77/22 hornet accuracy

On the fence

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This post is a spin-off of the below 17HMR vs 22 hornet thread.
Anyhow, how many of you shoot a 77/22 hornet? If you do, does the factory ammo give you anything close to what the HMR may provide? I've owned quite a few calibers, but never a hornet.
Thanks
OTF
 
I have a ruger 77 22 hornet in a heavy barrel laminated stock.It shoots winchester 46gr hollow points great! Its a very accurate rifle.I have heard lots of folks say they aren't very accurate but mine is.Maybe the sporter light weight models do poorly but I've never shot one.
 
my father inlaw bought both my sons a 77/22hornet. one shoots great the other is a piece of crap i cant get to shoot anything.
 
hello- some of them don'tr shoot well out of the box- but with some simple work they shoot great. trigger )Voltquartsen), floating, bedding, and shimming the bolt halves. Last you can either try all the factory loads until you find what works- or you can try try lil-gun with a pistol primer with whatever projectile you like best. Lots of talk on this on the site. Mine is a 3/8 inch 100 yard gun.
 
THe only factory stuff that shoots good is the hornady stuff. I think the 77/22 gets a bad rap because people want a sub .5moa rifle withno work. Most hornets will give you sub moa if you put a little work in to them. Now to the second part the 17hmr dose not even come close to what a hornet will do. I have had both and used both on small game. On paper the 17hmr looks good but in the field I found it lacking. But then again you need to be realistic about the hornet. I have no proble shooting any thing out 200yrds with mine. Now dont get me wrong I love my hornet but it doesnt get out much now that I got a cz 527 221fireball. If it was me I would either get a 17fireball or 221fireball. they will both give great groups and have pleanty of killing power out past 200yrds. THey leave very little pelt damage. I dont want to talk you out of a hornet I have loved both the 77/22h I have had but they both took a little work to get to shoot good. the fireball has had great results with very little work.
 
Originally Posted By: wvhoytmy father inlaw bought both my sons a 77/22hornet. one shoots great the other is a piece of crap i cant get to shoot anything.

Now there's some real world experience that tells it all.. It's really a crapshoot with the 77/22H's.
I got one of the stinkers that I spent as much as the purchace price to get it to shoot an inch.. I'm hard headed and probably should have quit long before I did.

IMO,,, A CZ527American's probably your best bet,,, or a Browning Micro,,, but they can be hard to find...

Once again,,,, "Just My Experience's And Opinion"
Charlie

Edit to add,,, I just read Sac's post and there's alot of truth to what he says,,,, but you were asking about a Hornet... Like he says "the Hornet will never be as efficiant as either of the FireBalls",,, but they're fun and will kill stuff just fine as long as one realizes that it not a 22/250,,, it's A Hornet...
Good Luck

 
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Mine shoots real nice with the Win 46gr HP and the Hornady 35gr V-Max. I had to float my barrel and put a new spring and sear kit in mine to make mine shoot.
 
First off the Hornet can be a finicky cartridge, so keep that in mind.

I really liked the idea of the Ruger rifle with their magazine. So I have bought several over the years. In both the 77 configuration and the 96 model. I was disappointed in every single one of them. I liked every thing about all the Ruger's. But the darn rifles would not shoot accurately. And I was not looking for 1/2" groups. I know better than that. I would have liked the groups to be in the 1-1 1/2" range, but that did not happen.

I had the standard(Walnut stocked) 77/22 Hornet, and I had the heavy barreled grey-laminated stock model. Accuracy was miserable in both.

I do not mind doing a little trigger work to a new rifle. But I refuse to pay the Ruger prices and then have to rework the entire rifle. I simply will not do it. If I want to rework the entire rifle then I will build a custom.

Personally I would stay away from them. Tom.
 
Well it's not a 77/22 but I have a Hornet in a Savage model
40. It's a great shooter, like .75 or under ALL time. But I wish it was a repeater and its a little heavy for a calling gun.

It will spit out a 40gr nosler BT at 3000fps.
13gr lil'gun
cci 500 primer
Win case
A lite roll crimp
A very fun gun to shoot. By the way the barrel is NOT pinned to the receiver, I had barrel off my gun.
LOVE THE HORNET!
 
I would have to say that my experiences are the same as many on here. I did some work for a friend who had a Ruger 77 hornet and he sold it to me for $250.00. I couldn't get it to shoot very well (2 inches plus) and after some research on these little rifles I bedded the rifle, shimmed the two piece bolt and worked up several loads. The rifle wouldn't shoot under 1 1/2 inches until I loaded pistol primers and hornady 35 grainers. It now shoots a little less than an inch at 100 yards and is a fun little rifle. My .17 hmr is no where close to the little hornet in terms of horsepower, but then again...if you want horsepower move up to the fireballs or .223.
 
I can't comment on the Ruger but I have a Contender Carbine in 22H and a Savage Model 40 in 22H (both are sub MOA shooters).I have always wanted a Ruger but the reviews by shooters in this forum have always been questionable .I think a bigger question for you is are you going to reload for the Hornet . The factory ammo is accurate in my guns but is very limited . Additionally, it is very expensive (last time I looked it was about $40 for a 50 round box ). If you are going to get a Hornet you can justify reloading very quickly .
 
The ruger is a great little gun just a little work needs to be done. the only work to the gun I did on both the ones I had was a trigger job( I have never shimmed the bolt or beded either of them). Now I did spend alot of time and money on load development on the first one. They did not have the 35gr vmax factory stuff when I got my first hornet. I think a Hornet is one of the guns that you need to reload for it is a little finiky. One other thing I dont think was mentioned is that the rotery mag limits COAL and pretty much rules out the 40gr vmax if you want to use the mag. If a Hornet is what you want I think the best bang for the buck out right now is the cz 527 Hornet. I think there are three key for the ruger and reloading for it and most Hornets. 1)small pistol primer 2)neck sizing 3) 35gr vmax. If you dont want to reload then stick the the factory 35gr vmax. I just think that there is a unreal expectation of the Hornet its a step between the 22mag and .223. IF you keep that in mind the Hornet is a great round. If you want some thing that is small and not very loud and has sub .5 moa your looking at the wrond cal. I love the Hornet and will always own one.
 
I have a 77/Hornet.
I did do a lot to the rifle before shooting it the first time. I had read posts by guys who had problems with theirs, and did what I thought was necessary to get it to shoot.
It sure shoots well now, but I only shoot hand loads, no factory stuff.
 
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