Here's my section on the .22 Hornet:
.22 Hornet – This is a calibre that I discovered late in my shooting career. I enjoy hunting prairie dogs and have spent many days in my youth slinking down small ditches and crawling through open ground trying to close the distance so that I could get a better shot at a prairie dog with my little bolt action .22 lr. The .22 Hornet was initially a compromise calibre for me. At the time that I purchased my .22 Hornet, I was deeply considering the addition of a .22 Magnum to my growing collection of firearms. But in reading through several reloading books, I came across the data for the Hornet where I soon found that the ballistics of the Hornet more than matched the published ballistics for the .22 Magnum. For me the deal was made because the Hornet possessed the added advantage that I could reload it; meaning that I could tailor my reloads to the specifics of the firearm that I owned.
I bought my first .22 Hornet as a gift to myself after I graduated from college with a degree in Biochemistry. Once I hit the range with my .22 Hornet, I was impressed by the fantastic and almost innate accuracy that could be had with the .22 Hornet. In developing a load for my current rifle in this calibre, a Ruger 77/.22 Hornet, I found several loads that grouped nicely into ¾ to ½ groups at 100 yards. But more reloading/range work on my part allowed me to find that the Hornet could be dialed to even higher accuracy standards. With loads for 32 grain bullets up through 45 grain bullets I developed loads that shoot ¼ inch groups all day out to 100 yards and with 55 grain bullets my groups open up to only ½ inch at 150 yards.
If you’re a person that enjoys casting your own bullets, the .22 Hornet is very accurate under these conditions as well. With a caste lead bullet of 55 grains, the Hornet becomes a very hot .22 Long Rifle. But I’ve found that the 44 grain pills are more accurate.
The quiet report of the .22 Hornet coupled with its fantastic accuracy at moderate ranges make this cartridge my “goto gun” while varmint hunting on many of the small-acreage farms and woodlots that dot the landscape where I live and hunt much of the time. The .22 Hornet now has a firm place in my Essential Battery of Rifle Calibres.
