Rifle Talk

.22 Hornet – Hit and Miss

- Lee J. Hoots

When last I penned a column in this magazine on the .22 Hornet, it was narrowly aimed at the cartridge’s unique and somewhat misunderstood development. As such, a few readers who sent letters to the Wolfe Publishing office wanted to understand why “new” .22 Hornet rifles are hard to find these days and, oddly, how my rifle shoots – “oddly” because no two rifles shoot the same, even with the same load. So this time around, a few test loads have been included, sparingly, due to the shortage of ammunition and reloading components all shooting enthusiasts are struggling with, including gun writers. A somewhat expanded rifle history has also been included for anyone who didn’t read the first column.

The .22 Winchester Hornet cartridge, or .22 Hornet, at least as riflemen know it today, is the 1930’s product of Winchester, which used the old .22 WCF cartridge case, as explained by Layne Simpson in his “Wildcat Cartridges” column in Handloader No. 329 (December-January 2020/2021). Ammunition was available long before early rifles showed up. Sources differ somewhat, but it is generally known that early bolt-action options were soon brought to market by the likes of Griffin & Howe (semi-custom Hornet-Springfield, 1931), Savage with its 1931 Model 23-D (1932), and Winchester with the Model 54 (1933), and later the Model 70 (1973). The Winchester rifles were largely responsible for the .22 Hornet’s early, booming appeal among American shooters and hunters. Today, these classic rifles, in good condition, bring a stunning price at auction, if and when they show up. Even the comparatively short-lived Ruger No. 3 was so chambered in the mid1970s, and some fans of that company would consider the homely-looking, single-loader a classic rifle as well.