.22 Hornet Handi questions

[Bogie]

I just purchased my first Handi Rifle in .22 Hornet. I wanted to ask those of you who have this rifle what FACTORY loads have you found to shoot the most accurate out of this gun? I called H&R twice about other things and two different people over there both told me the .22 hornet is now coming with a 1:9" barrell twist, so I am lead to believe a larger factory load ( like 45 grains) would be best but I am not sure.

Also, because of the hammer and the fact that I am running a BSA 4x16X40 scope on it, my gun shop had to mount the scope with Weaver x-high rings.........do you think that will affect accuracy since my head is now up higher on the stock to see through it?

Any suggestions on what simple things I need to do to it to make it as accurate as possible?

I am mainly using this gun as my night time fox gun so I need it as accurate as possible.

Thanks for you help and I look forward to conversing with all you Handi rifle fans.

[quickdtoo]

Welcome aboard Bogie!  The Hornet was apparently scheduled to be discontinued before Remington bought Marlin/H&R early this year, but it's back in their line up and as you were told, will be 1:9", but those new barrels won't be produced until April '09(I just confirmed that), anything made so far is 1:12" which is the standard twist for the H&R Hornet. Can't help ya with ammo, I've only shot handloads in mine, I've shot 30gr-40gr in mine, but there are others that have shot 45gr-50gr handloads in theirs, just depends on the load whether they'll shoot well with factory ammo.

The usual Handi accuracy tips in the FAQs and Help sticky are your guide, spend some time in there, the answers are there just for the readin. 

Tim

[Bob A]

Bogie,

First, let me welcome you to Handis and 22 Hornets.
You are going to love your new rifle and if you are like the rest of us, you will invest some time and a some money in making it much better.
I only ever shot the Hornady 35 gr VMax factory load before starting to load. The Hornady Factory rounds are very accurate, very explosive and very expensive. You might want to put reloading equipment on your Christmas list. The Hornet can be very cheap to load.

Only experience will tell you if the rings are too high. Some people can shoot without out a firm cheek weld, some can't. If you decide its a problem the easiest fix is to change out the butt stock. You can buy a monte carlo stock from H&R for $40.70. The alternative is a new scope and rings.

You may find the biggest accuracy improvement you can make is to lighten the trigger pull. This is very common with Handis. You can read the FAQs and decide if you are up to doing a trigger job or you can find a gunsmith.

I would not have predicted that they would change to twist rate on the hornet to 1 in 9. All of the hornet bullets work fine with the std 1 in 14 twist. Handis already have a faster 1 in 12 twist. Hornets are really at their best with bullets from 35 to 45 gr. The only reason I can imagine is to allow the hornet to shoot the new Barnes Varmint Grenade bullets. These non lead bullets are very long for their weight and need a lot of spin to keep them stable.

Good luck and enjoy

Bob A

[RelicHound]

I am fairly new to both the handi and hornet as well. The only loads I have ran through my hornet are the winchester super X 45grn,the remington 45grn JHP and the remington prem. accutips in 35grn..out of the 3 the rem 45grn JHPs shoot the best btu that could very well change once I am able to run a few more rounds down the barrel. as far as the scope..I had to put extra high rings on mine as well and have a 50mm scope on it,I havent noticed any trouble with it. the gun shoots great and holds impressive groups when I do my part. good luck with your new rifle and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine.

[Rustyinfla]

  Congratulations and welcome.

[deadrabbit]

Ive never had a factory load shoot bad in mine.  Its a nail driver to a hundred yards with any of them, I never even have to readjust my scope for them as they seem to be about the same, at least for me.  After 100 yards I miss sometimes but its probably me and not the gun.  Enjoy it!

[jsoukup]

Mine is a late 80's model, regular mounts, basic Bushnell 4x scope. I shoot regular 45gr Remington Core lokt HP's. Shoots pretty good to me. Bullseyed a coon at 75 yards before deer season, got entry and exit, nickle sized hole coming out.

[BCall]

I have been shooting a new one lately, and I have tried the Hornady 35 gr V-Max load, and PRVI 45 gr load. The Hornady did very well, hovering around 1", and the PRVI did well considering the cheap price($19 a box of 50, less than half what most factory ammo lists for). If I was pressed to use factory, these would probably be the 2 I would use. The Hornady ammo did very well, and is cheaper than most factory ammo, but the PRVI has done fine, works great for plinking ammo, but still shot around 1 1/2" at 100, plenty good enough for 150-200 yard work. THe PRVI brass seems good as well, and now I have 100 fire formed cases ready for reloading, and a barrel that has been getting some cheap shooting for break in. With the price of the PRVI ammo, I am considering using it instead of buying new brass from now on. PRVI shot very well in my 243 as well, but your gun may hate it. Some one made the comment that they had heard the PRVI ammo was dirty, but I didn't notice any more fouling than with any other load. I think maybe the PRVI ammo got that reputation in autoloaders. I couldn't bring myself to pay $40+ for a box of 50. HTH, Billy

[SM Bob]

Any suggestions on what simple things I need to do to it to make it as accurate as possible?

I am mainly using this gun as my night time fox gun so I need it as accurate as possible.

Thanks for you help and I look forward to conversing with all you Handi rifle fans.

Welcome to the forum. I have a H&R 22 Hornet with a Bushnell 4-12X40mm Banner scope
that I have owned for a couple of years. I have never shot any factory ammo through it.
I looked at the prices and knew right away that I wasn't going that route. I reload my own
using 12 grains of Lil Gun and Sierra 45 grain Hornet spitzer bullets. It regularly shoots well
under an inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards from the bench. I shot 1 group that was .375"
Needless to say that any varmint that is unlucky enough to get in the way of one of these
45 grain missiles is in for a real bad day. I highly recommend that you reload your own
ammo for your Hornet. Get yourself a set of Lee dies, one of their inexpensive reloading
presses, a scale, an Auto Prime, a cheap pair of calipers, and a tumbler, and you are good
to go. It might sound like a lot of stuff, but it's not really. The Handi in 22 Hornet is one of
the best shooting rifles that I own.

                                      Robert

[Jones]

Any suggestions on what simple things I need to do to it to make it as accurate as possible?

I am mainly using this gun as my night time fox gun so I need it as accurate as possible.

Thanks for you help and I look forward to conversing with all you Handi rifle fans.

Welcome to the forum. I have a H&R 22 Hornet with a Bushnell 4-12X40mm Banner scope
that I have owned for a couple of years. I have never shot any factory ammo through it.
I looked at the prices and knew right away that I wasn't going that route. I reload my own
using 12 grains of Lil Gun and Sierra 45 grain Hornet spitzer bullets. from theIt regularly shoots well
under an inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards  bench. I shot 1 group that was .375"
Needless to say that any varmint that is unlucky enough to get in the way of one of these
45 grain missiles is in for a real bad day. I highly recommend that you reload your own
ammo for your Hornet. Get yourself a set of Lee dies, one of their inexpensive reloading
presses, a scale, an Auto Prime, a cheap pair of calipers, and a tumbler, and you are good
to go. It might sound like a lot of stuff, but it's not really. The Handi in 22 Hornet is one of
the best shooting rifles that I own.

                                      Robert

 You said it was one of your best shooting rifle. Before that i read "It regularly shoots well
under an 3 inch groups at 100 yards bench". But says "It regularly shoots well,
under an inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards bench. Put me to thinking for a min.


sorry no help for the 22hornet, but what kinda of FPS are you getting out of them?
 

  GJ

[SM Bob]

Sorry if I didn't make it clear. I regularly shoot 3 shot groups that are well
under 1 inch at 100 yards using 12.0 grains of 'Lil Gun and a Sierra 45 grain
Hornet Varminter bullet in my Handi Hornet. Velocity for this load is 2640 fps.

                                       Robert

[gendoc]

as for store bought ammo, my hornet likes winchester super-X 46grain hp X22H2 for
hunting small game, very stable and accurate.

for handloads which is my favorite hunting rounds. i use nosler ballistic tip 50grain #39522
with 10grains of imr-4227. nosler doesnot give reload data for this projectile in the hornet, but research
and testing proved this to be extra fine in the hornet. just got to play with your COL settings
and know your chamber depth. seat it to where your not touching your l&g's and with minimum gap
jump. it takes awhile to determine this , but the end results are great.

both the store bought winny's and my handload 50's give  less than 1" @100yrd performance
excellent for hunting. only time i shoot paper is to prove scope zero and testing handloads.

hope you enjoy your hornet, and have fun!!!!!!!!!!

[quickdtoo]

I just got an update on the 1:9" twist Hornets, apparently some have already been made, and as with the .223, there's no way of knowing exactly when they switched, if it makes a difference to ya, check it with a rod and patch. 

Tim