# 22 Hornet advice



## jpwalnuthill (Feb 12, 2010)

Who has any experience with a 22 Hornet. Thinking about one to hunt coyotes with. Never seen anyone on here talking about them. Trying to make up mind betwwen 22 magnum or Hornet. Don't reload so that does play into decision.


----------



## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

The 22 hornet is an awesome round. The only problem is that the ammo is so high if you don't reload. I would love to have one if I had just plenty of money. For me though cost wise I would choose between the 223 or 22 mag. The 223 is a much more versatile round and a little cheaper. But if you can afford the 22 hornet and want it, go get it. It is an awesome caliber.


----------



## omrbh (Aug 22, 2011)

22 Hornet is a great calibre for 'yotes. Have had a Contender in that calibre and currently have a Mod 43 Winchester rechambered to K-Hornet.


----------



## redfishguy83 (Aug 14, 2009)

I have three .22 Hornet's and couple of .22 mags! They are fun to shoot just like it was said in another post the ammo is pricey for Hornet heck all ammo is darn high these days! I like a little more thump for yotes like a .243 yotes are pretty tough critters. Plus the .20 cals are moving pretty fast and they dont have much knock down power!:thumbup:


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

jpwalnuthill said:


> Trying to make up mind betwwen 22 magnum or Hornet. QUOTE]
> 
> Don't forget the 17HMR....Fast/Flat/Penetrating!!!! Here is a link to another thread w/ youtube video of my 17 in action!!!!:thumbup:
> 
> ...


----------



## woody (Oct 17, 2007)

Do yourself a favor & buy your rifle in .223. The ballistics are much better and the bullets are heavier. The 22 Hornet comes in 40 & 45 gr bullets, not exactly overkill.
You can get any configuration of rifle chambered in .223......


----------



## omrbh (Aug 22, 2011)

Woody is correct. There was a time when the .22 Hornet was considered a fine varmint round, but a number of years ago SAMI lowered the pressure limits on the Hornet. If buying a new .22 center fire varmint rifle now, it makes sense to buy the .223. Bolt actions have been the platform of choice, but some AR's show remarkable accuracy also!


----------



## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

I have the 17HMR, and use v-max rounds (polymer tipped) take head shot squirrels at over 80yds. well, I think they are head shots, isn't much of it left.  It's been great on the 2 'yotes I've shot too. 1 shot kills, does good internal damage.

I've also got a .204 which is a great round, but not shot it yet, as I'm still looking for a scope. But ballistic reports, show it to be awesome too.


----------



## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

*22 hornet*

I have a cooper 22 hornet, absolutley the most accurate rifle i have ever shot from 175 yds in. I shot this hornet 100yds from bench 5 times, you can cover the 5 holes with a dime entirely! Unreal group!! I dont have 223, i dont like looks of AR's, so i am parcial to standard stock and all. good luck.:thumbup:


----------



## skipperbrown (Jul 26, 2011)

There are a lot of traditional style guns chambered for the .223. If you aren't going to reload, .223 is much cheaper to shoot and you can find some mighty good ammo for target shooting everywhere.


----------



## chevelle427 (Feb 6, 2011)

MY LATE UNCLE SWORE BY HIS , he would tell tells about things he killed with it at some long distance shots,


----------



## midnight son (Apr 1, 2011)

I have an old Savage 23d .22 hornet. I had always wanted one due to the writings of Townsend Whelen and lately, Ross Seyfried. Mine is a pre war (or early war) Savage. It has a factory receiver sight and is a beautiful rifle. I am currently working on loads (for 2 years or so), and can get about 2" at 100 yds with 40 gr Sierra's and Lil' Gun at 2700+ fps. Not sure my eyes will let me do better than that. IMO, if nostalgia or historical cartridges is your thing by all means get a hornet. A more practical person would get the .22 Mag or even better, a .223. I would look to CZ rifles for any of these options. CZ makes a beautiful mini-mauser action in .223, and might just be the ticket. Let us know what you decide.


----------



## TURTLE (May 22, 2008)

Jason said:


> jpwalnuthill said:
> 
> 
> > Trying to make up mind betwwen 22 magnum or Hornet. QUOTE]
> ...


----------



## omrbh (Aug 22, 2011)

@ Midnight Son, That old Savage 23 is what turned me on to the .22 Hornet a loooong time ago!


----------



## shootnstarz (May 4, 2011)

No experience with but I've heard they are hard to reload, due to their thin case walls. They supposedly crush very easy during the sizing process.

Please correct if this is incorrect information.

Rick


----------



## omrbh (Aug 22, 2011)

My experience, fire forming them to 22-K Hornet is a loss of about 10%. Then resizing them after fireforming is a loss of 20% or more.
Loses are somewhat lower when resizing standard 22 Hornet.....which I haven't done in a number of years.


----------



## midnight son (Apr 1, 2011)

I had read all the stories about the difficulty in loading hornets as well....just added to the mystique i guess. I haven't noticed any physical difficulties such as crushed cases and the like. The main problem is just handling the small cases and 40 grain bullets! I did some testing with full sizing vs. neck sizing and found no difference in accuracy, so I'll just neck size if it makes the brass last longer. As i said in my previous post, I can only get 2"+ out of my Savage 23d with receiver sights....a nice scoped Cooper like the grey ghost has might yield more obvious results in the full vs neck issue. Maybe he could elaborate for us? 

Owning a hornet and reloading I think are a necessity. Enjoyable, and you get centerfire performance cheaper than .22 Magnums.


----------

