Lightweight 22 Hornet Single Shot?

[davidheart]

Does it have to be a Hornet? A lot of these rifles were built into extremely good varmint rifles, but heavier varmint rifles than the OP wants, and more often for the .218 Bee than the Hornet. They sometimes sell quite cheaply, since they don't have aluminium lowers and so on. Original Cadets are expensive now, and a shame to modify. So turning down the barrel and reducing the stock of one of these might be the easiest and most economical way to go.

The barrel could be set back and rechambered if a Hornet is wanted. There is even a National Special ¾
- 14 die, available cheaply from China on eBay, with which the careful amateur could do this without a lathe. It is 60 degree threaded, while the Cadet action is threaded 55 degree Whitworth system. But that is only what most American gunsmiths do when rebarrelling much more powerful Mausers.

Beware of ¾ - 14 dies, though, as most of them are the British or American pipe dies, in which that is a larger die for pipes with a nominal ¾in. bore.

I would say Hornet because I have a very solid setup for 22 Hornet. I have enough for reloading 22 hornet or 223 and could do so anywhere from squirrel to deer. I'm thinking a nice, light rifle my little ones could shoot or I could break down and take on a backpacking hike for squirrel, rabbit, and maybe the Southern deer. If my little girl wanted to shoot it I thought it'd be a nice starter rifle as well. Just thinking out loud.

[MostlyOnThePaper]

I think my Browning Low Wall is right at 6#'s.

I was thinking mine is definitely less than 7lbs. Could be lighter without the octagon barrel.

[kenyerian]

Looks like a contender would be hard to beat. I have a 10" barrel on a G1 in 22 Hornet That I carry often when I am checking out the Back 40. Very light to carry. The Grandkids all like to shoot it also.

[rollmyown]

I agree with the cadet action . I have a Sportco 22 hornet (an Australian 310 cadet conversion). Very accurate and light.
I'd like one in 218 bee and 25/20. Great little walk around rifle for small game.

[sharps4590]

Rook rifle, relined, chambered to 22 Hornet. 4 1/2 lbs.

[Clay M]

I think my Browning Low Wall is right at 6#'s.

That is what I also have.
It is a beautiful little rifle, and very accurate as long as I use LiL' Gun powder.

[MT Gianni]

Find an H&R shotgun in decent shape, a good 22 bbl and have it stubbed and rechambered.

[Huvius]

Rook rifle, relined, chambered to 22 Hornet. 4 1/2 lbs.

+1 on this route!

[BigEyeBob]

A 25-20 Martini sold for $565AU on one of the online gun sales sites here about a fortnight ago .It was scoped as well.
Pity I was too busy and didn't get to see it before it was sold other wise ,I would have bought it .
Another 22LR sold for $395 AU , I would have re chambered that to 22 mag or 22hornet .
Once again too slow.

[richhodg66]

Check out the thread going on Yildiz shotguns from Academy. Those little things are about as light and trim as they come, sure got the wheels turning in my head for a Rook rifle project.

[gnoahhh]

Here is my solution for a lightweight .22 Hornet.



German stalking rifle. Kipplauf? No makers name, 1940 proof marks. 5.6x35R chambering (.22 Hornet). 26" octagon barrel, .226 bore, 1-9" twist (handles heavy bullets beautifully). Five pounds all-up. The little sweetie will put 5 .22 Bators into 1/2" @50 yards (6gr. 2400/small pistol primer).

The scope is one of those 4x Gru-Bee's- a Chinese made copy of the defunct Redfield 3/4" 4x scope. Best $139 I ever spent. Image is extremely bright, and so sharp it'll cut your eye. Parallax virtually non-existent. Positive click adjustments. Engineered and imported by a guy in Oklahoma. I can't recommend it enough if you need to scope a dainty little rifle. The Chinese will build to any level of quality they are asked to do. As long as the customer demands and pays for the best, they can do world-class optics. This is one of them.

[sharps4590]

gnoahh, that just might have been my first choice if I weren't working with a Jeffrey Rook rifle right now. Gotta love a nice, light Kiplauf.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Look for a Ruger #3 single shot.

Excepting a .22H high wall, the .22H Ruger #3 is about the heaviest .22H sporting rifle I can think of.
...snip

These posts made me go weigh my 22H Ruger #3, now it does have a old, large, steel Weaver K12 on it, it comes on at 8lb 6oz....kinda heavy for such a cute little carbine.

[leadman]

I have 2 Contender 21" tapered carbine barrels, one is 30-30 Win, other is a rechambered 22lr to 22 K-Hornet. The 30-30 with 4X Weaver weighs just over #5 with wood stocks. I haven't weighed the Hornet but it could be made lighter by shortening the barrel and changing to synthetic stocks.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Here is my solution for a lightweight .22 Hornet.



German stalking rifle. Kipplauf? No makers name, 1940 proof marks. 5.6x35R chambering (.22 Hornet). 26" octagon barrel, .226 bore, 1-9" twist (handles heavy bullets beautifully). Five pounds all-up. The little sweetie will put 5 .22 Bators into 1/2" @50 yards (6gr. 2400/small pistol primer).

The scope is one of those 4x Gru-Bee's- a Chinese made copy of the defunct Redfield 3/4" 4x scope. Best $139 I ever spent. Image is extremely bright, and so sharp it'll cut your eye. Parallax virtually non-existent. Positive click adjustments. Engineered and imported by a guy in Oklahoma. I can't recommend it enough if you need to scope a dainty little rifle. The Chinese will build to any level of quality they are asked to do. As long as the customer demands and pays for the best, they can do world-class optics. This is one of them.

The first owner of this rifle almost certainly thought he was getting a 5.6x35 Vierling, which was basically the .22WCF before the Hornet was developed. It was less heavily loaded than the modern Hornet, although the first to much exceeded the velocity of the WCF. Not that that matters much in this beautiful little rifle. But I would choose carefully if I was modifying a rook rifle for the Hornet. Some are amply strong, others (although perfectly good for their intended purpose) aren't, or would be the better for having the firing-pin reduced in diameter and bushed.

Another point to watch for, for someone else comes across a rifle like this for sale, is that it could be for the 5.6x53 or 5.6x33R rook rifle cartridges, which were largely displaced from the marketplace by the Vierling, and the seller may not know it. There is no real difference in functionality if you load your own. But the brass is slightly larger in diameter at the head, at .325in., and different from any easily available brass.

I've got a Tasco Bantam scope which is very useful for the small Martinis. It is a 2.5x32 (though they also made it in 2.5x20), very short and light, with an eye relief of about 5in., which allows it to sit over the front of the breechblock. It is discontinued, but ought to come up on eBay, and I have seen very good reports from people who used them on much more heavily recoiling slug shotguns. It is a Chinese Tasco, but very bright, and I found the magnification ample for the uses to which you would put a light rifle.

[castaroo]

cbc151 ,5lbs with scope and shoots cast well ,Roo

[richhodg66]

Here is my solution for a lightweight .22 Hornet.



German stalking rifle. Kipplauf? No makers name, 1940 proof marks. 5.6x35R chambering (.22 Hornet). 26" octagon barrel, .226 bore, 1-9" twist (handles heavy bullets beautifully). Five pounds all-up. The little sweetie will put 5 .22 Bators into 1/2" @50 yards (6gr. 2400/small pistol primer).

The scope is one of those 4x Gru-Bee's- a Chinese made copy of the defunct Redfield 3/4" 4x scope. Best $139 I ever spent. Image is extremely bright, and so sharp it'll cut your eye. Parallax virtually non-existent. Positive click adjustments. Engineered and imported by a guy in Oklahoma. I can't recommend it enough if you need to scope a dainty little rifle. The Chinese will build to any level of quality they are asked to do. As long as the customer demands and pays for the best, they can do world-class optics. This is one of them.

That's a beautiful rifle, Gary. I'd love to have something like that, but the Savage 219 and little Handi I have will have to suffice for now.

Do you have a link to where a guy could get one of those scopes? That appears to be exactly what I was looking for to mount on the Handi Rifle I have.

[gnoahhh]

No link, Rich. He is marketing them on eBay as a "buy it now". A google search will get you to the website also. Just type in "Gru-Bee" on both counts.

I'm sure the first owner knew what he was getting as it is engraved "5.6x35R" on the barrel, but again, no makers name or even an address. German proofs indicating July, 1940 proving. I got it from a guy who rescued it from a pawn shop for peanuts, and I paid him hazlenuts to get it.

[John Taylor]

If I remember right the original M4 survival rifle was a very light 22 Hornet bolt action. Winchester used the same size and twist as the 22 LR for their Hornets on the model 54 and 70. Most of the single shot 410s could be made into a Hornet but may need the firing pin bushed. I have mad a few on the cadet action, firing pin needs to be bushed. The M6 was another light weight 22 hornet that had a 410 barrel over/under stile.

[pietro]

Do you have a link to where a guy could get one of those scopes?

Here's a link to the baby Redfield (clone) scope maker's website - there's a "contact" section in it, so you might be able to find out who the US importers are.

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroo...-Redfield.html




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