Browning .22 Hornet

[GTOHunter]

I bought myself a nice lightly used Browning A-bolt Micro-Hunter .22 Hornet recently and fitted it with a Nikon Prostaff 3×9×40mm scope on the Leupold rings the previous Owner left on the Rifle.I set up my Caldwell Lead sled behind our Barn and spent little over an hour Sighting it in at 50 Yards then out to 100 using Hornady 35 grain bullets.

After packing everything up and heading up to the House I put all my Equipment away and with the Barn being within sight from my front porch I spot movement in the fresh mowed grass around our Barn and with the last piece of Equipment to put away is the freshly sighted in .22 Hornet I get it out if the case and look out to the right side of the Barn and see a bug old Groundhog standing up all nice and pretty so I step off the porch and lean against a Bradford pear tree and aim at the Groundhog sending a Hornady ballistic tip bullet his way.....Range Finded at 128 Yards,1st kill with the Hornet!

 

[GTOHunter]

I bought myself a nice lightly used Browning A-bolt Micro-Hunter .22 Hornet recently and fitted it with a Nikon Prostaff 3×9×40mm scope on the Leupold rings the previous Owner left on the Rifle.I set up my Caldwell Lead sled behind our Barn and spent little over an hour Sighting it in at 50 Yards then out to 100 using Hornady 35 grain bullets.

After packing everything up and heading up to the House I put all my Equipment away and with the Barn being within sight from my front porch I spot movement in the fresh mowed grass around our Barn and with the last piece of Equipment to put away is the freshly sighted in .22 Hornet I get it out if the case and look out to the right side of the Barn and see a Big old Groundhog standing up all nice and pretty so I step off the porch and lean against a Bradford pear tree and aim at the Groundhog sending a Hornady ballistic tip bullet his way.....Range Finded at 128 Yards,1st kill with the Hornet!

 

[GTOHunter]

I bought myself a nice lightly used Browning A-bolt Micro-Hunter .22 Hornet recently and fitted it with a Nikon Prostaff 3×9×40mm scope on the Leupold rings the previous Owner left on the Rifle.I set up my Caldwell Lead sled behind our Barn and spent little over an hour Sighting it in at 50 Yards then out to 100 using Hornady 35 grain bullets.

After packing everything up and heading up to the House I put all my Equipment away and with the Barn being within sight from my front porch I spot movement in the fresh mowed grass around our Barn and with the last piece of Equipment to put away is the freshly sighted in .22 Hornet I get it out if the case and look out to the right side of the Barn and see a Big old Groundhog standing up all nice and pretty so I step off the porch and lean against a Bradford pear tree and aim at the Groundhog sending a Hornady ballistic tip bullet his way.....Range Finded at 128 Yards,1st kill with the Hornet!

 

[Deerslayer11]

Nice kill And how did the browning take out of your checkbook?

 

[sourdough44]

Seems like a nice, handy, and light gun.

 

[jski]

I just inherited a made in Oklahoma Dubiel custom .22 Hornet. Can't wait to take it into the field. Any suggestios as for ammo?

 

[Dean2]

Those are a great rifle. I have one in LH. Very accurate with the 35 grain bullet to about 150 yards but after that the little baseball shaped bullet doesn't group well. If you want to shoot out to 300 yards try the 40 grain Vmax or Blitzking. They will shoot 1/2 MOA easily. (Target squares are 1/2" per line.)

 

[J E Custom]

My first hornet was w well used one that still shot well so I did load development and improved accuracy to reasonable limits.

After shooting and reloading I felt the chamber could do with a cleaning up. Not wanting to remove the barrel and set the shoulder back unless I had to, I decided to try a K hornet reamer and freshen the chamber by improving the cartridge. Velocity was not the goal but some velocity wouldn't hurt.

After re chambering to the K hornet, I found my Hornet loads even more accurate even during fire forming. After reloading the K Hornet I gained an average of 200 ft/sec.and even better accuracy.

The Hornet case are fragile and a reduced load is recommended for fire forming to the K Hornet. After many more shots down the barrel I decided to replace the barrel with a premium barrel and used the same K Hornet reamer. Now this thing is scary accurate and one of the most fun rifles I have.

Enjoy the little Hornet.

J E CUSTOM

 

[lewwetzel]

The best groundhog bullet out of a .22 Hornet (for me) is the Speer 45 gr. PSP. Discovered them back when Federal offered loaded ammo with that bullet; were accurate and lethal enough through a Savage 40 that I never bothered to hand load for that rifle. Stupidly sold that gun because I thought I needed a repeater, and those Browning Micros like the OPs were readily available at the time (I passed on one for $599 at a local dealer, intending to go back in a couple days without the wife, but it was gone); haven't seen hide nor hair of another one since - except for big-bucks ones very rarely on the internet.
Have a nice CZ now, but haven't yet been able to find a powder that shoots better than an inch with those "beloved" Speers.

 

[257Tony]

I know this is an older bumped thread, but I'll show off my beloved hornet that my dad gave me. A-bolt II micro medallion, shoots well under 1/2" with Hornady factory 35 grain VMAX.

 

[keithcandler]

We used a 40g speer spire point which you will think is a strange shaped bullet, but it will allow you to touch the lands with the bullet and still be well within mag length!

This 40g Speer spire point is a high velocity bullet and will penetrate shoulder and heavy ribs on coyotes also.

Today, Little gun and cfe BLACK are some of the better powders to shoot.

 

[Equalizer]

Love my Savage model 40!! I'm a sucker for single shots though (Love Ruger #1's!!!) I use H110 but lil' gun is a fuzz faster. Sad the 22 hornet is so overlooked. I tried some 50-60 grainers without much success as far as tight groups go. I'm good with 35-45 grains since I have other varmint rifles in more powerful chamberings. Ruger was making the M77/22 in 22 Hornet but not sure if they still do.

My friend has the same rifle (model 40) and he smokes coyotes and muskrats frequently with it. The effects are pretty gnarley for such a small case