doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Reloading for the 5.6 x 35R 'Vierling'

Any insight on reloading for this? I find precious little information out on the 'net. I assume that thinning the rims on Hornet brass and fire form for the brass will do....but you know what is said about assumptions.

Thank you!
Hoot

Hoot,
I don't have experience actually loading this cartridge, but can offer a couple suggestions.The German designation for the Vierling is 5.6x35R, and for the Hornet it is 5.6x36R.I don't know if a mm was added to case length when they thickened the rim,or if the different designations was only to keep them apart.It would be worthwhile to verify case length after thinning the rims.It will be a "trick" to do the thinning yourself.If you thin from the front side,you will have to make a spigot to both hold the case away from the chuck/collet to give room for the cutter,and to avoid crushing the case.You may decide to thin from the back side,which would be easier for the thinning itself,but would require deepening the primer pocket.Lyman makes a primer pocket uniformer which will do this, but in my experience it is easier to turn the case in the lathe rather than try to do it by hand.You should do one and section the case to be sure the "web" is thick enough. It helps that the cartridge should be loaded to lower pressures than the Hornet.The Vierling was loaded to about 2000 fps,and loading it much faster would not only increase pressure, but the rifle wouldn't likely shoot to the sights.There are variations in groove diameter in these rifles.You may need a .222",.223",or .224" bullet,fortunately all three diameters are avaliable(.224" more so).You should "slug" the barrel and/or make a chamber cast to verify the dimensions.What type rifle do you have?
Mike

Hoot
Do you have the gun in hand?

Are you really sure you have to do anything to the Hornet case?

Have you tried a new virgin case or cartridge?

Mike

p.s.

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1156814888

http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=255779

p.s.s. remember Rem, Win, Norma, etc will have slightly different rim thicknesses, try them all till you find one it likes.

The 22 Hornet and 5.6x35 both come from the 22WCF.When the Hornet was commercialized,it had a velocity of 2400 fps with higher pressures than the 22WCF.To prevent being used in the black powder rifles, the rim was thickened so it wouldn't chamber.The 22WCF was also popular in Germany,under it's American name.When it was loaded with smokless powder and jacketed bullet, it was loaded to about 2000fps and called 5.6x35R Vierling.The rim was not thickened like the Hornet.The case length of the 5,6x35R Vierling is 35.50mm, while the Hornet is 35.64mm. The Germans usually call the Hornet "22 Hornet", but when called by it's metric designation, it's the 5.6x36R.
Mike

Hoot,

Slug your bore. My Vierling's grooves are .2195", a 22 Hornet is .223".

Regards,

Mark

PS - My Vierling is an Imman Meffert (September 1938) with a Dural receiver.

Thank you all.

The rifle is a single shot Husqvarna and was sold to me as a .22 Hornet. It was my understanding when I bought it that Husqvarna never chambered the Hornet but did do the Vierling.

I have not done a chamber cast nor slugged the barrel yet but a Hornet case is tight in the chamber and the rim is thicker than the extractor 'gap'. That jives with the case drawings I found.

I am fine with modifying some cases and firing either the .22 Jet bullets or some cast at ~.223" (first choice assuming the throat allows).

So then, with the velocity target of 2000fps, I assume cast bullet data for the Hornet would be about right?

Again, thank you all.
Hoot

PS: Ever notice, there's a lot of Mike's here? (Hoot's given name is also Mike).

I'm late to the ball, having just noticed this thread.

I have been playing with a little 5.6x35R single shot stalking rifle, maker unknown. I have been using late manufacture Hornet brass (W-W, R-P, and PRVI) without any modification to the rims. In all fairness the chamber may have been deepened for all I know.

The bore dimensions in this rifle are counter to what's mentioned above. It has a .226" throat, .225 groove, and .219 bore diameter. Twist rate is 1-9". I couldn't believe it either, so measurments were taken a second time, with the same reults. It handles heavy bullets splendidly- anything between 50-60 grains sing- but light 37-45 grain bullets not so well. All are cast bullets by the way. The best performer is the 55gr. Lee Bator, sized to .226, gas checked, and driven with either 4.0 gr. Unique or 6.0gr. 2400. Consistent 5-shot 1/2" groups at 50 yards and 1 1/4" groups at 100 yards are the norm (with enough 1" groups to tempt me to call it a MOA rifle). Small pistol primers used exclusively. Partial neck sized only, RCBS .22 Hornet dies, with a .225 expander ball. Case life is seemingly endless.

My only gripe with the gun has to do with sighting it. I machined mounts to work with a set of pre-existing holes in the barrel rib, and have gone through a succession of American 3/4" scopes of varying quality, with varying results. Currently it's wearing a GAMO 3/4" air rifle scope which belies its $15 price tag! I wish to keep a small diameter scope on it because, frankly, anything bigger seems to dwarf this petite five pound rifle. Anything of German origin that would fit the bill?

Thank you Gary. A few more data points are always helpful.

With those dimensions, I would be tempted to call it a '.22WCF' as it used a nominal .228" bullet. Whatever it is called, you are getting some very fine results.

Fired cases from my rifle seem to be neither fish nor fowl. They definitely are not Hornets but don't seem to match the dimensions I have for the Vierling either. So, I am back to a chamber cast (which I have not done). Oh well, the fun is in the investigation and experimenting.

Like you, I have a fondness for petite scopes on the little rifles. I am very partial to the Weaver J2.5/J4 scopes. Very good optics and a proper size for a trim rifle. The Redfield Mini's are also dandy little scopes. I expect there are European counterparts but I have no experience there.