Author Topic: h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?  (Read 997 times)

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Offline catfishingham

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« on: November 24, 2004, 07:26:28 PM »
Hi I am new to the forum and impressed with knowledge available here.
 I am interested in rechambering an h&r/nef .22 hornet  Maybe to .218 bee, any other sugestions, info ? Can any one sugest  a gunsmith  (from experience) to do the work ? For chucks, urban area, 200 yds and not to boisterous.

Thanks,
Catfishingham

Offline MSP Ret

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2004, 05:03:58 AM »
catfishingham, First of all, welcome aboard!!! I use a gunsmith that has an impeccable reputation both as a custom gunsmith and as a person. His Name is Ed Gagnon of Centerville, Mass. Several others here have used him for the critical job of correctly drilling, tapping and affixing a scope rail on a 12 gauge smoothbore or rifled shotgun barrel to properly and safely mount a scope or Red Dot. It is critical work that has to be done properly to be safe, many gunsmiths just turn down the work because of its preciseness, Ed on the other loves precise work and a challenge! I highly recommend him, his prices are reasonable, his work as good as it gets and the turn around time is quite fast, not like the usual 2-4 months of other custom gunsmiths, he is simply a nice christian guy, but at times can sound like the typical grumpy old cape codder, get past that and you will soon realize he has a heart of gold!...He is quite simply put, one of the best around. Ed has many years of expiernece and is a builder of custom 1911's and all sort of shotguns adaptations and alterations, chokes and choke tubes, backboring, relieving the area in front of the chamber (? sorry brain cramp!!). Do a search under his name and you should find other comments and the info you need, if there is anything else I can to to help, just ask....Happy Thanksgiving and good luck....<><.... :grin:
"Giving up your gun to someone else on demand is called surrender. It means that you have given up your ability to protect yourself to a power that is greater than you." - David Yeagley

Offline Deadeye47

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2004, 05:19:04 AM »
Paging Marv! .....I believe Marv. rechambered his hornet to a 218  but I might be wrong ...maybe he will chime in here...and welcome by the way... :-)
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Offline single shot shooter

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2004, 06:25:48 AM »
something justpassed my mind, could you rechamber the hornet to a  .220 swift?  i dont have any bullets or bore diameters to compare but could it be done with the bullet not being too loose or too tight in the bore?
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Offline catfishingham

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2004, 06:54:43 AM »
Did search for Gagnon of Centerville, Mass., No help ?

Catfishingham

Offline TimJ

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2004, 09:19:54 AM »
Quote from: single shot shooter
something justpassed my mind, could you rechamber the hornet to a  .220 swift?  i dont have any bullets or bore diameters to compare but could it be done with the bullet not being too loose or too tight in the bore?


NEF uses basically the same barrels for all the .22 centerfires from what I can tell. I don't think anyone has used the old .223" barrel for the Hornet for decades.
No reason you couldn't do that rechamber.

You would be just as well off having a stock .22-250 since no barrels longer then 24" are available from NEF in the .22's. The numbers just wont be that great from a short barreled swift. Maybe a 24" .223 rem Ultra Varmint could be built into a higher speed gun.

Tim

Offline Hildy

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2004, 09:30:52 AM »
Possibly a less expensive alternative would be a 22 K-Hornet or 22 V-Hornet (K-Hornet with the shoulder moved forward).

The K-Hornet will get you a higher fps and the V-Hornet even more.

The only thing is that it would be necessary to reload and if you don't do it, the choice wouldn't be too feasible. If I couldn't do any of the two I mentioned, I would then go with the 218 Bee though its ballistics are only slightly better than the 22 Hornet.

Also, the chamber reaming can be a DIY task. You can rent the reamers from this one company on the internet for ??? $20-30 ??? for ten days. Perhaps sombody can chime in here on the site? Im not sure if I would recommend this to a novice because you are easily able a=to mess up your chamber or barrel.

Offline Donaldo

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2004, 11:17:29 AM »
I have spotted a 22 Hornet at the local pawn/gun shop for $175 if I remember right.  Was thinking a rechambering to 219 Donaldson Wasp, which is based on a 30-30 would make a good one to tinker with.  Have to handload, but I do anyway.  The wasp has just slightly more case capacity than the 223 IIRC.  Seems like I say that a lot recently.  The Hornet is in pretty good condition, has the schnabel (sp?) type forend, is 175 about right?
Luke 11:21

Offline Paul5388

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2004, 04:21:51 PM »
Seems like Marv's is a 219 wasp.  I think the dies are a big draw back on that project.

I think I would just get a factory barrel in a faster .22 caliber.  I like my Hornet just as it is, stock.  It's shooting about 2750 fps with 40 gr V-Max and 13.5 gr Lil'Gun out of a 20" barrel.  If I need a few hundred fps more, I switch to a .223 Rem barrel.

Offline thecowboyace

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2004, 10:30:06 PM »
.22 K-Hornet is a really nice round almost getting .222 Remington (not Magnum tho) loads out of it, somewhere around 4/5 speed and 75% powder I believe.  I have looked into this very seriously for I had a .22 Hornet at one time in the NEF line.  Really nice shooter, told son he could use it a while, he, living with his mom, but he decided to trade my gun off for another gun!!!! Not pleased was I!

I will say that I do believe that one should go with the .223 chambering.  One can utilize 800X, Blue Dot, or Unique and bring the recoil, report, ballistics down to the K-Hornet level and then still go up and have the .223 power when you want it.  Just think having a good mil-dot or one of the military scopes similar to the Russian rangefinders on top of the .223 barrel and then just having 2 different boxes of ammo sitting to the side of your rifle and using the "Unique', in more way in one, load for 150yd p-dawgs and then shifting to the .223's for the 250yds+++.  Saves the barrel from overheating.

Thought that I would throw that in.

Offline catfishingham

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2004, 10:42:00 PM »
Thecowboyace, Thanks for the reply, what you are saying makes sence.

Catfishingham

Offline Donaldo

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2004, 06:26:32 PM »
Well I already have a 223 in the UV.  Just thought the Wasp would be a good project gun.  Got the itch to do somehting different this winter.  Have a 6mmBR in mind but the main problem is finding a good barrel with a fast twist, say 1/8 or 1/9 to shoot the heavy 95 to 105 bullets.  I guess I qualify for the gun looney title.  Bought 3 rifles this year, 223,243, 270.  Have not even shot the 243 and 270 yet.  They are still in the boxes.  Finally got around to putting bases on the 270 Win that is a Weatherby Vanguard.  Have really got the itch for the 6mmBR though.  Anyone interested in this remarkable cartridge might take a look at the 6mmBRdotcom site.  Some verrrrrry pretty rifles there.
Luke 11:21

Offline marv

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219
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2004, 07:24:26 PM »
Paul No mine is NOT  a wasp, just 219 Zipper same old round
Winchester brought out in 1937 in model 94. Marv.
PS  Twist is not fast enough to stabize heavery than 52 and 55
 grain boolets :D

Offline MSP Ret

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2004, 02:36:45 AM »
I did a search for gagnon also and came up with "no results" ??? What happened to those posts? Perhaps when Mr. GB "cleaned up" the site a few days ago?
 Alright, those guys that sent something to Ed (shotgun barrels for a scope rail and such)  if you read this any chance of letting catfishingham know what you think of his quailty and speed of work....Thanks to all....<><.... :grin:
"Giving up your gun to someone else on demand is called surrender. It means that you have given up your ability to protect yourself to a power that is greater than you." - David Yeagley

Offline Paul5388

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h&r/nef hornet rechambering ?
« Reply #14 on: November 27, 2004, 08:43:02 AM »
Marv,

At least I got the .219 part right!   :grin: