Looking into 22 Hornet

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I might add one suggestion to reloading for the hornet, try using small PISTOL primers for better accuracy. It seems the milder primers don't disrupt the cartridge as much. And to the OP, I had a lot of luck using blue dot loads in my 223 for duplicating hornet loads. A 223 handi rifle with blue dot loads is very versatile.
 
mshootnit said:
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.
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That is the rifle Ihave... I have not shot ot much but I really like it... the size... the feel and the look of her. I got the reloading supplies for it just need to get to it :) Ya warmed my heart saying that model tends to shoot well... ya hear stories about the standard ruger 77/22 hornet not being so great in accuracy... mine has been good but I have not wrung her out either
 
Ugly Sauce said:
Now we are on to something, whether the snow-sled sells or not. Is the youth stock a straight stock...or just...short?
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Just shorter. One was from my .22 Sportster youth model; the other came with my ACC-branded .300 Blackout carbine, which featured a short stock to reduce overall length.

H&RAACCarbine.jpg

I'm 6' 2" and like a normal LOP (though I've made an exception for the MAS-36).
 
TPS Arms M6 can be had in .22 Hornet and is under 6 pounds. I have two M6 Springfield .22 Hornets (over .410) and they are surprisingly accurate and very handy
https://www.americanoutdoor.guide/news/m6-takedown-rifle-hits-big-time/

Another more expensive neat little gun is the Anschutz Exemplar pistol in .22 Hornet or a T/C Contender with a 10"+ barrel . I have a .22K Hornet with a 16" Bulberry barrel which allows me to put on a shoulder stock and has a smaller 4-12X scope for 250 yard ground squirrels.
 
Gordon said:
TPS Arms M6 can be had in .22 Hornet and is under 6 pounds. I have two M6 Springfield .22 Hornets (over .410) and they are surprisingly accurate and very handy
https://www.americanoutdoor.guide/news/m6-takedown-rifle-hits-big-time/

Another more expensive neat little gun is the Anschutz Exemplar pistol in .22 Hornet or a T/C Contender with a 10"+ barrel . I have a .22K Hornet with a 16" Bulberry barrel which allows me to put on a shoulder stock and has a smaller 4-12X scope for 250 yard ground squirrels.
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How do you like the trigger on the M6? Does it feel "natural" to use, or hard to get used to or anything like that? I've never used that type.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Just shorter. One was from my .22 Sportster youth model; the other came with my ACC-branded .300 Blackout carbine, which featured a short stock to reduce overall length.

View attachment 1042971

I'm 6' 2" and like a normal LOP (though I've made an exception for the MAS-36).
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Hmmm...I may have to PM you. Generally speaking (72") I don't mind short stocks, and prefer them on rifles I may carry with a lot of gear on. Anything with a peep sight I kind of like to "crawl up on" anyway.
 
When 22 mag. became scarce and expensive I saw a new H&R handie rifle for $200 so I bought it. I mostly use 40 an 50gr Nosler ballistic tip factory seconds with H-110 and 300 MP with very good results.
Turns out this H&R in 22 Hornet has a 1: 9 twist .
Hornady brass seems to last the longest for me, I need to get a neck size only die.
 
JumboJVT said:
I just weighed my 77/22 with the standard weight sporter barrel: 6-8 with empty mag, Ruger rings, no scope. I'd have sworn it would be less than that.
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Not too bad. I checked into those also, not giving them away either. If they make a light weight it must weigh in at 6#. ? They look like nice handling rifles to me.

I kind of liked the M6 too, but those were right near $600, before shipping and paying the FFL a million bucks. People in the Spokane area want $50.00 to do a FFL transfer. I think it's me and the NEF, 'till death do us part. I'll wait until I get a plastic stock on it, already took the giant old-school red-dot off it, see what it weighs and go from there. It was 7.4# with the red-dot on. If I can get it between 6.5-6.9, 6.8 something like that, I can live with it.
 
joneb said:
When 22 mag. became scarce and expensive I saw a new H&R handie rifle for $200 so I bought it. I mostly use 40 an 50gr Nosler ballistic tip factory seconds with H-110 and 300 MP with very good results.
Turns out this H&R in 22 Hornet has a 1: 9 twist .
Hornady brass seems to last the longest for me, I need to get a neck size only die.
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Yep, that's what I paid for mine, local hardware store used to have a used gun rack. My main interest is loading it down with cast bullets for a really low power, quiet small game round. Like 750fps like the CCI .22LR "Quiet" ammo. But at the same time, be able to shoot full power loads in case that nasty wolf pack finds me, or in a really dire starvation emergency be able to shoot a deer.

Have you ever shot the heavy 70-77 grain .22 bullets?
 
Ugly Sauce said:
Not too bad. I checked into those also, not giving them away either. If they make a light weight it must weigh in at 6#. ? They look like nice handling rifles to me.

I kind of liked the M6 too, but those were right near $600, before shipping and paying the FFL a million bucks. People in the Spokane area want $50.00 to do a FFL transfer. I think it's me and the NEF, 'till death do us part. I'll wait until I get a plastic stock on it, already took the giant old-school red-dot off it, see what it weighs and go from there. It was 7.4# with the red-dot on. If I can get it between 6.5-6.9, 6.8 something like that, I can live with it.
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If you're gonna stick with a single shot, I hope those wolves come in slow and single file:)
 
Well, my hope is that dropping one or two will discourage the rest. !!! That's how it went for our last wolf-attack, the guy dropped the most aggressive one, and the rest of them took off. Don't know the details of the other attack that happened, and then there was the one where a Game Dept. Lady climbed a tree and waited them out. She had no weapon, single shot or otherwise. Must have been an "exciting" walk back to her truck, from the tree. !!!!

However, I always have a revolver, on rare occasions a Luger, so if they do come in fast and bunched up, I'll pull my pistol, whistle Dixie, and fire away until she's empty, or jams. :) Then it's up to my trusty Ka-Bar, strapped to my right leg. !
 
Ugly Sauce said:
Well, my hope is that dropping one or two will discourage the rest. !!! That's how it went for our last wolf-attack, the guy dropped the most aggressive one, and the rest of them took off. Don't know the details of the other attack that happened, and then there was the one where a Game Dept. Lady climbed a tree and waited them out. She had no weapon, single shot or otherwise. Must have been an "exciting" walk back to her truck, from the tree. !!!!

However, I always have a revolver, on rare occasions a Luger, so if they do come in fast and bunched up, I'll pull my pistol, whistle Dixie, and fire away until she's empty, or jams. :) Then it's up to my trusty Ka-Bar, strapped to my right leg. !
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Lick your front sight and start from the back of the que, like Sargeant York potting charging Germans.
 
I can't find any information on a 96/22 Hornet. A .22 Hornet 77 version was made. Looks like either one, new or used would probably cost about 5.5 pounds of gold these days. Looked at a 77 Hornet that was priced at $1200.00!!
 
A most kind forum member sent me a "synthetic" stock and forearm for my NEF Hornet, (thank you) took her down to about 6.8#, which I can live with for now, for it's intended purpose. Not "ideal" for a survival gun, but sub-7# is not a bad weight. The rifle and musket I hunt with, and sometimes explore with are both 8.25#'s. But hunting and hiking/exploring/woods bumming/map&compass work are "different".

Cutting the barrel back, or re-contouring the barrel could take a lot more weight off, but I think I'll sight it in as-is, and take it for a all day hike this spring and see how it goes. I'm a little leery as to making the barrel shorter, I'd kind of like to get as much power out of full power ammo as I can. I like the idea of a re-contour, but then it would be another go-around with getting the front sight the right height. That's what I'm monkeying around with at the moment, kind of having trouble locating a high enough NEF Handi rifle front sight. Nothing tall enough in my junk drawer either!

The synthetic/plastic stock fits me so much better, the wood stock was so big and "bulbus". The comb just wasn't right for open sights. I'm usually a "wood stock or die" guy, but yeah, I like the rifle much better now.
 
Ugly Sauce said:
I can't find any information on a 96/22 Hornet. A .22 Hornet 77 version was made. Looks like either one, new or used would probably cost about 5.5 pounds of gold these days. Looked at a 77 Hornet that was priced at $1200.00!!
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I looked for just a few minutes and found magazines for them. But not rifles. Yeah i saw the 77/22H. Would be a neat gun regardless.
 
Have you ever shot the heavy 70-77 grain .22 bullets?[/QUOTE]

The slow twist rate of most factory Hornets preclude heavier bullets.
Most are 1/16” twist. These top out at 50-53gr Flat-base bullets.
Ruger uses a 1/14” twist. These will handle up to 55gr bullets.

The Ruger M77/22’s had issues unrelated to twist, though.
My first M77/22Hornet was a carbine. The chamber was cut with a worn out reamer. It bore a coke bottle appearance reflected in fired brass. Neck sized brass had to be “indexed” to fit back in the chamber, it was so mis-shaped. Only one load was ever satisfactory. It was a Hornady 35gr Vmax over a max load of H110. It shot good, near MOA. Otherwise, it was at its best with cast bullets.

My current M77/22Hornet is the KBZ. 24”gray stainless steel, brown/nutmeg laminate.
It has a defective bolt. I should send it back to Ruger. I had to put a wire o-ring in the bolt to shim the slop between the bolt halves. Otherwise, it takes a block of wood to knock the bolt open on a fired case as there is no caming action to initiate extraction. Randy at CPC gunsmithing can fix it for $200.00. My steel wire c-ring fix “works” for 2,000rds, so I’ll save my money.

A .22Hornet “American” with a 1/8” twist would be a winner!
 
Been involved in a love-hate affair with the .22 Hornet since the mid 1950s. Still have my first .22 Hornet rifle, a BSA Martini with the barrel from a Winchester model 43. The most accurate .22 Hornet i own is a CZ 527. The .22 Hornet barrel for my Encore is also very accurate but somehow i've lost the forearm screws.

After decades of experimenting with loads, my handloading for the Hornet is now limited to the use of various 45 grain bullets. Powders used are WW296, 4227 and 2400. Some loads use small pistol primers.

Many US made Hornets are plagued with a oversize chambers. About 50 years ago a tool and die maker classmate made me a chamber reamer to European 5.6X35R specs.
 
GooseGestapo said:
Have you ever shot the heavy 70-77 grain .22 bullets?
Click to expand...

The slow twist rate of most factory Hornets preclude heavier bullets.
Most are 1/16” twist. These top out at 50-53gr Flat-base bullets.
Ruger uses a 1/14” twist. These will handle up to 55gr bullets.

The Ruger M77/22’s had issues unrelated to twist, though.
My first M77/22Hornet was a carbine. The chamber was cut with a worn out reamer. It bore a coke bottle appearance reflected in fired brass. Neck sized brass had to be “indexed” to fit back in the chamber, it was so mis-shaped. Only one load was ever satisfactory. It was a Hornady 35gr Vmax over a max load of H110. It shot good, near MOA. Otherwise, it was at its best with cast bullets.

My current M77/22Hornet is the KBZ. 24”gray stainless steel, brown/nutmeg laminate.
It has a defective bolt. I should send it back to Ruger. I had to put a wire o-ring in the bolt to shim the slop between the bolt halves. Otherwise, it takes a block of wood to knock the bolt open on a fired case as there is no caming action to initiate extraction. Randy at CPC gunsmithing can fix it for $200.00. My steel wire c-ring fix “works” for 2,000rds, so I’ll save my money.

A .22Hornet “American” with a 1/8” twist would be a winner![/QUOTE]

I've heard that they "twisted" the NEF rifles anywhere from 1:16 to 1:9 over the years, that's from the googling I've done. I did not see that from any real reputable source, just forums and such. I'd be curious to know. Of course, I could just mark a cleaning rod to find out what mine is...just haven't yet. Shoots 50 grains very well but I'd like to try a 55 grain bullet.

The chamber on mine does seem a little loose/large, but I only neck size.
 
The 22 Hornet will not out perform the 223.....nor is it a super barn buster....it IS ....a fantastic little varmint cartridge that is super mild and super accurate in the right rifle and if you handload can use very little powder for tons of ammo and is a blast of fun to shoot-.

It's not about 223 vs 22 Hornet .....it's about do you want to add another cartridge to your safe and have a blast doing it????

The new .17 Hornet is just as fun.....
 
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