.22 hornet?

[troy_mclure]

talk to me about the .22 hornet.

im "needing" a single shot rifle. im stuck between .22 hornet, and .22lr.

ill have 4 .22 moulds by summer, and 500 brass is $100 which should last a while.

im really interested in cheap, fun plinking at the range.

what says you, oh experts of castboolits?

[StrawHat]

I'd say you were trying to compare apple with rutabagas. The 22 LR is an outstanding cartridge but you had better be able to be satisfied with loads that are available from the factory. The Hornet on the other hand is a great cartridge that will gives you plenty of experience and satisfaction as you search for the load that your rifle likes. There are plenty of 22 molds available and your rifle may like one or more of them or it may even require a custom mold. I have the grandfather of the Hornet, the 22 WCF, and I have the added fun of trying to find a black powder load that will work in my rifle.

All kidding aside, if you like to handload, there is no choice between the two, get the Hornet. If you prefer factory loads, get the rimfire. I have the WCF and a good 22 LR rifle and have found uses for both, but there really is no comparison.

[WILCO]

im really interested in cheap, fun plinking at the range.

.22 LR is the way to go then. There are plenty of single shot rifles to be had at fair prices and even though .22LR ammo is up to $20.00 a brick in some places, it's still cheap enough to get in the game.

[Wayne Smith]

You want cheap with work or cheap without work?? Cheap with minimal challenges or cheap with maximal challenges? Answer those two questions and you have your answer.

[mroliver77]

I can load the Hornet cheaper than I can buy .22 ammo these days. The $20 a brick stuff is the el cheapo junk from Wally world. It shoots lousy! If I had not stashed a little .22lr I would prolly give up on it.We have an NEF Hornet that shoots great. Cast at 2400fps is easy in this gun. The 225450 @ 2400fps blows big holes in varmints. Loaded with a couple gr Bulls Eye it is the speed of .22lr but mo better in the accuracy dept.
Jay

[HATCH]

the question is do you want to load your own ammo or buy your own ammo.

The 22 hornet is a wonderful round and can be loaded almost subsonic to supersonic.
You can use small pistol or small rifle primers.
Its pretty flexible. There is even load data for most pistol powders for that round.
I intend to use UNIQUE powder

[troy_mclure]

i guess its mostly a consideration of finding a gun. lol

[btroj]

I have a contender with a 10inch barrel that I had teamed from hornet to k hornet.
Easy to load for. Does very well with cast at all velocity levels. No big problem to load it to rimfire levels, or way past that.
I really like it. Even shot a few tree rats with it.
Might be something to consider.

[elk hunter]

It's hard to beat a twenty-two for just picking up a gun and going shooting, I must have at least a dozen rimfire rifles and handguns. I also have two Hornets, a Ruger #3 and a Winchester mdl 43. Both are great fun to shoot and versatile. I can load to suit the situation, full house jacketed for chucks or a cast bullet for grey squirrels. If you like reloading and tinkering with loads, the Hornet is hard to beat for fun with economy.

[1Shirt]

Have a hornet and a K hornet. They offer a veristality that a 22LR does not, but they take a lot more effort than walking into the store and buying a brick of 22's. Depends on how energetic you are vs. your affinity to convenience.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[shooting on a shoestring]

On the Hornet, I have a #3 with a 16" twist. It doesn't stabilize 55 gr boolits. It does great with .45 gr boolits, marginal with 50s.

My Uncle has a M77 with 14" twist. Much better twist for Hornet.

Also, I tend to shoot my Hornet with 225438 around 2500 fps and the brass stretchs. Not terrible, but 0.005 or so per shot. I think reaming to the K Hornet would arrest most of the stretch. Also Hornet brass is very thin at the mouth and I've ruined some cases seating boolits.

So, I bought a M77 in .223. Now I get all the free range pick-up brass I need (lifetime supply). I can shoot 225438 same as the Hornet and also 225415 55gr. The twist is 12".

Its been several years since I've fired a .22 rimfire, and I've got a couple of nice ones.

Glad you're in a can't lose choice. Just give a thought to .223.

[troy_mclure]

im building an ar in .223, and have one in 5.7fn.

[Doc Highwall]

Troy, you said you have four moulds coming in 22 cal, but you have to remember that that most 22 Hornets have a slow twist of 1-16" like a 22Lr and will not stabilize bullets much over 45 grains. The smallest caliber I am going to cast for is the 222 Remington or 223 Remington. The Hornet will offer greater challenges with it's smaller case capacity and thin necks.

[troy_mclure]

ive got a 60gr and 36gr on the way, a 45gr, 55gr, currently.

[Bullshop]

Ah the 22 hornet! I love it!!!
I think most hornets in current production have gone to a faster twist at 1/14"
For some reason the Anschutz is still 1/16" and maybe some others but not like the old days.
A lot of the early hornets were fitted with 22 LR barrels because thats what was available. Sierra still offers a .223" diameter hornet bullet for those but in my experiance the .224's will shoot every bit as good. The big difference is that the .224" will give higher pressure so if someone is using data for a .223" and loading .224" and starting out with max listed loads it could get exciting quickly.
The hornet case shape is a funnel and surely will stretch brass if you load anywhere near the red line. If you can be happy with velocities that add a couple hundred FPS to that of a 22 wmr and even a little boolit weight ta boot the standard hornet case will last as long as any other. The hornet can not equal a 222 or even a 221 and if you try to crowd that performance you will stretch cases quickly and get case separations.
A 45 or 50gn boolit at 2200 fps is a very useful performance level and will keep your hornet brass going for many reloads.
I have very little experiance with a hornet with bullets so all my reference to the hornet is with boolits of which I shoot several thousand per year.
All things considered and for shots inside the 200 yard mark the hornet has a lot to offer.
There may be better case designs but for one that is what about 130 years old the hornet is more popular now than it has ever been in the past. There is good reason for it in its economy, efficiency, power level, barrel life, and yes even accuracy.

[35remington]

Even though reloading a .22 Hornet with cast is not as cheap as shooting a .22 long rifle, it has the advantage of having variable throttle control, which means it can be suited for shooting little critters or somewhat bigger critters.

It's also possible to speed it up for the reasons of flatter trajectory for longer ranged hits as well as killing power. So handloading for it has no real downside save for a little bit of cost and time.

I do the K Hornet myself.

[WILCO]

i guess its mostly a consideration of finding a gun. lol

Then this thread is a waste of time.........

[troy_mclure]

not really. i was doubtful whether a hornet would fit in my collection between the .22lr and the .223rem.

ive decided it can, if i can find a gun!

[telebasher]

Amen to what has been said in praise of the Hornet. I have two Hornets, Savage model 40 that I shoot j-bullets with and a Handi-Rifle that I shoot 5 soon to be 6 different cast boolits out of. Yes, I'm tinkerer, I love to play with different loads and components. But all that aside, the neatest thing about the Hornet that nobody ever mentions is you get alot of performance in a tiny little case and you get to see ALL of it Happen on TARGET, not so with most higher performance guns.

[Larry Gibson]

While I have several .22LRs; rifles revolvers and pistols I also love the versatility of the .22 Hornet. I've had and shot numerous .22Hs over the years and currently have a Ruger #3w/1" twst, 2 Contender barrels, 10 & 21" w/12" twists and a Savage M40 with a 14" twist. I keep cases dedicated to each barrel and NS with a Redding Bushing die. I've not had any case stretching or case head seperation since I started NSing. In the Ruger and TC Barrels I've shot a lot of pellets powered by primers, subsonic cast loads and other cast loads to full potential (2200 - 2500 fps depending on twist and bullet). I use 225107 and 225438 in the 16" twist Ruger and pellets. 1 gr of Bullseye under a beeman Crow Magnum pellet runs 942 fps and does a credible job on pests out to 35 yeards or so. The heavier domed pellets offer a lot of potential but I've not worked enough with them yet. 225107 and 225438 are both excellent cast bullets for the slower twist Hornets. I like to push 225107 at 1850 fps for excellent squirrel shooting to 100 yards. The 225438 can be pushed to 2500+ fps with slower powders like 2400, 5744 and 4227 with very good accuracy also and it extends the range some what. The ground squirrels I shoot are small and accuacy must be under 1.5", preferably 1.25" at what ever the range is to ensure clean kills. Thus accuracy establishes the max effective range as always. With larger California ground squirrels or Red Diggers accuracy is usually sufficient for 15 - 175 yard shots.

Lyman's 225415 is also excellent at moderate velocities of 1800 -2200 fps in the 12"twist 21" Contender carbine barrel. However 225462 is the most accurate cast bullet for the faster 12 and 14" twist Hornets. In either TC Barrel it gives the best accuracy from 1050 to 2400+ fps. So far my limited testing in the Savage M40 is showing excellent accuracy and the potential for 200 yard squirrel shooting.

Yup, I do love the Hornet but I also find a nische for the .22LR and don't neglect it near as much these days as I used to.

Larry Gibson

[7br]

Iffn you already have a 22 lr, definitely go for the hornet.

I have a 22 hornet contender with a 10" barrel. It is a hoot to shoot. Surprising amount of whack with just 4.3 gr of 231. Lets see, penny for the powder, another cent and a half for the check, and final two and a half for the primer.

Makes it about a nickel a round. Have you checked the price of quality 22lr ammo lately? You can still stumble on aguila for $22 a brick.

[1Shirt]

Just got back from the range and a test of Trail Boss in my K Hornet w/225438GC's, (not weighed). At 25 yds benched, starting with 2.5 gr. and going up .3 gr for 5 ea, results were interesting.
2.5 gr. One hole for 4 shots and 1 flier out to just under an inch.
2.8 gr. " " " " " " " " " "
3.1 gr. Opened to about 3/4" for 4 shots, and one flier out to a bit over an inch.
3.4 gr. Probably max w/Trail Boss, about an inch for 3 and two out to an inch and a half.

At 50 yds:
2.5 gr. 5 shots over 2"
2.8 gr. 5 shots 2 1/2"
3.1 gr. 5 shots 1 1/8", four in half inch.
3.4 gr. 5 shots 1 3/4, four under 3/4"
Rifle is #3 Ruger, w/6x24 scope set at 18x.
Next time out, will load with 225415 weighed with same pdr charges for comparison.
Have both of these blts in HP, and after I get done with the solids, will try HP's. About like shooting a HV 22LR I think, but did not have a chrono.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Doc Highwall]

I have noticed that trailboss has about the lowest velocities along with higher pressures. It's one great thing is the low density preventing double charges.