H&R 58 22 hornet

[weik]

Anyone have any knowledge of these ? Just found in a pawn store with 4x weaver steel scope mounted. Has straight butt stock. I coudn't pass it up. Thank you

[obssd1958]

What do you want to know?
Mine shoots just fine.
Don't know if you might be looking to add other barrels to that frame, but the 58 was not a high pressure frame, so you'll be limited to "I think" the hornet, 20ga shotgun, 410 shotgun, "maybe" 12ga, and "maybe" 30-30. My memory ain't so good as it once was, but all of the info that you want is over on GBO, in their H&R/NEF section.

[KCSO]

If it is an older one the twist os for 40-45 grain bullets you will need to measure. Otherwise good shooters and good on coyote up to 100 yards or so.

[shaner]

Nice light weight rifle for field walking. Glad you grabbed it

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[Buzz Krumhunger]

Wish I could run across one like that. :)

[kenyerian]

got one that was my Dad's. wouldn't part with it for anything.

[richhodg66]

A downloaded single shot Hornet is great. My favorite squirrel rifle.

[Ledslnger]

If you find it a bit anemic you can always bore it to a .221 Fireball or .222 too. I have a Thompson barrel that someone did that too. Really enjoy my TC in Fireball.

[Walks]

Obssd1958 is right. That frame is limited to lower pressure loads. That's why the old frames were limited to cartridges such as .22Hornet, .30-30, .45-70 & .44Mag.

Newer frames made specifically for High Pressure Cartridges such as .270Win that were made in middle 1990's, could. Until the purchase of the Company by Marlin, those frames were made stronger.

The old model 058 are not strong enough to handle a cartridge as hot as .223 Rem. or .221 Fireball.

[Oily]

weik I hope yours has a better trigger than mine. Bought mine in 79 and liked it alot but with the horrible trigger pull I could never get mine to shoot groups less than 3" @ 100 yds with any bullet or powder combination. I have seen you tube videos on how to lighten trigger pull but looks too complicated for me. Not sure that the trigger pull is my only problem as the groups don't look like I am pulling shots but rather the groups are just random high, low, left, right. I can shoot 20 round groups and they are all in the same general grouping as the 5 round groups. I don't have a trigger pull gauge but I would guess it at around 15 to 20 #. Have still killed 5 or 6 coyotes with it plus many other varmints around the property. Handi little rifle for a truck gun. Make sure you have your hand over the chamber when opening the action as this model has a ejector not a extractor. Empty brass will travel a long distance and never be seen again.

[richhodg66]

Cast iron frame, don't mess with it. Wayyyyy too many cheap .223s out there if you want that.

I never understood why everybody seems to want to hotrod a Hornet, too many .22 centerfires that do that much better and the real beauty of the Hornet is how easy it downloads. It's kind of like the .30-30 in that regard, it handles reduced loads a lot better than the bigger ones, at least in my experience.

[frkelly74]

I got a 258 Handy rifle years ago with a 20 ga barrel and a 30/30 barrel. I then got one of the Lee 160 gr round nose molds and started in casting and found that it was pretty easy to get the thing to shoot well. The 258 is nickle plated and mine came in a take down case. The 20 ga barrel makes for a really light shotgun that I have never been able to hit with, probably due to lack of practice.

[toallmy]

I helped a young fellow I worked with , get his grandfather's 22 hornet shooting good again with Hornady 40 gr v-max over a light charge . We struggled with cast a wile then I just ordered bulk 40 gr v-max , he might shoot 100-150 rounds a year . As mentioned those suckers chunk spent brass , watch out .

[richhodg66]

I got a 258 Handy rifle years ago with a 20 ga barrel and a 30/30 barrel. I then got one of the Lee 160 gr round nose molds and started in casting and found that it was pretty easy to get the thing to shoot well. The 258 is nickle plated and mine came in a take down case. The 20 ga barrel makes for a really light shotgun that I have never been able to hit with, probably due to lack of practice.

Like this one?
242445

I configured it with the youth stock for my youngest son's first deer rifle, but it's fun to plink with and is a good shooter with cast.

I like my Savage 219 in the Hornet better than the H&Rs, but the little H&Rs are neat guns, no doubt.

[frkelly74]

Yes , kind of like that, but with a straight grip wood stock. The butt is a little slippery so when I shoot from the bench I have to hold on tight.

[cwlongshot]

Its a fine gun!!

Yes, its not as strong as modern SB2 frames. YES, its a soldered lug. YES, its probably 1:14... SO WHAT!!!! Its a hornet, you are ahooting 35,40 & 45g bullets!! But PLENTY STRONG FOR A Hornet or K Hornet.
Guys over at Greybeards have forgotten what many think they know of these.

If you like it and price is right go for it. Prices are raising and its doubtful you will loose out should you sell. I have had a few, took a few to get a real accurate one for me.

CW

[weik]

Thanks for all the info fellas. I have just picked up a 75 chev 3/4 ton 4 w/d for a ranch truck and the handi lives behind the seat now. Had it out to the range sat. the trigger pull isn't to awful and accuracy was good at 50 yrds. I have 3 other hornets and a fireball and a bee so it will remain what is. a fine little truck gun. Thanks again TW

[richhodg66]

weik, are you going to try cast loads in it?

[weik]

I hadn't thought of using cast in it. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you

[Texas by God]

My friend bought one just like you have in the early 1970s. We learned a couple of things about the 22 Hornet. It will kill deer with neck shots at close range, and if you full length size your cases eventually you will get a head separation. It is a very cool little rifle though.

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[richhodg66]

Don't be afraid to neck size only. The general wisdom is it only works in bolt actions, but it's all I do in my Savage 219 so it oughta work in that H&R.

I have two loads in Hornet; squirrel load A is a NOE 45 grain WFN design, plain based and two grains of Bullseye. Squirrel load B is the Lee Bator (Midsouth sold it a while back, the current Lee is a copy of the RCBS bullet, not the Bator), cast very soft, gas checked and using 6 grains of 2400. That one is a bit more meat destructive, but my Stevens 322 won't feed the NOE bullet so that's where the Bator comes in.

If I need a .22 centerfire for more than that, I'll grab one of my .223s.

[Drm50]

Me & Bro had H&R Hornets back in 80s. Rifles were accurate the worst think was the trigger. We ruined parts and springs trying to get a decent trigger pull. We never got it done. I still have springs left from the project. I was buying them buy 10pks. It runs on one spring and it's a shotgun trigger not much you can do with it. It's a utility gun not a target rifle. I wouldn't mess with it because other than springs I don't know if parts are still available. Good truck gun.

[Tracy]

I have one that came with .22 Hornet and 20 gauge barrels. The Hornet barrel is 1:16" twist, which is the standard for Hornets (although some are faster now). Great cast boolit rifle. Mine stabilizes 55 grain Lyman 225415 boolits as long as I don't try to load it down to .22LR speeds. Probably same for the Bator; I have one but don't think I've tried it in this rifle yet.
With a 45 grain or less cast boolit, you can load it down to subsonic levels.

[Walks]

I actually bought a SB2 in .223 and had a .45-70, .30-30 and a 20ga youth bbl fitted to it. And bought a youth buttstock for my Kids.

Wish I had a couple more. But I waited too long.

The .223 and .30-30 are neck-sized. Never had a case separation. .30-30 shoots cast better then any other Rifle I shoot cast in.

[Littlewolf]

i have the SB2 handi rifle in 22hornet i prefer the 225450 47gr cast from lyman NOE has cloned it. for red fox squirrels here in KS i cast from COWW PC'd and checked over 10gr of 4227IMR it clocks around 1900fps as does the 45gr hornady hornet j-word and planting groups of five inside a dime at 100. during coyote time i use the 225450 from straight printer letter alloy over 10.5gr IMR4227 clocking around 2200fps.

[weik]

I tried the 10.5 grn 4227 load w/40 grn j bullet with very good results. Thank you

[John Taylor]

Years ago many were re-chambered to 223 but they did not shoot well with the slow twist.

[kir_kenix]

I had one for years that my dad traded into for some comic books. The accompanying 20 gauge barrel didn't lock up well so it was a truck gun for us. It wasn't a very accurate rifle, and I abused the heck out of it for 10+ years of gunsmithing hacks, neglect, and wet weather varmint hunting.

It originally had a horrendously sloppy chamber, so I ran a k hornet in (too deep) and created a super weird short necked abomination. If the cases didn't split fire forming, I just necked sized until the brass stretched too much and I gave it a little bump. I also shortened the barrel a couple inches (along with threading it for a flash suppressor...for some reason I no longer remember) and it would fit under the split bench seats in my truck.

In factory form it was probably a 4 moa rifle by the time I got it. I got it to shoot into maybe 2.5 after all of my 'improvements'. It liked the now discontinued 45 gr bee bullet from hornady. I traded it off a couple years ago to a friend who wanted to rechamber it to some sort of .222 or .223 based wildcat.

I actually kind of miss it. It was good, light rifle I didn't mind taking in the canoe or leave in the combine. I'd buy another one, and gamble on getting a better chamber/accuracy. I've had several sb2 Hornets and a handful of contenders...but they are all a couple pounds heavier than that old h&r.

[Elroy]

I had a model 58 in 22 Hornet till fairly recently,and it was a decent shooter concidering it had cheap glass.They have a slightly more swept back,and thinner hammer than most handi-rifles which does allow some space to get your thumb on it to cock,and decock it without an extention even with the scope mounted low.mine had the iron sights as well.It would stabilize 46gr Speer flat nose .I used Lil Gun shotgun powder,and just sized the neck down to the bullet depth.I got good velocity for a standard Hornet with this combo at the muzzle ,but that flat nose bullet has poor B.C..