.22 hornet action?

[Tommie]

Whats the best .22 hornet action to build off of?

Best in what way?

 

[LCazador]

Winchester actually made .22 Hornet Model 70s pre-64.

Trying to work that tiny cartridge through that big action would be a real pain and really not a good idea. Also those pre war and post war model 70's in 22 Hornet have a very dear value and it would certainly not be a good idea to rebarrel one and reduce the value to almost nothing. Blasphemy! Last one I sold years ago went for $3K. Model 54 was also made in 22 Hornet.

 

[Brians356]

My hunting buddy inherited a Hornet rifle from his father. It was a Model 1903 Springfield somewhat sporterized. It could have possibly been built at Springfield, but more likely by an independent gunsmith. But it's fun to consider the former possibility considering what American Rifleman wrote in an article:

"During the 1920s, experimenters at Springfield Armory led by Capt. Grosvenor Wotkyns, and later Col. Townsend Whelen, tweaked the [.22 WCF] cartridge for a while, and by 1930, the .22 Hornet debuted. The case is virtually identical to its parent .22 WCF."
-

 

[ebb]

Has the 22TCM got enough case capacity to equal the 22K hornet. I hear such horror stories about hornet brass and how hard it is to load, there must be something better.

 

[natdscott]

I don't know if it's the best, but I'd kill to have a .17 hornet built off a pre-64 Model 70 action.

You don’t have to do that:

.22 Hornet Standard Rifle - 1956

This .22 Hornet rifle was produced in 1956. This rifle grades in NRA very good condition. The metal grades at 95%-98% with almost no handling wear; there is faint wear on the muzzle and the bolt handle. There is a very small ding on the right side on the receiver and wear on the firing pin, but...

pre64win.com

Relevance? Well, the OP did ask for the best.

 

[joshb]

I found a pretty old Anschutz in 22 Hornet on Gunbroker! I might just buy it!

 

[Lucky Shooter]

I've been down the Blue Dot road as recommended by the Ackleyman.
In fact he encouraged me to try it and I burned a few pounds of it in the
dog towns.

I started off with a 221 FB and switched to 223 when the price of the
FB brass took a big jump.

There are dangers with this fast powder that have to be dealt with to
have a safety margin.

The reward is a load that will produce velocities over 3000 fps with a
40 gr bullet, will shoot very cool and will require very infrequent cleaning.

One thing this does not produce is the nostalgia of the Hornet and the
218 Bee in some of the old actions.

A. Weldy

 

[PigButtons]

I have a BSA Martini Cadet in 22K Hornet that is light, strong, and beautiful. I'm sure any good Smith could make one with a modern barrel. Of my K Hornets, the most versital is in a 12 twist. It shoots 32gr to 55gr with great accuracy. The others in the more traditional 16 twist get twitchy above 45gr.

 

[KMart]

Start at 10g of Blue dot with the 40g. First, thing is weigh every charge, the big flake powder is prone to bridge in a powder measure. Accuracy will be great as you work your way up.

Advantage is less powder, which means it is very difficult to ever shoot out a barrel, less fouling, and somewhat quieter.

Very effective reduced velocity load. Accuracy load with Blue dot will be 2600-3000 with the 40's.

I have had a flock of 22 Hornets, and one custom K hornet. 221 Fire Ball, 222, 223 would have saved me a LOT of money chasing accuracy in the 22 Hornet with Hornet velocity easily attained with Blue Dot powder with better accuracy.

The most accurate Hornet I ever had was a Ruger #3, Win 296 with a 50g Nosler ballistic tip. My favorite was a Ruger with a Pac Nor barrel chambered in 22 K Hornet. This rifle ended up being a major coyote thumper with 40g Speer spire points where I could touch the lands at Magazine length.

22 Hornet brass is all but impossible to find, look before you leap. If you are starting from scratch and want a light, handy rifle, consider the CZ 223, and load Blue Dot to Hornet velocities. I worked up a load with Blue dot in the 223 sporter where the 55g sierra was only doing 2500 at the muzzle with Blue Dot, and shot 3/8" at 100 yards, my bob cat and fox load.

If I were to go down the Hornet road again, it would be a 20 Ackley Hornet, hands down, twisted for 40g bullets for use on coyotes. I had a number of 17 Ackley Hornets, not a bad one in the bunch.

My love affair with 22 Hornets was on par to a Love Affair with a very Irrational, Bi Polar Red headed/Blue Eyed girl friend, that simply could not be "fixed".

I worked up some Blue Dot loads in 223 some years ago and some things that I liked was that it was much more quiet than the 223. Sounded more like a 22 mag. And the barrel seemed to never get hot. 12 grains of Blue dot burns up in the first 10 inches or so of the barrel.

 

[joshb]

I worked up some Blue Dot loads in 223 some years ago and some things that I liked was that it was much more quiet than the 223. Sounded more like a 22 mag. And the barrel seemed to never get hot. 12 grains of Blue dot burns up in the first 10 inches or so of the barrel.

That sounds very interesting. Can you mention which bullet weight and velocities you were getting? I have a ton of cheap 55 FMJ I could plink with.

 

[AckleymanII]

That sounds very interesting. Can you mention which bullet weight and velocities you were getting? I have a ton of cheap 55 FMJ I could plink with.

Josh, I shot 10g of blue dot with the 223 with 55g in a 14T, zero freebore chamber, about 2600 fps. I used the load for coyotes, bobcats, and foxes, 55g Sierra flat base spt.

 

[drop_point]

I had a Ruger-action .17 Ackley Hornet. I loved the round, but accuracy was hit or miss. Some days it would drive tacks, others not so good. Also, the rotary magazine didn't like the Ackley round for some reason. I sold that rifle several years ago, reluctantly. I saved my brass and dies from the old rifle thinking *someday* I'd build one on a CZ 527.

I saw a new .22 Hornet CZ 527 American about a week ago. Knowing the 527 was discontinued, I purchased it. I plan to rebarrel to the .17 Ackley Hornet with hopefully better results. I've been told this is the way to go from both smiths and shooters.

 

[Ggmac]

My hunting buddy inherited a Hornet rifle from his father. It was a Model 1903 Springfield somewhat sporterized. It could have possibly been built at Springfield, but more likely by an independent gunsmith. But it's fun to consider the former possibility considering what American Rifleman wrote in an article:

"During the 1920s, experimenters at Springfield Armory led by Capt. Grosvenor Wotkyns, and later Col. Townsend Whelen, tweaked the [.22 WCF] cartridge for a while, and by 1930, the .22 Hornet debuted. The case is virtually identical to its parent .22 WCF."
-

They were 1922 22 lr rifles that were converted . I witnessed my uncle converting many at his NJ gunshop in the late 60s . Excellent rifle especially if you had a 22 lr 1922 and a hunting 1903 . All would feel and look similar.