Any .22 Hornet shooters out there?

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Dobe;
I don't anneal, and I only neck turned to see if it affected case life and accuracy. It did, but mostly shortened case life due to split necks. Sorting brass by weight and brand makes more difference...... and loading technique.

I get 15-20 loadings from my Hornet brass, as I don't load especially hot, and mostly use Hod. Lil'Gun. I have a Lee Collet die, but prefer to full length size as I get better accuracy. (go figure! see below- off centered chamber on Ruger!)

I do cast a Lyman #225415 that runs 49.5gr with lube and gascheck (absolutely perfect). I prefer either SR4759 (6.8gr) or Alliant #2400 (5.2-5.8gr). My 100yds accuracy often equals that of the jacketed bullets. 2moa is easy, 1moa rare, but who cares? It's cheap. However, I shoot far more of unsized tumble-lubed bullets over 2.5gr of Bullseye for ~1,350fps. A duplicate of the .22 WRF (a little more than the .22lr). A real squirrel killer to about 50yds.(~2MOA accuracy). It does require re-sighting and thorough cleaning to remove copper fouling if I've been shooting jacketed bullets. Leading has never been an issue with either NRA50/50 or SPG, or Tumble lube at under 1,900fps.

I've had three Ruger "Hornets". A #3 Carbine (had a botched K-Hornet chamber), a 77/22 Carbine (had an oversized factory chamber), and my current 77/22KBZ (heavy barrel-stainless, Brown laminated stock)- it has a tight, but off center chamber, two-piece bolt has fitting issues, ect.......) I DON'T recommend the Rugers........although I've shot a few good groups with the current one, which I've kept for 10+yrs. It's been free-floated, glass bedded, trigger worked to ~32oz., ect. Just won't shoot tighter than ~1.25moa except on rare occasions...........Likes cast bullets though, so, I've kept it........

If I was getting a new Hornet, it'd be either a CZ-527 (first choice) or a Savage M40 (second choice), or a T/C Contender Carbine (tied for second). But I'd also consider the Remington 699 (mini-mauser), if specimen was good........
 
Thanks,
Anyone else, please feel free to share the knowledge. I appreciate the info on the Ruger also. I guess I'll pass that one up.
 
The hornet was in American Rifleman or Guns and Ammo (cant remember which) on an article named "Cartridges that never died" or something like that. I have no experience with it, but it seems like there are better choices for both ballistic performance and, from the sound of it, reloading based on what others have said about the problems with thin brass. Is there any reason you want the 22 hornet as opposed to something that will do the same job but better?

Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in buying what you want and I'm not trying to crush your dreams.

Basically I'm curious what niche the 22 hornet fills that other cartridges don't.
 
Basically I'm curious what niche the 22 hornet fills that other cartridges don't.
Click to expand...
The Hornet is like a red-headed woman - intriguing, exciting, exasperating, frustrating. It has a cachet all its own.

I shoot a lot of crows, coyotes, and other varmits with it. If it were legal in this state, it would be the ideal turkey rifle.

In my M82 Kimber, it's a delight to carry afield. It's economical to reload for and has a mild report. It doesn't let everyone in the state know that Ol' Vern just shot another crow.
 
I wanted a Hornet because I didn't have one. I like to shoot it better than my 22-250s because if I want to make a long shot I have to stop and think about holdover, Like shooting ground squirrels at 150 yds with a 22 long rifle, challenging and very rewarding.
 
I sometimes shoot around farms. The Hornet has such a mild report it's barely noticed compared to the big centerfires. It also burns half the powder of the 223; 12-13gn Lil'Gun works for just about everything I shoot. With the price of rimfire magnums and having salted away several thousand 22 hornet bullets, I can actually shoot hornet for less than 17HMR, and I get a 32gn bullet at 3,000 fps.

I also happen to liked rimmed cases for my drop blocks, but that is an esthetic thing.

1885-khornet-1.jpg
 
Is there any reason you want the 22 hornet as opposed to something that will do the same job but better?
Click to expand...

I am looking for an economical reload. That means small case capacity.

The ranges I will shoot do not exceed 200 yards. These criteria seem to say Hornet to me. If I simply start with a larger capacity case, there will not be as much loading data to support the velocities for which I am looking. I don't want to exceed much over 2700 fps. The reason is again...economy / barrel life.

So..
small case capacity means
less powder
less velocity
lots of fun
 
22 Hornet

Dobe -

I've actually got 3 hornets, here's 2 of them that I have pictures of:

This one is the 77/22HornetVT bolt gun by Ruger. I have access to an excellent riflesmith and he converted this one to K-Hornet. That's an OLD 6X24 Tasco scope with the glass lenses.
M7722KHornet.jpg

This one is a jewel - it is an early model BFR in .22 Hornet. I converted it to a BIsley.
P6300208BFR.jpg

Hornets are great fun ...

Dave
 
The 2 main bits I like is the Hornet is cheep to load and the report is shocking mild. Some times I think my 22 mag is louder.
 
mmm.... looka that old japanese glass tasco on that rifle, yummy.
The reason I think the hornet is a logical choice is for two reasons. One is economically highly reasonable and diverse. Lots of diff loads and bullets to choose from. Secondly, it is what I call a 'realistic' round for the 22 cals; no one shooting it thinks they are going to take 300 yd shots at deer with it, instead they are going to varmint shoot with it up to coyotes, and they will keep their distances maxed out at about 200 yds. This is exactly what this round was meant to do.
 
"So, if y'all could have any Hornet rifle, what would you have and why? "


There have been some really stunningly beautiful, high-class rifles chambered for the Hornet (eg. GunTech's Browning). But, assuming I will actually have to pay for it with my own rupees - I'm certain I would opt for the Savage model 40. I have to believe it's easily the best "value-per-dollar" in the Hornet world today. How do I not like a good , NIB centerfire rifle for $400 or possibly even less ?
Niceties about it - you get a stable, heavy contour barrel yet the rifle still weighs only 7.75 lbs. - it comes ready for a scope - it comes with a third stud for use with a tripod - the Accutrigger gets plenty of praise - the laminate stock is a HUGE improvement over cheap walnut or hardwood, both for looks and for stability - being a single-shot the action is even more rigid - and the two people I know who have them get excellent accuracy from them.

:cool:
 
Dobe,

If you think you're leaning toward the Savage, go to the Savage Shooters web site and read a little about them, they do have some quality control issuse with them, failure to extract being the most common.

The 40 is the Savage rim fire action on steriods,designed to take the rather low pressure Hornet loads.

The first wind that blew my way on this rifle, said they were going to chamber it in Hornet and .223. Well the .223 got dropped and the Mdl 25 was just introduced last S.H.O.T. Show in 223 and .204 Ruger. It is a Modl 40 on steriods.

The point is I don't think the Mdl 40 is long for the road , especially with the quality control issues. They will most likley chamber the Mdl 25 in Hornet and drop the 40. So if ya want one better get with it!

My 40 has extraction problems, I've been tinkering with it and just about have it whiped. I polished the chamber, don't think it was smooth enough. At its worse it would fail to extract 1 out of 10 shots, and these were with the mild loads I posted earlier. The last time out I had 4 failures with 100 rds.

I have shot exclusively Win brass and think I may try Remington on my next purchase, and compare the rims on each as I think the problem may lie there.

Don't let my ravings cold water your quest for the 40 it's just a heads up.

By the way the damn things are BUG HOLE shooters in the right hands and with roll your owns!
 
Hey DaggerDog...

Got a link to that Savage Shooters' website :confused:
Couldn't find it connected to Savage's site or through just "Savage Shooters". ???

FWIW - the two folks I know with model 40s use Hornady brass almost exclusively. I don't recall either of them talking much about extraction problems but that doesn't mean they don't have 'em. Both guys speak like they really, really like their 40s.

Thanks,
:cool:
 
I have 2 cz 527's in 223, and 762.39, and they are both fabulous. the Savage trigger cannot compete with cz's single set trigger.
 
I have only T/C Contender and BRNO 110 with this caliber. I use silencer and make subsonic loads for T/C.
 
I was curious about the Contender carbine. How accurate is it? I have read that they can be bad about verticle stringing any truth to that?

What kind of accuracy at 100 yards do you get?

Thanks
 
Sorry, my T/C is pistol 10"-barrel. It i very accurate with carbine stock and 3-9x40 riflescope at 100 meters. I do´nt use fabr. loads. I make my own with Remington and Sako cases.
 
I wanted a small case 22 caliber, the Hornet was in the running but for all the reasons people have mentioned about low brass life and potential difficulty with handloading I went with the 221 Fireball. The parent case is the 222 (as it is for the 223 as well). The Fireball case is quite robust, it's easy and cheap to load. I get about 360 loads per one pound of RL-7 powder and about 400 out of a pound of Lil Gun. Bullet options are as plentiful as they are good.

My gun is a Rem 700 LVSF with a 20" barrel. The barrel length is more than sufficiently long to extract the maximum performance from the cartridge. I replaced the synthetic stock on my gun with a Boyd's Thumbhole Laminate. It added some weight but the rigid stock turned the gun into a real tack driver and I've taken critters from as far away as 260 yards. The best bullets I've found are the 40 grain Sierra BlitzKing's or Nosler Ballistic Tips.

If you can, go to a store like Gander Mountain and compare the small powder capacity ammo. I put them side-by-side and the Fireball case made selection easy.
 
I did a little research on the net, and it seems that the brass is a little hard to find, and the velocity is a little higher than what I wanted.

I think I'll go with the Hornet, I'm just not sure in what platform.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Thanks Dagger....


I read the thread about the extraction problems. Not sure it's really an epidemic. Sounds (to me) more like the guy's problem is the heat built up in that thin case by his firing shots 5-10 seconds apart. Maybe not, but that's what it sounds like to me.

:cool:
 
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