I have a Sako P72 and a CZ 527 in .22 Hornet. The CZ is under MOA with both the 35 grain VMAX and Winchester 46 grain hollow points. Does not like Remington ammo for some reason. The Sako loves the VMAXs (.5MOA) and hates anything over 40 grains.

I too have a CZ 527 american that has beautiful wood.
I topped it with a Leupold VX-II 4x12x40mm AO.
That thing will shoot 1/2" groups all day with both Remington factory loads.
Mike

Savage99,

Quote:

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The .22 Hornet may be the least accurate sporting smokeless rifle cartridge ever.

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I have had a couple of .222 Remington's and while they are very accurate so are my .22 Hornets. My .222's grouped very well but really no better than my .22 Hornets. No problem getting 0.5" groups with either. Lawdog

Have a lot of areas around here to hunt woodchucks with a light rifle that doesn't make much noise. Been using the 17hmr but would like a little more. Also I am able to hunt turkeys in the fall with a rifle. I am looking to get a 22 hornet as my .223 is two big for the job and the 17hmr to small. What rifle would anyone recommend? Also are there any other quiet rounds out there that might be suitable for my woodchucking and tough enough to kill turkey? Don't go overboard as even a .222 is to noisy for the places I hunt chucks.

My wife has the CZ American in 22 Hornet. Most accurate rifle right out of the box I have ever seen. Price is resonable, also.
Pete

Do you handload? If so try 10 grs of 2400 powder behind a Nosler 45 gr SB and you'll have a very quiet and accurate slighty lower powered hornet in your .223. If your really wanting a hornet get a old Sako L46 clip one....talk about class! Otherwise just get a boring old CZ 527 and shoot 3/4" groups right out of the box <yawn> Oh and other great hornet rifles, Anschutz makes one that is super accurate and Walther made the KKJ in a hornet and the older Brno hornets have wonderful craftsmanship. FMMauser

The Hornet is a great little cartridge and perfect for the uses you describe. In my opinion, there are far too few good rifles chambered for .22 Hornet (on an appropriate action).

One rifle which should be a ringer but has a reputation for poor performance is the Ruger 77/22H. I have one that is a great shooter, but the previous owner invested twice the price of the original rifle in getting it that way.

The Browning A-bolt is nice, but it's made on an action that is way too large for the Hornet.

The CZ mentioned above has a reputation as a good shooter, but I don't happen to like the clunky bolt which requires higher scope mounts. Otherwise, it's a good buy.

Old Kimbers are super, as are Coopers, but you're looking at a potload of money for one of these. An occasional Sako 78 surfaces, but they're pricey also.

Charles Daly was cataloging an economical Hornet, but I don't know if any have ever made it into the country (and I don't know it's qualities or lack thereof).

If you are not a bolt action purist (as I tend to be) and don't mind a single shot, then the Thompson-Center flop-open action, cumbersome and unfriendly as it is, is usually a good shooter.

I own two .22 Hornets. Both Rugers(a M77/22 VHZ and a No. 1b) and both are accurate and dependable. Only thing I did to them was to swap the triggers on the them with adjustable ones. Both shoot sub-MOA all day and the best part is they look great with no clip hanging down to grap everything that comes by them. Lawdog

Ditto what Stonecreek said. I have the A-Bolt Hunter ($479.00) and while a great shooter, it is a full sized action. Another less expensive single shot with a decent rep is the Handi-Rifle.

The current "go-to" load for a lot of the Hornet guys is 12.5 to 13 gr 'Lil Gun and the Hornady 35 gr Vmax. And if you want REALLY quiet, search this site for "Blue dot; Hornet" and go back at least a year.

hi crazyjjk
a bsa hunter is a great rifle if you can find one yourside of the pond hinged floorplate no problems with seating bullets out to the lands as can be a problem with the ruger with limited o/a length in rotary mag very accurate balances excellent the brno/cz are very accurate also but the bolts are no where as nice to operate i have just found 1 for a friend and he is delighted with his 40 year old bsa
regards steve

Anshcutz 1700 very accurate

I have two Anschutz Hornets, one is the 1730 Meistergrade rifle and it consistently shoots in the .3's. The other is a bolt pistol called the Exemplar that ceased production in the mid 80's, I have a 3X12 Burris on it and it's the first handgun that I've ever shot a 5 shot 100 yard group under a half inch with.
I also have a Cooper K Hornet that shoots right with the Anschutz Meistergrade.
All of these cost a lot more than a guy ought to spend on a toy and the only reason I mention them is to point out the following. About a month ago I purchased a CZ 527 American in .22 Hornet to have built into a .17 Ackley Hornet. I decided to shoot it as a Hornet just to make sure the action was straight etc. I didn't work up a specific load, I just grabbed a box of 50 set up for the Anschutz they chamberd well and we went shooting. For anyone interested the load was 13.2 grains of Lil'Gun under a 40 grain V-Max in a WW case with a WSR primer (chrono's 3,000ish in the Anschutz) and shoots bugholes. I'll try to post a picture of one of the better 5 shot 100 yard groups.
Point being the CZ cost $430.00 the Anschutz and Coopers over 3 times that, pick your poison. By the way the CZ has a wonderful single set trigger, I adjusted mine to break unset (cold fingers hunting in the winter) at 2 1/2 lbs and set (bench or p-dogs) at 10 oz. http://outcast.homeunix.org/uploads/CZ .22 Hornet groups 19.JPG [image]http://outcast.homeunix.org/uploads/CZ .22 Hornet groups 19.JPG [/image]

By the way, as sometimes happens on these I got real lucky in stick they chose to built the stock with. This is a field grade American. Granted some of em look like canoe paddles but sometimes ya win the wood lotto! http://outcast.homeunix.org/uploads/Future Home of .17 Ackley Hornet! 033.jpg

The CZ is a nice rifle. I do not like the mag or the safety. I use Rem and it is backwards, but with out a doubt they are the best bang for the buck, just butt ugly IMO (Sorry Doug). I have a Browning Micro. It works well and was very accurate with 35gr Hornady factory stuff. I had it rebarreled to a 17AH for the same reason you are looking at the Hornet. This gun shoots. I know I am going to get roasted on this one, but James Calhoon makes a Ruger 77/22 Hornet in his 19 Calhoon shoot with the best of them. He even makes loaded ammo that is not terribly priced. I had an aweful 77/22 Hornet but they seem to have it down now. Good luck

I had the ruger 77/22H vzh( heavy barrel stainless/laminate) and found it to be accurate only when necksizing it. I found it had an excessively large chamber ( measured against SAAMI specs) but had no problem loading it to the lands with the rotary mag. I was thinking of getting a gunsmith to set it back and cut a medium to minium size chamber to get better accuracy.
I would buy another one of those rifles though, overall it was an OK rifle. I think the CZ would be my pick though.

I have 5 hornets but the best is still a 1949 Brno ZK465. Topped with a 6x Kahles scope it is a perfect small varminter.

I favor the CZ and have a hornet Lux model but if I didn't already have one I'd consider a Contender carbine or Encore rifle in Hornet.

Where do you hunt turkeys in upstate NY with a rifle. I have always thought that shotgun (or archery) only.

Fill me in please.

For half the price of another rifle you could get a handloading outfit and make "Hornet" loads for your 223. Your reduced loads will, on average, be more accurate than most Hornets anyway.

The Speer handbook gives reduced loads and so does Hodgdon and many other sources.

crazyjjk:

The CZ'S will OUTSHOOT every other rifle in it's price and weight range. So when it comes to selection this should make it an easy one. I would always rather have a tack driver, than the prettiest competetor out there.

Plus you have the advantage of a great single set trigger standard.

Jerry

Thanks for all the reply's guys. As for downloading the .223 I really don't want to do that for two reasons. First my 223 is a ruger 77 that holds .5 moa and I have not had to adjust the scope in over 15 yrs. I also use it a lot for other critters so I do not want to be changing scope settings all the time especially since it is a Leopold 8X with friction adjustments not click adjustments. Second even though I don't need an excuse for buying a new rifle it's always good to have one.

As for rifle choice I guess I was leaning towards the CZ even though I don't like the mag. I have three other CZ's and they are all shooters. Though if an older Sako or some other decent grade rifle comes along I would have to say my mind is not totally set on the CZ.

..I shoot a Contender carbine in the K version of the hornet, and it's probably my favorite rifle.... that having been said, I think Savage is coming out with a rifle chambered for the hornet... it looks to be a pretty nice rifle, if not perhaps a little heavy... to me, a hornet needs to be borderline petite to be worth lugging around.. the contender carbine with a synthetic stock is about as small and light as you can get... and I have never heard anyone report less than "really good" accuracy..... mine doesn't shoot in the "3's" .... heck, I can't even SPELL "3's".... but it is an honest less than moa rifle... mostly about .75" at 100... some better, a few worse.. depending on the shooter...

There is a gunsmith who hangs around on the Saubier list (www.saubier.com) who does a nice mod to the CZ and somehow moves the magazine up into the rifle. Not sure how it works, but if I get a CZ, I was going to look into it.

Good luck,
Kory

Fritz Kraut, B.A.W. :

I have a Brno ZKW 465 Hornet. How can I tell what year it was made?

All :
Somewhere along the line my Hornet was "K"ed, and it now has a long throat of generous diameter. Combined with the slow rate of twist and short magazine length, load development was a challenge. I have found some loads that group respectably on days with light winds. Overall though, I would have to say that my "K" Hornet is a lot fussier than my 2 SAKOs and Rem. Model 788 in .222 Rem. And even if the inherent accuracy were equal, the .222's do a much better job of contending with the wind. The "K" Hornet has a higher fun coefficient though, significantly less recoil and noise, and those "K" Hornet cartridges look like miniature 416 Rigbys.

rollinghills

My favorite Hornets are the ZKW-465 and Ruger #3. Another option is to download the 222 or 223, something I do with my ZKK-601 and Mini Mark X.

I think the best value in a hornet is the Charles Daly superior grade Mini Mauser. When I first got mine I wnet to the range with a buddy carrying his CZ American .22 Hornet. TO make a long story short, by the end of the day he was tring to figure out how he could trade his CZ to get a CD Superior grade like mine. Most shops have them for around 5 bills.

I agree about the old BRNO, they are wonderful. As for a modern gun I like the Blaser in the K95. Or one of the old R 93 conversions if you can find one. The K95 in the Hornet is a real sleeper, perfect weight and balance with exceptional accuracy

Aleko

Fritz Kraut :

Thank you for the information. It appears that my ZKW 465 was made in 1963.

rollinghills

Fritz,

To each his own...

Respectfully,NO bolt action rifle has been successfull in the modern US market if it does not have -

1) at least the OPTION of a flush mounted floorplate magazine(like a Mauser)..

2) a safety that works from back to front when being released(no matter where it is mounted on the action).

Sakos have been very successful in the US here for many years and offer the above features. Most models of the CZ 550 large bore rifles have them as well.I would ALREADY own a CZ 527 Hornet if it had the above features.

As to the scope mounts,Actually ,I don't mind the intregal rails myself-BUT it DOES severly limit the number of ring mount systems one can use...

Since 99% of the time using a diffent bullet/load combo changes the point of impact,most of us Americans keep things simple and don't change ammo back and forth in the field.One well chosen loaded with a good zero is all most of us need.

To most of us,the CZ clip mag is really ugly and of no more advantage that a 4 or 5 shot drop floorplate magazine...

So the CZ-527 is not successfull? I agree that it is more asthetically pleasing to have a flush magazine and it would be nicer if all the safeties worked the same. But I think CZs out sell Sakos in the US and that has to count for something. They are also wonderfully accurate rifles. Now to be honest, I have 2 527s and am no doubt a bit biased but I would call it a success. Would CZ sell more rifles with those features? For sure you'd get one.

Guys , I have a stainless Continder Carbine with black synthetic stock from Choat ,21" barrel, and 3X9 scope . This is a great gun and provides sub moa groups with handloads . Most factory stuff is about 1 moa.This is my primary calling gun because it's easy to jump out of the truck ,load up ,move into position and call yotes.After 15 min. I head back up to the truck unload very quickly and head down the road to my next stand .I use 40gr Nozzler BT's with 13.3grs of AA1680 ,and Rem.small pistol primers.I neck size only with a Lee Collet die .

I have a 527 in 223 and I like it very well too . It's not quite as handy as the Continder but still very quick to load and unload.Mine is the 527 American with the 18" barrel and it seems to shoot every load good.

The only reason why CZs outsell SAKOs currently here is avaiablity(Beretta's screwed up marketing schemes) and the price of Sakos right now nearly three times as much as a 527.

The real point is,if the m527 had the magazine and safety design of the Mini Mausers the rifles would be nearly impossible to get.They would be that popular.

One other thing,for about the last five years the m527 has had NO competiton in the US rifle market with regards to a true .223 length action in the $600 and under retail price range.Once the Charles Dalys start coming into the US in quantity,that will all change.

Charles Daily has the same mag set up on the Hornet as the CZ. I looked at them before I bought the Browning. I had to choose from the Browning and the 77/22. Sakos are all but impossible to find then pay gun show prices. I think the CZ is about the ugliest backwards saftey rifle on the market. They really shoot tho, and have beautiful stocks.

I have a cz 527 American and mounted a leupold 3-9x50 Vari X 11 on it in Lynx mounts. I load the 45 gr sierra .224 hornet bullet infront of 11 gr of win 296....I think my next batch is 11.5gr. I use a rem case and rem 7 1/2 primer. For some reason my rifle really liked the rem small primers. It shoots good and has served me well for foxes and rabbits. I got told by a number of people to steer well away from the Ruger .22 Hornet due to poor accuracy.