Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Thoughts on Ruger 77 22 Hornet

Probably not much but I’ll tell you what I like....

Cheap to load, kids LOVE to shoot them because there is low recoil and report. Also I can fill my pocket with enough ammo to last a day of walking around plinking whatever might come my way. It’s a dandy sub 200yard rifle.

I guess you have to be a rifle loony.
As mentioned above I’ve owned a lot of 22h guns and still own two.
They’re low recoil, thus you can watch the effect on a prairie dog. They’re cheap to load. I just enjoy shooting them, like many other cartridges.

It’s a neat little round! Very cheap to reload for ... a can of powder goes a long way with the Hornet. No fur damage. In fact, it can be hard to tell where the hit was a lot of times. Not as loud as other chamberings so it’s more enjoyable to shoot for me. Mine is accurate so to me it’s like shooting a hopped up 22 that I get more distance out of. It’s been the perfect farm ranch chambering for me over the years. Great for critters that are a nuisance or become a problem around the home and outbuildings. Not saying other chamberings can’t be used in the same situation but the Hornet just fits the bill perfectly to me! I’d give up a lot before my Hornet. Lol

Thanks all for the comeback. I can't say as this rings my bell, but it definitely puts things in a better perspective.

Nope, go CZ 527, not Savage. Trust me on this.

I picked up one years ago to use as a walking varminter. It was the older blued/walnut sporter version. I loved the weight and feel of that little rifle. I mounted a Burris 6x Mini on it, and it was the perfect little rifle. I put in a Rifle Basix sear, and go the trigger just right, probably 2-3#.

As much as I tried, and with every component I could think of, I could never get it to shoot consistently. I tried a half dozen powders, probably a dozen bullets, several different primers, all to no avail. With it's best load, which ended up being 40 grain Ballistic Tips over Lil'Gun IIRC, it had a habit of shooting TWO respectable groups, two to three inches apart. As in I would fire five rounds, and I would have two separate groups, two shots in a 3/4"=1" group, and three more shots in the same size group, but two to three inches away from the first group. There was just no consistency.

I ended up selling it out of pure frustration.

Save your money and headache and just buy a CZ, or if you can find one, an old Browning Micro Medallion. My buddy has a Browning Low Wall 1885 chambered for the Hornet, and it shoots lights out.

Buy a Fireball.

I've owned the Ruger Sporter in Hornet for almost 30 years, and my hunting buddy has had the same rifle for about 25 years.

Only thing we have done is install a Timney Spring and Sear kit. The original trigger pulls were about 5-6lbs, and they are now about 2lbs. This helped accuracy noticeably. Both shoot sub-MOA.

I use a Lee Collet Die to neck size, a small pistol primer (in most loads), and Lilgun powder.

Small powder charge changes, such as .2grs (point 2), have a rather large effect on accuracy, as does primer choice, or for that matter, most any other reloading criteria.

Probably more than most other cartridges, the Hornet seems to respond to detailed reloading procedures better, perhaps because it is such a small case.

Have fun with it.

Agree. I hand reamed to K-Hornet with rented tool. Worked out well. The new CZ bolt handle allows lower scope mounting, which has been a challenge with these guns.

Here's a link to that project and a lot of .22 Hornet, K-Hornet info. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11390994/1

Photobucket sucks and this was before my swap to IMGUR. So, I'll post a couple of photos.

The lowest mount was with this rail and low Weaver rings. I thinned the mag spring per instructions from James Calhoon. Works better.

Google James Calhoon. He's THE guru on these guns and a great guy to talk to.

DF

The pictures I had originally posted here are on the link, so I deleted them. The only ones not on that link are these of the wood.

DF

I've got both rifles. As mentioned, it took bedding and trigger work to get Ruger where I wanted it. The CZ was good to go out of the box and was lighter and handier to carry for a .22 Hornet than the Ruger in the varmint model. About the loose bolt complaints, the hornet is of course a rimmed cartridge and with out a cartridge chambered there is slop in the two piece bolt. Chambner a cartridge and you will notice the thickness of the rim tightens up all the sloppy bolt movement. The recoil lug is behind the magazine and is a little different to bed in three locations. Agree with Dirtfarmer, CZ is the way to go in a .22 Hornet these days.

Ditto on the CZ over the Savage. Savage was the cheapest made gun I ever seen in a Hornet.

I've got the Ruger 22 Hornet in green lam stock.

I call it my Green Hornet.

I installed a Timney sear/spring kit and use Lil' gun powder for loading it.

Plus 45 grain bullets.

Groups hover just under 1" at 100 yards.

Virgil B.

Probably nothing. The hornet is a cool old rimmed cartridge, that with new powders is very accurate and fun to shoot. Mine uses 13grs of lil Gun so it's inexpensive to shoot. You can load down your .223 to Hornet levels, I suppose, but why. The modern Hornet is very versatile little cartridge. Besides "what's need have to do with it"

Spoken like a true Loony...

DF