ruger M77/22 KBZ (heavy bbl, stainless, w/laminated stock).

I had a .22K-Hornet once. It was a Ruger #3. (Neat rifle, wish they still made it...) But, the chamber job was "botched", and was reamed out of round. Fired brass was good for one reloading, and then would separate above the rim due to excessive working of the brass being run through the RCBS dies I had for it. Chamber was also way over-sized... (Circa early 1980's). I "passed" the rifle along in a trade for something else.....

I believe you'll enjoy your little Savage. It's been a long time since I saw one for sale. Most in my neck of the woods were in .30/30. I had one in .30/30 for a while. It lacks some of the refinement of newer designs, but was decently accurate. My wife enjoyed shooting it. Said it had just enough recoil to feel like a "real" gun, but not so much it would "hurt" you........
But I digress......

 

[dagger dog]

I shoot a Savage Mdl. 40 Hornet, Lil' Gun powder from Hodgdon , Remington 6 1/2 primers, Hornady V-Max in 35 and 40 gr, combined with neck sizing, will give you a good start. The little cases have great life if you don't over stuff them and stay with sane velocities. You have to make sure to chamfer the case mouth well especially if you're going to shoot a Flat base bullet like the 36 gr Varmint Grenade form Barnes, the chamfer really helps then, the boat tail bullets seat without any problems.

Once you disturb THE HORNETS NEST it's very hard not to get STUNG, the little buggers will invade your wallet and take up a lot of your "free" time!

 

[loadedround]

I shot two Hornet rifles, one of which was converted to the 22K-Hornet. I would like to offer several suggestions regarding loading the standard 22 Hornet:
1. Slug your barrel if you have an older rifle and not sure if bore diameter is .223 or 224". All modern Hornets are 224".
2. Since the Hornet cartridge headspaces on the shoulder and not the rim, make certain not to set back the case shoulder upon resizing or you will will be experiencing case head separations around your second loading. Suggest you use a Neck Size Die if you load for one rifle. I get two or more reloading from the case by neck sizing.
3. Use only Hornet designated bullets for loading. Other 22 caliber spitzer bullets are too tapered to be seated properly. My experience indicates that the Hornady 45 gr Hornet bullets work best in my two Hornets.
4. Alliants's 2400 is the old standby for loading the Hornet, but I have found AA1680 and Hodgdon's Lil' Gun(first choice) to be the most accurate powders. W-W is also a good choice.
5. Buy a broken case extractor for this cartridge and carry it with you into the field. I guarantee that you need it sooner or later with the Hornet cartridge.
6. Watch very carefully for that horizontal line towards the bottom of the case that indicates a possible case head separation. With the thin walled Hornet cases, it's almost a certainty to split on the next firing.
7. Good shooting guys!

 

[Doug b]

Seating bullets

A Lee dead length seater die seems to take all the worries out of seating flat base bullets in the hornet.I haven't wrinkled a one since I started using it.

 

[jjohnson]

Back to original post

No need to slug the barrel (as one guy suggested). As I pointed out before, the 340 is a "post .223" rifle. It's a .224.

Forgot to mention, though, the use of the Remington primer is something that a lot of hornet shooters insist on. Seems the Rem primer is fairly low powered, and that's a GOOD thing. It's said that just the primer force will start moving the bullet forward before it's got "ignition" going, and that's bad.
I can't corroborate that, but I've seen several articles in the gun mags and in Varmint Hunter mag about it. I use the Rem primers because that's what I have anyhow....