The Hornet is one of those chamberings that has run consistently through my gun owning/buying/trading/selling life. Rare is the time I haven't been without one. My current Hornet is a German single shot stalking rifle in 5.6x35R (indistinguishable from the Hornet), and wouldn't trade it for anything. Future plans for satisfying my Hornet lust: a Martini Cadet that is going on the chopping block for conversion, and saving a couple Social Security checks with which to shop for either a M54 or M70 Hornet. A gunshop owner buddy who owns a M43 Hornet re-chambered to K-Hornet is weakening in his resolve to not sell it to me. I can tell. I hope.
I owned Savages 340 and 219, long ago. Shot well enough but rather plebian, and they didn't shoot that good so as to overcome that. I remember a Martini Hornet that had the prettiest piece of crotch-figure walnut on it that I ever saw. It didn't shoot as well as it looked, so away it went into the ether. The one I really should have my ass kicked for was a vintage Winchester LoWall rebuilt as a Hornet that I swapped for a Mannlicher-Schoenauer.
Another angle to recommend a Hornet is its adaptability to shooting low velocity cast bullet rounds. .22LR and/or .22RF Mag performance at a fraction of the cost. It would seem the Hornet was custom designed for that very thing. Oh wait. It was. Consider the lead bullet shooting .22 W.C.F. from which the Hornet evolved.
