SUPER LIGHT HORNET

[ratherbefishin]

Anybody have/shot one of these-and if so, what's the accuracy like?

[Badnews Bob]

I have a standard handi hornet shoot rather well, I don't care for the feel of the super light rifles just don't ballance right in my hands.

[Paul5388]

rbf,

My Hornet is a composite of several components, but the barrel is a 20".  It has open sights on it as well as a scope, so it's a youth model SY4 and not the SL4.

It will shoot less than an inch group at 100 yards using 13.5 gr Lil'Gun and a 40 gr V-Max in Rem brass and a CCI 400 primer.  The velocity is 2754 fps out of that barrel, but I have them loaded pretty long at 1.93" OAL.

This is a used barrel I pick up on this forum and I have been tickled with it!  :grin:

EDIT: I had the two barrels backwards, but corrected that mistake.

[ratherbefishin]

excellent-I want it for deer hunting.I figure if you have a rest and take standing shots within 100 yards, put one right behind the eye or a neck shot-the hornet should do fine.

[Paul5388]

My neighbor is using a standard Handi Hornet with some of my reloads.  I don't even remember what they are except I think they have a .223" bullet , like a Sierra 45 gr.  Whatever they were, I'll load something better next time!

He shot a doe with it a year and a half ago and with a neck shot, at about 135-150 yards, dropped her with one shot.  :eek:

[ratherbefishin]

I don't doubt it for a minute-although I think I'd probably limit shots to 100 yards.Even a 22 LR will drop a deer right in it;'s tracks at 50 yards if hit in the neck or behind the eye.But, that's not to say a 22 is an ideal[or legal] weapon for deerhunting, and I would think the same applies to the hornet-it is extremely effective, but only within very controlled circumstances[ a rest, and standing shots to the head or neck]

[MSP Ret]

ratherbefishin, I can only request you not use such a marginal round for deer hunting. Yes it can kill a deer, is it a proper and ethical claiber to use for deer? no it is not. There are so many fine light recoiling rounds out there to choose from there is no logical reason for using such an unsuitable round. Hunting has a dificult time already without we hunters  using weapons not properly suited to the task at hand. I ask you to please re-think your choice of a deer caliber. A .22 Hornet is not a caliber to use for a large game animal in any other than a life or death or survival situation....<><.... :grin:

[Badnews Bob]

Please not again ethics are individual base,  what is for one may not be for another.

[ratherbefishin]

let me add something else to this-much of the deer populations have come into built up areas and the idea of hunters using super magnums close to human dwellings has caused a paranoia among the non hunting population.Areas where hunting was allowed have been disallowed-but the deer population continues to  explode-with rather devastating effects.The main ''preditor'' of the urban deer is the automobile.Even bow hunting has fallen into disfavour as pictures of unrecovered deer show up in newspapers, and people clamour to ''end this barbaric practise''.Years ago when 25-35's and other low powered deer rifles were common, deer could be taken quite unobtrusively, but the blast of many deer rifles carries a long way.Shotguns with shot  are often the only legal  weapon allowed- but these have limited effectiveness for consistently putting a deer down  much beyond 30 yards.
 When I am hunting out in the bush and far from built up areas,my regular 270  or 6.5x55 is my rifle of choice, but when I am hunting close to human habitation, I'd rather use something that didn't advertise to everyone within a mile I was shooting.That's my case for a 22 hornet, under very controlled hunting situations.

[MSP Ret]

Sorry Badnews Bob, but your wrong on this one. Ethics are not "individual base" as you say. They are the same for all of us, don't do bad, and try to do right, if it's easy or difficult. The place ethics really comes in is when you have to do the right thing when it's difficult or when you alone and there is no one to see what you are doing. Ethics are what separates the good guys from the selfish bums that would do whatever they feel is right to themselves, especially when there is no one around the see what they are doing. I don't mean to be argumentative or disagreeable, it's just that ethics are very important and if enough had them this would be a much nicer world. If you find a man with high ethics, befriend him, for he will be a good friend for life. I you come across a man with low or noo ethics, avoid him, for he is selfish, dangerous, and a drag on all of society. My feelings but from what I have seen and heard from those on this board I think the majority here would agree with me. Thats one of the reasons this board is so good, the high ethics and morality of the great majority of the members. I do not think a member with low ethics or an artifical or self imposed standard of ethics or right and wrong would last long here. GB himself would not stand for dishonesty or low ethics. I have always heard laws are what control what you do when others are around, ethics are what control what you do when no one is looking, they are not set by the individual unless he is trying to rationalize his own improper behavior....<><.... :grin:

[ratherbefishin]

My ''ethics'' are that I won't take a marginal shot-either with a low  powered rifle or  my regular deer rifles.I don't need a deer that badly that I risk a bad shot that may kill it allright-next week.I've taken well in excess of 50 deer in my life and most have been one shot kills.I don't know of any that I lost-but I did lose a bear  one time and now that means I will only take a broadside shoulder shot on a bear- and not with a hornet either- my 6.5 swede is the one for that job.So-ethics to me are restricting yourself to your own ability plus the capabilities of the weapon  you happen to be using.I do know one thing, however-I shoot far more accurately with a lower recoil rifle than a ''thumper''

[Paul5388]

MSP,

You bring up some valid points and I would have to agree with most of what you posted.  However, I fail to see an appreciable difference in the Hornet and most other .22 centerfires.  A 45-60 gr bullet isn't exactly appropriate for any game larger than a groundhog, regardless of how fast it's moving.  

Unless the bullet is constructed better than most of what you see, that is probably an undeniable truth.  Most .224" bullets are constructed for light, thin skinned game, but some, obviously are designed to penetrate without coming apart, i.e. FMJ's.  One would think a solid base bullet would also be intended for penetration instead of "blowing up" like a varmint bullet.  That makes me wonder what Nosler had in mind when they started producing the 45 gr solid based .224" bullet again.  The choice of weight also makes me wonder if they didn't intend for it to be used, even in the lowly Hornet, for more than varmint use.

[Badnews Bob]

Yes and no, What I meant by that is... It depends on where you are from and how you were raised that determine your ethics. I won't hunt deer with a .22 hornet myself, But, what if you were raised useing a simular rifle? Would it be unethical to use it ?What is unethical to one group isn't to another. I've seen what a hornet can do to a white tail, There wasn't much of it's head left. Granted the man was a very good shot and he only hunts at 25 to 39 yards, He says he has never used more than one shot and never had to track a deer. Is he unethical? I don't think so he is also one of the most woods savvy person I've ever met. I still wouldn't hunt with anything less than my .357 anyway I know my own limits also.

Don'twant to burn ya I think your mostly right, I just don't think we have the right to impose or moral codes on some one else.
,

[ratherbefishin]

at 40 yards if you put a 22LR bullet right behind the eye of a buck and he's only going one direction-straight down-drops right in his tracks.Under those circumstances a hornet is overkill.I had a surgeon friend who used a 22 magnum on Feral goats [a non game animal about the same size as blacktails] with great success, but he was an excellent shot, and would only take standing shots.Ethics is knowing when NOT to shoot