Hornet w/ pistol primers

Back in the Dark Ages..

I used Rem 6 1/2 primers in my T/C Hornet for Silhouette. Also used Universal Clays powder. Call Hodgdon about using Universal Clays in a TC Hornet and listen to the panic flow through the phone.

I did a complete workup with Chrony data and target, then sent it too Sierra since I was using 55 grain FMJ's. They were happy to see it and I expect they tried their own tests. Hope so.

I have a couple of NRA Regional Pistol Silhouette Medals using that combination and at the time, the Ladies Long Run Record on Pigs was with that load.

And no, I did not work up the load myself, but was given it by the one of my fellow shooters. And also notice I haven't posted the complete information here either.

No problem here

I have shot hundreds of Hornet rounds using Lil' Gun and Winchester small pistol primers. I use that combo for 30,35,40 & 46gr loads. I have tried both rifle and pistol primers in all the loads and the pistol primers always group better. in my opinion the rifle primers are just too hot for such a small case.

Keith

KBZ said:

I have shot hundreds of Hornet rounds using Lil' Gun and Winchester small pistol primers. I use that combo for 30,35,40 & 46gr loads. I have tried both rifle and pistol primers in all the loads and the pistol primers always group better. in my opinion the rifle primers are just too hot for such a small case.

Keith

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Evidently, Speer agrees.

Somewhere (probably on this site) it was said that the milder pistol primers give the powder time to build up pressure slowly, and not blow a primer.

Crowhunter........

I used CCI small pistol primers, sometimes brands make a difference because of the various thickness of cups that are used by different manufacturers.

I have never popped a CCI small pistol primer in the hornet case using little gun. There can always be issues of over size firing pin holes that can lead to this primer piercing problem.

If you think that your firing pin hole is large, then the only answer is a stronger (thicker) cup primer.

keithcandler said:

I used CCI small pistol primers, sometimes brands make a difference because of the various thickness of cups that are used by different manufacturers.

I have never popped a CCI small pistol primer in the hornet case using little gun. There can always be issues of over size firing pin holes that can lead to this primer piercing problem.

If you think that your firing pin hole is large, then the only answer is a stronger (thicker) cup primer.

Click to expand...

I am not sure how much clearence the firing pin should have, but it does not look especially sloppy. This only happened once. I am going to give Lil Gun a try when I get a chance.
Thanks

Keith is spot on, CH. My personal primer choices for the Hornet are the Rem 6 1/2 small rifle, followed by the CCI 500 small pistol. The only time I ever popped a primer in a Hornet was a with an overload of 2400 powder - not the primer's fault. And that time, it may not have been the primer that let loose, but the primer POCKET blowing open.

Face it, there isn't a whole lot of brass around the pocket in a Hornet! When a primer falls out of one, it's most often the case that fails, not the primer (unless the primer is pierced - that's a different story).

Using the Rem 6 1/2 small rifle and the CCI 500 primers..

.. closed up my Extreme Spread in every Hornet based cartridge case tested.

small pistol primers work for me

I had a very troublesome Hornet that SteveB helped me with. A few things that made my Teutonic Terror into a Heavenly Hornet were small pistol primers, Lil' Gun, crimping the case, and an awesome bedding job done by SteveB. In my rifle at least, small rifle primers were just too much pressure and I frequently got pierced or cratered primers.