Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 22 hornet bullets for 16 twist barrel?

Hi,
I have a H and R rifle in 22 K hornet with a 16 twist barrel. What bullets should be the most accurate out of this setup?

I assume I need to be in the 35 to 40 grain range for optimum stability? I cant find an easy calc to tell me for bullets that small.

thanks in advance, haeffnkr

It's not a Hornet, but I have a 1-16 twist 222 and it generally shoots most bullets over 45gr like crap. I like the 30gr Varmint Grenades from it for accuracy, but they're about as aerodynamic as a brick. The trajectory really falls off fast after 125-150 yards.

In my old Savage 23 and 219 46gr Win HP's always shot well, same bullet factory ammo was loaded with.

I have an H&R and all I have shot was 40 and 45gr, so don't know about others but both these shot good. I use the same charge in both, 13gr Lil gun and win small rifle primer.

Lucky you to have a SS and no worries about cartridge length.

My Browning’s very best groups have been with 40gr VMaxes over 11.1 or 11.2gr of H110 with either CCI 500 or Fed 100 Match SP primers, in old Winchester brass. 13gr of LilGun with CCI 450s comes pretty close, and at much lower pressure, possibly extending brass life. I use a Lee Collet Die set, and don’t even own a FLS die. COAL is about 1.91.

Other bullets that have worked okay are the Speer 46gr FP with lighter loads, and 30gr Varmint Grenades over H110, I forget how much. In fact the rifle is currently dialed in with the VGs.

Used to be able to buy WW and Remington 45-46gr HPs for about $8 a hundred, but gas was about $1 then too.

Focus more on bullet length than simply bullet weight. I have a CZ 527 in Hornet and it will not stabilize some Noslers 35 grain lead free ballistic tip, but shoots 40 grain V-Maxes very well.

In general I've found any 40-grain plastic-tipped lead-core bullet will shoot well in 1-16 twists, whether in the .22 Hornet or .222 Remington. This is because the lastic tips are so light, they don't count much for overall length. JBM Ballistics' bullet stability program has an input for plastic-tips because of this.

My present .22 Hornet is a rechambered and center-converted BSA Model 15 .22 rimfire target rifle, which were based on the small Martini single-shot action. It shoots 40-grain Ballistic Tips or V-Maxes into sub-inch 5-shot groups. So does my early Sako L46 .222 with a 1-16 twist.