223 or 22 hornet?

[Rico]

Which would be better for a general 100yrd hole puncher & 150 yrds vermin getter.  Any recoil on the 223? I would be shooting factory ammo only.
If I go hornet I'm thinking 10"; what would be the shortest to go w/ 223?
Please don't talk me into both!
Thanks
Ric

[B_Koes]

I'd have to agree...your best option would be a 14" .223 due to the greater number of factory offerings...not to mention more economical.  The Hornet is great and by far the better choice in a 10" barrel, but given your constraints I think you would be much better served by the bigger .223.

[bobg]

I think people are right. The .223 is the way to go but not my way. JMO but i think the.223 is the most useless caliber ever put on the market. Rather have a Hornet any day.
 
                   bobg

[OLDMAN]

CKnight is right about a 10 inch 223.  I have a 10 inch .223 and I didn't like it so I put it up for trade.  It was on the barrel trading forum for nearly a month and I did not get one reply.  Nobody wanted the darn thing.  Then I got a 14 inch .223 in a trade with Cisco.  What a difference.  The 14 inch .223 is one of the most accurate barrels I have.  Don't let the longer barrel bother you.  It carries fine and shoots easier for me than the 10 barrel.  Aslo I have a Hornet which I like very much but the two are hardly comparable.  Both .224 cal., but if you want to shoot the 52, 55, and heavier bullets the .223 is the way to go.  The Hornet does just fine with the 40 grain bullets.

[BCB]

Rico,

The Hornet ain't even in the race!  I wouldn't even consider it if I reloaded my ammo--and I certainly do!!!  Good-luck...BCB

[Johnly]

Which would be better for a general 100yrd hole puncher & 150 yrds vermin getter.  Any recoil on the 223? I would be shooting factory ammo only.
If I go hornet I'm thinking 10"; what would be the shortest to go w/ 223?
Please don't talk me into both!
Thanks
Ric

I have a 14" Bull 223 and that is as short as I would go. It's a noisey little cuss in a covered range, and I would recommend plugs and muffs when shooting it.  Using faster burning powders like Blue Dot, 2400 and 4227 have much less muzzle blast than factory ammo or those loaded with H335 or WW748.

I also have a couple 10" barrels chambered 22 hornet and 22 K hornet, and I have to say that a scoped 10" octagon hornet rig is much handier in the field than my scoped 14" 223 bull barrel.

Both chamberings have their advantages and disadvantages, so it comes down to what you want the rig to do most of the time, and how you value noise, ammo cost, ammo availibility, in your evaluation.

[Tacoma]

A .22 wmr isn't a bad 100 yd shooter either. Still between the hornet and .223, the .223 will be much cheaper and more capable. Besides, if you ever decide o reload, you can download a .223 to hornet velocity but with less noise using blue dot powder.

[SD Handgunner]

While I have never had a .22 Hornet, I have had several .223 Contenders over the years. You have already been given some excellent advise, and I would have to place my vote also with the Super 14 .223. I have had a couple different Contenders with 10" Bull Barrels chambered for the .223 over the years, and have to agree that for this cartridge the Super 14 version is the way to go (especially if you are restricted to Factory Loads).

I am primarily a Varmint Hunter, as well as an avid Handloader. I have settled on 3 loads for my Super 14 .223 Contender uses.

One uses a 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullet loaded to roughly 2900 FPS with Alliant Blue Dot Powder. This is an excellent general purpose load, it is amazingly accurate, and super mild to shoot in terms of Recoil and Muzzle Flash & Blast.

Another load uses the same 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullet loaded with H-4198SC. This load is also amazingly accurate, and churns up 3250 FPS Muzzle Velocity.

The third load I typically use in my .223 Contenders consists of a 52gr. Speer Flat Base Hollow Point with either H-322 or W-748 Powder. Normal muzzle velocities with this bullet run around 2850 FPS. Accuracy has been quite good, and this bullet is quite explosive on small varmints also.

I have used all three of the above mention loads on Prairie Dogs, as well as a couple different commercial reloads. I have had good results with the Ultra Max Commercial Reloads with both the 40gr. Hornady V-Max Bullets, 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullets, and the 52gr. Speer Flat Base Hollow Point Bullets. My handloads squeeze out a little more velocity than do these commercial reloads, but I have found these commercial reloads to be quite accurate in the Super 14 .223 Barrels I have used them in.

Good luck with your project.

Larry