22 Hornet Rifle questions

[dtknowles]

dtknowles, does your #3 look something like this?

My forestock is more tapered and rounded on the end. The front strap lug is on the forestock and mine still has the stock barrel with the front sight.

[alfadan]

Love my 77/22h. I got it because I read it would need a little work to shoot well, but it was boringly accurate straight away. Got it used and use accurate 1680 and 40 to 55 grain bullets.

[wch]

I have one 22 Hornet rifle (CPA single shot) and a 22 K Hornet (1885 Winchester), both shoot very well.
Maybe the single shot actions are better suited for this cartridge?

[panhed65]

I have a hornet in the cz American and like it a lot. shoots very well, I even like the set trigger, esp when working up loads. speaking of which, I had been using the lilgun, tried 1680 and a midway dogtown 34 (made by nosler they say) bullet, and it has been the best so far. been trying some cast bullets, but not a lot of good results yet.
Barry

[Larry Gibson]

I've been enamored with the 22 Hornet since the early '70s. I've owned several myself over the years of various manufacturer. My favorite for years was my Ruger #3. I also removed the barrel band, reshaped the forend. bedded the forend on the hanger and free floated the barrel. It would consistently for years shoot 40/45 gr hornet bullets over 11.5 gr H4895 or 12.5 gr H110 into quite a bit less than moa. I shot so many ground squirrels ["picket pins" and "red diggers"] that the barrel is pretty much shot out. I've a 10" Contender barrel and had a 21" Contender barrel, a couple Savage M23s over the years. I now have the Ruger [needs a new barrel], the 10" Contender and a Savage M40 that is extremely accurate. I use Lil'Gun in it with a 45 gr Hornady Hornet bullet at 2950 fps for deadly effect on squirrels out to 300+ yards.

First thing I learned reloading for the Hornet was with the thin brass trying to neck size or partial size resulted in horribly crooked necks and poor accuracy. Back in the day I used a set of 310 Hornet dies in adapters for use in my press to just neck size. using the M-die solved any scrunched neck problems and the bullets, cast and jacketed, start fully into the case before sizing. I currently use a Redding bushing die and size the fire formed case necks just to the base of the seated bullet. I still use an M-die for ease of seating both jacketed and cast bullets. Case life is long and accuracy is excellent.

Picture is of myself and a friend [I'm spotting for him] on a red digger hunt just southwest of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains of NE Oregon. You can get out to 250 - 300 yard shots across the clear cuts or burned out areas. I consider the 22 Hornet as optimal for such but the 223 Rem Colt rifle also performed well. On the stump you can see the "diggers" I bagged with the Ruger #3 along with the rifle. I would have been using the 11.5 gr H4227 load with probably a Sierra 45 gr Hornet bullet back then.

Attachment 261610

[tominboise]

All good info and experiences. I am leaning towards the CZ at this point in time. Stay tuned!

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Long ago, in high school, 1965-66, I had Savage 219 in 22 Hornet. Using the 225415 and a Weaver B6(?) I could keep groups under 2" at 100 yards. It had a 26" barrel and noise was not significant in the 26" barrel in the pre-ear protection days. Got a 45 revolver, fired 12 shots, been wearing ear protection ever since. That Hornet was just a fun gun, groundhogs PA farms, you were always welcome.

[richhodg66]

Poking around on gunbroker, it seems there are usually a few Walther single shot bolt actions in .22 Hornet designed for some sort or European target shooting. One of those would be pretty sweet.

[tominboise]

I saw those, which piqued my interest in this subject in the first place. Well, that and the fact that i have 400 rounds of hornet ammo sitting on my shelf but no hornet to shoot it in.

[shdwlkr]

what about a NEF in 22 hornet?

[richhodg66]

what about a NEF in 22 hornet?

I'd prefer one of the older H&Rs, the 158 I think it was.

I saw on another page where a guy took one of those with the heavy contour barrel in .22 Hornet and machined down the barrel to make it an octagon barrel and then did some stock work to it. It really turned out nice.

[northmn]

Doesn't Savage make a 22 Hornet? Anyway I like the cartridge but have not seen one available for some time. Have seen a few 17 hornets.

DEP

[richhodg66]

There's a Savage 25 in a local shop, been there for years. It's a heavy, clunky thing, exactly the opposite of what a Hornet should be, in my opinion. Besides that, I think they were on a quest to build the ugliest rifle ever made. I'm something of a Savage fan boy, but not that one.

[tominboise]

what about a NEF in 22 hornet?

If I find one locally, I would consider it. They alledgedly shoot pretty darn good.

[dtknowles]

My first hornet was an H&R before they became NEF. It did not shoot as well as I hoped and I did not have any ideas on how to really accurize it so I gave it to my brother. He loves it. I bought the Ruger #3 before I gave him the H&R and it shot about the same but was a nicer gun and I had some info on accurizing the Ruger single shots. Shooting break actions off the bench is not as nice as a falling block and the Ruger trigger is nicer too. You can make the H&R or NEF triggers better.

Tim

[SOFMatchstaff]

I got my first Hornet in 1969, Savage 23D, been hooked ever since. I still have a CZ ZKW-465, Anschutz 1730D Hvy Bbl stainless, and old TC 10" octagon bbl in K- Hornet and a S&W K frame in 224 Kay-Chuk. They all shoot better than I can anymore, the Annie being the one to beat. I would go for the CZ 527, as the 1730 is a bit pricey. All of them use a WW680, T680, 1680 load, and 32 to 45 gr bullets. I really like the 37gr double hollow point that Calhoon makes.

[Hickok]

I have a CZ527 American in .22 Hornet. Absolute tack driver. It has a set-trigger that you simply push forward, and then it is feather-light to the touch.

I wouldn't sell my 527 for twice the money of what I paid for it.

[McFred]

I have a CZ 527 that I'm very fond of, but it's not a Hornet. My experience with Hornets started with a friend's late-1990s stainless 77/22 varmint. It shot very poorly and was sent back to Ruger. It came back about .25MOA gun with handloads (jacketed). IMO, The 77/22 action is clunky, and oversized for the job it performs, the floorplate feels cheap and mass-produced, like you find with cut-rate .22 rimfires and the trigger's pretty gritty and inconsistent, even after a Volquartsen sear's installed. The rotary magazine sucks too, since it has an annoyingly short max length so you have to use antiquated stubby projectiles. While my friend's example could shoot small groups, it was very sensitive to how you held it. I have no love for that model.

The same friend has a 21" Contender Carbine that I quite like. It's narrow through the wrist, lightweight, short, accurate and has so many rounds down it the rifling lands are all rounded over from breech to muzzle. It's also able to stabilize cheap 55gr fmjs for plinking. You can shoot it all day without ever having to stop and wait for it to cool. The trigger's nice and crisp and when you get tired of the Hornet barrel, you can swap to your 375JDJ and hunt anything that walks in the western hemisphere.

[CLAYPOOL]

No one has mentioned a Remington model 799 - AKA.. Charles Daily - ZASTAVA - SERBIE. It also has USSG - ROCKLEDGE, FL. Possible the importer.."?
I will tell you right now that ugly clip hanging out the bottom worries me. I am copulating (Sp) some king of hole in the bottom of the clip with some type of lanyard to keep from losing it. I have NOT found any extra clips so far.. Not fired yet.. Big bores keep me busy..

[CLAYPOOL]

complicating...?