.22 Hornet vs. .222 Remington?

[PB234]

This (http://www.gunbroker.com/item/559806051 ) is a decent value at the opening price. When they came in a bunch of months ago prices were from about $605 to $750+. The American is a very nice rifle and the 221 very attractive ballistics.

The CZ in .222 would be excellent too. I wanted a 527 American in 223 for too many years but decided the Fireball looked like fun and took it instead. What is the twist in the CZ 527 222? In the 223 it is 1 in 9 in the new ones and 1 in 12 in the older ones which still turn up on shelves. If I were buying a CZ 527 American in 223 and knew which twist rate I wanted I would be careful to get the rate I wanted. Maybe if the 222 is only in 1 in 12 and I wanted to shoot heavy bullets I would reconsider, but I have never looked into a 222.

Most likely you will be delighted if you get a CZ. It is a real wood and steel rifle that should last a few generations. The set trigger is nice too, but I never use it.

[quilbilly]

I have a Hornet carbine and a couple triple deuces and love them all. My Hornet gets fed nothing but cast from the Lee Bator mold and is MOA or less at 100 with an MV at about 1900. As a fur collector it is great since it doesn't do much pelt damage. I consider the Hornet good on coyotes to about 125 yards at that MV. One of my 222's is fed only hot jacketed loads for ranges on coyotes from 125 to 300 yards across clearcuts for minimal pelt damage. Another 222 is a T/C 10" barrel with a reduced load (less muzzle blast and flame) which is great out to 60 yards on bunnies and grouse. Both calibers can be the right tool for the right job. That ultra light Hornet carbine with the 4x scope is one of my two favorite "walking around" rifles. If you are going to use strictly CB's at CB velocities, there is not much difference.

[blixen]

What is the twist in the CZ 527 222? In the 223 it is 1 in 9 in the new ones and 1 in 12 in the older ones which still turn up on shelves. .

CZ .222 Remington 1 in 14 (the same as most manufacturers, including Remington)

CZ .22 hornet 1 in 16

I've tracked down a beat-up Rem. 788 in .222 Remington. I've owned a couple of the rimfire versions, which were sweet rifles. But don't know anything about the 788 in .222. (except that they go for outrageous prices).

[Mk42gunner]

I would almost bet that beat-up 788 in .222 will shoot better than you can, unless you are an accomplished benchrest shooter.

I have had a 788 in both .222 and .223. What the .223 would do at one hundred yards, the .222 would do at one hundred fifty yards.

The deuce came with a 24" barrel, the .223 with a 22". I believe the twist rates were 1:14 for the .222 and 1:12 for the .223.

788's are ugly, but they will shoot.

Put some good glass on top and go shoot some bughole groups.

Bottom line, if you can afford it you won't be sorry at the way it shoots. Looks may be a different matter.

Robert

[joesig]

... but would like to try a Cooper in .221 Fireball.

You will LOVE it. It will shoot cast like others shoot jacketed. Jacketed is even better.

[303Guy]

I have an old Anschutz 22 hornet with a rust damaged bore and oversize chamber (I suspect that was an attempt to clean out the rust damaged chamber). Well, this rifle with R-P cases and a compressed charge of Lil'Gun under a 55gr bullet shoots fast and accurate with my loads. I don't size cases or neck and use a somewhat oddball loading technique. Case life is indefinite. I only tried it with cast once using not so good castings and got mediocre results. I'd like to try better castings to see how it does. Anyway, I love the hornet. But given the choice? Well, my hornet also came in a 222 but with a slightly longer action. I would go 222. Long neck, not too fast or slow a twist rate. Will a 14 twist 222 stabilize a 55gr bullet? I don't know but a 16 twist hornet does. I would think that with cast boolits the 14 twist would be just fine with heavies and velocities should be right up there.

[varminter66]

I vote for the 22 Hornet, first and foremost because I am unreasonably biased!! The 2nd reason, is because it is so damned frugal with powder, especially when compared to the performance. Case capacity with the Hornet lends itself nicely to using caste, or jacketed. You can load her down to easily shoot caste in the 1600 fps range, or jack her up to hit almost 3000 fps accurately with jacketed. Sure it's a little finicky... but still well worth the attention to detail to do so. If you can load the Hornet and make her shoot, you can load anything. Now, part of my bias is that I live in a more populated part of the country, where having a milder cartridge is an advantage. Keeping shots with the Hornet in the 50-150 yd range is a good thing around here. A 22 Mag rimfire fits the bill, but it cannot be reloaded. The 22 Hornet is the only cartridge I know of that can replicate the 22 Mag, and be reloaded. So, there ya have it... some logic, some bias, and some preference based upon the situation.

[Yellowhouse]

I got both but wouldn't give up either. Depends on what your maximum range would be as the 222 can reach a bit further.

[Hawks Feather]

I am a bit late to this post, but like others have both hornets and .222s. I have not fired either with cast bullets so I can't be of help there. The .222 was used in many early bench guns and I have found it to be very accurate. While the hornet is fairly accurate the .222 (for me) is much more accurate. So part of your decision might be the range that you are shooting. My .222s will hold groups at 200 yards that match the hornet's best group at 100. As has been mentioned the .222 will use more powder. While it wasn't part of your original question but was mentioned by others the .221 is a great middle. Mine shoots as good as the .222s, better than the hornet, and is a nice small round. If the .221 becomes a possibility it would be my first choice followed by the .222 and then the hornet.

[M-Tecs]

I am trying very hard to love the Hornet but not there yet. I have a CZ 527 and a couple of Contenders in the Hornet.

Part of the issue is the role I purchased the Hornet for. I shoot a lot of prairie dogs. For close and quiet I use the 17 HMR. For the majority the .223 gets the nod with bigger for long range. I purchased the Hornet hoping it was closer to the 17 HMR in noise. With lil'gun it is much closer to the 223. The more noise the longer and further it spooks the PD's.

Mine Hornets shoot OK but not as well as the 221 Fireball or 222 Rem. The Hornet cases are more fragile and more of an issue to get proper headspace for maximum case life. All three of mine have different chambers.

For brass availably the 222 gets the nod. If you have to you can easily form from 223.

For my use the 221 or 20 VarTag would have worked out better. I have a hard time selling guns but the Hornets would be the first to go.

[DLCTEX]

I have 22 Hornet, 222, and 223. They are each my favorite in turn.

[blixen]

A 22 Mag rimfire fits the bill, but it cannot be reloaded. The 22 Hornet is the only cartridge I know of that can replicate the 22 Mag, and be reloaded.

That's a big part of the reason that I'm looking at a Hornet. I shot a lot of .22 mag. and .17 HMR before the Great Rimfire Ammo Famine. Also, I had several .22 WMRs --Marlin, Savage and Mossberg-- and could never get great accuracy beyond 75 meters, no matter how much I fiddled. I worked up a mouse-sneeze load out of my Rem. 722 .300 Sav., few grains of Red Dot and 165gr Ranch Dog plain-base boolits. It was easily as accurate as my .22 WMG and, i would guess, cheaper to shoot. Not exactly flat shooting, though. <br><br>I figure a .22 hornet would use about a third the lead.
You guys aren't getting me off the fence--I might have to buy a .222 then a .22 Hornet later. Or vice versa.

[quilbilly]

That's a big part of the reason that I'm looking at a Hornet. I shot a lot of .22 mag. and .17 HMR before the Great Rimfire Ammo Famine. Also, I had several .22 WMRs --Marlin, Savage and Mossberg-- and could never get great accuracy beyond 75 meters, no matter how much I fiddled. I worked up a mouse-sneeze load out of my Rem. 722 .300 Sav., few grains of Red Dot and 165gr Ranch Dog plain-base boolits. It was easily as accurate as my .22 WMG and, i would guess, cheaper to shoot. Not exactly flat shooting, though. <br><br>I figure a .22 hornet would use about a third the lead.
You guys aren't getting me off the fence--I might have to buy a .222 then a .22 Hornet later. Or vice versa.

How did I know that was coming? Now you know why I have both and they are not redundant.

[barrabruce]

I have an old cz khornet in 1:16" twist. Shoots mostly around 3/4 moa on a good day 1 moa on others.
Not bad for a 58 yr old rifle.Jacket bullets only.
I learnt to reload with the khornet.

They have/can be made in light and petite stalking/walking rifles.n
just the thing for a bit of a stroll.

Most 222 - 223's are a lot more gun to lug around.

I used to hunt once upon a time and in more settled areas, farmers would allow me to shoot with a hornet, were as a 222 would be frowned upon or not allowed.
my 2 cents worth.

I'd like a nice 4 lb 25 or 27 hornet for a walk around cast bullet shooting rifle.

[atr]

I have both...and like shooting both but if I were buying only one I would go for the .222 with a 26" barrel.
The .222 shoots a wider (heavier) range of bullets farther and faster

[blixen]

I got a line on a first-generation Contender with a .222 Rem rifle barrel at what seems to be a good price. But Contenders are a whole new level of rifle mysteries for me. Very intimidating. And I'm not sure I like that action over a good ol' bolt action.

I don't have any idea how to judge condition, what to watch out for, do they shoot cast well, etc. Meanwhile, I'm following a couple rifles on auctions and a couple locally, while gathering resources.

I want to thank the folks who have offered guidance here. The worst that can happen is I'll end up with a .22 Hornet or a .222 Rem and learn a lot about that caliber before moving on to something else..

[bullseye67]

You are asking our "Advice" about spending your "Money" HeHe.... I have a sweet little Ruger 22 Hornet that I bought to shoot instead of 22 Magnum. If you have a purpose like that it is hard to beat. Mine is a really good "gopher gun" to about 75 yards with cast boolits. I traded a friend a bunch of cast 44 boolits for cast 22 boolits. He got a 1000 I got 1000's of them.....we traded lb4lb..LoL. I tumble lube, size GC, then tumble lube them with thinned LLA and shoot them over LiL Gun. Start with the Hornet you might not need a 222. Of course want is a different story....

[fryboy]

My lil 22Khornet fastly became my fav ,the thing weighs almost nothing even with a bull barrel (18") 5 shots @ 50-75 yards is usually smaller than a dime ( with rigorous culling of the castings ) the worst problem with the contenders are the barrels seem to multiply...
As for what to look for ... function,slop in the action when a empty case is chambered,the triggers are adjustable to sweetness, oh and make sure that the action opens easy

[MarkP]

I just reminded myself, when I shot prairies dogs often my favorite long range rifle was my 22 Hornet. While I had larger capacity wildcats in 6mm and 257 that could launch 87 and 100 gr bullets at 22-250 velocities, I found myself shooting my little 22 Hornet once they went down in their holes and the only dogs out were at 400+ yd. At 9 grs of powder the bbl does not heat up too badly as compared.

[NZ44]

Id go hornet for cast bullets,cant imagine loading cast to 3000fps. My .222 Sako Vixen is my go to deer rifle here in NZ,they are just so dang easy to shoot well,and with a solidly constructed bullet,great for medium game.