22 K Hornet

J E Custom

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I need some expert (More knowledgeable than me) advice about the different K Hornets.

I recently chambered a K Hornet with a reamer that was a Kilborn Hornet (The original)
and went to purchase the dies and there is no distinction between different die makers as
to which K hornet there dies are for.

I know of several different K Hornet chamber Dimensions (One has a 40o shoulder and the
Kilborn has a 35o shoulder) so I was wondering If any one knew which die was designed for
the Kilborn K hornet ?

Some die makers say there's will work but I would like the die that matches the chamber I
have to increase brass life and accuracy.

I have not talked to all of the die makers and hoped that one of the sages on this site could
help .

The only other option I have is to make my own dies.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

J E CUSTOM
 
I don't know about k reamers, but I do know that the 35gr vmax and lil gun are a great combo for the hornet. I think it would be even better on the k hornet!
 
Don't KNOW which is proper but I believe my reddings to have the correct 35* shld and I just fire formed brass for my Cooper m38 tonite. Hard to tell just by eyeball but one would hope Cooper uses the true 35* as well. This is also the angle listed in current Horaday manual. Once I go to load it it for real I will repost





Tim j
 
Don't KNOW which is proper but I believe my reddings to have the correct 35* shld and I just fire formed brass for my Cooper m38 tonite. Hard to tell just by eyeball but one would hope Cooper uses the true 35* as well. This is also the angle listed in current Horaday manual. Once I go to load it it for real I will repost





Tim j


Thanks Tim.

That is what I had heard also.

So far I have found 3 maybe 4 different K Hornets. The Kilbourne Hornet(35o). The Ackley K hornet
(40o). A shorter version (The case has been trimed about 3/16") and I read a post on another web
site that there was a man named ken Howell that came up with his own version that is also
different.

I'm not sure if any of them is better than the other but I Understand by comments that I have heard
that the 40o (Ackley) May be problematic while loading. I don't have any experience With this in the
K Hornetbut I can understand how the shoulder can collapse From the expander ball because of neck
tension with the small shoulder.

I am happy with the Kilbourn K hornet version but want to make sure that I am using the correct
dies.

I found a set of C@H Dies and they look correct (35o) so I will fire form some cases and then
use some Cerosafe To cast the sizing die and dimension each.

If they are not the same I will make my own dies.

This exercise just go's to show you that you cannot take anything for granted and "BEFORE"
you start on a Wildcat cartrige make sure you know everything possible about it.

I will keep digging for more info. and hope someone that knows more will chime in.

Thanks

J E CUSTOM
 
Thanks to both of you for posting info that is helpful to me also.
Just got a CZ527 in .22 Hornet a month ago. Not too accurate yet, and I've discovered that I've been trimming a lot of stretched brass. Decided the K was the way to go. But I've been seeing a lot of different sizes and shoulders.

Sure do appreciate the input on this.
Vangky.
 
This is a case where sloppiness on ones part can cause others down the road heart burn. I am shocked to hear there are more than one K-Hornet. I always believed the K was for Kilbourne. If someone decides to deviate from his reamer specs that person should drop the K and call it an improved hornet or a (fill in the blank)-hornet. I would hope commercial die makers make original K-hornet dies.
Rant is over. What I really wanted to add was the guys who post over at Saubier are really worldly in small cartridges. Check it out. Tons in archives too.



Tim
 
This is a case where sloppiness on ones part can cause others down the road heart burn. I am shocked to hear there are more than one K-Hornet. I always believed the K was for Kilbourne. If someone decides to deviate from his reamer specs that person should drop the K and call it an improved hornet or a (fill in the blank)-hornet. I would hope commercial die makers make original K-hornet dies.
Rant is over. What I really wanted to add was the guys who post over at Saubier are really worldly in small cartridges. Check it out. Tons in archives too.



Tim


I feel your pain and agree that if a reamer is changed it should reflect the changes by renaming it.

Wildcats sometime come with problems if not considered before going into this area. But in many
cases they come with improvements (Like case life).

I have never been a big fan of wildcats because of the added issues but sometime they fit a niche
that factory cartriges cant. Most of the time however there is a factory round that will do the same
thing or even best the wildcat because of so many new powders that are available.

I have found many wildcats that have been modified slightly that could cause problems if
not addressed. (The 280 AI is one example of the latest).

In response to the case growth on some cartriges, the less body taper and greater shoulder Angles
will help minimize this but at the same time they may cause greater extraction effort, so there
is no free ride.

The reason I like the Kilbourne K Hornet it the body taper ( Taper/inch is less than.011/inch) also
the 35o shoulder is a good compromise over the 40o AI on such a small case.

The only real issue with any of the K hornets is that with some brands of brass that have not been
annealed after final sizing may split on firing.

With any wildcat there is always a learning curve.

J E CUSTOM
 
That is a good point about factory cartridges. In fact, my troubles with case life on the hornet its what led me to buying a 221fireball. I also went from the funky split bolt of a ruger m77-22 to a remington 700 which helped. The velocity increase is substantial without much more powder, only a few more grains.
 
That is a good point about factory cartridges. In fact, my troubles with case life on the hornet its what led me to buying a 221fireball. I also went from the funky split bolt of a ruger m77-22 to a remington 700 which helped. The velocity increase is substantial without much more powder, only a few more grains.


Going to a more powerful cartrige was not an option in this case because of the age of
the rifle. (112 years old) and designed for Pressures of less than 42,000 CUPs.

Most of today's cartriges are designed for 55,000 to 65,000 PSI and could be dangerous
in an old rifle. so I was limited as to what cartrige I could use.

The K Hornet was an attempt at reaching some reasonable velocities with pressures
under 40,000 CUPs buy being able to use slower powder than the Hornet.

It was a well thought out project "Except" for the die/chamber differences in the Different
K Hornets.

I think it is all lined out now and will be a fun rifle to shoot and reload for. And as Terry
Bradshaw said "I would rather be lucky than good" and it looks like I was lucky to pick
the Kilbourne K Hornet.

I would still like any more comments that anyone has, so please post comments, loads,
information or anything else that you have to contribute.

Thanks

J E CUSTOM
 
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