22 - WMR or Hornet?

[Dan_S]

Looking to fill a specific niche. Desire better performance than .22LR, but want something I can easily suppress, which has me looking at 22 WMR and Hornet.


If I’m giving up the ease of finding ammo (22LR) then I also want to throw reliability considerations into the mix. I’ve had enough ignition failures with rimfire to totally trust it. The Hornet, being a centerfire, should help there.

The use of this, is as a backpacking rifle, and keeping myself supplied with food in remote areas.

Thanks in advance.

[Duelist]

The Hornet should be sweet, but downloaded .223 to your desired power level will be easier to source brass and a barrel for.

[Dan_S]

The Hornet should be sweet, but downloaded .223 to your desired power level will be easier to source brass and a barrel for.

The issue is the can is only rated up to 22 hornet/5.7x28.

And I can’t find a 5.7x28 bolt gun.


Actually hadn’t occurred to me that a downloaded .223 might fill the niche...have you played with a similar combination by any chance?

[Duelist]

The issue is the can is only rated up to 22 hornet/5.7x28.

And I can’t find a 5.7x28 bolt gun.


Actually hadn’t occurred to me that a downloaded .223 might fill the niche...have you played with a similar combination by any chance?

.223 of various load levels in another guy's bolt action, but very limited amounts. all of my .223s are ARs, so my lower limit is a lot higher than if I had a turn-bolt, break action, pump, or something like that. A lot higher than what you're looking for.

[Dan_S]

Alright. Good deal, though. Interesting concept, and I’ll have to give it some thought.

May end up coming back around to this one, if I am unable to figure out a better(?) option.

[SkiDevil]

I can't offer an opinion on the .22 hornet, but many look to it as a low noise centerfire alternative. I looked at the caliber more than once, but cost and availability of the ammunition was always an issue. If you are a reloader then it may not be an issue for you. Ruger makes a nice scaled down rifle.

The .22 WMR is a great rimfire round. I've owned one before and shot many jack rabbits, dogs (feral), crows, and coyotes. It works well and kills all out of proportion to its size. Only downside to me is the cost of the rounds vs years ago when I was paying less than $10 per box.

Lastly, I have no idea how a suppressed firearm would work with .22 WMR, because it is typically a high velocity rimfire round.

You may want to look at rimfirecentral for an answer to that question.

[Dan_S]

Suppression is pretty consistent, so no issues with the velocity of a round.

I may just have to try a wmr and see how I like it.


In your use of it, did you feel it was more reliable than the LR? I ask, in part, as I had two ignition failures just the other day in firing about thirty rounds of 22lr. Not particularly great.

[farscott]

If you reload, .22 K-Hornet used to make a ton of sense. I prefer the K-Hornet sharper shoulder and use it in a Contender action. If you are buying factory ammo, the cost is about the same between .22 WMR and .22 Hornet. The latter is more reliable, but the real advantage is the availability of spitzers with the Hornet. All .22 WMR loads are round nose so as to be safe in tubular magazines. The Hornet is a 150 yard cartridge on small game; the K-Hornet stretches out to 200 yards. Any longer and .223/5.56 makes sense. If you reload, 5.56 can also be loaded subsonic and the 5.56 brass is less expensive. Plus you can use the AR platform. For that reason, the Hornet is obsolete even though it is a fine cartridge.

I still think about building a Ruger #1 in .22 K-Hornet.

[MGW]

Not sure what your purpose is but have you looked at 17 HMR? It’s really good on varmints. The Ruger Ranch is available threaded in 17 and it’s reasonably priced. My dad is messing around with one and getting really good accuracy out of it. The supersonic crack will still be there but it’s going to be very quite otherwise.

[BobM]

Suppression is pretty consistent, so no issues with the velocity of a round.

I may just have to try a wmr and see how I like it.


In your use of it, did you feel it was more reliable than the LR? I ask, in part, as I had two ignition failures just the other day in firing about thirty rounds of 22lr. Not particularly great.

In the past I shot a lot of prairie dogs with a Winchester 9422M, mostly with Winchester 34 and 40 grain loads, and never had a dud.
Recently I’ve been hunting with a Ruger American Rimfire compact with a Sparrow. It’s obviously louder than my RAR 22lr but it’s pretty reasonable for a shot in the field without ear protection.