There's so much site activity recently about the imp.

Cause it's cool and full of magic. I always wanted to shoot a 470 Nitro Express but was afraid it would hurt my bad shoulder. The Imp will kill Tigers and you could put it on your nose and not cause a flinch, Joe.

Good question, wish I had a good answer.

Perhaps because now as well as 100+ years ago it is a novelty? A refreshing change from the ho-hum commonality of the .300 Savage?

I know my reason: a lifelong fascination with things .22 made it a foregone conclusion when I developed a fondness for Savage lever guns.

Its always been my Favorite 99, Light, fun to shoot and reload. and Im good for game from chipmunks to Tigers! Iv taken 3 deer with it also! all one shot kills! it will be my last 99 to go!

I personally like the cartridge. My 1899H shoots into small little holes with my stith and Lyman aiding in the task.

22's do kick. I put the buttplate of my Marlin 39A against my check to shoot out a car window (it was the 50's we did stuff like shoot out of the car then). One shot convinced me to not do that again. I wouldn't put a 22 Hi-Power buttplate against my nose and shoot. Might give me a flat nose. David

Too much gun for me. I'll stick to rimfires for all my big game hunting. 22HP usually shakes the spotlight off it's window mount anyway.

Roy, I won an auction by exactly $5. Current bid was $341.42, I got it for $346.42. You weren't bidding on a 22 Hornet were you? Just pokin at you. I've been wanting a 23D Hornet for a few years. Figured if the HP got too much to handle I could back down to the Hornet, before I had to go all the way down to a RF, Joe.

Ah. You're "that guy". LOL.

Real men shoot .22 HP's.

I often wonder why the gov't didn't adopt the M1899H .22HP as our standard infantry weapon rather than the M16 (or the R in .300 as our sniper rifle). Coulda, shoulda, woulda. It's not too late...

Oh yeah, so YOU ARE THAT GUY!

Yep!

I had a 23D like that at one time. It's a neat little round.

Joe, I had a 23D in college w/a side mount and a Bushnell 2 1/2 power scope. It kept the coyotes thinned out in our small west Texas college town. I had a Bohemian roommate w/an airplane runway light and I would carry a full size 12 volt car battery to power it. He had a new 225 Win. and I had the Hornet. I got the close ones and he got the long ones. I must have carried that battery 50 miles in that 2 year period. I later switched to a 23C in 25-20 w/a 4x Weaver. Thought I was in high cotton but really it was about the same as the Hornet. powdr

I'd like a 25-20 also. It looks like a nice plinker, Joe.

They are neat, but I'm finding out that .25-20 has no edge on a skillfully wielded Hornet.

I knew two old guys who used one of each as a primary deer rifle in PA way back in the day. They would sit around all night arguing over which was better. My uncle, the Hornet guy, killed 8 deer in a row with one shot apiece. This was in PA back when one per year was the limit, and deer were mighty scarce to boot. The 9th one took the full magazine to kill and I remember my Old Man kidding him that perhaps the .25-20 guy was right all along.