Looking into 22 Hornet

Stick with a 223. Ammo is the same price or cheaper. If you handload the hornet can be a finicky little bastard. I have driven my self around the twist a few times getting a hornet to shoot decent. One was an complete failure. Brass life is short also . Three loadings is about it. Cases burn though and separate. Doesn’t mean I don’t want another one as I don’t have one in stock at this time. Never had an issue getting a 223 to shoot well.

30-40yrs ago, .22Hornet ammo was not plentiful but generally available. It came in 50rd boxes so disappeared Less quickly. It also offered a reloader a low cost option as it uses such small powder charges.

Today, not so. 5.56/.223 is more widely available, cheaper, more powerful, and offered in a MUCH wider array of offerings.

I like my Hornet, but it’s been two years since I’ve taken it to the range. I now actually prefer the .218Bee, mostly for the rifle it’s in (Marlin 1894CL). But for decades, few .218s were made and ammo was nearly unobtainable. Thanks to Hornady for a new run of brass/ammo!
Curiously, both guns (cartridges) prefer the exact same loads...

As for case longevity, I’ve got some .22Hornet cases from first box I bought in 1976. Over sizing the brass will kill it quickly as the cases are quite thin. I still occasionally use the Lee Classic Hanndloader to neck size the brass.
But, if you’re a tinker’er, and dyed in the wool reloader, the Hornet is an interesting option.

Opening day of deer season 2017 I got busy cleaning deer!

The little 224 center fire rifles are a pleasure. The small rimmed cartridges are best in a single shot and the rimless are great in a bolt action. I have a number of rimmed in #3, #1 and Martini actions with 222, 223, etc in bolt guns.
Many of the original Hornet guns were made with or re-barreled with 1-16 twist rimfire barrels and developed a reputation for only shooting the 40g RN bullet, similar to a 22 rimfire. That bullet became known as the Hornet bullet. When Nosler and Berger started making the 35g Spitzer, they changed the little 224s to more accurate little varmint dispatchers.
The big advantage of the Hornet is its light noise level and it doubles the 22 rimfire effective range, plus it was at one time cheaper to reload than to buy 22 rimfire ammo.
Powders that work well; 296/H-110, 4227

I’m very interested in the 22 hornet and would love to find a rifle chambered in it. I want it for small game hunting with cast Bullets.

I would never get rid of my CZ 527 American in 22 Hornet, it shoots like a laser. But I don't reload for the round yet. I bought a good amount of Hornady factory ammo for it and I've yet to shoot through all of that.

The Hornet fills a niche and does it pretty well.As with several of the older .22s , the .225 Winchester, the .222 Remington the .22 swift will fill any bill that exists today, while falling out of favor from broad useage of the .223/ 5.56 for case avaliabity and the optics of the cartridge and platform does not in anyway diminish its effectiveness.
It may be a bit more finicky to reload, but for the cool factor, low noise, zero recoil and fun, i always reach for mine when it's fun gun time

Shot a .22 hornet some in my younger years. Sexy round but not really real accurate in the Winchester 43? rifle we shot and miserable in any wind at all. Shot a .222 Rem a bit. Much better than the Hornet. Owned a .222 Rem mag. Preferred the .222 Rem. of the three. I do not know what those cartridges translate to now?

.22 hornet has been on my list for awhile now

I have a Handi-Rifle in 22 hornet. The breach is like 1.25" diameter; the barrel is massive. But its super accurate. Hornet is also fun out of a 10" contender barrel.

The benefits of the hornet are lower costs to reload, much less of a crack of a report, and less damage to small game.

If you handload consider also just downloading 223 with blue dot or similar.

I have been wanting to get a 22 K hornet or 5.7x28 contender barrel for years with a 1:9 twist to shoot 53 grain V max but it’s never managed to make it to the top of the list

I've got two single shot .22 Hornets, both reamed for Kilbourne improved chambers (22 K Hornet.) The MGM Encore barrel in particular is a tack-driver.



I've heard that bolt action magazine feeding with some rifles can be problematic with the Hornet, but I've no direct experience. The CZ 527 in .22 Hornet is on my 'one of these days' list.

I use a neck resize die to help extend brass life. One issue I've noted with the Hornet is that the flash hole is smaller than any of the other cartridges I load that use small rifle primers. I usually use a Lee universal decapper with rifle cartridges but it won't fit through the Hornet's flash hole.

I've had remarkable accuracy firing bargain PPU Hornet ammo from both rifles, despite the improved chamber.

And, FWIW, I think the cartridge itself just looks so darn cute.

I picked up a Ruger No. 1 in 22 Hornet with color case hardened receiver earlier this year and I’m a fan of the rifle and the cartridge.

I had one Hornet for a while. Ruger that was underwhelming in the accuracy department. Their niche is 90% of the velocity of a .223 with less than 1/2 the powder and far less noise.

Cases are relatively expensive and very short life. If you do get one, neck size only. I used Lee Collet dies.

I personally would not get one for target. It would be great for around the farm pest control or prairie dogs out to maybe 200 yards.

About 10 years ago I had a Ruger M77 in 22 Hornet. I didn’t reload at the time and even back then ammo was a pain to find. It was decently accurate but I sold it as I had no use for it.

In this day and age I don’t think I’d ever buy another one now that 223 is so plentiful. Sure, the Hornet is a little quieter but to me that’s all it has going for it.

Now if we’re talking 220 Swift….

GooseGestapo said:

But, if you’re a tinker’er, and dyed in the wool reloader, the Hornet is an interesting option.

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I AM a "dyed in the wool reloader," and "tinker" (when it comes to handloading) is my middle name. And that's exactly why I'll probably get myself a 22 Hornet one of these days.
I had a buddy that had one, and he used cast bullets with light charges of powder for rock chucks at close (50 yards or less) range. It worked, and I don't think it made any more noise than a 22WMF. It sure didn't make as much noise as my rip-roaring 22-250.
Anyway, I think a 22 Hornet with mild, cast bullet loads would be the cat's meow for 50 yards or less ground squirrels when they come out next spring. I might have it turned into a K-Hornet though, and make the cartridges headspace on their shoulders.

Barbaroja said:

I’m very interested in the 22 hornet and would love to find a rifle chambered in it. I want it for small game hunting with cast Bullets.

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It’s actually quite pleasurable as a cast bullet shooter. I used mine for years against groundhogs and squirrels and it worked very well. I was casting from an old Lyman mold, and as I recall it was dropping bullets right at 45 grains from wheel weights.

I’m also a huge 222 shooter. I’ve burned many a pound of Blue Dot through my 222s.

Lots of old timers swear by the Hornet and truckloads of southern deer have been harvested with the Hornet.

I personally know of one old gentleman in his 70s who lives on a houseboat up in the Mobile Delta and his weapon of choice for everything is a single-shot Hornet. He hunts every day of deer season. A true, one man - one rifle example.

I have a 22 Hornet in a Winchester Hi-Wall single-shot rifle (actually stamped 22 W.C.F.) that got a lining put in the barrel over 50 years ago. I enjoy shooting it, it is fairly accurate, would not think of getting rid of it, but I would not classify it as a target round. It is basically a 100 yd. round. The 22 Hornet brass is quite thin, has a fairly short case life, and requires care in bullet seating to avoid messing up the case mouth. So as to the OP's question, I'd say stick with the 223 for target shooting. Not only is the brass more plentiful, easier to load, offer more loading options, it will be a 200 yd. shooter. Further, I have never been a fan of rimmed cartridges in bolt action rifles.

Anchorite said:

Lots of old timers swear by the Hornet and truckloads of southern deer have been harvested with the Hornet.

I personally know of one old gentleman in his 70s who lives on a houseboat up in the Mobile Delta and his weapon of choice for everything is a single-shot Hornet. He hunts every day of deer season. A true, one man - one rifle example.

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It's been about 3 or 4 years ago, but I used my CZ 527 Hornet to take a big fat doe during season here in Missouri. Used a 45gr Hornady Softpoint and I had neighbors that couldn't believe the devastation when I was field dressing.

DMW1116 said:

I was looking through my reloading manual and the 22 Hornet caught my eye for once. I thought it might be worth checking into for a target round. Is there any benefit to this round in a bolt action rifle compared to a standard 223/5.56 for 99.9% target shooting use?

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A couple decades ago, Ruger was putting out a target 22 Hornet with laminate stock and grey barrel. Those things could shoot! Do you have a place to put it over the hood and take care of some fat vermin? That is the ticket.

I have a van horn rifle contender barrel that will shoot under 1/2 MOA with my reloads.

I found .22 Hornet to be different to load for than most other rounds. To get that kind of accuracy I had to only size the portion of the neck that holds the bullet, leaving the remaining portion of the neck and case untouched by the size die.

The main benefit over the .223 is using ~ half the powder. So you can load around twice as many Hornet rounds per pound of powder.

The trade off is more difficult to acquire and more fragile brass.

Guess I got lucky... My grandpa had a stock pile of 22 Hornet, 222, 220 swift, and 22 Sav HP. Like 300 or more each. Im pretty well set for cases.

@mshootnit I have one of those laminated stock/gray receiver and barrel ruger m77 targets in 204 Ruger. You are right, they are tack drivers.

Case life is usually short even when neck sizing. The brass is really thin. It's a pretty good candidate for reloading though as powder is small and bullets are cheap.