Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 22 Hornet options?

T/C Contender, Hornet barrel, shop around a little.

For your stated purpose, the short magazines in CZs and Rugers won't be a problem.

The bargain leader in small rifles, IMO, is the Howa Mini in .222 or .223. The slow twist in their .222 won't be a problem, again for the purpose you stated. These can be found for from $350-$450 all over the www. I love my Hornet, but if money was a big issue could do very well with either a .222 or .223. Don't know if you handload, but a Lee Loader and a powder scale will keep you in good ammo for very few bucks once you've got some brass. Same applies to the Hornet, BTW. Neck-sizing only makes that thin brass last.

Pappy, thanks for your reply. Money is the biggest hurdle and it the most important one. I like the Howa rifles and the 223 cambering offers even more utility from the mild to full speed 223 loads. I do hand load and I think this is best option. For every used hornet out there,there are 15 used 223's sitting on the rack. My local Walmart has a savage Axis for $269.00 new. Blue dot reduced loads will fill the bill and i have a pound of it on hand. Blue

Here's a link to .22 Hornet, K-Hornet. Have posted before.

Some B.S., mostly good stuff. You'll have to sort it out...

JB contributes a bunch of good information that you may not find elsewhere.

www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11390994

DF

Newer Minis out there will have 1-8" twists in .223. No way to tell without the serial number, according to the guy at LSI. .222s are probably 1-12, maybe 1-14, but fine for bullets uot o 55 or 60gr.

The same guy told me they are in negotiations with Howa for blind mag and floorplate versions of the Mini. No time frame on that. Either would be more better than the DM for me.

The Howa mini and the 22 hornet go together like peas and carrots! I just wish Howa would come to that realization! I would buy it!

The mag on a mini Howa is an easy fix.

I have an Anschutz that is really accurate with a varmint type barrel. Not cheap but they shoot well.

Cs2blue: You may not have been paying attention but Fireball2 already answered your query correctly - 221 Remington Fireball!
I have two Rifles in this caliber (221 Remington Fireball) and they are both very capable of EXCELLENT accuracy.
First is a Kimber of Oregon Ultra-Varmint and the other is a Remington 700 Classic.
Again both Rifles are splendidly accurate, the 221 Remington Fireball brass lasts forever and your reloading options are infinite.
Best of luck to you with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

It is good to see that the .221 Fireball has a good following here on the forum from guys who know their rifles. I looked at a Hornet and K Hornet before I got the .221 FB, but I thought that the Hornet case looked thin and weak compared to the larger bottle necked cartridges. The Fireball does everything I'll ever need as a walk around varmint rifle. Factory ammunition is pretty much mail order only unlike the .223 stuff, but I have enough to last for the shooting that I'll do.

I'll offer a 2nd vote for a T/C contender in 22 H. You can choose the length, contour and twist by using a Match Grade Machine barrel and you will be very happy with the accuracy you will get using it.

CZ 527 is a good bet. Or, if you can find a good used Savage Model 40 single-shot (not the 25 M25!), that would be the best bang for the buck.

Go S/S 77/22 chop it at 20" and punch it "K".

Hint..................

Go S/S 77/22 chop it at 20" and punch it "K".

Hint..................

this is what I did. I sent in a round to JGS, had a reamer made to fit the base dimension, neck dimension, and throat geometry where the leade angle started on the end of the case neck, no freebore or chamfer coming off the front of the case.... on the K version. I set the barrel back .250 which allowed the old chamber to be cleaned up.

Bedded the ruger All Weather skeleton stock, honed the trigger. I hunted coyotes with the rifle in Az, killed a lot of them with 40g speer spire point which could touch the lands and still use the Ruger magazine. 40g speer spire point will break some bones but is a POS on ballistic's for 200 and further shooting. Plastic tip bullets were in their infancy at that time with market being dominated by Nosler only.

Since you already handload, a CZ 527 in 221 Fireball ( or any other 22 centerfire ) will eliminate dealing with thin Hornet brass. The set trigger is also a nice feature. A single shot adapter from Jim Calhoon is an option that does away with the overall cartridge length issue and the ugly ( in my humble opinion ) magazine protruding from the bottom of the rifle.

CZ's can't/don't enter anything approaching serious consideration.

Hint...................

You get what you pay for. I won't settle for crap results just to get cheap.

My favorite .22 Hornet is the Ruger 77/22 varmint-target. The magazine is short so you can't use long, pointed bullets in the magazine but they single feed just fine and thats perfectly ok if you're shooting in a colony of varmints from a rest of some sort. Look at the Nosler 40 and 50 grain ballistic tip, Hornady 40 and 50 grain VMAX, and the Hornady 45 grain spire point Hornet bullet. (Sierra Blitzkings in 40 and 50 grains should be good too, just haven't had a hornet since they came out.) For magazine feeding, Sierra and Speer 40 and 45 grain stubby semi-spitzers and roundnoses work fine. The very best bullet of all for a Ruger hornet is the 35 grain VMAX. Stubby, low BC, but remembering that a Hornet is not a .22-250 and using the Hornet for what it does best, it is an incredible little bullet.

I don't know that I'll ever go back to the Hornet. The .17 HMR does everything I'd do with a Hornet. However, if I do, it'll be another 77/22 VT.

Tom

The 32,33 and 35 'Max are Deer Killing bastards in a herd of 77/22 K-Hornets.

Hint...................

Another TC Contender Hornet fan !