Lil Gun Hornet Load ?

[Dom]

Well, I finally got a pound of Lil Gun to test out some loads for the Hornet. I did up 5 test loads at 13, 13.2 & 13.4 ea. I screwed up though, never had a load miss a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper (8" high, 4" left), so only saw the results of the 13.4 load, which weren't bad, but the primers (Rem 6 1/2) were well popped, so my question is:

How low for a load can you go with Lil Gun in the hornet? 12 or 12.5 OK? I'm not looking for power, but rather accuracy at 100 meters. I don't think it's that low to hurt anything and probably worth a try, especially with using RWS cases, which are thicker. 13.4 close to topped off the case.

Rocky the hornetmeister, may knoweth the antwort, Waismannsheil, Dom.

[Catfish]

I really don`t think that you will run into any trouble if you just work your way down slowly and watch your accuracy. 12 gns. should be no problem and I would guess that 10 gn. wouldn`t. I`ve never use the Lil Gun, but have shot alot of H-4227 through the .22 Hornet and the .17 AH. Your on the right track by looking for the most accurate load though.

[Cossack]

I get best results using 40 grain bullets (Speer or Sierra but not V Max) and 13 grains of Lil gun. The real difference comes from using CCI small (pistol) primers and a light crimp with a Lee factory crimp die.

[Rocky Raab]

Having popped primers (even Rem 6 1/2s) is extremely weird with LilGun. It's almost always a very low pressure propellant - even though it delivers high velocity.

So I'm a bit perplexed, unless it is a result of the RWS brass. If you can get 13.0 grains into the case, it should be fine.

But it obviously isn't. Hmmmmmm.....


That "off the paper" result isn't normal, either. Altogether weird, in my experience. But, that's why reloading is more art than science.

I'd drop right back to 12.0 and see what happens, Dom. Or switch primers and try the series again. Change one thing at a time.

[Dom]

Good, thanks for all the responses. Just didn't want to experiment with 12 w/o a quick check. I like that thicker RWS brass because I can use it over and over and over. I've got about 80 cases w/CCI 500's, will give them a shot too. I'll play around until I get what I'm looking for, heck what's the fun of reloading if you can't change umpteen load components!!

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

All loads unseat the primer, whatever the distance the headspace, bolt face and extracter allows. They reseat from the bolt face under recoil. If the pressure is very LOW, sometimes the primer does not reseat fully, maybe that is what your are seeing.