Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Any .22 Hornet shooters out there???

Was thinking about getting a Hornet of some kind for small game hunting and plinking...

Was wondering what everyone has, what you load and how they shoot... It is one of the rounds I have often looked at but never owned...for that matter I'm not even sure if I ever shot one...


Thanks...Bob

Bob,
I think I am a qualified "Hornet Nut". I have owned and hunted with many different ones and currently own six hornets. If you can love the Hornet for what it is, then by all means I recommend that you get one.....a couple of 'em. If I could look into you gun cabinet, I could probably tell if you are going to get along with the little raskal. Guys who also love the .17 HMR, the 250-3000 and the 7x57 usually do well with one. If you are a .300 RUM and .257 Weatherby guy then maybe not. The Hornet is not a .223 or a 22-250 or a Swift. It will deliver almost 3000 fps with 32 or 35 grain bullets and less with heavier ones. It will over achieve burning small amounts of powder, delivering almost no recoil and without alot of noise. I get extreme case life and wonderful accuracy with 13.5 grains of AA1680 and 35 or 32 grain bullets - Remington 7 1/2 primers. Others may recommend small pistol primers although the Remingtons had served me best. The varmints don't know they were struck dead with a obsolete little round and I have been able to hit well out to about 300 yards when I practice at it. I give the CZ 527 a strong recommendation for a first Hornet with the H&R HandiRifle also an economical way to get into one. Contender Carbines are also nice. Contrarary to what has been written, with a good chamber and good barrel the Hornet is very accurate.

John

Bob,
I agree with texasjohn. The CZ 527 would be my first choice. If you reload you can get a good 3000fps out of a 40-grain V-Max. I sent both my Hornets off to get K'd and love shooting them. I seem to go to my CZ the most because my Kimber M82 is a bit harder to feed. I will probably sell it this spring and just shoot the CZ. You will not be sorry for picking one up.

Yeah, I'm a CZ Hornet shooter, too. Fun little gun, fun little cartridge. I like 1680 and 34HPs, or Sierra's 40 Hornet bullet. Mine shoots quite well.

I have shot 10's of thousands, maybe 100's of thousands of rounds at varmints, mostly 22 LR, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, 22-250 Rem, 220 Swift, 6mm Rem, 6mm PPC and even 25-06. I had never considered a Hornet until I saw an early Pre-64 Model 70. I got it and now wonder why at 57 years old it took me so long to find a round that has been around so long that does so much with so little!

yes i love shooting a little hornet but guess i am diff than most i hate the set triggers on the 527's i got a ruger and rem 799 got both triggers at 2 lbs. the ruger is more sleck and like how it feels and funtions. the rem is kinda heavy for a little gun and aint crazy about the mag. hanging down but out shoots the ruger hands down a freind of mine has got a 527 and the rem. shoots right with it. he had a smith work on his trigger(527) and took the set stage out of it and it pulls about 12 oz. so they can be fixed

For years my main varmint gun was a .22/250.

Now that I have a range finder and a Hornet I feel
that the smaller rifle will work for 90% of shots at ground squirrels.

YMMV

Thanks for all the replies!!!

I already have a CZ 527 Carbine in 7.62x39...it is one of the older ones that I think had better set trigger than the newer one... Mine breaks very cleanly at about 1.0# and the set of course is in ounces... the Hornet in one of these would be nice...

Idaholton...I looked at the 799...very nice looking rifle... I would not get the Ruger as I have had some friends with them who were not pleased with the accuracy... Do they use the same barrel clamp that the .22 rifles have? I wonder if the new ones are screwed in barrels... If they were accurate I would buy one in a heartbeat as I love the looks...not of the big All-Weather but just the Sporter...

What else is ever one using for bullets when handloading?

Thanks again...Bob

We need Rocky Raab to do some talking about the Browning Hornet he has, and it's accuracy.
Reading his writings got me to buy a lower priced version of his, mainly because Browning doesn't make the model he has. Mine is the Huntsman, and it is far and away the most accurate out of the box Hornet I've owned. It's well made, and it's balance is superb. I have one CZ 527, 223 now, and sold one in 222. I consider The Browning Huntsman Hornet superior to the CZ 527's.

I also have a Winchester Model 54 Hornet, and a Ruger 77/Hornet that comes VERY close to the accuracy of the Huntsman. Accuracy of a Hornet for me is 3 shots in a 1/2" groups at 100 yards. The Huntsman did that my first range session, after sighting it in. It took a bunch of tweaking, and load work to get the Ruger/77 Hornet dialed in, but it now shooots close to the Huntsman's accuracy.

I had a Ruger No.1 Hornet and a Savage 219 circa 1950, so I have some Hornet time at the wheel.

I have a Browning Micro-Medallion that shoots extremely well. Rocky is another Hornet guy and hopefully he'll chime in with his recipes. Mine loves the 35gr V-Max and with it I've taken 200 yard shots at PA groundhogs with no problem.

Mine is a 77/22 with spring/sear/trigger upgrades. 35gr Vmax ang 46gr WW hollow points are very accurate. I carry it more than my .223 because it's lighter and effective. I've taken lots of groundhogs from 20-150yds, 3 beaver, and a couple coyotes with mine. The beaver was the biggest critter, 64lbs, it was a shade over 100yds when I brained it with a 35gr V-Max.

I wouldn't give up my hornet for anything. Granted mine is not a rifle... Its a Taurus Raging Hornet.
Its as accurate as I need it to be. Five shot groups have averages just over an inch when running with the 1x scope I somtimes run on it. With irons its no challenge to keep them about the same.
I have used mine on about a dozen coyotes without a hiccup since I got it a couple of years ago.

I run 40gr Nosler BTs and LilGun and yet to desire something else.

my go to load for hornet is 35gr. v-max ,13gr lilgun and small pistol primer (usually win.)when ran in my 799 give me about 2950fps and i have used some barnes varmit gernades(30grs) with same charge(you can go accorading to barnes to 14.4gr) and got about 3200fps accuracy was really good but not quite = to the v-max if i feed single shot i would subsitute bullet with 40gr v-max or nosler BT

I've had Hornets in CZ 527 American and Browning Micro Medallions. One CZ became a .17AH. One Browning Micro Medallion became a .19 Calhoon. Still have a Browning Micro Medallion in .22 Hornet. It like 12.5gr Lil Gun with a 40 VMax and CCI BR4 primer. All of them shot 13gr Lil Gun with a 35 VMax and CCI BR4 very well also.

I love my Kimber of Oregon 82 Cascade K-Hornet, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend the K version. With a little up-pressure on the barrel, it'll shoot about any bullet. I've taken p-dogs, little party pigs and a turkey or two. Current load is only 2500 fps with the late lamented 45 gr. Nosler Solid Base. With this quiet combo, I can whack an axis deer in the brain-pan and my central Texas neighbors don't know the difference!

My youngest boy spent a few years yanking the trigger on his single-shot H&R Superlite Youth Handi-Rifle stoked with 45gr. Nosler Solid Base.

He was deadly to say the least...

I'm another happy Hornet owner. Mine is a CZ527 with the trigger tuned to effectively eliminate the single set option. (I did this because of an accidental discharge with cold, unfeeling fingers.)

Mine loves Li'l gun powder, 13 grains of it in Remington case, partially neck sized and primed with a CCI small rifle primer. A 40 grain Hornady V-max seated as far out a magazine length will allow completes the recipe. This is the only load I've ever tried because there's never been any reason to look further. I've shot .25" to .375" 3 shot groups at 100 yds on multiple occasions. This load clocks just a hair over 3,000 fps.

One of these days I'm going to try some Nosler 35 grain lead free bullets and some of Barnes 30 grain varmint grenades too, but I'm so happy with the V-max load I'm not in much of a hurry to experiment.

I have owned a few Hornets over the past decade, including a CZ chambered for the K-Hornet. All have shot 1" or less for 5-shot groups at 100 yards with more than one load, but anymore I just load 13.0 grains of Li'l Gun and any good 40-grain.

There are a lot of Hornet loaders who advise small pistol primers, but I started loading my first Hornet with CCI BR4's and accuracy was so good I haven't found any reason to change since.

I tend to prefer the plastic-tipped bullets, for their violent expansion, but the magazines of some rifles won't handle their length. In that case I used either Berger or Sierra 40-grain holow-points. In my experience 40-grain bullets work at least as well at any range as lighter bullets, and far better at longer ranges. And yes, I have tried just about all the appropriate bullets on the market.

This load gets 2900-3100 fps, depending on barrel length, with accuracy in most rifles running under 3/4" for 5-shot groups, though my favorite Hornet (a Ruger No. 1B with 26" barrel) will shoot under 1/2" pretty regularly on a calm day. My other Hornet right now is a Ruger No. 3 that shoots almost as well. Muzzle velocity is around 2950 fps with the same load. This is my "walking" Hornet, as it weighs about 1-1/4 pounds less than the 9-1/2 pound 1B. Single-shots easily handle any of the plastic-tipped bullets.

I have two Hornets Left Hand Browning A-Bolt and SS Encore and both love Lil'Gun and the Hornady 40 gr V-Max. You will love this little varmint getter.

pre war mod 70. ww296 , cci bench rest primer and nosler 45gr. hornet bulleette. the long br, gets the most out of the 296, havent tried littlegun yet.