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Well, I finally made it out to the range today (10 am – 3 pm). I spent the majority of the day figuring out how to adjust the Unertl 6X Small Game scope that was on the rifle when I bought it last year.
For those that do not remember, this is the Model 70 Super Grade 22 Hornet I bought, and was originally sent directly to Lyle Kilbourne and rechambered to 22 K-Hornet.
I had worked up several loads to tryout in the rifle using the 35 grain Hornady V-Max bullet and varying charges of Lil-Gun powder. While I was not overly impressed with the accuracy of any of the loads I shot through the rifle today, I was impressed with the velocity numbers. All shooting was done @100 yards.
1. 13.0 grains Lil-Gun, 30 shots, average velocity 3,270 fps, but a wicked spread of 3,175 – 3,399… poor accuracy.
2. 13.5 grains Lil-Gun (light compressed load), 40 shots, average velocity 3,334 fps, spread 3,281 – 3,431, accuracy improved to an average of 1.75″ 10-shot groups.
My next attempt will be with 14.0 grains (the listed maximum per Hornady’s data). I am expecting to get 3,400 fps, and hopefully the group sizes drop to well under 1″.
I also shot my Remington 700 BDL Heavy Varmint 222 Rem Mag rifle today. My loads were 27.4 grains of IMR 4064 under a 50-gr Nosler HP BT using a Federal 205M primer. Average velocity 3,405 fps with a spread of 3,391 – 3,422. This is my accuracy load
.
All in all, it was a great day at the range, and I will be going soon back for another attempt with the Model 70 K-Hornet and the 35-gr V-Max bullets. If I cannot get them to shoot accurately, I will revert back to the 45-grain HP bullets that my other Hornet rifles like.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert, I have not messed with the K -Hornet. With the .22 Hornet I have found that accuracy is improve when you don’t try to push it to fast. Also, .223 diameter bullets have shot better in my Model 70s. If you want speed buy a Swift. Good luck with your K Hornet. Sounds like a very interesting rifle.
Bo Rich said
Bert, I have not messed with the K -Hornet. With the .22 Hornet I have found that accuracy is improve when you don’t try to push it to fast. Also, .223 diameter bullets have shot better in my Model 70s. If you want speed buy a Swift. Good luck with your K Hornet. Sounds like a very interesting rifle.
I concur with Bo about the 223 bullets. I have two Hornets (neither are K), and one clearly prefers 223 while the other delivers better accuracy with 224.
I think it would be worth trying 223 bullets even if you know for certain that the bore is 224.
Paul
Nevada Paul
Life Member NRA
Do a powder ladder test. Start with a moderate load. Load 3 shot groups .2 grains apart. Look for a node where the velocity doesn’t change much. An example would look like this. 15 fps increase each .2 grains then all of a sudden a 8 fps increase. Sometimes you can find several nodes before you get too hot. So if your node was between 27.4 and 27.6 use 27.5 for testing. Pick a node then do bullet seating tests. Usually the hottest node turns out to be inconsistent.
With modern guns we test until we see the first sign of pressure then back off.
All of the Model 70 .22 caliber rifle barrels were .224 (e.g. 22 Hornet, 220 Swift, and 225 Winchester). Bullet selection is poor for the .223 size. I have a large supply of different bullets that I previously loaded in my Hornet and other K-Hornet rifles… I am sure that I will find one that this Model 70 likes. I did load up a batch with the 45-gr Sisk Hornet bullets that came with the rifle, but ran out of time before I could shoot any of them. I also fire formed a batch of K-Hornet with factory new R-P brass for it.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
Offline
Bert-
Glad you finally got that K-Hornet to the range! I remember one cartridge (375 Winchester using a lead bullet from a Lyman 375449 mould) that worked very well with the first load I tried. It was actually a bit disappointing. I loaded up a modest supply for inventory and haven’t fired it since!
I’m optimistic about that 35 grain Hornady bullet. Sounds like you’re closing in on a load your M70 likes. I’m thinking that 14 gr load will further reduce your velocity ES and group size but it’s all speculation until the trigger is pulled!
Mike
TXGunNut said
Bert-Glad you finally got that K-Hornet to the range!
I’m optimistic about that 35 grain Hornady bullet. Sounds like you’re closing in on a load your M70 likes. I’m thinking that 14 gr load will further reduce your velocity ES and group size but it’s all speculation until the trigger is pulled!
Mike
That is what I am hoping happens. I have to admit that I was rather surprised with the velocities that the Hodgen Lil’Gun powder is able to generate with the Hornady 35-gr V-Max bullet. Once I get an accuracy load dialed in, I plan to load a batch of (500) and take it out for a day long varmint extermination session (maybe in the Cody area)
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
Offline
Bert-
Today on my little spot on the prairie would be good for checking Lil’ Gun’s temperature sensitivity, currently 103 in the shade and still rising. My weather station was a tornado casualty, it’s registering 123 degrees sitting on some concrete blocks. 3400 would definitely be within reach with any increased pressure from the high temps. But…I’m not going to the range today!
Mike
Bert H. said
Well, I finally made it out to the range today (10 am – 3 pm). I spent the majority of the day figuring out how to adjust the Unertl 6X Small Game scope that was on the rifle when I bought it last year.For those that do not remember, this is the Model 70 Super Grade 22 Hornet I bought, and was originally sent directly to Lyle Kilbourne and rechambered to 22 K-Hornet.
I had worked up several loads to tryout in the rifle using the 35 grain Hornady V-Max bullet and varying charges of Lil-Gun powder. While I was not overly impressed with the accuracy of any of the loads I shot through the rifle today, I was impressed with the velocity numbers. All shooting was done @100 yards.
1. 13.0 grains Lil-Gun, 30 shots, average velocity 3,270 fps, but a wicked spread of 3,175 – 3,399… poor accuracy.
2. 13.5 grains Lil-Gun (light compressed load), 40 shots, average velocity 3,334 fps, spread 3,281 – 3,431, accuracy improved to an average of 1.75″ 10-shot groups.
My next attempt will be with 14.0 grains (the listed maximum per Hornady’s data). I am expecting to get 3,400 fps, and hopefully the group sizes drop to well under 1″.
I also shot my Remington 700 BDL Heavy Varmint 222 Rem Mag rifle today. My loads were 27.4 grains of IMR 4064 under a 50-gr Nosler HP BT using a Federal 205M primer. Average velocity 3,405 fps with a spread of 3,391 – 3,422. This is my accuracy load
All in all, it was a great day at the range, and I will be going soon back for another attempt with the Model 70 K-Hornet and the 35-gr V-Max bullets. If I cannot get them to shoot accurately, I will revert back to the 45-grain HP bullets that my other Hornet rifles like.
Bert
Bert – I’ll wager it is very rare that you shoot up any of that supply of .222 Magnum factory ammunition you have stacked up (to the ceiling) 
steve004 said
Bert H. said
Well, I finally made it out to the range today (10 am – 3 pm). I spent the majority of the day figuring out how to adjust the Unertl 6X Small Game scope that was on the rifle when I bought it last year.
For those that do not remember, this is the Model 70 Super Grade 22 Hornet I bought, and was originally sent directly to Lyle Kilbourne and rechambered to 22 K-Hornet.
I had worked up several loads to tryout in the rifle using the 35 grain Hornady V-Max bullet and varying charges of Lil-Gun powder. While I was not overly impressed with the accuracy of any of the loads I shot through the rifle today, I was impressed with the velocity numbers. All shooting was done @100 yards.
1. 13.0 grains Lil-Gun, 30 shots, average velocity 3,270 fps, but a wicked spread of 3,175 – 3,399… poor accuracy.
2. 13.5 grains Lil-Gun (light compressed load), 40 shots, average velocity 3,334 fps, spread 3,281 – 3,431, accuracy improved to an average of 1.75″ 10-shot groups.
My next attempt will be with 14.0 grains (the listed maximum per Hornady’s data). I am expecting to get 3,400 fps, and hopefully the group sizes drop to well under 1″.
I also shot my Remington 700 BDL Heavy Varmint 222 Rem Mag rifle today. My loads were 27.4 grains of IMR 4064 under a 50-gr Nosler HP BT using a Federal 205M primer. Average velocity 3,405 fps with a spread of 3,391 – 3,422. This is my accuracy load
All in all, it was a great day at the range, and I will be going soon back for another attempt with the Model 70 K-Hornet and the 35-gr V-Max bullets. If I cannot get them to shoot accurately, I will revert back to the 45-grain HP bullets that my other Hornet rifles like.
Bert
Bert – I’ll wager it is very rare that you shoot up any of that supply of .222 Magnum factory ammunition you have stacked up (to the ceiling)
Funny you should mention that… I just finished a detailed inventory of both my 22 Hornet ammo stash, and my 22 Rem Mag stash. I don’t have as much as I thought I did.
1. 22 Hornet – 1,250 rounds (25 boxes) of factory new Remington & Winchester, 400 reloads.
2. K-Hornet (Single Shot rifle) – 300 rounds
3. K-Hornet (M70 rifle) – 275 rounds (I am planning to fire form another 125 from my stash of Winchester factory Hornet ammo).
4. 222 Rem Mag – 1,000 rounds (50 boxes) Factory new
5. 222 Rem Mag – 700 rounds reloads.
I suppose that I need to find another (300) factory new 222 Rem Mag, and another (750) 22 Hornet factory new (that I can fire form to M70 K-Hornet). The goal is to have at least 2,000 of each.
This is for Lou…
Even though that Model 70 rifle is new-fangled “repeater”, I found myself single loading every single one of the cartridges that I shot through it this past Sunday. I guess old habits are very hard to break 
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.
Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
Bill,
Down in central southern Oregon (just north of Klamath Falls) there is a critter (varmint) that breeds very prolifically, and it requires one to bring extreme quantities of “red mist” fodder. We call them Whistle Pigs, but their technical name is a Belding ground squirrel.
Beldings Ground Squirrels Photograph by Richard Hansen – Pixels
Belding’s ground squirrel – Wikipedia
Not that many years ago, I would spend several days (in the late Spring & early Summer) in Chiloquin OR at my dear departed friend Dr. Larry Shennum’s home, and we would visit the local ranches that were infested with Whistle Pigs (the local ranchers were always happy to turn us loose in fields that had been devastated by them). There were days when I expended 500 rounds of ammo between the two rifles that I brought along for the task. For the exceptionally long-range shots, my friend Larry would use his Model 70 Varmint grade rifle in 220 Swift (topped with an Unertl 20X scope). That old rifle did very wicked things to those Whistle Pigs as far away as 500-yds!
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
Zebulon said
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.
Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
Bill,
Down in central southern Oregon (just north of Klamath Falls) there is a critter (varmint) that breeds very prolifically, and it requires one to bring extreme quantities of “red mist” fodder. We call them Whistle Pigs, but their technical name is a Belding ground squirrel.
Beldings Ground Squirrels Photograph by Richard Hansen – Pixels
Belding’s ground squirrel – Wikipedia
Not that many years ago, I would spend several days (in the late Spring & early Summer) in Chiloquin OR at my dear departed friend Dr. Larry Shennum’s home, and we would visit the local ranches that were infested with Whistle Pigs (the local ranchers were always happy to turn us loose in fields that had been devastated by them). There were days when I expended 500 rounds of ammo between the two rifles that I brought along for the task. For the exceptionally long-range shots, my friend Larry would use his Model 70 Varmint grade rifle in 220 Swift (topped with an Unertl 20X scope). That old rifle did very wicked things to those Whistle Pigs as far away as 500-yds!
Bert
I did the same thing in the exact same area not too long ago. I shot those whistle pigs in Klammath Falls as well! I shot them with everything: .17, .22 Hornet, 204 Ruger (long range) and the almighty 25-20!
Also shoot A LOT of ducks up there in October when the season starts.
Bert H. said
Zebulon said
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.
Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
Bill,
Down in central southern Oregon (just north of Klamath Falls) there is a critter (varmint) that breeds very prolifically, and it requires one to bring extreme quantities of “red mist” fodder. We call them Whistle Pigs, but their technical name is a Belding ground squirrel.
Beldings Ground Squirrels Photograph by Richard Hansen – Pixels
Belding’s ground squirrel – Wikipedia
Not that many years ago, I would spend several days (in the late Spring & early Summer) in Chiloquin OR at my dear departed friend Dr. Larry Shennum’s home, and we would visit the local ranches that were infested with Whistle Pigs (the local ranchers were always happy to turn us loose in fields that had been devastated by them). There were days when I expended 500 rounds of ammo between the two rifles that I brought along for the task. For the exceptionally long-range shots, my friend Larry would use his Model 70 Varmint grade rifle in 220 Swift (topped with an Unertl 20X scope). That old rifle did very wicked things to those Whistle Pigs as far away as 500-yds!
Bert
I also head south of K falls every year for much needed trigger time on the “squeaks”. Between the Princess and I if we do not go through 500 rounds per day it is considered slow. Lots of 17 HMR out to 100 yards but after that it is time to break out the 17 centerfires 17 Fireball and 17 MkIV, these are used for giving flying lessons to the little critters. Near the end of the day there are always a couple of squirrels out there that you haven’t quite been able to connect with. We then pull out the big fun guns, a 22-250 AI and Larry’s 220 Swift. With those two one person spots and the other shoots. The shooter doesn’t get the full effect of the impact but you do get the satisfaction of getting the one that has been giving you the duck and dodge all day.
Speaking of Larry, If you ever met him you will remember that he was not very tall. In his pickup back seat he cut a hole in the roof such that he could stand on the seat and shoot off of the roof. That is when I knew he REALLY liked shooting squeaks. I do miss him,
He also made available to me some of the best guns in my collection.
November 7, 2015
Offline
Zebulon said
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
I met a rather hardcore type awhile back, he kept an open sight Model 70 Safari in 458 for the black helicopters. He also had issues with the IRS, I think he finally realized they would eventually catch up with him. I don’t have any need for a black rifle or those silly little 5.56 rounds. If the situation arises I’ll just run down to the store and buy them. 😉
I suspect our feral piggies eat better than those whistle pigs. Sounds like they both need shooting. I understand the 17HMR is one of the best things to come along for varmint hunters who pursue the smaller critters. They burn up the cheap and easy rimfire stuff on the young and dumb ones that hang out inside of 200 yards or so and use the centerfire rigs for the ones a bit further out. Another consideration is these 17HMR rifles often cost less than a premium barrel for a Swift or 22-250…and they shoot pretty good! .30 is pretty much minimum for the really big piggies I like to chase and I tend to gravitate to the 45-70 so they don’t chase me…very often.
Mike
TXGunNut said
I don’t have any need for a black rifle or those silly little 5.56 rounds. If the situation arises I’ll just run down to the store and buy them. 😉Mike
Need has nothing to do with it. I am a gun guy and have a lot of rifles. Yesterday I took my custom AR 10 in 308, not 7.62, to the range along with my custom bolt action in 308. I had taken the scopes off of each rifle and had to get them back on target. I also have a 5.56. But truthfully I hardly ever shoot shoot the semi autos. I shoot almost every week and the collector guns just can’t be shot that much.
Bert H. said
Zebulon said
I’ve known Survivor types with that much 5.56 X 45 ammo buried in their back yard for anticipated combat with the late Janet Reno and her black helicopters. But I’ve never heard of anybody so mad at the prairie dogs he’s stockpiling red mist varmint rounds.
Of course, my notion of a varmint is a coyote and a feral hog, although the latter is edible if young enough. One shot is all you get before they pull their freight, so you can use your “single loader” without being disadvantaged.
Bill,
Down in central southern Oregon (just north of Klamath Falls) there is a critter (varmint) that breeds very prolifically, and it requires one to bring extreme quantities of “red mist” fodder. We call them Whistle Pigs, but their technical name is a Belding ground squirrel.
Beldings Ground Squirrels Photograph by Richard Hansen – Pixels
Belding’s ground squirrel – Wikipedia
Not that many years ago, I would spend several days (in the late Spring & early Summer) in Chiloquin OR at my dear departed friend Dr. Larry Shennum’s home, and we would visit the local ranches that were infested with Whistle Pigs (the local ranchers were always happy to turn us loose in fields that had been devastated by them). There were days when I expended 500 rounds of ammo between the two rifles that I brought along for the task. For the exceptionally long-range shots, my friend Larry would use his Model 70 Varmint grade rifle in 220 Swift (topped with an Unertl 20X scope). That old rifle did very wicked things to those Whistle Pigs as far away as 500-yds!
Bert
You are making me sick with envy. From the first time I saw it, I loved the Oregon coast and the prehistoric forests of the Coast Range. Too expensive and late in life to up sticks but the late Francis Sell had primed me for my first sight of the Nehalem and Tillamook, Wheeler, Garibaldi, Manzanita, Seaside, Astoria, et al.
And the hunting and fishing. We drove West out of Portland on the Sunset Highway to Wheeler during Elk season. That’s when I started wondering what our house would sell for. Answer: not enough.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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