Reloading Page

Reloading

You read the disclaimer and said that you understood it. With that in mind, we move forward.

The following comments are observations that I have made over the years dealing with the Hornet and reloading in general, and are not implied to be proven safe, sensible or fact.

Hornet brass is thin and delicate, and for this reason alone you should keep very accurate load records and keep your brass in specific lots or groups. It is very easy to go to the range with several loads to test and get cases mixed up. Down range performance is not worth much if pressures run high enough to put you or any part of you at risk ! Brass can give you warning signs if you watch it closely.

I found some notes in preparing to write this, that made reference to a load I was working up for a .223 Contender.

Charge	Case after firing	Accuracy	Pressure
13.5	1.755"	Large group	No Signs
14.5	1.761"	Smaller group	Slight flattening of primer
15.5	1.76"	Great group	Slight crater in primer
16.0	1.765	Larger group	Substantial flattening of primer, case developed a ring .44 behind shoulder

Max load listed in the book was 16.5 grains, but I was not happy with the case response at 16.0 so I stopped. Recently, I read that a flattened primer can indicate headspace or pressure. I know for a fact that the Contender had a very tight chamber so I took the case response as pressure.

I backed away from 16.0 grains and worked all around the 15.5 grains including going back to 14.5 and switching primers. I probably should have gone all the way back to 13.5 when switching primers. If the reload gods saw everything we did, they would lock us out of our loading rooms.

What does this have to do with the Hornet ? Simple ! The Hornet has an even smaller capacity than a .223. Given that, the jumps you make in your charge should be smaller and more frequent. If you look at percentages, it gets really scary.

For example: 1/2 grain in a .223 amounts to roughly 2% of the case capacity, where 1/2 grain in the Hornet amounts to roughly 4% of the case capacity. In contrast 1/2 grain in the 30-06 amounts to less than 1% of case capacity.

Tools

For a small investment, you can start with the basics. If you enjoy the results you will graduate to more and better equipment.

Knowing what I know now, I would never be without a Dial Caliper and Powder Scale. You can get by without a scale but at least a $10 fiberglass caliper is a must.

Saw a man walk up to a counter in a sporting goods store the other day and said "I want to reload" "I don't know what I need". You better hope the salesperson does, and I've met very few who do. I have 3 words for people like this man. "READ READ READ"

If you are not sure you want to reload, "BUY A RELOAD MANUAL 1ST". Read it cover to cover. If you are still interested, proceed, otherwise, give the manual to a friend. $20 or $25 is cheap education as opposed to hurting yourself or a bystander. For what it's worth the Lyman manual seems very comprehensive.

Tips

I purchased a plastic box in which to carry the loaded shells to the range. It holds plenty and it is fairly easy to keep track of what is what. Problem - I put the shells in bullet down and the slight rattling around of the shells in the box put a ring on the brass at the same point one might find a ring on a case that is beginning to separate. Then, it is either risk life and limb, or toss it. I toss brass if there is even the slightest doubt.

Here is one I just found. Determining the rate of twist in a barrel.
Using a cleaning rod with a ball bearing or otherwise freely rotating handle, place a cleaning patch on the jag and pull the rod up to the chamber. Make sure the patch is tight enough to engage rifling. Next place a mark on the rod at the muzzle. Draw the rod up through the barrel until your mark has made one revolution, then measure from the mark back to the muzzle. There you have it, 1 twist in x number of inches.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 30, 2019 11:41 AM