It was a close call, but I managed to get 500 projectiles today to keep my little Brno ZK465 Hornet in ammo for the future. This particular rifle will only shoot Sierra 45gn SMP's (1210 - used to cost $4.65/100)) because of the short magazine length, else you can only feed long Spitzer's or BT's one at a time.
I bought this little rifle secondhand in 1969 (1947 manufacture) for the princely sum of $45.00. I remember it well because my apprentice wage was $41.60/week. Didn't come with a scope so I fitted a Nikko Stirling 3-9X (paid $36.70) for about 2 years. Every long weekend and annual holidays was spent shooting foxes, rabbits and pigs. In 1973 I upgraded to a Kahles 6x42 (paid $82,00), a glass it still wears today and a solid steel Hilver bridge mount.
God only knows how many rounds it has fired both the 22 years before I bought it, and the 50+ years since that I've owned it. Maybe in the order of 25,000 to 30,000 :umm: The gilt edged accuracy it once had is now in the 1.5MOA class
A few years ago I happened upon a new factory replacement barrel (dated 1953) which still has to be fitted. Recently I tried a little 40gn powder coated cast bullet which shot reasonably well up to 2,380fps, then groups started to open.
Me and that little hornet are a team, never had a reason to cuss it or doubt it's ability to put food on the table! nya: