.22 Hornet discussion

[David LaPell]

There was an earlier discussion on the .22 Hornet as far as the difference between the CZ rifles or the Ruger M77. I have heard many stories about the Ruger's not being accurate unless it was an early gun. I have no idea about the CZ, never owned one. But, there is another option. While I no not everyone is onto these, I love this little H & R Handi-Rifle in .22 Hornet. I picked this one up second hand and even though when I bought it there was only a couple of weeks left for the season, it bagged one fox, two coyotes, and a crow. With the cost of the gun, the scope, bi-pod, and the camo finish that I added, I have only $300 into the gun TOTAL. Don't overlook these little rifles, they are pretty much everywhere.

Here is is with the grey fox only two weeks after I got it.

With bi-pod

Here it is with the handpainted camo scheme

 

[n4zov]

It is hard to argue with success, and the price is certainly attractive! What kind of groups do you get at 100 yards from the H&R? Also thanks for posting those photos.

 

[ColbyBruce]

I have owned a few .22 Hornet rifles

I love the cartridge, but finding the perfect rifle for it took a while. My first was a Ruger 77 blue steel/walnut stock. The rifle was not accurate enough to commit suicide with. Fist size groups were the best it would do. The two piece bolt had a good bit of slop in it, the trigger was like a shotgun, and the mag would not work reliably fully loaded. It went away.

Then I got a Ruger #1 .22 Hornet. It had exceptional wood for a factory gun. It would stay inside a 2"x2" square with handloads. I sold it to a friend, who traded it on his way home.

I got a CZ #527 Lux .22 Hornet. Accurate, reliable, detachable box magazine, controlled round feed, single set trigger, integral scope mount...what's not to like? I have been very pleased with the CZ. Bottom rifle in the photo.

I ran across a Sako 78 .22 Hornet and purchased it. Accurate as a laser, but it would not feed from the magazine at all. I purchased two more Sako 78 Hornets, both NIB, OS, which would not feed from the mags either. I sold those guns, then my personal Sako, as new magazines were $100.00 apiece and I didn't want to bother with them any longer.

I briefly had a Ruger #3 .22 Hornet with a very long throated chamber. That particular rifle was not Ruger's best effort. I sold it to a friend who re-chambered it to .222 Remington. It never did become a MOA rifle. I had a Winchester #54 in Hornet for a few days, and a old Savage bolt gun but I can't remember the model.

I never tried the H&R/NEF rifles in .22 Hornet but did own one in .223 Remington with a Weaver K3 scope. It would shoot, especially when I put a Redfield 10x scope on it and used a rifle rest. A neighbor bought it for his son. That youngster was left-handed, he could reload the rifle real quick and used it until he grew up. Now, at 6' 4", the .223 no longer fits him.

I had two Winchester #43's, both of mine in .218 Bee. .218 Bee is like a Hornet on steroids. I wish it were more popular.

 

[feralmerril]

I bought this first year winchester model 70 hornet many years ago from a private party. Took it out and found it was reamed out to K-hornet. I kept it anyway and bought the dies. It is a 4 diget number and probley one of the 1st model 70 hornets. It is a heavy rifle for such a little dinky cartridge!

 

[Forester]

Great working rifle, Dave. How is the trigger.

 

[Frank237]

A lot of "experts" will lament that the .22 Hornet suffers from a poor initial cartridge design; too much body taper and headspaces on the rim. May be something to that.... as every .22 K Hornet I've owned has shot far better than all the std Hornets I've owned and sold.

We have a million or so little ground squirrels out here and gopher shooting is a big Spring pastime. The .22 Hornet in theory would be a great little round, far more than a .22 rimfire, but still minimal recoil and noise. I never found it to be so. Never found one accurate enough for the 100-150 yd shots I wanted it to take.

YMMV

 

[Gaffer]

I have owned three different Hornets and none of them shot as accurately as they should. I think it is part of what Frank 237 said. The last one was a Ruger 77 Hornet and I even had it cryo treated trying to make it acceptable and I finally gave up. Tried many different loads and free floted the barrel and then up pressured the barrel. Nothing worked! You would get two shots close together and a flyer every darn time.

 

[ohiobuckeye]

My Winchester model 43 shoots the Hornet well, and I had the itch for one of the Ruger 77 Hornets until two friends bought them and had very poor results. One friend returned his to Ruger and the net gain was a reduction in group size from dinner plate size to an occasional group under four inches at 100 yards. After such dismal performance and lack of improvement after the Ruger factory tune up, both got rid of the Rugers. This was around 10 years ago, give or take, so Ruger may have solved their Hornet problems since then. They couldn't get much worse...

 

[ldausmc1369]

.22 hornet

Have a Handi-Rifle just like the one pictured. Bought like new at an auction with a 3 x 12 Bushnell A/O scope for $100. It is extremely accurate, shooting 1/2 - 3/4" 5 shot groups at 100'. 45 gr Hornady handloads keeps the group 1/2" to 5/8" at 100'. Can't ask for a better rifle. Lousy trigger pull until I took the Dremel and polished out the trigger/sear surface. Don't have a pull gage, but estimate probably 3-4 lb let-off.