Calhoon's rifles?

15 November 2003, 11:45

Todd C

Calhoon's rifles?

I am looking at the 19 Calhoon (.22 hornet necked to .19 cal) and was contemplating one of Calhoons completed rifles. They offer a stainless ruger 77 or the CZ for $875 and say to expect 1/2" at 100 from each. Any comments on the finished rifles or the round itself.

15 November 2003, 13:08

Hairtrigger

I have purchased 22 cal bullets for reloading From James Calhoon and am very happy with them.
He has advertised in Varmint Hunters Magazine for a long time

15 November 2003, 16:14

mehulkamdar

Todd,

Rifle magazine had a detailed article a few months ago on the 19 caliber Calhoon rifles. If you can't find it, I could scan and e-mail it to you if you like.

Good hunting!

15 November 2003, 17:11

craigster

FWIW, a month or so back a fella at the local range had one out. It was a nice looking rifle and he was quite happy with it. He was fireforming brass that day and it seemed to shoot quite well.

16 November 2003, 07:38

Todd C

Thank you for the feedback. I have used the Calhoon bullets for a while and have been very pleased with accuracy and explosiveness. I have been eyeballing the ruger he sells for a while but have heard nasty things about the 77 hornets (something about a two piece bolt causing ignition problems??).

Craigster: was it the CZ or the Ruger that you had a chance to look at?

16 November 2003, 14:47

<George Capriola>

quote:
Originally posted by Todd C:
...but have heard nasty things about the 77 hornets (something about a two piece bolt causing ignition problems??).

Todd,
The bolt is one of several accuracy items effecting the Ruger.
In my opinion, the main problem is the thin receiver rails. I think they allow too much vibration, spoiling accuracy. They're fine for the rimfires, but not quiet stiff enough for the centerfire. A good bedding job helps here.
The factory trigger is just awful.
Some factory barrels are pretty bad, too.
The Hornet headspaces on the rim. Excessive clearance between the bolt halves can cause accuracy problems, and can be cured by installing a shim between the bolt halves. I managed to fit a .0015" shim in my '77 bolt, and it did nothing to improve accuracy.
The .19 Calhoon fireforms the Hornet case into a bottleneck shape with angled shoulders, and the case headspaces on the shoulder afterwards, not the rim. This alone improves accuracy a huge amount (just ask the K-Hornet people). Plus, PacNor is supplying a quality barrel, much better than Ruger ships on the stock unit.
Regards, George.

16 November 2003, 15:37

craigster

Todd, it was a CZ. I had a 77/22 Hornet. It was the most disappointing rifle I ever owned. Trust me, there's a lot of guys out there that will tell you the same thing. I'm sure Calhoon does a great job on either. It's just that I would rather not start out with what I consider an overpriced POS.