19 Calhoon

[woodnut]

I gotta put a "plug" in for a fine rifle builder named James Calhoon. Way back in 1993 I was at a big show in Harrisburg,Pa. One of my many trips to that show. This time I had a hankering for a 22 rimfire mag. Don't ask me why, I don't know today. But at the Outdoorsmans booth, I spotted a very interesting rifle. As the owner said he didn't have a .22 rimfire, I asked him what was that rifle. He told me it was a 19 Calhoon on a CZ action. Looked really nifty but I had never heard of the cal. nor the name. He explained what it was, had some ammo and dies (if I wanted to reload it) and somehow I wound up with it! Did not do much at all with it for a long time, just put a 10 X Zeiss on it and I think zeroed it. Fast forward to 2018 and I let a friend shoot it in South Dakota at prairie dogs. I could not get it away from him! That thing was like shooting a laser beam out to 300 yds! The prairie dogs sure didn't like it! I was impressed. But since he shot up almost all my ammo, it has been sitting a bit, til this week.
I just had the muzzle threaded for a suppressor and broke out the reloading "stuff". I also called James to see what he would advise to load it. Took his advise! I just went to the range with some factory leftovers and my first attempt at the reloads. Was I ever awed! The reloads shot, dare I say, a bit better than the factory loads. At 50 yds., it was one ragged hole! So now I have all the brass primed and ready to load up. Can hardly wait til June to get back to S.D. and this time I will be shooting it!
James also has some other great rifles in some very excellent proprietary calibers. Ones you don't know about, but should look into. He knows what he's doing and builds very, very fine rifles . He has a web site and you might want to check it out. I am very glad I bought that rifle !

 

[Mark M.]

I gotta put a "plug" in for a fine rifle builder named James Calhoon. Way back in 1993 I was at a big show in Harrisburg,Pa. One of my many trips to that show. This time I had a hankering for a 22 rimfire mag. Don't ask me why, I don't know today. But at the Outdoorsmans booth, I spotted a very interesting rifle. As the owner said he didn't have a .22 rimfire, I asked him what was that rifle. He told me it was a 19 Calhoon on a CZ action. Looked really nifty but I had never heard of the cal. nor the name. He explained what it was, had some ammo and dies (if I wanted to reload it) and somehow I wound up with it! Did not do much at all with it for a long time, just put a 10 X Zeiss on it and I think zeroed it. Fast forward to 2018 and I let a friend shoot it in South Dakota at prairie dogs. I could not get it away from him! That thing was like shooting a laser beam out to 300 yds! The prairie dogs sure didn't like it! I was impressed. But since he shot up almost all my ammo, it has been sitting a bit, til this week.
I just had the muzzle threaded for a suppressor and broke out the reloading "stuff". I also called James to see what he would advise to load it. Took his advise! I just went to the range with some factory leftovers and my first attempt at the reloads. Was I ever awed! The reloads shot, dare I say, a bit better than the factory loads. At 50 yds., it was one ragged hole! So now I have all the brass primed and ready to load up. Can hardly wait til June to get back to S.D. and this time I will be shooting it!
James also has some other great rifles in some very excellent proprietary calibers. Ones you don't know about, but should look into. He knows what he's doing and builds very, very fine rifles . He has a web site and you might want to check it out. I am very glad I bought that rifle !

Shot this group couple weeks ago with my 19 Badger, 5 shots .320 @100yrds, love it!

 

[woodnut]

Wow! I have looked at that round, it is a smoker and as you point out, very accurate! On his web site, there are many satisfied customers and tiny group pictures.

 

[Dean2]

I have been a fan of small caliber center fire for a long time. James makes great guns and his proprietary cartridges are great performers. He is also a heck of a nice guy. If you want to know more than your ever cared to about sub calibers check out Saubier.com, it is a great forum dedicated to sub calibers.

http://www.saubier.com/forum.html

 

[woodnut]

I agree with you, Dean2, James is a very nice and very knowledgeable guy! I had a wonderful conversation with him a short while ago. I had, though, forgot about Saubier.com, which I used to go to a lot. Will get back to it! Thanks for the heads up!
Hey Mark M, was that group James's load or your handloads? Tell us about them,ok?

 

[lewwetzel]

"Needing" something to slot between my .22 WMR and beloved .221 Fireball, I bought a .17 Hornet a few years back but wasn't too impressed. I then bought a CZ 527 in .22 Hornet, intending to someday have it converted to .19 Calhoon. Hasn't happened yet, but nice to know James is still out there producing those fine rifles.

 

[19 Badger]

I have owned all 3 of Calhoons cartidges (19 Hornet, 19 Badger and 19-223) and still have the Badger in a CZ and 19-223 in a Cooper. All have been tack drivers, Calhoon does definitely know how to put together a sweet shooting rifle. 19 Badger is awesome for squirrels, coyotes and prairie dogs. Super accurate...I don't recommend the 19 Hornet on a CZ platform due to the rim on the Hornet case jamming up in the mag. The rim will get stuck on the wrong side of the round below it. Kinda sucks when you have a jam on a great field of squirrels or town of dogs when they are aggressive and possibly charging. Lol. Never an issue with the Badger.

 

[Dean2]

I have owned all 3 of Calhoons cartidges (19 Hornet, 19 Badger and 19-223) and still have the Badger in a CZ and 19-223 in a Cooper. All have been tack drivers, Calhoon does definitely know how to put together a sweet shooting rifle. 19 Badger is awesome for squirrels, coyotes and prairie dogs. Super accurate...I don't recommend the 19 Hornet on a CZ platform due to the rim on the Hornet case jamming up in the mag. The rim will get stuck on the wrong side of the round below it. Kinda sucks when you have a jam on a great field of squirrels or town of dogs when they are aggressive and possibly charging. Lol. Never an issue with the Badger.

Your issue with jamming is from not being careful loading the mags. I have the 17 H and 22H both in CZs and I never have problems with the magazines jamming due to the rims overlapping. If you load the mags correctly you won't either. The one issue with the CZ 22H mags is they arte a little short and do retricted max seating depth but Calhoon makes an excellent single shot follower for the CZ and with a little practice you can single load nearly as fast as you can feed from the mag.

 

[19 Badger]

Your issue with jamming is from not being careful loading the mags. I have the 17 H and 22H both in CZs and I never have problems with the magazines jamming due to the rims overlapping. If you load the mags correctly you won't either. The one issue with the CZ 22H mags is they arte a little short and do retricted max seating depth but Calhoon makes an excellent single shot follower for the CZ and with a little practice you can single load nearly as fast as you can feed from the mag.

You are more than likely correct about the loading of the mags incorrectly. I don't think you understand where my state of mind is in when I get in good alfalfa patch full of gophers. Lol.

 

[woodnut]

Dean2, thanks (again!) for the tip on loading the mags. I don't recall having any issues with feeding, but I do remember they are hard to fill! Strong spring. As for loading them, I suppose , like most rimmed rounds, you need to stack them forward of each rim, right? And that's when a short mag becomes the problem. I did quit loading them and just fed single rounds right into the chamber. It is quick. I only have the one mag, so trying to fill slowed me down when the shooting was fast in a dog town!

 

[woodnut]

I hear ya, 19 Badger ! LOL !

 

[Dean2]

Dean2, thanks (again!) for the tip on loading the mags. I don't recall having any issues with feeding, but I do remember they are hard to fill! Strong spring. As for loading them, I suppose , like most rimmed rounds, you need to stack them forward of each rim, right? And that's when a short mag becomes the problem. I did quit loading them and just fed single rounds right into the chamber. It is quick. I only have the one mag, so trying to fill slowed me down when the shooting was fast in a dog town!

One rim in front of the other is the way to load. I always carried two or three mags and only loaded 3 or 4 per mag. I also removed the plastic runner at the back and shaved about .2 off of it so I had more room to seat the bullets out further. It is easy to do but you can also get the opened up mags already done from Jim. If you order one of Jim's single shot followers you can just drop the round into the open action and it will feed and the bolt will close easily. Really slick and makes it easy no to lose your ejected brass.

 

[woodnut]

Dean 2, I just finished reloading about 200 19 Calhoons and that's a job I'm glad is over! LOL. Working with those little cases is very tedious. If it weren't so rewarding I'd but James loads and for get reloading.
About the plastic piece. The only plastic in my mag is the piece that the floor plate snaps into. The rear piece running top to bottom is pinned in and is metal. If I could shorten it, that would give me more space, but I think I saw that it runs all the way from top to bottom, not just "lips" at the top and bottom. Maybe I should just breakdown and order that good one from James. Ya think? LOL.

 

[Dean2]

I did a couple of dozen 22H, 17 HH mags and never found a metal spacer. I think once you take the pins out and remove it you will find it is a very hard black plastic and not in fact metal. You do have to shave the whole length. There is a thread on Saubier that shows how to do it.

That said, it is kind of finicky work and if you are only going to do one or two it is WAY easier to just buy a couple and a single shot follower. There is a learning curve to mdifying them right and it works better if you make a small jig to hold the spacer. Just depends on how much you like doing that kind of work. James used to take the old ones on trade so you may want to see if he still does as it meant the ajusted ones only cost 10 or 15 bucks..