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.22 Hornet to K-Hornet?
RCrosby
Member Posts: 3,808 ✭✭✭
Well, folks, I'm snowed in today. No work. A little time on my hands.
Sorting through a bag of "once fired .22 Hornets" I came across 2 "K" shells, and it got me to thinking about a project that I consider from time to time, and usually abandon. Interested in any thoughts.
I have an Oregon Kimber, 82 Cascade in mint condition with a knockout gorgeous piece of wood. It shoots far better than I would expect a sporter like this to do. When I'm having a good day (no wind, no caffiene) 5 shot groups at 100 yards often run 5/8". 3 rounds know how to find 1/2 and nothing goes more than 1 1/4" unless someone down the line surprises me with a blast from a .378 Weatherby.
Anywho, the question is, do I rechamber for the K-Hornet? Collectors value isn't really a concern since I plan to die with this one and pass it on. I don't really need the extra velocity. I have a .222 Sako, and I sold my .220 Swift. My biggest concern is the chance that rechambering will affect its karma and degrade accuracy. Those blown out cases sure look cute, though. Alternative might be to not sell my Savage Model 40, convert that to the K-Hornet, and keep the Kimber as is. I look forward to hearing your take on this, and especially to any pre-K, post-K accuracy experiences folks have had.
Thanks,
Sorting through a bag of "once fired .22 Hornets" I came across 2 "K" shells, and it got me to thinking about a project that I consider from time to time, and usually abandon. Interested in any thoughts.
I have an Oregon Kimber, 82 Cascade in mint condition with a knockout gorgeous piece of wood. It shoots far better than I would expect a sporter like this to do. When I'm having a good day (no wind, no caffiene) 5 shot groups at 100 yards often run 5/8". 3 rounds know how to find 1/2 and nothing goes more than 1 1/4" unless someone down the line surprises me with a blast from a .378 Weatherby.
Anywho, the question is, do I rechamber for the K-Hornet? Collectors value isn't really a concern since I plan to die with this one and pass it on. I don't really need the extra velocity. I have a .222 Sako, and I sold my .220 Swift. My biggest concern is the chance that rechambering will affect its karma and degrade accuracy. Those blown out cases sure look cute, though. Alternative might be to not sell my Savage Model 40, convert that to the K-Hornet, and keep the Kimber as is. I look forward to hearing your take on this, and especially to any pre-K, post-K accuracy experiences folks have had.
Thanks,
Comments
I think if you have some hesitation about re-chambering any particular rifle, you could consider having the Savage M40 modified and shoot your comparisons with it for a start. Shoot it before and save the targets then shoot it after the re-chamber. Be sure to copy the targets so we can see what the outcome is.
Here's a photo for others to see the difference. The Hornet and K-Hornet are the middle two cartridges:
I have done quite a number of these simply because it's an easy conversion that has always shown improvements over the original chambering. Not everyone wants or needs the extra velocity but the best gain is in the case life and ease of reloading. The case shape is also slightly more efficient and the range of powders is improved slightly. These gains often show up as improved velocity which gets you a little more range and performance.
If you choose a qualified gunsmith for the project, you shouldn't see any loss of accuracy and it is possible to see a slight gain.
Best.
From my experience the K-Hornet really comes alive when using Lil'Gun powder and 40 grain bullets.
May take a while. Now I'll start looking for the smith to do the work. I know where to start.
Glad to hear that the "LilGun" and 40 grain pills work in the K-Hornet, because they sure work in the Kimber!
Thanks for the comments. Keeping the Model 40 and making it the "K", and keeping the Kimber original, makes sense.
May take a while. Now I'll start looking for the smith to do the work. I know where to start.
Glad to hear that the "LilGun" and 40 grain pills work in the K-Hornet, because they sure work in the Kimber!
You can rent the K-Hornet reamer and do it by hand by yourself.... I did. It was very easy to do. As long as you flood lots of oil while cutting it will be no problem at all. This is where I got mine http://www.reamerrentals.com/directory.htm They are good folks and very helpful.
So, are you going to leave us hanging as the rest of the cases in the pic??[:D][:D]
I'm betting, on some reward un-offered as of yet [8D], that the one on the left is a .22 WMR with a 5.7 2nd from left, the two Hornets, then a .221 Fireball, and a .222 Rem.??
All great varmint rounds by the way.
RCrosby,
Personally, if it was shooting that good I would leave it alone. If you for some reason found it not to shoot so well then decided to have the barrel set back I would then rechamber it.
Yes I was planning on leaving you hanging![}:)]
As to 'some reward un-offered as of yet', your reward is the knowledge that you have correctly identified and passed on those identities to the rest of the members as a service to the GB community.[:D][:D][:D]
RCrosby,
Without comparisons, it's hard to tell some cartridges from others. Here is a composite photo from another source with the Spitfire and the .30 Carbine side-by-each...
Best.
Getting back on the subject, I reloaded and shot a lot of the {edit:.22 Hornet} and the .218 Bee as a teenager. I know I definitely preferred the Bee as it has more oomph. If you just plain feel you need more oomph, then I would do the K conversion.
It's good to get posts about some of these older cartridges. It reminds us that not everything new is the best. The Hornet and the Kilbourn version are superb lower velocity, low noise cartridges. The first chamber reamer I bought was for the .219 Donaldson Wasp because I had an abundance of single shot actions and 30-30 brass at the time. Then there is the Zipper and the Improved version along with the R-Lovell, all of them fine cartridges just not new.
Best.
Another one I got to shoot once in a while was the .218 Vern Improved. It was my dads uncle and he chambered it in a Martini action. Compared to the model 43 I shot a lot, it had a lot of zip...almost as much as my dads .222 Rem. Of course it came with the family standard Weaver 3x glass that was cracked and dusty but it was quite the rabbit killer. I don't know the exact dimensions of the case, but he said they were different than the Mashburn so he named the round for himself. I know you've said it many times that without new guns and new marketing the gun industry would go stagnant. But, it never hurts to turn the industry back a number of years and bring back some really good ones. In fact, look at all the super efficiency cases that are in some way based on Charles Newtons cases. Bring back the old, stuff it with new components, and see where it goes...
Lil Gun and 35 gr. V-max bullets are an awesome combo.
Tim
FN is supposed to release the new 5.7 bolt action rifle mid-2008...
There have been quite a number of custom rifles built for this cartridge.
My thought is that you should forget the 5.7 and build a good rifle based on the .221 Fireball. It's a better cartridge and it costs a bunch less to reload for it. If you want to get smaller look into the .17 Mach IV built on the Fireball case.
Best.