It's been two years since I posted that I wanted to have a barrel made in 218 Bee with a 1 in 7 twist for subsonic heavy bullet plinking.

Well last week over on the Grey Beard forum I found a MGM barrel in 22 Hornet with 1 in 7 twist. I bought it and not only saved a few bucks but the long wait which turned me away in the past. So now with my new to me barrel im on my way into the subsonic game.

I'm planning to use Hard cast bullets in the 70 to 80 grain range. For those of you shooting this type of set up what powders are you using?
Just in case the cast bullets don't perform to my expectations what jacked bullets a you using.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Very interested in this because I have a SilencerCo Switchback in ATF jail now and I'm about to order a 7 twist K-Hornet barrel for subs as well. The Hornet & the Bee are very similar so I'm anxious to hear what you find out. Are you casting your own or buying them. If buying, do you mind sharing your source? As far as jacketed, I was planning on starting with the Speer 70 gr. semi-spitzer because they're pretty cheap. Once I have a better grasp on powders & charges I plan on trying other pills up to about 77-80 gr.. The stability calculator I'm using says that 80 gr. is about all a 7 twist will stabilize at sub. speeds. Again can't wait to see what you discover. Good luck.

Edited to ask what length is your barrel? I'm still trying to decide. I want at least 10" but no more than 14". I don't know why because its so odd but I'm leaning toward 11".

The Hornet case is about as big as you want to be able to load subsonic loads. It took me awhile to get a safe load using 75 Hornady HPBT to shoot subsonic. You might want to rethink the K hornet and just get a standard hornet. I'll take a look at what powder I used but won't post it here because its not in any load books. I'll share what I have but you are on your own, it works and shoots great in my MGM 1-7 twist barrel.

Rusty the barrel I have is 8 1/2 inches. I'm going with the idea that the 300 Whisper was designed to burn a subsonic powder charge within a 9 inch length of barrel. I have a 70 grain mold and a 79 grain mold both have a pointy tip. I'm on a group buy over on cast boolits for a 75 grain flat point design bullet now. My set up with casting my own bullets will allow me fun short range steel plate plinking for about the cost of 22 RF maybe and hopefully cheaper.

Albert I am interested in any load data you would like to provide. I can do PM's but will email you if that's ok?

I did have a 10" barrel chambered in 222 rem that someone had threaded. I was shooting 55 grain Hornady SP's with (???) grs of Titegroup.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HotRodAl,

There is old load data out there for 22Hornet, cast bullet loads, not for the heavies though. I have loaded mine with 50-60 grain CB’s running 980-1175, this was out of a rifle and should be doable with a pistol. I did this when I was looking for a load to duplicate 22RF.
I went down the sun sonic road years ago, some like it, it it’s not for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Kylongrifle:
Rusty the barrel I have is 8 1/2 inches. I'm going with the idea that the 300 Whisper was designed to burn a subsonic powder charge within a 9 inch length of barrel. I have a 70 grain mold and a 79 grain mold both have a pointy tip. I'm on a group buy over on cast boolits for a 75 grain flat point design bullet now. My set up with casting my own bullets will allow me fun short range steel plate plinking for about the cost of 22 RF maybe and hopefully cheaper.

Albert I am interested in any load data you would like to provide. I can do PM's but will email you if that's ok?

I did have a 10" barrel chambered in 222 rem that someone had threaded. I was shooting 55 grain Hornady SP's with (???) grs of Titegroup.

I think I'm gonna go with 11" because I want to be able to launch 40 grainers with some decent velocity as well as the sub loads. If you ever feel the need to sell any of those heavy cast bullets I would most definitely be interested.

quote:

Originally posted by Kylongrifle:
It's been two years since I posted that I wanted to have a barrel made in 218 Bee with a 1 in 7 twist for subsonic heavy bullet plinking.

Well last week over on the Grey Beard forum I found a MGM barrel in 22 Hornet with 1 in 7 twist. I bought it and not only saved a few bucks but the long wait which turned me away in the past. So now with my new to me barrel im on my way into the subsonic game.

I'm planning to use Hard cast bullets in the 70 to 80 grain range. For those of you shooting this type of set up what powders are you using?
Just in case the cast bullets don't perform to my expectations what jacked bullets a you using.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Mike, that was a good deal on that barrel. I saw it only after you posted you would take it. I really look forward to reading about this adventure, its been a subject I've thought about quite a bit myself.

I got to play with it a little bit last night. I found 20 pieces of brass from a Hornet set up that I sold recently.

The 70 grain cast bullets I intend to use when loaded to the top of the driving band would not chamber into the barrel. I then loaded a 68 grain Hornady HPBT into a dummy case and seated it in several intervals untill it would chamber. My finding was that this barrel was cut with a standard length throat. The 68 grain bullet had to be seated all the way into the neck of the case with the base of the bullet reaching down into the body of the case.

This will require a trip back to MGM to have the throat lengthened if I want to shoot the heavy cast bullets.

There is a sporting store near my work so Monday I will make a trip over there to look for some 60 grain SP bullets to try.

quote:

Originally posted by Kylongrifle:
I got to play with it a little bit last night. I found 20 pieces of brass from a Hornet set up that I sold recently.

The 70 grain cast bullets I intend to use when loaded to the top of the driving band would not chamber into the barrel. I then loaded a 68 grain Hornady HPBT into a dummy case and seated it in several intervals untill it would chamber. My finding was that this barrel was cut with a standard length throat. The 68 grain bullet had to be seated all the way into the neck of the case with the base of the bullet reaching down into the body of the case.

This will require a trip back to MGM to have the throat lengthened if I want to shoot the heavy cast bullets.

There is a sporting store near my work so Monday I will make a trip over there to look for some 60 grain SP bullets to try.

Throating is another thing I've been wondering about. JD Jones advised me to have the barrel maker throat it to the max. for this purpose. I think I'd rather send a dummy cartridge instead. It may take throating it to the max. but I'd rather play it safe. I have quite a bit of the old WW-Super brass that has never been fired. If you need a few pieces let me know and I'll hook you up.

If I had not found this barrel for sale and went a custom order I would have gone with the 218 Bee case and I had a dummy round ready to go.

As Al stated the 22 Hornet case is enough case to do what needs to be done for subsonic loads. Plus a case full of powder burns more consistent than a larger case with small powder charges.

I picked up a 300 Whisper barrel that is the same way. The 240 grain MP mold that I have bullets cast from are to long for the throat in that barrel. I don't have a 30 cal suppressor yet so I'm not to concerned with this project yet.

Well I contacted a custom barrel builder about a barrel and he didn't have a 7 twist in the shop and would have to order one. After waiting several weeks he still didn't have a barrel. I called SSK and they had a Douglas blank in stock so I placed the order for an 11" 22 K-Hornet threaded 1/2"x28 with a base installed. They advised that their current lead time is 3-4 weeks.
I finally found a brick of Rem. 6 1/2 primers for $75 and I have 4 lbs. of Lil' Gun. I also have a couple of lbs. of Titegroup which is where I'm gonna start with the subs. I have a good selection of bullets as well.
Now if I can get the ATF to release my suppressor I'll be ready to get this ball rolling.
I'll probably fire form a few cases while I'm waiting on the can. I hope this turns out to be as much fun as I was thinking it would be.

Here is mine in a 1-12"

I wish I went with a 1-9" now, but I haven't tried any subs yet. Just fire formed some Prvi factory ammo for now.

quote:

Originally posted by pioneer56:
Here is mine in a 1-12"

I wish I went with a 1-9" now, but I haven't tried any subs yet. Just fire formed some Prvi factory ammo for now.

Nice lookin' rig. Did you lose much brass forming the factory loads?

Thanks! I've lost a few to splits so far. Seem to do pretty good, been only shooting the Prvi I have and probably only lost like 5 out of the 50.

Good to know. I have a little over 500 pcs. of virgin WW-Super but if things ever get back to normal I'm gonna try a couple of boxes of the PP stuff just to tinker around with. I've heard that PP brass is thicker and has less internal volume so it may be a slightly better candidate for sub. loads.

I wish starline would pick it up. They make so many other bottlenecks now, the Hornet would be a real winner for them!