Joe Entrekin
New member
Ever since I read McPherson’s article in Precision Shooting about loading the 22 Hornet with Alliant’s new Power Pro 300MP powder, I’ve been working on getting some to try in my 22 K-Hornet Cooper 38. Got the powder before the holidays & finally had a good weather day at the range Sunday. Previously, I have been shooting 13.5 grains of Lil’Gun with Wolf SR primer & 40 BlitzKings giving me a velocity of 3250 or so depending on the day, and a SD of anywhere from 30’s to 80’s. Accuracy hasn’t been bad, though, usually around .4” at 100. That high SD really bothers me, though. While I was at the range Sunday, I shot 10 shot strings with the 13.5 LG load and 40 V-Max, BlitzKing and Bal Tip bullets. After I finished that series, I left my Harrell’s measure at 24 clicks, as it had been for the LG loads, and went to the 300MP, which later proved to be a 15.0 grain load. Shot a 15 shot string and results were spectacular, with average velocity of 3375 fps, but the most interesting stat was the SD @ 10. Accuracy was about the same with a nice round .6” group in variable, moderate winds. Pressure was probably pretty close to max, these soft primers were flattened pretty well, but no unusual problems presented themselves, so I think it’s an OK load.
I will say that I have found that chambers on these K-Hornets make a huge difference. I have 3 different 22 K-Hornets and they are quite different from each other. The first one is an Anschutz 1432 with a regular SAAMI spec chamber and it can be loaded up to 14+ grains of LG without being too hot. The second one is an Anschutz 1730 w/SS barrel that I had rechambered with a minimum spec reamer from Dave Kiff. Absolute max load of LG w/40 grain bullet is 12.3 grains. The 3rd rifle is the Cooper 38 which was made with a new reamer they have, and max load with it is about 13.5 grains of LG. Average velocity in all 3 rifles is around 3250 fps. The point here being that if you want to try any of this, start really low, around 12 grains maybe, then work up. Would love to hear anybody else’s results.
I will say that I have found that chambers on these K-Hornets make a huge difference. I have 3 different 22 K-Hornets and they are quite different from each other. The first one is an Anschutz 1432 with a regular SAAMI spec chamber and it can be loaded up to 14+ grains of LG without being too hot. The second one is an Anschutz 1730 w/SS barrel that I had rechambered with a minimum spec reamer from Dave Kiff. Absolute max load of LG w/40 grain bullet is 12.3 grains. The 3rd rifle is the Cooper 38 which was made with a new reamer they have, and max load with it is about 13.5 grains of LG. Average velocity in all 3 rifles is around 3250 fps. The point here being that if you want to try any of this, start really low, around 12 grains maybe, then work up. Would love to hear anybody else’s results.