22 Hornet vs .223 Remington

[Westy]

G'day I was looking for some feed back on changing out my Tikka 223 to a Anschütz 22 hornet?

You might ask why I'd do such a thing but after the weekend I really wondered why I owned a 223 anyways!

I have a 300 Black and it was bloody awesome on the fallow with 110grn pills and a mate was using a hornet on bunnies and foxes at 150, it was considerably less noisy than the .223 and did the the job as well as the .223 so remind me again why I shouldn't change this out for a hornet?

Cheers in advance.

Westy

[Warrigul]

If you are only going to 150 then you could go the whole hog and cut out reloading totally get a .17hmr?

[Chronos]

Or a .22lr and a pair of boots cheap to feed and quiet

Sorry I can't add more as I've shot thousands of .223 rounds but not at anything that moves, I'm sure others will have good hornet info as it's certainly a good short range hunting round and uses less than half the powder of the .223 launching a bullet half the weight or less.

Chronos

[Oldbloke]

Can't you reload the 223 back to hornet velocities? I can recall reading somewhere yrs ago of 222s being loaded to hornet velocities.

[Apollo]

If you are only going to 150 then you could go the whole hog and cut out reloading totally get a .17hmr?

Sorry, but I feel the complete opposite.

I spent a lot of time, money and energy in testing about every .17HMR ammo available and initially very impressed with the results at 100m plus a bit but past that it doesn't compare.

Having spent a lot of time tuning a Hornet load for a few different rifles I have found the Hornet to be way more accurate. I sold my .17HMR on the basis that it was expensive to feed, not as accurate, no quieter and no where near as versatile as the .22 Hornet. Again, the .17HMR suffers in a little breeze and there are only two choices of bullet weight, 17gr & 20gr.

The Hornet with a high quality 30gr bullet will leave the HMR for dead. 30gr Barnes VG or 30gr Berger. Heavier bullets work very well if you pick the correct mixture but 0.5MOA takes some beating when you go well past 100m.

[Warrigul]

Can't you reload the 223 back to hornet velocities? I can recall reading somewhere yrs ago of 222s being loaded to hornet velocities.

Yep you can, I used to load a .22 magnum projectile in the .223 down to about 2400fps for use close to town, does a good job but requires me to reset the scope a fair way.

When you are taking up to 100 shots a night all that reloading and chasing after cases becomes a pain in the arse so I tend to use the .17hmr more and keep the .223 setup for longer range.

At the moment I am being supplied ammo so cost isn't a factor, I'll use the .17 till the cows come home.

[dayzmagnumhunter]

the 22 hornet is useless at every thing even shooting air and dirt.
it is the worst calibre and I hate it

[Westy]

the 22 hornet is useless at every thing even shooting air and dirt.
it is the worst calibre and I hate it

Well that was alot of help thanks

[Chronos]

the 22 hornet is useless at every thing even shooting air and dirt.
it is the worst calibre and I hate it

LOL!

sounds like either someone always wanted one as a kid and wasn't allowed or had one that wouldn't shoot no matter what you tried

i'd be interested to hear what you don't like about it, i have never owned one nor shot one and have no plans to but i'm interested

Chronos

[MeccaOz]

I do have a soft spot for the .22 Hornet. Back in the day, our local sargent wouldnt give out a license for anything bigger than a .22 hornet if all you had on your form was rabbits and foxes ( yeah back when you went into the copshop for a license ), so lots of people had them. But since then alot of people have changed to a .223 Which does do a better job in my lowly opinion mate.

[Westy]

I do have a soft spot for the .22 Hornet. Back in the day, our local sargent wouldnt give out a license for anything bigger than a .22 hornet if all you had on your form was rabbits and foxes ( yeah back when you went into the copshop for a license ), so lots of people had them. But since then alot of people have changed to a .223 Which does do a better job in my lowly opinion mate.

Your right the 223 is a great caliber just it's as noisy as hell and I thought the hornet might be a little more on the quite side for were I'm using it???You see if I really wanted to reach out and touch something small I'd just load down 1 of my 6.5's with 80grn pills so the 223 has become alittle obsolete IMHO

[Apollo]

As far as noise goes the Hornet is most definitely quieter than a .223R and not that much noisier than a .17HMR. But, I don't consider the .223R all that noisy, certainly not compared to a .243W with it's very distinctive bark. A lot depends on the surfaces of the area around and weather conditions. On a perfectly still day / night any firearms seems noisy, even a .22LR using supersonic ammo.

[dayzmagnumhunter]

I don't like it because it is inaccurate more expansive the 223 and is a all round piece of s**t

[Apollo]

I don't like it because it is inaccurate more expansive the 223 and is a all round piece of s**t

Well, you certainly have been living in a hole....!!!! What a statement....!!!!

Have you ever owned a .22 Hornet, have you ever learnt how to reload and tune a load. Obviously not.

[Chronos]

I don't like it because it is inaccurate more expansive the 223 and is a all round piece of s**t

not a handloader then? my mates one shoots under 1" at 100, light .22 bullets are cheaper than heavy ones and it uses less powder, around 10gr instead of 25gr

sounds like a great step down from .223 for someone who shoots under 200m

no skin off my nose, as i said i don't own one and have no plans to

Chronos

[Apollo]

For those that do or do not own or have ever shot a .22 Hornet.

A few photos, first one of the .22 Hornets that I have tuned loads for. This one is a CZ 527 with Bushnell Elite 6200 2.5-16x50mm.

The next shows the beginning of load development for a complete change of components and dies used. The top two targets are straight heavy factory loads that were given to me and used to do rough sighting in after mounting a different scope, plus foul the barrel for some test loads. Then underneath one reload to recalibrate the scope and beside that the first test rounds and the beginning of reducing seating depth. The bottom left target is a slight further reduction of seating depth.

The last photo is a typical group shot with this .22 Hornet at 100yards. The circles on the targets are 2.00" and the square grid lines are 1.00" so you can work out the group size yourself.

This setup has head shot many rabbits and foxes at 100-150 yards and some by any of those three people that use this firearm from time to time. A typical very "inaccurate" calibre.

[Westy]

Nice Shooting apollo tell me is that rifle the 1-14 twist???

[Apollo]

I was going to comment on twist rates but had a few chores to do.

There are two twist rates in general with a normal .22 Hornet.

Those that come from Europe like CZ and the older Brno are 1:16" twist. So, "Westy" this is a 1:16.

Those that come from the USA are typically 1:14" and perhaps has an influence on why the american ammunition doesn't show great accuracy. I have not come across an American built Hornet to experiment with so far.

[Lorgar]

Good taste in scopes

[Chronos]

Good taste in scopes

Agree, I own 2 6500's in 2.5-16x42 as well.

One is on my 7-08, the other on my .204

Chronos

[pawnee]

Hi guys, my first post.

I shoot a .22 hornet still getting my loads tuned

30gn Barnes using ADI 2205 powder, at the moment using 11.5gn 2205 and groups are 1 inch at 100yds, still a lot more work to do.

40gn Noslers using 10.5 gns of 2205 and got them at 1 inch at 100 yds.

I have yet to crimp and change my COAL

I use cci small pistol primers and a lee collet die.

All my info comes from a expert who has many years of reloading, thanks Apollo.

[headspace]

A 22 Hornet is one of the great classics along with the 270. It remains one of the best fox rounds ever produced and is a very accurate performer out to 150yards.

Mine was a K Hornet, and early Brno with double set triggers, and I still wonder why I sold it.

I generally used 40 grain Hornady's in mine. If I ever see one of these in reasonably condition I'd have to buy it.

JD

[Varmtr]

Ah the old zkw465 nice little rifle headspace.

The hornet is a good round and cheaper to run than 22wmr if reloading. Anything within 200y and with my k-hornet cops a lead aspirin.

Other options depending on what you want is the 17 Fireball or the 221 Fireball. Or as I'm looking at is a 20 Vartarg which is the 221 Fireball necked down.

These are very efficient both running costs and ballistically.

[Westy]

I'm just looking for a nice light quite round to shoot foxes and bunies out past 150meter any othe ideas????

[Oldbloke]

Warrigul. Do you still have the load data for the "I used to load a .22 magnum projectile in the .223 down to about 2400fps for use close to town" I had a look in the ADI manual and didn't see an equivalent.

I'm thinking of trying it out

[Warrigul]

Warrigul. Do you still have the load data for the "I used to load a .22 magnum projectile in the .223 down to about 2400fps for use close to town" I had a look in the ADI manual and didn't see an equivalent.

I'm thinking of trying it out

I generally don't give load data out(because there are so many variables and dangers) but for the 40 grainer I use AR2205.

I will have a look on my old computer for a few target pictures.

[Apollo]

Warrigul. Do you still have the load data for the "I used to load a .22 magnum projectile in the .223 down to about 2400fps for use close to town" I had a look in the ADI manual and didn't see an equivalent.
I'm thinking of trying it out

If you want to experiment with reducing velocities by around 1/3 and powder loads, yet alone using a powder not recommended for the cartridge I would suggest you send ADI an Email to ask their advice.

[Oldbloke]

Might do that. Im very aware that reduced loads can detonate with very nasty results. Will see what warrigul comes up with too.

[Apollo]

Im very aware that reduced loads can detonate with very nasty results.

Perhaps you are thinking of "Secondary Explosive Effect" which happens with reduced loads of "Slow" burn rate powders.

[Kater]

Perhaps you are thinking of "Secondary Explosive Effect" which happens with reduced loads of "Slow" burn rate powders.

Supposedly.

Still yet to see a reproducible test proving this though.

Seems like there's more to it than just that to me.