Chatsworth Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 After months and months of deliberating between 17hmr .22wmr etc i now find myself considering the 22 hornet it seems that all the posts i read class this as an out dated caliber any thoughts?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Yes they come from people who have never used one, you wont regret it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 then you're not reading many posts on here. There are quite a few ardent fans on this board alone. Depending on your needs it can be a great round. Thanks rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) I can see both sides of the situation. It seems that these days performance is everything. People tend to question why they should buy a .22 Hornet when they can have a .223 or .22-250 that will shoot accurately at twice the range? It's the same all over the world, just look at the states. Years ago the .30-30 did everything but now they shoot .308 and .300 Win Mag. What people don't seem to do is stop and think about what they really need. Do you need to burn thirty grains of powder instead of twelve? Do you need to shoot a Fox at 3-400 yards? Does the thought of sending a 40gr bullet at 4300fps float your boat or would you prefer to get maybe four times the barrel life and "make do" with 2800ish? I say make do but 2800fps is still bloody fast - unless you miss the target it's not going to hear the bang of the shot going off. So I guess you could say it is outdated, but at the same time it worked well back then and still does now. Comapred to a .22WMR, the most powerful common rimfire out there, the .22 Hornet still pushes over double the muzzle energy and can be home loaded for a similar cost. On top of that it's extremely mild to shoot compared to the bigger rounds. Unless you do need that long range performance try the Hornet. You will be pleasantly surprised I assure you. I sold my HMR to buy a .22 Hornet and have never looked back. I did move over to .17 Hornet for a while and may go there again but it's still a Hornet case which uses next to no powder and punches far above it's weight. I use mine for 99% of the non Deer shooting that I do and would never be without it. Edited February 12, 2012 by njc110381 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 njc put it very very well. Hornet is not dated and will never die in my life time thats for certain. I shot three fox's yesterday, two with a 308. The Hornets I have had would of been fine and certainly more pleasant to use! I would not of or ever have felt undergunned with a Hornet. I even used mine down loaded to harvest rabbits with, it is a wonderful round. Good luck. U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aister Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 earlier on today i filled out a variation form and applied for a 22 hornet and a 6.5x55. i had a slot for a 17hmr but after getting in to reloading and reading up on the hornet i decided to go for the hornet and lose the hmr. i had an hmr before and the biggest problem for me was that here in shetland we dont get many wind free days/nights to get the most out of the hmr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 I guess the only downside to the .22 Hornet is the fact, that unlike other .22CFs they are not legal for deer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 What are you going to shoort with it and how many? If its lots of rabbits then its going to be a pain and there are better choices. If its mostly foxes then again there are better choices its a slightly specialist caliber for those who like to hand load and go out for a pootle to see what they can shoot rather than those with a specific problem to deal thwi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 What are you going to shoort with it and how many? If its lots of rabbits then its going to be a pain and there are better choices. If its mostly foxes then again there are better choices its a slightly specialist caliber for those who like to hand load and go out for a pootle to see what they can shoot rather than those with a specific problem to deal thwi There you go, what did i tell you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 He's right though Kent. Rabbit control with centrefires is pretty pointless... The time it takes to reload 200 hornet rounds, is better spent actually shooting the things! and this is where the HMR etc shine. Simplicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 He's right though Kent. Rabbit control with centrefires is pretty pointless... The time it takes to reload 200 hornet rounds, is better spent actually shooting the things! and this is where the HMR etc shine. Simplicity. what about the bit about foxes? My .243" has more power and range on foxes but it isn't better than the Hornet just different. Personally as the hornet can easily be loaded by thrown loads 100 aint a big hastle and work out a bit cheaper than HMR for me, have less than half the windage and longer "usable" range under field conditions. Nothing will ever compete with the .22lr and subs for volume rabbits. He's right though Kent. Rabbit control with centrefires is pretty pointless... The time it takes to reload 200 hornet rounds, is better spent actually shooting the things! and this is where the HMR etc shine. Simplicity. Might the op note you have a signature with no Hornet listed Whats with the avatar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjm Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 maybe a silly question but can a hornet be fitted with a moderator?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) Trust me I used to firmly "on the fence" in this debate... In the end I bought a HMR through need not choice, despite seriously considering a hornet at the time. Spent some time down at Bisley with one etc.. In the end I had to give into the HMR, as like I said - my time is money, and spending all night reloading for 3 calibers just to head out and shoot 20 rabbits really isn't worth it. Not to mention traipsing all over the county to buy powder and other consumables when a box of 50 HMR can be had 200 yards from my house. They work well enough on "sensible" foxes too, but I have better rifles for that job. Edited February 13, 2012 by garyb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Moderator, yep and usually very efficiently to boot. Actually, logged in to answer Gary only to find Kent had already done so. The simple answer is, that everyone has a valid point. I have no wish to put words in anyone's mouth, but I'll wager a few bob that Kent's answer derived from al4x's final few words and the the answer which he (Kent) gave he possibly wouldn't have written if al4x had stopped after, "specialist calibre" (the remaining words added nothing and were possibly better left unsaid). It is so. I specifically use mine to shoot fox and with a different combination, specifically rabbit. I rarely, if ever, and then only marginally so, shoot fox beyond the 200 yard mark and for the rabbit, the calibre is used when I know the range at a given location is going to be beyond the 22LR. From what al4x has said previously, I must say though, that the amount of rabbit I shoot is nowhere near the enormous (to me) figure that he dispatches. Until we know what use the OP wishes to put the Calibre, at best, we can only speak in general terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 maybe a silly question but can a hornet be fitted with a moderator?? Yep and burning around 10-12grns makes it very quiet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Trust me I used to firmly "on the fence" in this debate... In the end I bought a HMR through need not choice, despite seriously considering a hornet at the time. Spent some time down at Bisley with one etc.. In the end I had to give into the HMR, as like I said - my time is money, and spending all night reloading for 3 calibers just to head out and shoot 20 rabbits really isn't worth it. Not to mention traipsing all over the county to buy powder and other consumables when a box of 50 HMR can be had 200 yards from my house. They work well enough on "sensible" foxes too, but I have better rifles for that job. Listen up, shooting one on a range one day means very little compared to using one in the field on real quarry. After using both if you cn get over the re-loading or aint too bothered about the cost of factory they eat the HMR and yes i owned and have used a HMR extensively. loading twenty rounds of hornet might take as much as 20 mins but i doubt it, buying them at £1 a pop and going out to shoot 100 bunnies an evening is sort of dumb though. Like i say for this work nothing beats the .22 sub, never has and never will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointer Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 it's a cracking little round if you use it within its limits. It has been my go to gun in the cabinet for a long time now and will continue to be untill they bring out a variable power plasma bolt gun where you get over a 100 shots from 1 x AAA battery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Its good to have both sides of the discussion though for someone making a decision even those who have done no reloading get told the hornet is the best thing since sliced bread when really that depends what you shoot. Its got too much grunt for my liking for a bunny gun and is lacking in some for a true foxing gun. Takes a lot to beat an hmr for bunnies and corvids the latter being where it excels over the .22lr and on factory ammo thats affordable. But different situations require different guns if you enjoy reloading and have another gun for proper foxing it may be for you. The big question is are you after a very high power rimfire or a low power centrefire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browning Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) After months and months of deliberating between 17hmr .22wmr etc i now find myself considering the 22 hornet it seems that all the posts i read class this as an out dated caliber any thoughts?. As I posted in a thread which started along similar lines to yours.....why limit yourself? If you want it for bunny bashing then .17HMR or .22LR would be a better, and cheaper, option. If you want it for foxing then .223 would be my choice every day. Much wider choice of ammo, with much wider availability, and for the same price or less. If you want it for rabbiting and foxing my advice would be to have both rimfire and .223. Oh, and before Kent jumps on this....I DO have a .22 Hornet....but I only keep it as it was my first centrefire, gifted to me by my father 30 years ago. It may come out of the cabinet once a year. Edited February 13, 2012 by Browning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Guilty as charged. However, as it is so frequently pointed out that in order to get the best from the Hornet, reloading is essential, perhaps the omission could be excused on this occasion. Furthermore, it could also be argued that this performance would not be possible for the somewhat heavier bullets in particular without the advent of Lil'Gun powder. What I can't get my head around though is the need for another proper foxing gun when you've already got one. If you have a rifle with which you can shoot fox comfortably at, say, 300 yards, you are going to miss by a mile if your target, because of the nature of the terrain (not to mention calling skill if appropriate), is never more than 200 yards distant. However, it remains an inescapable fact that the Hornet is a specialist calibre - it IS special to the shooters/reloaders whose requirements it meets in full and the pleasure it gives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 i'm in a similar situation to the op, i want a shortish range foxing gun 150-200 max, but as i shoot on foot i also want something i can take the odd rabbit with without breaking the bank if the fox i'm looking for doesn't show up, i also want to try my hand at reloading and have been told the hornet is cheap and simple to reload. my land is passed for .222 already but i am put off by the availibility of factory rounds and i don't really need the extra grunt. so for my the hornet sound perfect from the info i've been given by some helpful members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Its good to have both sides of the discussion though for someone making a decision even those who have done no reloading get told the hornet is the best thing since sliced bread when really that depends what you shoot. Its got too much grunt for my liking for a bunny gun and is lacking in some for a true foxing gun. Takes a lot to beat an hmr for bunnies and corvids the latter being where it excels over the .22lr and on factory ammo thats affordable. But different situations require different guns if you enjoy reloading and have another gun for proper foxing it may be for you. The big question is are you after a very high power rimfire or a low power centrefire It is good to have two sides but only from those who have actually first hand knoledge. The Hornet is neither a super high power rimfire or a low powered centrefire- Unless you class the .222 as low powered as it aint mega miles from it, it is a true rifle round. How many bunnies have you shot with a Hornet to say its got too much grunt? i was pleasantly suprised and there aint a real need to download it i have shot them at under 40yds with the same round that i would be glad to drop a 200yd fox with. The HMR is a good sit out and wait 150-170 yds bunny gun in the right hands no queston especially in flat areas with little wind but its a terrible wounder of crows in my experiance (one of the main reasons i went Hornet) indeed if you step back the range and call 130 -140 max i recon the WMR could wipe the floor with it, sumising this from the bullets and energy- never used one for the purpose and trying to be very honest about that fact What the heck is "proper foxing" in reality i will wadger 99% of foxes are shot sub 150 let alone 200 @ 300 its being pushed too far but i will say it is still holding enough power as a wild a.. guess with 45grn bullets at 2900 fps on the muzzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Matt Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 bicykillgaz, am in the same situation as you ! Am thinking 35grn V-max for rabbit and fox when out lookign for fox to be taken around 150yards. My HMR is my Bunny gun and always will be, out for buunys it would be the HMR all night long and if out looking for fox but not wanting to waste a trip out looking for charles by bagging a few bunnys its going to be the Hornet ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Let me get this right. The hornet is a old round, that has been superseded by more modern offerings. It cannot take deer legally, unlike other .22CFs such as a .223. It is very discerning where ammo is concerned, and often needs to be hand-loaded to be accurate. Whereas say a .223 has readily available shop ammo which is accurate and cheap. It would appear to be used as a long range varmint round, so why not use a .204 as they are fast and flat shooting and can take foxes at extended ranges. What advantage has the Hornet got ??? ??? Why not go .223 be Deer legal and have long range vermin/fox capability and the easily available cheap factory rounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 As I posted in a thread which started along similar lines to yours.....why limit yourself? If you want it for bunny bashing then .17HMR or .22LR would be a better, and cheaper, option. If you want it for foxing then .223 would be my choice every day. Much wider choice of ammo, with much wider availability, and for the same price or less. If you want it for rabbiting and foxing my advice would be to have both rimfire and .223. Oh, and before Kent jumps on this....I DO have a .22 Hornet....but I only keep it as it was my first centrefire, gifted to me by my father 30 years ago. It may come out of the cabinet once a year. Totally agree about the rimfires being bunny tools and cheaper to feed, even the cheapest of cheap couldn't reload 500 for less than £50 in relation to .22 LR .223 might well be a better choice as a dedicated fox rifle for many were other factors are not as important, so could be said for the 22-250, 22 swift, .243 even some 6.5's needs to fit circumstance The lack of action your Hornet gets can only reflect your own needs, i sold my .308 and 7-08 both not long back as they just were not getting used much due to my needs changing over the years. It has no reflection on those calibres though. SORRY ALL IF I COME OVER STRONG ON THIS, it just raises my hackles when people state second hand hearsay as if it were a fact. The rubbish thats stated about the Hornet from non users put me off buying one for too many years, its perfect IF your application suits it for many it will for others it might not -only the individual can deside (just make sure you weed out the BS first) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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