It's substantially bigger than a Hornet. Consider it midway between a Hornet and .223, with performance pretty similar to a .221 Fireball if one loaded the Maximum to maximum, which isn't a good idea anymore if you want your $1.50 apiece brass to last more than a firing or two. Come to think of it, the Lovell cartridges (.22-3000, R2, and .22 Maximum) would fill a niche quite neatly if they were truly available today. The advent of the .222 in the late '40s killed off the Lovell wildcats almost overnight, and a host of other good ones too. We forget how the .222 took the shooting world by storm 65 years ago.
Modern Hornets loaded with L'il Gun and 40 grain bullets can easily duplicate the velocity of the old Lovells. But note too that the Lovells were/are doing it with 50-55 grain bullets.
Not much chance of dead critter pics taken next to my Max Lovell. I sort of lost interest re: groundhog hunting after racking up some hellacious tallies over the years. Now I'm content to collect the rifles and punch paper with them. A bull barreled R2 Lovell built by Jerry Gebby on a HiWall action was a favorite during that time, along with a .219 Donaldson Wasp on a HiWall built by "Red" Hare. Having worn the print off the pages by reading, of C.S.Landis' ".22Caliber Varmint Rifles" as a kid (and still today) drove me to a passion for .22 wildcats. I'm still hankering for a .22 Baby Niedner or a .22 Lindahl Chucker, or a .22 Marciante Blue Streak...
Last edited by gnoahhh; 07/07/15.
