22 K Hornet in a revolver ???

[magnumwheelman]

So I may have posted a pic or two in the past, of my Taurus / Dan Wesson cross 8 shot 22 Hornet with the 1 in 9" twist barrel... I also have a Ruger 77 22 Hornet in the same configuration... I know some of you guys have had good luck with a straighter walled, sharper shouldered case in a revolver... do you think the K Hornet would work any better or worse than a regular Hornet in a revolver I'm considering rechambering my Ruger to 22 K Hornet, & would like to do the revolver as well... but would not want to wreck the cylinder, if set back would be more of an issue with the K Hornet chambers...

thoughts

[AxeHandle]

I rechambered a BFH Hornet to K Hornet. Reaming took an afternoon but was not difficult. Spent a lot of time wiping shavings from the reamer and dipping it in cutting oil. Case forming was uneventful. Got busy with other stuff and haven't proceded beyond fire forming cases. FWIW I fire formed with some 55 grain 5.56 GI bullets. Did not put them on paper. Was told later that the twist of the BFR Hornet barrel would not stabilize that bullet. Maybe this summer I'll get it out and play more.

[magnumwheelman]

thanks for the reply... the Hornet in a revolver from my understanding, needs a good dry case & chamber anyway... I went to a 1 in 9" twist on both my guns, as an experiment, & had good luck stabilizing even 68 grain bullets out of my 6" switch barrel on the revolver...

I've not been totally happy with the accuracy on the rifle, getting just over MOA ( heck... maybe it's me ) but was hoping to headspace on the shoulder, get a bit more accuracy, a little better case life ( mine have a tendency to grow a lot )& maybe gain a couple 100 FPS... but since I look at this revolver as a companion to the rifle, I don't know if I'd want them shooting brass in different configurations???

my local builder buddy would make me all the single action cylinders I want... but really, really hates to mess with double action cylinders, so I wouldn't want to mess up my double action cylinder, if the cases set back every shot...

[AxeHandle]

FWIW best I remember the fire forming did not drive the cases out at all. Gary Reeder's experimentation has led him to straight walls and sharp sholders. On that thought I'd expect the K Hornet to be pretty revolver friendly.

[mhblaw]

I have a Bowen custom OMBH in 25 WCF. Was very sensitive to powders or case would set back on firing and tie up the cylinder. Finally settled on H-110 or IMR-4227 loads with 85 gr. cast bullet. Gun just would not work with faster powders.

[magnumwheelman]

thanks for the reply's guys

[AxeHandle]

You've got me to thinking that I might need an 8 shot K Hornet Blackhawk. I'm expecting a pair of Reeder customs in 240 and 255 Banshee soon. These are 24 and 25 bore wildcats based on a full length Hornet case. A Matching K Hornet on a Blackhawk might be fun. Then If I could talk Gary into doing a 270 on a full length Hornet case for a 270 Banshee. I've got a 270 REN TC barrel but I always feel like it is such a waste trimming those cases to length. Of course I'm sure that there was a good reason for not using the full lencth Hornet case for the REN. Maybe someone here knows a tale about it that they will share with us.

[magnumwheelman]

I'm not knowledgeable enough to know, but I'd guess it may have had to do with OAL with the bullets they were running ( I've had interest in the REN myself ) but wasn't that cartridge more developed for the Contenders which if revolvers were not the big picture, then OAL length wouldn't have anything to do with it, unless the Silhouette classes has a cartridge OAL length rule ?

[magnumwheelman]

If I could find a source of cylinders, I'd have a 30 Carbine barrel, & a 270 REN barrel made for this gun as well...

a pic of my 8 shot Taurus / Dan Wesson fast twist, switch barrel, 22 Hornet... soon to be K Hornet

[AxeHandle]

The REN was/is a Contender cartridge. The bullets loaded for the TC are seated out pretty long. A full hornet length case would require some different loading data to fit into a BH cylinder. In my thinking about it a while back I took some pictures of a REN cartridge and a BH cylinder. A custom Cylinder would be a bit longer and we could seat the bullet a little deeper.