Hey sharpsman.

The 4200 is another scope I've been considering due to fine reviews from consumers, however I've never looked through one so I can't give an opinion on the difference between the two .

A problem we have where I live is it's a small area (that's also a good thing) and the shops don't stock a lot of the items a guy would like to look at. That leads into the repeatability issue with the Weavers.

A friend of mine who teaches running target to the local kids and whose daughter is a National rimfire silhouette champ (ya oughtta see this little gal shoot off hand, she works for Eley) told me about the Weavers. I ordered my first one on his recommendation, again sight un-seen. He claims one of the Weavers strongest points is their repeatability at the silhouette shoots. He claims better than Leupold.

The characteristics that are most important to me are those I mentioned in the last post. Left side view adjustments (great off a bench), low turrets and easy adjustable power, parallax, and focus. I have ordered 2 with the fine crosshair dot, it's an 1/8th minute dot and it's small (some would say too small), I like it on varmints.



As too T.K. Lee a guy I've learned to trust a great deal from "Small Caliber News" as well as another site I frequent recommends them and thats good enough for me. To have the dots calibrated at 200yrds, 300yrds, 400yrds, and 500yrds, for the ballistics on your particular rifle has to be a great aid on long distance p-dogs. I'll let ya know when I get the scope back, hopefully next week.

MD,

What about the TK Lee dots? Have you had them installed in any new scopes before??

Read above post, I edited it as our posts were crossing.

In times past the only varmint scopes I bought were Leupold 6X20's, then they came out with the 8.5X25 40MM. I bought 2 of em mail order sight un-seen based on Leupolds reputation. After two trips each back to Leupold to have lenses replaced and their refusal to let me swap out of em (they have since discontinued this scope, bad cross over point) I was turned into a shopper!

That's the long way around the barn to tell you my last 6 Varmint scopes have been the 6X20 Weaver Grand Slam's. Power and parallax adjustments read from the left side, finger adjustable "LOW" target turrets, great repeatability. Delivered at my door from Graf and Sons they cost $340.00ish, about half of the Leupolds. In fact I just sent one off to T.K. Lee to have a custom dot system set up for my Tactical .20. I think this is a great scope at a great price, to me that's a great value. (that sounds like a commercial don't it?)

As the man said "Read my lips" there are no more potential headaches with the Hornet and K-Hornet than any other round.
The last time I was at the range with my wife doing some serious load testing with a couple different rifles she played with my Anschutz Hornet to keep herself busy. Most of her 5 shot groups were in the mid .3's her best was a .266 center to center group, no internet windies here.
My Cooper K shoots just as well as the Anschutz does.
There has been a tremendous ammount of bad press leveled at the Hornets over 50 and 60 year old rifles and component capabilities. Also (I know I'll get flamed over this but), a lot of guys judge the .22 Hornet based on what they experienced with Ruger Hornets, that's the Ruger Hornet with a two piece bolt, enough said!
Will the .22 Hornet compete heads up with the .222 in a benchrest competition? Probably not. Will sub half inch groups kill everything you aim at within the Hornet and K-Hornets reasonable range? Absolutely!!! And do it with 13 grains of powder and a boatload of fun!

It's always amused me( ) when someone tells of ways to take one round and then by reloading alone either "up-loading" or "down-loading" you make that one round do everything so you only need one rifle. Then they sell this idea like it's a good thing. "ONE RIFLE" a Good Thing? "ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND "?????
I think somebodies been talkin to my wife!
I want "ALL OF EM", I love my Hornets, and the .221's and everything else, "ALL OF EM"!!!
Now let's end this foolishness about making one rifle do everything.

I do have to say this however that in regards to the post with all the magazine article excerpts. I live in an area that's highly thought of by the hunting fishing crowd, and because of that we have a large number of writer types living here. I see em at the gun shows, talk to at the range, see em in the resturants. Here,s a little secret, "They are all just guys"!!! Some of em are real sharp and some of em are dumber than a pitch post, but they are all just guys. When ever a guy gets to thinkin just cause he read it in a magazine it's so he's in trouble!
"They are all just guys"!!!
When Craig Boddington talks about hunting cape buffalo in S. Africa I figure a guy oughtta listen, when he starts talkin about reloading small caliber varmint rifles I'd sooner listen to my pet Airedale!
The Hornet was developed a long time ago. It's liabilities are too me also it's attractions, it's a venerable old round that using the new components performs way beyond it's original parameters. It's fantastic just the way it is! As DigitalDan points out there's nothing "better" for it's intended purpose. This rational of trying to make the Hornet a .221 which is almost a .222 which can be stretched to a .223 which is close to a .22-250 which oughtta be Ackley Improved makes "Zero" sense to me. If you want a triple duce get one, if your gonna be shootin reasonably small critters out to 250ish yards by all means you deserve a Hornet.
I'm also with DigitalDan in that I've never crushed a Hornet case seating a bullet, not even one , and I've seated Boo-Coo bullets in Hornets. As to case life, I just bought a 1000 WW cases on sale at $10.00 per hundred. I weight segregate em into lots of 50 and shoot and reload em 50 at a time. I keep track of every time they are fired, and I have some of those boxes that have been fired 5 or so times so heres the math. 50 cases $5.00X 5 firings =250 devided into $5.00= .02cents. Add the bullets which is another $5.00 for 50= .02cents. Add powder 538 per lb at 16.95 per lb= .03cents Plus primers .01cent each. Grand total is .08cents a round. The .17HMR at $8.00 a box costs .16 cents a round.
I can afford the brass.
Look at the group I posted out of a flat stock $430.00 rifle. If that works for ya using 13 grains of powder (thats 538 rounds per lb of powder) out to 250ish look at a Hornet, if not read some more magazines.

couple more questions for you guys - as this is a varmit specific rifle (I have another rifle for walkaround/calling coyotes) what type of scope do you recomend? Magnification? this rifle has a 1 in 14" twist. should I go 35 or 40gr? or does it matter? I hear good things about the 40gr Vmax Moly. brand new to small bore reloading - my .450 Marlin is a little big for dirt pigs



picked up a set of .22K-Hornet RCBS dies on ebay today

MD,



I have never had to send a Leupold back(yet),however most of that is due to the fact I have not owned a Leupold for the last ten years.I have heard a lot of HORROR stories lately about Leupold's "customer service" and their lack of backing up their "lifetime guarantee".The guys over at Benchrest.com have had FITS with Leupold over the new BR scopes.



As for myself,I learned about 15years ago when doing an optics test on many major brands,that Leupold and several other well known scopes(European)were basically OVERRATED! About that time I started using the higher end Bausch&Lomb scopes(now the Bushnell Elite 4200 series) They simply blew the Leupolds away in terms of optical quality and I have never had a reliability issue with them at all.



As for the Weavers,I have not tried a Grand Slam yet,but I have always been impressed with the reliablity of my 1970's vintage Weaver scopes.



How have the tracking adjustments been for repeatability so far on your Grand Slams? Are the optics as good as the Bushnell Elites??



One other thing,I have a newer Japanese Weaver T-10 scope that has a HUGE dot/crosshair reticle in it(way too big).I was thinking of sending it down to TK LEE for a smaller dot setup.Have you done business with them before on the new Scopes??

I'm of the opinion that a .222 or .223 with a 37 or 40 gr. bullet and Blue Dot is a better choice for a low noise ground squirrel popper. Without the potential headaches of a Hornet and with the option of hotter loads for longer range shooting.

Thanks,MD!!