Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles pros and cons of 22 Hornet versus 218 Bee

I have no intention of getting into varmint hunting at this point, but I have been a little interested in the Hornet class of cartridge for use on small game, turkey, and plinking. Plus if I ever do need to flatten a charging groundhog I'll already be equipped.

Obviously the Hornet is far more common, and the Bee offers a bit more speed. Lets say we are going to acquire a basic custom barrel with a .224 bore, with a twist rate appropriate for bullets up to and including 55 grains at max velocity for those two cases. Handloading is a given, so that the spectrum of loads from rabbit collectors and turkey harvesters up to groundhog stoppers can be developed.

What are the practical pros and cons of those two cartridges? Case life, brass quality, neck grip, etc?

The 223 is your baby......................

I have a browning micro abolt in 22 hornet It is an awsome little cartrige! I shoot 40 grain vmax at 3000 fps with lilgun powder.flat smokes everything to 250 yrds.No experiece with 218 bee.

Love my Hornet Classes. Have three Hornets, two I am working on and I also shoot their bigger brothers the 25-20 and 32-20. For low noise, no recoil fun shooters, they can't be beat. I have a .222 and 22-250, but there are times when I just want to stalk some game and not worry about the next county or pissing off the neighbors. The Hornet will put a fox down in a hurry and my 25-20 with the Speer 75 gr JFP has accounted for its share of Coyotes over the last couple of years. They are fun guns to shoot. I haven't gotten into the Bee yet, but I am sure eventually I will. Have a friend that has one in a custom single shot he built. He likes it, but agrees the Hornet is just easier and cheaper to deal with. Ryan

If I were looking for a general plinker right now, in the smaller .22s, and were being even remotely practical, the list would go like this:

.223 Remington
.222 Remington
.221 Remington
.22 K-Hornet
.22 Hornet

And I'd stop right there.

That said, what you're looking for; i.e. a turkey rifle and a small game (edible, I assume) is a tough combination. Any of those rounds with an other-than-head-shot will blow up small, edible, game, and on turkeys, you'd better head/neck/neck-body juncture shoot'm.

55 grs. is stretching it for the .221 Fireball, and she's my favorite of the bunch. The Fireball is far better with 53 grs and under, really singing with 40s to 50s. The Hornet gets stretched at 50 grains, and is far better kept in the 30-40 gr. range. The K-Hornet basically equals the .221 Fireball.

The .222 and .223 work great on up to and through the 55 gr. weights.

If weight is important to you, stay with the larger two.

If I had to narrow the list to two, I'd keep the K-Hornet or .221 Fireball, and the .223.

If the .223 doesn't horn you up ('cause for some of us, it just doesn't), take your choice between the .221 and the K-Hornet. Either will give enough to anchor 'yotes to 150ish; same with turkeys (and that's a SMALL target), and groundhogs, etc., at twice that distance. And those are conservative ranges...

Rem. makes chambers all but the Hornet and K; CZ all of them (except the K, obviously), and Ruger's 77-22 Hornet is a dandy of a donor for K pursuits.

Ah . . . yup.

Its the way to go for cheap efficient handloading of 224 bores. A great plinker with Milsurp also.

Note, by the way that Big Stick is a serious 22 K-hornet slut and will readily recommend the Ruger 77/22 Hornet to potnetioal candidates.

BMT

Have done a 218 mashburn years ago, now have a 221 fireball and 223.

The beauty of the 223 is with blue dot, it becomes a 22 hornet. It also has milsurp, and full patch as well.

The hornet is a neat round, but regarding brass quality and flexibility, you can't beat the 223.

I guess I am the only "Jose" here who is going to answer your question straight up. I shoot and handload for both, I have no axe to grind with either, as both shoot well enough to fill in those slots, where a 223, or 220 Swift might be little much, in 22 cal that is.

The 218 Bee, certainly is easier to load than the Hornet, due to case configueration, and a more prononuced shoulder, the Bee also appears to be be less particular as to powder charge and bullet selection. Also you can load a Bee "down" to Hornet levels, but not a Hornet to Bee levels. If you can find a load for a Hornet, they are tack drivers, and a lot of fun to shoot. Most of the guys I hang around with, and this applies to rifles that are not considered "classics", turn their standard Hornets into "K'S" and then they rave about them.

Just some stuff for your thoughts.

Good shooting

Jerry

The Hornet isn't much of an edible game rd. unless you stay with head shots. Just too fast and it opens too quick. I find the .25-20 far more practical as a meat round with it's slow 86 gr. bullets. You can also push 60 grainer fast enough to be pretty explosive. A wildcat rd. on the .221 case ?
They are availible in small light rifles like the Ruger. But so is the .223.
No doubt you can do more with a .223.
The Hornet is lots of fun and quiet. You can load it down as well to equal the .22 RFM or even less. I've found the Remington 45 gr. HP's, for instance, don't open too fast on eddible stuff, at least some of the time. Loaded down, they be better. E

I completely agree with VAnimrod's assessment. Have never owned either a Hornet or Bee. In my estimation the .221 Fireball comes closest to covering the ground of both of these rounds. My .02 cents worth.

The FB has better brass available to it,as well as logistics.

The 223 will do everything mentioned and then some,as well as doing it cheaper than anything else.

Win/win....................

"What are the practical pros and cons of those two cartridges? Case life, brass quality, neck grip, etc?"

The .223 Remington is the answer, but if you do want to keep the power level down the .221 Fireball is the next best answer - it's what the Hornet should have been in the first place.

The Hornet's neck is too long and sloped to headspace off of it. The K-Hornet is better in that regard. Hornet brass is pretty thin. Not a big problem if you're careful but you can crush those mouths pretty easily. The Hornet's long sloping shape also contributes to lengthening - more a theoretical problem but it's still something that the Fireball doesn't have to worry so much about.

I've owned something like 4 Hornets that I can remember off the top of my head - Kimbers and T/C Contenders in pistol and carbine form - and all but the 10" Contender were finicky as hell. Hornet chambers were/are typically sloppy - the only head separations I've ever had were in Hornets. Maybe that's just me but thought I'd mention it.

Never had a .218 Bee, haven't known many people who did and therein lies it's problem. You just don't see them around much, so if you ever did decide to sell there wouldn't be much of a market.

Only had one Fireball but it was in a production T/C Carbine barrel and it shot better with more different loads than any of my Hornets (except that aforementioned 10" Contender) and better than my custom chambered K-Hornet from the get-go.

If you're going to the trouble of getting a custom barrel and want less oomph than a .223 then I'd strongly recommend the Fireball.

Can all of you guys please explaine how you can put the 221 fireball ahead of the 222 Rem. for any reason. Never heard that it is more accurate and it definately lacks power.,and 222 Rem can be loaded down to 218 Bee power. What gives?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

The only reason I mentioned the FB,is because that is all the capacity it takes,to do dastardly 400yd deeds.

The Deuce never showed me anything and the 223 is easily KING.......................

the 221FB produces velocity all out of proportion to it's size....I had one in a 26-1/2" tube on a Rem 700 that pushed the 40 VMax to 3680.....I was a bit surprised....16 grs of LilGun did the deed.

I have a Hornet, a Fireball, and a Triple Deuce in the safe now. I sold my .223 a while back but still have access to a friend's.
I take the Hornet to the dance about 90 % of the time because it does the job I need to do around here. Most of the shots I take at crows or groundhogs are on the sunny side of 200 yards. The Hornet handles these with ease and is a bit more quieter than the others. Stick and others that shoot a bit farther than I do need the speed a .223 affords. They prolly shoot at critters a little bigger than I do also. Unfortunately there are not too many wolves or moose here in the piedmont NC. But for smaller game like foxes, crows, and groundhogs the little Hornet will get her done.
Some have mentioned that the Hornet is a bitch to load, but I think that most problems arise from users trying to get 3500 fps from that miniscule case. Keep handloads in the range that they were intended for and I think you will be impressed with what it will do with 11 or 12 grains of Lil Gun, WW680, or AA1680.
It is not a speed demon, but is a very efficient cartridge. I have only had one Hornet that would not shoot and it was a HR Handi Rifle that had an honest 17-pound trigger pull. All others have been shooters with several loads.

I have a pair of older Winchester 43's a cheap bolt gun.One is in 22 Hornet and one is in 218 Bee. Both shoot very well for what they are. From your inquiry it sounds like you want either cartridge not any of the others people are mentioning.I know how that goes,I get the bug to try something and do it even though there are many others to choose from,some maybe better or more "all around". If I had to choose I would go with a 218 Bee.I really like the cartridge and feel it shoots a little better and is slightly easier to reload.The Hornet has never had a reputation for extreme accuracy but it shoots well for mr.As mentioned before its case can be weak and tends to stretch with repeated loadings.I do not hotrod either of the two as the 43 action is not particularly strong.I use them both for target shooting and plinking and varmints. The BEE is the one my 15yr old son thinks is his and its a good one for him to be acquainted with and learn marksmanship.I have been using 35gr Hornady V-Max in it because it shoots so well.I have just bought some various 40 and 45 grainers to test.I have thought of making the Hornet a K-Hornet which is a simple job of just running a reamer into chamber and giving it a shoulder.Guys I have talked to who have done so are very pleased with the results.I don't know if my old Win. is a good candidate for it though.Anyway, you asked for advice on the two and I would go with the 218 Bee after that my second would be a K-Hornet if I were having one built. Both are great cartridges,fun to shoot, and cheap to reload.Have fun

The 223 may be KING, but the 222 Mag is KINGER. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Don

Gotta weigh logistics.

Have said often and maintain the course,that "free" brass is never a bad thing.

That's but only one of main layers of the frosting................

What E said.

Hard to beat the .25-20 Win. with heavy bullets for body shots on turkeys and other of the larger varieties of edible small game.