I purchased this rifle at a Auction in Marcelene sometime about 8 years ago for $700 and it's been neglected in my Gun Room but not anymore. I stripped it down and found a crack through the bridge between the trigger and magazine well. Very odd in that the hole is for the forward trigger guard which bears no pressure duty. The pressure screws are the main mounting screw in front of the mag well and the rear TG screw which attaches to the rear of the action much like a 1903 or M98 Mauser. The barrel in 23 inches long with 4 grooves and a one in sixteen twist chamber is .224, born on date 1951. I mounted a Vortex Crossfire II with Burris rings. The gun was also offered in a deluxe version that was checkered for $10 more. Range Report when it quits raining.

69-years-old. Ask me how I know. :D

Looks good to me!

Paul

I had enough  35 grain Hornady's to get it on paper and shoot a 3 shot group. Need not post it as the Winchester does not like the 35 grain bullet at all! It shot a 7/8 inch vertical string. Must wait for my resizing die to get here and then I will proceed with the 40 grain Sierras and 45 grain Hornady's.  I am very impressed with the Vortec scope and it has what they call their DEAD-HOLD BCD reticle. Since none of their charts come close to a 22 Hornet it will be a trial and error drill.

I finally found a load the Winny loves. 40 Gr Sierra HP, 11.3 grains of Win 296, CCI400 primers and a COAL of 1.710 going 2905'/sec. 1.2 MOA is plenty good for me and the wind was ripping out of the NNE at 15MPH.

That is an excellent 100-yard group with a 40-grain bullet in the wind! I'd call that "a load the Winny
loves" too!

Paul

Quote from: gitano;154645That is an excellent 100-yard group with a 40-grain bullet in the wind! I'd call that "a load the Winny
loves" too!

Paul

Yes if it was shot at 100 yards! It was shot at 50 yards. Still about 1.2 MOA which I'll take.

I'm happy with anything 1.25 MoA and better.

Paul

Nice rifle and good shooting, Rick.

Nice rifle Rick amd great shooting

For what ever reason, I 'like' the .22 Hornet cartridge. That said, it is a very finicky round. When it shoots straight, it's really straight. But when it doesn't 'like' ammo or a specific load, it 'hates' it! Very little middle ground with the Hornet.

Paul

What do you attribute that to Paul, variances in the chambering reamers used by different companies or the variations in the case dimensions produced by different manufacturers or bullet sizes and weights?

Here's my .02. All the above + Because the groove diameter of the .22 long rifle measured .223" originally, the Hornet was loaded with .223" caliber bullets. The Production of commercial rifles eventually saw the change from .223" to .224" groove diameters, today, Hornet projectiles are still offered in either .223" or .224" calibers. So when did this happen? I have never found an answer to this. So, you have to slug the barrel. I shot .244 bullets in my Sako before I slugged it which turned out to be .223. The .223 bullets shot a little better but not much. You have to do an enormous amount of tweaking both powder and bullet weights until you find the magic.......some never do! Paul bought some factory Hornady's for his and it shot one hole groups at some 30 yards, witnessed by your truly. To the best of my knowledge, he has never discovered a handload that shoots as good! My Winchester hated the stuff. Go figure. I shot a coyote with the Winchester a few months ago at 80 yards and I have never seen anything die so fast, I mean stone dead when it hit the ground. I think that's the reason Paul and I love them.....the Hornet is a killer.

My take on the hornet is all about case prep and bullet seating.
It is real easy round to jibber up the bullet seating - noticeable by the bulge in the case neck being a little one-sided. So my advise, take it or leave it, is to trim all cases to your preferred length set up a neck flare die and pop a little bell on the neck to ease the bullet seating then finish with a lee FCD die. I have not had much problem with powders - only using lilgun at present as it appears to perform without too much worry regarding charge weight.

Sorry I didn't see your post, Jorge. I'm not sure "why". I think j0e_bl0ggs' explanation is a good start, but it doesn't explain "finikiness" with factory ammo. Branxhunter sent me a couple of articles written by Aussies that have considerable experience with Hornets. They echo j0e_bl0ggs' comments as well as Rick's. For me, I'm 'happy as a clam', (not sure why clams are so happy, ), with Hornady factory ammo. Shoots very straight and the published MV is actually correct! Imagine that! I'd like to be able to "load around" for this cartridge, but have been soundly thwarted in those efforts, so at least for the foreseeable future, I'll just stick to the Hornady ammo.

Paul