THE .22 K-HORNET

Loading Lysle Kilbourn’s Troublesome Pet

- Terry Wieland

Somewhere in the distant mists of time lies the truth about the origins of the .22 Hornet, one of the twentieth-century’s most successful small-game cartridges. It proves the adage that success has many fathers while failure is an orphan because, for the better part of a century, at least half a dozen men have been credited with developing the Hornet.

In a 1975 Pet Loads article, Ken Waters announced his intention of setting the record straight as to the Hornet’s origins, and did so, to my satisfaction, at least. Since Waters was in the enviable position of knowing some of the principals personally, or knowing other people who did, I would tend to believe him. He had nothing to gain in lying.

Claims about the Hornet’s origins go all the way back to 1894 and the work of Reuben Harwood, one of the very earliest wildcatters, playing with the .22 Winchester Center Fire (WCF), an early black powder cartridge. Harwood even used the name “Hornet,” although not applied to the exact cartridge that we know, which tends to roil things even further. It’s generally conceded that the Hornet as we know it, emerged in the 1920s from work carried on by military ballisticians at Springfield Armory. According to most, the first Hornet rifle was a rebored Model 1922 Springfield; according to Waters, it was a Martini action fitted with a Model 1922 barrel.

Why does any of this matter? Simply because many of the nagging problems associated with the .22 Hornet stem from the original barrels. Barrels chambered for the .22 rimfires had bores of .2225 to .223 inch in diameter, and rifling twists of 1:16. Later, hotshot .22 centerfires had bores of .224 and twists of 1:14, which meant they could handle longer, heavier bullets.