DD,

I also agree about the case shape.When intelligent loading tyechiques are applied to the regualr .22Hornet accuracy and case life are just as good as the "k" version.

I always ONLY neck size my fire formed Hornet brass about 2/3 of the way down the neck.The rest of the case stays as fired formed and this along with GOOD bullets and a bit of load tinkering with LILGUN powder gives me great accuracy and long case life with every Hornet I have worked with!

Well, I guess the jury has spoken.

I started shooting (and loving) the Hornet 30+ years ago, but always wanted a Fireball, mainly because I thought it to be optimum in efficiency. My Hornets (Sav 340, H&R's, Kimber 82, NEF's) were seldom w/o their "issues", but that was before the Lee collet die, or LilGun. Never bought a Hornet neck-sizer, which was probably my biggest mistake, as I threw away a LOT of split neck Hornet cases (and I know annealing would help, and do that now, but most reloaders darn sure don't).

In '92, I had a 788 in 222Rem setback to Fireball, and my Hornets started spending a lot more time in the safe. It (along with a 700 Classic in Fireball) likes virtually anything I feed it, something I certainly do not see in my Hornets.
Most of them (including the Kimber) would puke on 60-70% of the loads; fortunately most shot some combo from good to great.
I have witnessed some high-dollar Hornets shoot like crap, which I doubt would have happened in Fireball, hence the somewhat bad "rep" the Hornet has. Ruger didn't help when so many of their Mod77 Hornets were a POS.

I will probably never be w/o a Hornet, but I think that, on average, Hornets can often frustrate the average shooter/reloader, unless "directed" to buy a CZ (which also happens to be available in 221).
Like Montdoug said, when possible, buy both!

MD,



I hear you about the gun writers.I have met several of them over the years at the SHOT show,etc.They are JUST folks and NONE of them have tried everything,allthough Ross Seyfried has come closer than most.IMHO,compared to Mr Seyfried,Craig Boddington is a Postal Clerk! Actually,I take that back ,as that is unfair to Postal clerks everywhere!!



A dear friend of mine (who remain namelss to protect the guilty) has been a shooter/proffessional writer all his life.He did a stint with the NRA on the staff of American Hunter and lately he is VERY high up on the editorial staff of Safari Clubs magazine.He also is a field editor and writes monthly now for Guns and Ammo.He's a good guy and most of the time I hold his opinions in high regard..



Notice I said OPINIONS...



A few years ago we were at a local range ringing out a few guns.He had just finished testing a few new rifles and hauled out a new to him 1970s vintage M700 Remington .222 Varmint rig.He had just bought the gun used and working some loads up for it.



Now this guy is a child of the '50s and '60s.Varmint bullets to him always meant SEIRRA when it came to really fine accuracy.If I had grown up at the time he did ,I would not argue the point.However ,my experience as a younger shooter had been in the late 1970s and 1980s and I personally had had VERY good luck with Hornady's varmint bullets,particularly the 52 & 52g Match slugs.



Being a gun writer, my friend had a pretty good selection of bullets on hand from Seirra, Speer, Hornady and Nosler.

He had loaded them all Behind various powders and we started shooting them for groups at one hundred yards.He was behind the rifle and I was behind the spotting scope.



Anyway, most of the groups were going into about 3/4" to 1" strings for five shots.My friend was a bit disapointed that the Sierra bullets did not shoot as well as he'd hoped.he mumbeled something about needing to try some different powders and THEN those Sierras would REALLY group!



Well, I looked at the ammo box and reminded him he had not shot the handloads with the Hornady bullets yet.He said "go ahead, but your just waisting your time.If the rifle won't shoot the Sierras,it probably won't shoot anything."



"Fair enough" I said .So we switched places.He was spotting for me while I shot the rifle with the Hornady handloads, he continued mumbeling about not getting ANY rifle to ever shoot Hornady slugs well.



After I finished shooting,the mumbling STOPPED..



"Hmmmm",my friend said.

"Let me shoot the rest of those."



Well,we switched,places again at the bench ,and after I got behind the spotting scope,I realized WHY he got quiet! As he was bad mouthing those Hornady slugs,I had just put 5 rounds into a 3/8" group!



His next group was a touch larger-1/2"...



I NEVER heard him bad mouth the accuracy of Hornady bullets again!!

I disagree with your assesment of the Hornet's accuracy vs. the K-Hornet. Of all the issues that affect accuracy, case shape is one of the least significant. If one's Hornet is squirrely, odds are 1:1000 against(or worse), that simply reaming the chamber is the soultion.

The Hornet is sometimes a challenge, so to is the K. They can all be tamed, regardless. It takes a lot of attention to detail, just as with other small capacity cases.

Your right about that one sharpsman, it's just that the tolerances are so tight on the Anschutz there is no movement at all and the Ruger bolt rattles back and forth.
As to magazine and bullet depth. The way I load my two Anschutz Hornets ( ones the Exemplar pistol, right bolt left eject ) using 40 grain V-Max's I have to load single shot anyway.
Actually I think some of the Rugers shoot real well, but ya never know and I sure don't want to speak poorly of another persons choice.
6 weeks ago I bought a CZ American in .22 Hornet to rebarrel to .17 Ackley Hornet, (happening as we speak). I wanted to see how it shot as a Hornet so I grabbed a box of ammo loaded for the Anschutz (40 V-Max and Lil'Gun), it chambered ok so I took it shooting. I shot 50 rounds that day with minor breakin (no sense, the barrels coming off) not one of the 5 shot 100 yard groups was over a half inch, I included a photo of the best group. I paid $430.00 for the rifle, amazing results for such an inaccurate round. L.O.L.

The real purpose of a K hornet was not really to get more velocity. The hornet case as is is not really an accurate one. Kilborn found that by blowing out the taper and sharpening the shoulder that he would improve accuracy greatly. With the improvements in machining today our barrels are much better than in kilborns day, but the K will still outpreform the regular hornet in most cases. It's a easy conversion. Just run the reamer into the chamber & you have a K. Usually you will see a velocity gain of 2-300FPS over the hornet, but the flyers associated with the hornet will disappear. My favorite loads use lil gun and a 35 gr Vmax most of the local puddycats agree that its deadly.

MD,

It'sfunny how most folks fixate on potential(imagined) "problems" with cartridges like the Hornet..

Also,I am NO FAN of the rimfire Ruger bolt actions,BUT I need to correct something you said about the Rugers having a "two peice bolt" ,MD take a GOOD look at your Anchutz m54 actioned Hornet! It has a two peice bolt too! Me chanically they are the same,the Ruger simply has it's locking lugs moved to the middle of the action rather than at the root of the bolt.They both have a static,no rotating front half with a seperate rear portion that rotates containing the lugs and bolt handle.

The REAL difference between the Ruger and the Annie is the tolerances by which they are headspaced and chambered as well as the barrel quality(mainly lack thereof on a Ruger).
Another thing that REALLY hurts the Rugers is the magazine length which prevents bullets from EVER being seated out close to the lands in the throat.A Ruger No 1 or No 3 is about the only acceptable Hornets they have ever made.The bolt guns suck,IHMO...