.22K-Hornet opinions and advice

njc110381

Well-Known Member
Hi chaps. I've just been brought here by a Google search when I was looking for info on the above round. I see that there are a couple of lads here who have it, or at least did have? I'm thinking of having one built as I'm not getting on as well as I'd like with my .17HH.

My main concern is the feeding of the rifle. It's a CZ527, and the five shot mag does look to be fairly easy to adjust if I need to. Would that be needed? I assume if changes do need to be made then it will no longer feed standard Hornet ammo, which would be nice for fire forming?

I'm not sure why I don't go with another standard one. Of all the guns I've had it's the one that I have serious experience with having fired thousands of rounds of it, most of them home loaded. Is it worth going away from standard? The rifle will be made with a new barrel so I'll need it reamed to one or the other. I figured I may as well make it a bit unusual!

I'd really appreciate some feedback from people who shoot this little round. I don't want to take on something that's too much of a pain to load for.
 
Go the K.
You can easily head space of the shoulder. Results in better case life.
No magazine mods necessary. You just need to develop a technique of loading the rim over the previously loaded case's shoulder. It seemed my old brno fox was a little bit fiddly. Only worried me when i was trying to load the mag while driving and watching the spotlight at the same time.
All my K hornets loved small pistol primers and AR2205. They never fared as well with 296 as straight hornets. Sierra 45 gn hornet pills arecgreat for accuracy and performance.
Good luck with it. Sounds like it will be a ripper.
 
First, why do you not want the standard Hornet?~Muir

A highly relevant question from Muir and well worth careful consideration. I went through this process and decided to leave my Hornet as standard.
Developments in hand loading components, in recent years, have significantly upgraded the standard hornet's performance. I easily get 2,900 fps (chronographed) with H. Li'l Gun and a 40 grain Sierra hollow point. H.Li'l Gun and pistol primers seem to be on most Hornet hand loader's favourite list.

The main limiting factor seems to be the amount of powder one can get into the case. I think that the K would accept more powder though.

Picking up on bigoak's loading method, I think that is good advice. I have a BSA that has an internal floor plate magazine, which is not detachable and has to be loaded from the top. If I do not pay careful attention to loading, then I get a stuff-up. This normally happens when trying to load in the dark and turns into a 'more haste less speed' situation. If I load each successive cartridge with its rim in front of the previous one, then all is well.

If you use the search facility on here, you will find that several of our members have experience of modifying CZ Hornet magazines.
 
Muir. You bring up a very valid point. What can I say? I like unusual stuff. Most of my guns are common or at the very least not unusual - .22lr, .17 Hornady Hornet, 6.5x55, .338 Win Mag, .45-70. But I do have a love for oddballs. My best is the 8x60 Magnum drilling, which is basically an 8x57R that was reamed longer to get around the German military calibre ban imposed by the allies after the war. That takes some serious work to even produce ammo for. Forming down from 9.3x74R, neck turning, finding 8mm bullets that are worth having. Brass is commercially available from some specialist suppliers but they cost a lot of money. Several hundred pounds per hundred cases. It's good fun. And I don't have a good reason to want a K-Hornet other than it appeals to me more than a standard one. Loads of people have a standard one!

There's certainly nothing wrong with the standard Hornet. It was and still is a favourite round of mine. I've shot everything from mice to roe deer with it, the roe being in serious need of dispatch but none the less died on the spot. I've got more experience with it than any other calibre. The whole magazine loading issue does concern me. Ease of reloading is pretty vital and it seems that there's not much in it performance wise. I used to get ten or more firings from my old rifle before it killed the brass. Probably down to neck sizing and Lil-Gun. It does make me wonder whether the K option is a good idea. I'm just heading that way for the sake of having something different. Maybe different isn't always good? I don't know!:doh:
 
My point is that if you like the Hornet as it is, and a CZ Hornet is about as accurate a Hornet as you can get, beware of letting someone at your chamber with a reamer. And if you look at the ballistics, you really aren't getting too much for the added expense of having the rifle built, and buying new dies. You just won't be able to tell the difference much in the field. It is one thing to want something different, but make it ballistically different or you might be wondering if it was worth the effort. I have owned both and it's hard to tell the practical difference in the field. My CZ 527 is so incredibly accurate that I wouldn't consider altering it for the meager gains if the K. And my K's never got substantially longer case life than the standard Hornet. Ten loading is pretty darned good. It's about that I'm getting and I'm pretty pleased with that. ~Muir
 
Muir. I should give more detail to my thoughts and situation to give you a better understanding of why I'm going this way. I can see that what I'm saying isn't making a lot of sense, and I can see your point completely.

I have a CZ Hornet action. It started off as a .22 which I shot out. That took some doing but I made it happen! I had a .17 Hornady barrel put on and have been using that for a while, but I've come to the conclusion that I preferred the characteristics of the .22 for my needs. I don't want to sell it because the number of rounds that it took to shoot it out the first time hold so many memories for me that I'm rather attached to the old girl.

The smith who did the work on my .17 did a fantastic job. He also shoots a .22K-Hornet himself through a Ruger #1 action. Hence my temptation. I need a new barrel either way and he has the reamer along with the skills to use it properly. If I was already shooting a good .22 I probably wouldn't bother, but from the off it's no odds. It may even be cheaper because I'm not sure if he has the kit to do a standard one!

I sold the dies when I changed to .17 so there's nothing holding me to either of the .22's. I'll need to set up from scratch which ever way I go. Financially I'd be best off selling the .17 as is and buying a new .22. It's only fired 200 rounds, but I just don't think I can let the action go!
 
Yeah, I thought you'd say that!

Is there anything you can think of that should scare me away from it? It sounds like it should feed from a standard magazine? Or at least not take much work to make it do so?
 
Yeah, I thought you'd say that!

Is there anything you can think of that should scare me away from it? It sounds like it should feed from a standard magazine? Or at least not take much work to make it do so?

A chap on the BBS shoots a k hornet, pretty sure he uses the standard mag with no issues at all....

Its controlled feed so can't see the new shoulder causing issues
 
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I'll have to nip over and do a search. I'm not usually a fan of the BBS, some of the lads there are great but there are a few that get my back up!
 
I'll have to nip over and do a search. I'm not usually a fan of the BBS, some of the lads there are great but there are a few that get my back up!

They're alright, there's a few that get on one sometimes but pretty helpful generally, there is a current thread on k-hornet at the mo, angry bear will likely be able to answer queries on his CZ527 k hornet.
 
I've had a bit of a change of heart at the moment. I might get it made into a .221 Fireball if the bolt machining isn't too complicated. It doesn't look like much but I'm no gunsmith
 
Turning a hornet into a fireball will require bolt face mods unless you can get a 222/223 bolt.
 
It wouldn't be too hard to alter the bolt face. The Hornet rim is about .020" thicker than the .223 so fixing the extractor may not be as simple as just putting in a .223 extractor. The bolt face will need widening by about .025"~Muir

PS: Tho here, a complete bolt for a .223 is only $190 US so that would probably be a cost saver.
 
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If only I could just get one sent over in the post! I'll talk to the importers, although I expect here in the UK your $190 will probably be more like £380!
 
Thinking about it. Do Brno and CZ bolts match? I could pick up a used Brno for half that and steal the bits I need.
 
If only I could just get one sent over in the post! I'll talk to the importers, although I expect here in the UK your $190 will probably be more like £380!
The bolts are not a 'controlled' item here in the US and available direct from CZ. Whether or not they would sell one to you in the UK is another story....~Muir
 
I've emailed Edgar Bros who are the UK importer. If that fails I have plenty of US friends. I'll sort it one way or another!
 
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