What would you guys do? Looking to turn my .22 hornet to .17 Ackley hornet or .19 calhoun. What are you guys opinions?

had the same problem...went with a 22 K Hornet whichwas cheap with dies and the rechamber.with more power......I then went much smaller with a 17 CCM so I wouldnt have two calibers that were close.....both work very well.....Hal

I also went with the K-Hornet conversion . Picked up a good set of Redding reloading dies . Expecting the rifle back by this weekend, I will keep you posted on performance increase over the normal Hornet . I have extensive data on the Hornet , but this is only with owr local powders , which has a burn rate of within 5 % of some of your selection.

Rudie

I went from Hornet to K Hornet as well. I got very little in the way of increased performance, however, brass life was greatly increased. Don't regret doing it one little bit.

Chad

I have a Ruger vhz in .22 Hornet that I was going to make into a .19 Calhoon. Only problem is it shoots so well I think I'll just save up and get the CZ from Calhoon in .19 Calhoon. I like the speed and ballistics of the .19 Calhoon.

I have a 17 Ackley Hornet built on a little Martini Cadet. It is pure MAGIC !!!!!. 100m groups run .8-.95 regularly. Fitted with an old Weaver K8 it only weighs 7lb and is perfect as a daytime walkabout rifle.

Loaded with 20 gn V-Max projectiles the load chrono's at 3710fps and 3460fps with the 25gr HP.

If there is any doubts as to its performance, I fireform cases by shooting at full size steel chickens at the range at 200m, and had a string of 9 knockdowns and the tenth was turned sideways on its foot.

Sure the 22K Hornet is less trouble but it doesn't shoot as far by about 80-100m as the 17AH.

FB
You need both. Just give up trying to decide. Switch barrel? Food for thought.

Do you have to aneel the 17 Ack. Hornet cases? Heard with the 19 Calhoon it isn't necessary. Tring to decide on my next barrel. Have narrowed the choices down to these two. I realize that there are more 17 bullet options but the 19 is still in the running. All input from users of these rounds is appreciated. Thanks.

I also had the Ruger VHZ in 22 Hornet. I chose the 19 Calhoon, the accuracy is more than I hoped for, under .5 inch groups with fireforming loads.
I would also like to have the 17AH and the 22 K Hornet. You can't have too many. Any of the above would not be a bad choice. I still have other Hornets, a Win. Model 43 excellent Turkey gun.
Good luck which ever you choose.

Fraser:

For what it is worth, I have a gunsmith friend with a Ruger 77 rebarreled [Douglas] to .17 Ackley. Shooting the .20 grain Hornady VMAX, my friend cannot say enough good about the cartridge. I know he used it alot on prairie dogs this summer and if I recall correctly, made a good number of 300 yard kills. I also noticed, that it was his gun of choice when he wanted to just go out and shoot. I have heard good things about the 19 Calhoon. Another option is the .20 Hornet Improved. I am having a Kimber 82 converted to 20 Hornet Improved as we speak. Dies for the .20 Hornet Improved are available through Todd Kindler [Redding dies].

I am willing to bet that you will be happy regardless of which route you take.

Jordan

Converted Ruger #1 from Hornet to K-Hornet. 40 gr. Nosler BT's at 3400fps w/ Hodgdon li'l gun but had spread problems. With Hornady 45 gr Hornets it runs close to 3300 fps on 12.3 gr of Li'l Gun, 50 fps spreads for 5 shots, and shoots in the 7's. Can't imagine that I'd ever go for one of the 17/20 wildcats with that in my locker. Might buy a 17HMR though.....

If your'e looking for something different, why not check out a 14 Walker
Hornet? They are small, but not toys. You can get good performance
out to 150 yards.....check out my site at cyberport.net/russ/bullets.htm
components are not as hard to get as most people think too.

just a thought
russ

I was thinkg about suggesting the 20 myself. At least there are some bullet choices and the improved should really add a little spunk to it. my.02

I just ordered a .19 Calhoon re-barel kit for my Ruger 77/22VHZ. Very nice folks out at Calhoon Manufacturing, and I've heard very good things about PacNor barrels from the serious shooters at my local range.
I'll post the results, when I get them.
Regards, George.