this to the quality of workmanship that Cooper puts in all his rifles and especial- ly in close internal chamber dimensions. RCBS supplied the die set, which
is under their number 56030, and you will find it in their “G” group. I used small rifle primers and those under the “benchrest” category like the CCI BR-4 or Remington 7½ filled the bill. I found that by using the bare minimum of lubrication, shoulder dents were held completely in check even with repeated loading cycles. The only difficult part of the 218
Mashburn was finding loads. Looking through older books from Ness, Landis and Ackley set the parameters when it came to powders. If you don’t have this kind of reference material, basic 218 Bee data will fill the bill handily and will yield good results without pressure signs or erratic behavior between the various loads. Keep in mind this is a small cartridge, so any minor deviation in a powder charge will certainly show up in stress on both the rifle and loaded components. Powders ranged from common Alliant 2400 to IMR-4227 and H-4198.
As you can see from the chart, the 218 Mashburn Bee is a viable varmint cartridge that is perfect for small game at close to moderate distances. A.E. Mashburn certainly would be proud of his contribution to varmint hunters even in these modern times. THE 22 K-HORNET
The 22 K-Hornet is yet another
easy-to-form 22 centerfire cartridge. Starting out with a basic 22 Hornet case, Kilbourn modified this case for more velocity and to improve performance. He was right on both counts. For a vehicle to launch this car-
tridge in, I contacted Thompson/ Center Arms (2100 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield, MA 01104) and got in touch with their well-known custom shop. I then ordered a Contender rifle with a 24" barrel, Hi-Luster finish, and had it all placed into their “Varminteer” stock. About the “improved” version, Kilbourn was right on the velocity end as it was up just about 16 percent over the more common Hornet version. Older Hornet data shows that when using a 45-grain bullet and 9.7 grains of Alliant 2400 powder, velocities ran around 2,600
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fps. With the “K” version, you can raise the payload to 11.5 grains of the same powder with a net increase in velocity to around 3,000 fps plus. Keep in mind that the K-Hornet is still a small case (holds only 13.0 grains of water) so if you want (or need) something to reach out farther, go to another 22 or larger cartridge. Having been taught never to place
any cartridge in any gun not so marked for it, the feeling was unnerving as I placed case after case of 22 Hornet am- munition into the chamber of the new Contender rifle to form this improved version. Using Winchester factory am- munition with the 45-grain bullet, all but one (split case) of over 200 cases came out clean and well-defined. When I re- turned home, the RCBS die set (#26201) had arrived and I was now ready for some serious loading and subsequent range testing. Since the cases were already
formed to my new Contender and its chamber, I wanted to neck size only, and here patience pays off. What I like to do is smoke these formed cases with the soot of a candle, then run them up and into the die until the base of this die just kisses the top of the shoulder. With the black soot disappearing as you keep advancing up and into the die, this is an easy way to track the progress of resiz- ing only the neck of the case. A variety of powders was em-
ployed, with the best group going to Winchester’s 296 and 680 and Accurate Arms 1680. These groups were all under an inch, perfect for small varmints and all within safe operating limits. This is a neat cartridge for the first-
time wildcatter to try and while I shot all my tests in a Contender rifle, you might want to look at the K-Hornet chambered in the Contender pistol. For added mo- bility, this setup would be hard to beat. 220 WEATHERBY ROCKET Weatherby cartridges always have
held a fascination for me, but it was the one I thought I could never have that seemed to hold the highest interest for me. It was one of Weatherby’s first, called the 220 Weatherby Rocket, and today you can have it chambered in just about any rifle that was made for the 220 Swift. In my opinion, Roy Weatherby
needed something to jump-start his new company so the Rocket (it was hoped) was the answer. He worked on the de-
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