Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Remington Handi

I have four single shot Hornets. Two 22 K-Hornets, a std 22 Hornet and a 17 Hornet.



I was digging around in one of my lockers and pulled out this Handi. It was made sometime around 2008 or 2009 in Ilion, NY. I never phoned to get the exact manufacturing date. I had it reamed to the K-Hornet several years ago and, as a joke, put a bipod and cheek rest on it, along with (I think) a Bushnell 4-12 scope. I called it a "tactical Hornet" and had a lot of fun with her at the gun club and hunting foxes. I replaced the scope with a 4 power Leupold after a few months.

The rifle somehow found its way forward in the locker, so I pulled it out. One of my friends was over and we were discussing rifles we have owned through the years. I mentioned the Hornet. He suggested that I put together a "Tactical Hornet Mk 2" using an inexpensive Athlon 6-24 scope I have and heavy (for the Hornet) 55 to 65 grain bullets. I don't think that I can use the rings that are on it, but I have some high rings in the shop somewhere. Then he said,

"That rifle was made in Ilion, NY. I bet it has a 1 in 9 twist."

We stuffed a cleaning rod with a brush down the barrel to get a measurement. Lo and behold, it is a 1 in 9!





This fast twist barrel will easily stabilize anything up to 65 grains, and maybe more. It shoots 40 to 50 gr bullets accurately, so... I don't think that I will keep it configured with a 6-24, but I am curious how the heavier bullets will do, accuracy wise, out to 100 yd. I have these 65 gr bullets that I shoot in my 223s. I don't know what the BC is, but at 100 yd, who cares?

With the good weather here, it's time for some fun!





Edited to add: For fun, I checked the bullet stability for a Sierra 69 gr bullet leaving the barrel at 1950 fps. According to JBM, it will stabilize. The numbers look like this from the muzzle to 200 yd. in 25 yard increments.

133 yd. Zero + 2.1 -5.5 -5.6 -3.7 -1.0 +2.2 +5.8 +9.6

I sure do miss the NEF/H&R lineup.

Prices for these are quite high up here. Still, I always look for used rifles at gun shows and gun shops.

With TC coming back and CVA producing single shots, maybe we’ll see a resurgence in this type of firearm.

I haven't put the cheek rest on yet, but here's what the scope looks like mounted to the Handi. The scope is an Athlon 6-24 scope I originally bought for a 22LR. There is about 1/2 an inch of clearance between the hammer and the scope. Once the cheek rest is on and the scope zeroed, I will see how some "heavy for the Hornet" bullets will shoot.

It almost reminds me of a silhouette rifle with the higher scope mount.

Try the Speer 46 gr flat point down around 2000 fps with 8-9 grains +/- of IMR 4227. They’re really good on small game.

Will do. I have 4 or 5 boxes now. We got a pile of Speer bullets here locally and I have been collecting.

I have a Remington Handi in 45-70 and it is a great gun. One of my favorites

The picture looks this way to enhance the gouge that was caused by a little fleck of brass caught in the firing pin hole. I was loading up some "whimsy" cartridges. These are extremely heavy bullets that are almost too heavy for a 22 K-Hornet. I set the OAL by attempting to close the action on a dummy round. I was using some PPU 69 gr bullets and got an OAL of approx. 1.925".

Well sir, I assembled and chambered the first cartridge to ensure that it would close. No problem, except that when I ran my finger across the primer, I could feel that something was wrong with it. I loaded another and the same thing happened. I managed to pull what looked like brass out of the firing pin hole. I ran a Swiss file over the hole to make sure that it was not damaged.

Problem solved! The picture below is a 69 gr. seated bullet beside a 45 gr. seated bullet. I am curious to see how well or poorly the 69 gr bullets will perform at 100 yd.



A black rifle.