.22 Hornet for big game?

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  • Last Post 23 October 2015
tturner53 posted this 20 October 2015

I ran across something I wanted to share and see what others think about this. I'm going to quote the Speer Reloading Manual #11 re. the .22 Hornet.  “With carefully placed shots, the Hornet will take large animals. Arctic natives favored the Hornet and used it quite successfully on large marine mammals for many years."    I'm just waiting for Hornady to come out with a Hornet Hog Special.  Maybe at least it would encourage more 'hunting' and less long range technical sniping.  What do you think? Used a Hornet? They're legal here for big game given you're using an approved bullet.  Cast bullets are on the way out here. The sissies have prevailed.

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gnoahhh posted this 20 October 2015

If it were all I had, yep. Would I pick it if I had others to choose from? Nope. One of my uncles swore by the Hornet for deer in Pennsylvania where they were/are legal for such. He executed quite a number of well placed shots (heads and necks only) and killed a bunch of deer. Right up until the last one that he tried a chest shot out of desperation/stupidity and had to empty the magazine into it to bring it to the bag, then he gave up that folderol.

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gpidaho posted this 20 October 2015

Game animals deserve to be taken humanely and to insure this I believe you need more gun than a Hornet. If you were taking a seal as it came up in the ice for a breath and could more or less stick the muzzle in it's ear, that should work. At distance, not so much. I know those here that swear by the 22-250 for deer, again not enough weight in my opinion. My deer rifle is a 25-06 and yes I would use it on elk if the right shot presented it's self but would consider the 100-120gr. bullet a bare minimum for that application. When hunting, take enough gun. Gp

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Ed Harris posted this 20 October 2015

A high school buddy of mine was an Alaska bush pilot. He told me of a crashed Air Force crew who used their M6 survival gun to kill a caribou with a head shot. This was in the early 1970s. He said that it seemed to work OK. Shot placement is key. He flew the meat and the head out in his Otter when picking up the crew. The bullet was an FMJ which went clear through the head and exited, having been tumbling on the way out and made a good hole, he said.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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RicinYakima posted this 21 October 2015

It is always the weight thing, I had to give up my M14 for an M16 so I could carry more ammo. It always comes down to shot placement. Jack O'Conner wanted to shoot elk with a 130 grain .270 with a high lung shot, Elmer Keith wanted to shoot them “in the seat of the pants” with a 300 grain .338. It all depends upon your experience and what works for you.

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Brodie posted this 21 October 2015

The biggest reason that the Inuit (Eskimo)  used the 22 Hornet was the small size and weight of the ammo.  When you have to pay air freight on all you bullets you tend to gravitate towards the lightest that will do the job.  Seals and other pinapeds  don't have very heavy skulls.  They are really easy to kill with a head shot, and most times that is all the target you have.  The Hornet out ranges the 22 rf. by quite a bit.  I did hear a story from a guide in Alaska about an Inuit who while walking home with a dead seal ran into a sow Polar bear and  her two mostly grown cubs.  Being covered in seal blood and not having much choice when the snow cleared there were three dead Polar bears and one live ice living native.  Most now gravitate toward the 223 or 5.56 because it shoots flatter is almost as light and there is a lot of cheaper surplus ammo out there. Brodie

B.E.Brickey

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delmarskid1 posted this 21 October 2015

I don't see how a hornet would be much worse than a .30 carbine. Up here the deer get big and the bushes are thick sometimes. I use 165's in the '06.

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barra posted this 21 October 2015

Well the story goes that one of the top buff shooters in the nth early on is quoted to say that the hornet will take buff quite well.  You just wait till they give you that” look down the nose at you” pose and” rattle one up there nostril". (or so I've been told)

 I have the gun that will do it but no buffs nor  probably the nerve to stand there calm and business like to pull it off.

 But I would like to see it done.

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John Alexander posted this 21 October 2015

delmarskid1 wrote: I don't see how a hornet would be much worse than a .30 carbine. Up here the deer get big and the bushes are thick sometimes. I use 165's in the '06. Not to take sides in this ancient issue (I hunt deer with a 270 or my 20 gage slug gun).

But can't resist saying something about the 30 Carbine. Nobody seems to have a good word for the poor scorned thing.  It's no powerhouse but its muzzle energy is twice that of the 357 Mag from a pistol and near the 357 from a carbine.  Just depends on what you are comparing it to. But I wouldn't hunt deer with it.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 21 October 2015

agree with john a. about the 30 carbine ...it will do what a 32-20 will do ..

i used my carbine to put down sick animals on our farm ... hollow point 110 gr ahead of h110 .... made big holes in flesh and bone ...

as with the hornet, head and neck shots are recommended .

our butcher used a 22 win. special on beef and pork ....

i also used the carbine to trim tree branches after ice storms .... 3118 hp cast over h110 ...3 or 4 shots to bring down a 3 inch limb ...

ken

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 21 October 2015

I think in W.V. if it's center fire it's ok for deer.

Hence sometimes you'll hear a 22 Hornet referred to as a W.V. deer rifle.

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Brodie posted this 21 October 2015

The same law (If it is a centerfire cartridge it is legal for big game) applies here in Arizona.  While I strongly disagree with the attitude that the deer and elk have been armor plated and also have the constitution of a maddened cape buffalo or rhino I don't feel that the current law is completely appropriate.   Shot placement and bullet construction are and will always be paramount in taking down beasties in a humane and proper manner.  Brodie

B.E.Brickey

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Pigslayer posted this 21 October 2015

A .22 hornet was my first centerfire rifle. Yes, it will take a deer without issues. Place your shot well.

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Wineman posted this 22 October 2015

Better make sure you get that first shot in ;-). You dont want to do that muzzle loader thing again.

Dave

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LWesthoff posted this 22 October 2015

Think I've mentioned before; back in the '50s when I was working in northwest Montana the locals mostly used .30 cal. for deer during deer season, and during the rest of the year they harvested their “government beef” with a .22rf (made a lot less noise). If a .22 long rifle round (properly placed) will bring down a big whitetail, a Hornet will certainly work.

Nevertheless, when I hunted deer and black bear I used an '06 or a 30-40 Krag, and for moose a .375 H&H. Of course, I was hunting during open seasons.

Wes

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Brodie posted this 22 October 2015

Here in Arizona they use 22rf to harvest their govt. elk as well as the deer.

B.E.Brickey

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 22 October 2015

And the parallel, the world famous elephant hunter that used a 7x57.

Bullet placement!

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R. Dupraz posted this 22 October 2015

LWesthoff  

"Think I've mentioned before; back in the '50s when I was working in northwest Montana the locals mostly used .30 cal. for deer during deer season, and during the rest of the year they harvested their “government beef” with a .22rf (made a lot less noise). If a .22 long rifle round (properly placed) will bring down a big whitetail, a Hornet will certainly work."   Back in the day when I was in the telephone business, a new hire showed up one morning. Buck had come from a company that built high tension power lines across the US and while working in Montana, the 22RF was their choice for knocking over those Gov't beeves. A better hunter, fisherman or friend I have yet to meet.

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bandmiller2 posted this 23 October 2015

I'am sure the hornet will kill but a fella would feel a little light sitting on the edge of a big corn field. Frank C.

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