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Jordan
10-13-2006, 03:42 AM
Is Federal now making .22 Hornet brass? Thought I heard this, but may have been dreaming. If ture, anyone know anything about the quality? Is there a consensus opinion as to who makes the best .22 Hornet brass?

Thanks,


Jordan

john
10-13-2006, 06:29 AM
Federal? That would be interesting, an alternative. Haven't heard of it yet. I've used Norma, RWS, S&B, Winchester, Remington, Sako. Norma is no longer on the market here (NZ). RWS is available from Australia but is very expensive (last I heard is 10x$ US brass) but is possibly the best. S&B has small primer holes but is erratic in weight (thickness) and available only as cartridges (and another board member tested some in 17AH and it was not satisfactory). Winchester is thicker than Remington and not as consisent in dimensions. Remington is the most consistent of the brass that is readily available. Sako is available occasionally as old loaded cartridges but when I checked with the agents they said it will not be imported again due to high price. I've decided to go with Remington in the 22 Hornet due to the consistency and Winchester in the 17AH because it fits the chamber better. CIL and Dominion turn up occasionally but I haven't used them. And there are a few other brands from the Balkan countries which are collector items really.

dondford
10-13-2006, 01:20 PM
I've used several brands and find I get best overall results with Remington.

D

Daryl
10-13-2006, 02:38 PM
Is Federal now making .22 Hornet brass? Thought I heard this, but may have been dreaming. If ture, anyone know anything about the quality? Is there a consensus opinion as to who makes the best .22 Hornet brass?

Thanks,


Jordan

: I'm with Don on this one. All of my Hornet shooting in the CZ was with R-P brass. It went 13 to 14 shots each for the 500 cases I had without annealing & without any case loss. Those were the heavy loads with Lil'
Gun and 40gr. bulelts at over 3,300fps.
: After selling my Hornet barrel to a friend, I necked them down to fit the .17 AH for the same CZ rifle, re-barreled with a set-back 17Rem barrel. I lost no cases in reducing them to .17AH brass, and now have 2 firings on that old, non-annealed Hornet RP brass - again, without case loss. Just out of respect, I think I'll anneal it now before reloading it.
: My other .17AH brass is WW. Although I keep them separate due to difference case capacities, the impacts with the same load is identical, and the velocities are quite close as well.
; That makes 16 loads in the original RP Hornet brass, plus re-forming and fireforming to a .17 calibre wildcat with 2 shots as that one. My other .17AH brass, WW, needed to be annealed as after 4 shots, none of which were as a .22 Hornet as I lost 2 cases with split necks. The RP certainly seems to be good stuff. BTW - there is less case neck wall variation with RP Hornet brass than WW Hornet brass.

glennlasher
10-13-2006, 09:40 PM
My luck with Federal cases isn't all that good, it seems to be awfully soft to me. With moderate loads in my .30/06, partially sized cases would nearly wipe out the headstamp in about 4 loads. .22/250 cases weren't much better. Note that I said moderate loads, too.....
I have access to scads of Federal .223 brass, free, from qualification days at our local PD and the state prison up the road. I use it once, then let it go, usually in a prairie dog patch. I've just not had very good luck with the stuff. Free is an awfully good price, though, so I use the .223 a good bit.

john
10-13-2006, 10:25 PM
Can you say what is unsatisfactory with the 223 Fed brass?

Chuck Miller
10-13-2006, 10:38 PM
Basically it's too soft. Never could understand why you could pick up the Federal so much cheaper than "fill in the blank" until I started shooting an AR15. Second time through my Bushy I could push some of the primers in with my thumb.

glennlasher
10-14-2006, 01:57 AM
Chuck nailed it to the tree. Primer pockets get loose pretty quick compared to "fill in the blank", neck splits come quicker, and it seems to need trimming more often (the worst crime of all!) If a buddy didn't get it for me, free of charge, I wouldn't touch the stuff. Too much work rehabbing it for what you get out of it. One of my rifles won't extract Remington brass(Savage), and the other won't work well with Winchester, so I have to buy both to get good stuff. Why? Danged if I know, but both are considerably better than Federal's brass.