Hornet Bug

[6brmo]

I’m in the market for a Hornet. I’m set up for the classic.22 Hornet. I’ve had a couple .22 H in the past, looking for something only shoot out to 250 yards manly target shooting. I have a lot of .22 H brass and reloading components. Been thinking about the K hornet of the .17hornet and help or direction would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Mark M.]

I've had the 17 Hornady hornet, 17 Ackley hornet, couple 22 hornets and the .22 K hornet, the 17's are nice, but far to finicky for me, wind also can be challenging, in my opintion, for the yardage mentioned, and all things considered, (bullet selection, brass quality, availability) the .22 K hornet is the way to go, obviously the 17 has a higher velocity, but I don't believe your target will know the difference.
I was in the same boat about a year ago, was getting the itch again, so I treated myself to a new old stock Kimber custom classic in the .22 K-hornet, that was part of a collection, beautiful gun, shoots an easy .5moa.
Good Luck

 

[6brmo]

I've had the 17 Hornady hornet, 17 Ackley hornet, couple 22 hornets and the .22 K hornet, the 17's are nice, but far to finicky for me, wind also can be challenging, in my opintion, for the yardage mentioned, and all things considered, (bullet selection, brass quality, availability) the .22 K hornet is the way to go, obviously the 17 has a higher velocity, but I don't believe your target will know the difference.
I was in the same boat about a year ago, was getting the itch again, so I treated myself to a new old stock Kimber custom classic in the .22 K-hornet, that was part of a collection, beautiful gun, shoots an easy .5moa.
Good Luck

Thank you.

 

[hornetguy]

I would go with the K-Hornet, as well. It seems to be easier to load for than the regular, and you will get better ballistics from it. It's actually at the lower edge of the .222 in power. Great cartridge, IMO.
I have an HR Handi Rifle in regular hornet, that I plan to turn into a "K". I have 3-400 cases for the K that I need to "utilize"...

 

[Knotwild]

I would see a doctor about subduing that bug and go hang around some .222 devotees in hopes I could catch that bug. I only had and reloaded for one Hornet and it had it's on set of problems concerning brass. I love my .222 though - I can easily go down to Hornet velocities if I want to.

 

[Zero333]

There is not much different between the 17 K-Hornet and the 17 Ackley Horney, ballistics wise. So I would looks at die options (probable the K-hornet wins with die selection).

Same thing applies to the 22 K-Hornet and 22 Ackley Hornet.

The 17 K-Hornet seems (According to Quickload) to withstand a few more thousand PSI compared to rest of the hornet family.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

The original Hornets was my 1st go have fun guns, I never cared for the new and improved Versions I’m sure they have their place but not with me

 

[JSH]

I started with a model 40 Savage. After a lot of folks talking up the CZ 527, I traded into one. About a month or two at the most later I traded back for my Savage. The CZ would only shoot the short chubby bullets. The Savage will shot some 50 grain bullets, but thrives on 40 grain Vmax.
I also got the Savage to digest cast bullets at 22 RF speeds with super accuracy out to 100.

 

[searcher]

I’m in the market for a Hornet. I’m set up for the classic.22 Hornet. I’ve had a couple .22 H in the past, looking for something only shoot out to 250 yards manly target shooting. I have a lot of .22 H brass and reloading components. Been thinking about the K hornet of the .17hornet and help or direction would be great.

Thanks.

I'd look at what bullet you think will do best for your targets. If you opt for the .17, you are rather limited in bullet selection and would probably opt for the Berger bullet. If it shoots that, you are in business. If you were asking about small varmints, I'd say go .17 Hornady Hornet. On targets, I'd be inclined to stick with the .22 Hornet. Depends on how serious your target work is.....

 

[Kylongrifle32]

Are you in the market for an over the counter rifle or a custom one?
If you are going the custom build I would check into a 6mm/ Hornet. I have a 12 inch T/C Contender barrel chambered in 240 Banshee by Gary Reeder. This is basically a 22 K -Hornet necked up to 6mm. Using the 55gr Nosler BT's it's a ground hog killing set up.
I like the round so much I will be getting a 20 plus inch rifle barrel in the near future.

 

[snert]

Buy a Contender. I see SSK is making frames? Anyhow, I have had 1 hornet (a m77 Ruger) and it was awful. I have had two K-Hornets, a 23 inch Bullberry and a 14 inch TC barrel opened up. The two K's shoot hornet brass and K hornet the same accuarcy, about 1/2 inch-3/4 inch with both 40 gr vmax and 34 grain Dogtown. The K brass lasts longer. Some I have is on its 10 or 11th loading. It is a fun to shoot little cartridge. But if you want to enjoy accuracy and easy loading, go 222 or 20-222. Been there and when its all said and done, at the range or in the PD field, I find myself shooting the duece much more. But then it is a 700/40X clone so not apples to apples comparison.

For versatility and just scratching an itch, the TC sure opens up options fast.

 

[RCE1]

I have a nice KHornet barrel for one of my Contenders that shoots great. I also have KHornet Kimbers. It's a great cartridge and really stretches out the 1680...As does the .17 Ackley. I had a Cooper Model 38 that had to go back to the factory a few times, but they eventually got it sorted out and it was very nice. Never tried the Hornady .17 Hornet.

 

[17cal Fan]

I have a 527 Varmint in 17H and love it. Just built a 22H on a 527 action both of these went to Montana this summer. Have a 527 American 22H and an old Savage 342 22H that started it all for me in 1987. All of them shoot very well and eat very little powder. I've always enjoyed the Hornets and prolly always will. A bug is a bug

 

[1raggedhole]

I’ve been shooting an 1885 in 22 k hornet and love it for prairie dogs. It is pretty much equal ballistics to 17 wsm, good out to about 200-250 if the wind isn’t too bad. A lot of fun to shoot with no recoil. But, I was pulling my hair out during load development. Very finicky, and lost about 15% of the cases during fire forming. Now that I have a good load, I’d do it again.

 

[Yote Hunter]

My 17 Hornet (CZ American) has always out shot my 22 Hornets (2-Rugers). Quite impressive accuracy out to 300 yards and velocity was equally impressive. 20 gr Vmax 3650 fps. Very very efficient groundhog killer out to 350-375 yards. It really really impressed me with dependable first shot kills out to a solid 350 yards. Out to 350 yards it was as good as any caliber. Only drawback appears to be the chamber at the rear of the case is a little oversized causing a slight bulge on fired casings but didn’t seem to hinder accuracy.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Like many here, I've had many Hornets, 17AH, 22 K-Hornet and standard Hornets over the years. The only one I have now with no further intent of any more, is my Browning 1885 Low-Wall K-Hornet, as it does everything I want out of a small case medium range squirrel rifle.



As long as I anneal cases prior to forming, no lost cases, great accuracy, zero recoil and blast, plus beaucoup cheap to shoot at 13.5grs of A1680 with the old Nosler 45gr Hornet Solid Base, which I have thousands of for the foreseeable future. An excellent little cartridge!

 

[nakneker]

I got the same bug not so long ago. Ended up buying a 17k hornet in an Abolt, a 22k hornet in a Ruger #3, a 22 hornet in a Ruger #3, a 22 hornet in a CZ bolt, and I’m currently looking for 22 hornet contender barrel. It’s fun a little cartridge. When I first got the 22K hornet I was splitting necks when fireforming, I had the chamber recut and started annealing brass, it’s thin brass and it’s easy to split, I got that under control. If I could only keep one it would be the CZ 527, it’s very accurate and the plain ol 22 hornet is a lot of fun. There a lot of guys who helped me out right here on the forum, many of them have already commented. Whatever you end buying this is a good place to get help if you need it. Enjoy and let us know what you end up with.