During its heyday, many manufacturers chambered rifles for the Hornet. At the top is a Watson Bros, single-shot with a Lyman Alaskan 3x scope; then a Winchester 1885 High Wall with a Lyman Super Targetspot 12x scope; and at the bottom is the author’s BRNO fitted with a non-magnifying Aimpoint dot-sight.
HIGH-POWER cartridges sporting short, fat cases with very little taper and sharp shoulders are popular today. We embrace them, which is good, but sadly, in doing so, we allow a number of classic cartridges to slip into obscurity. The .22 Hornet is one such cartridge. Yet, despite its age, mild velocity and tapered, outdated case design, it refuses to die.
Around 1894, Reuben Harwood increased the ballistics of the .22 WCF from 1 540fps to 1 900fps by using a 45gr bullet with duplex loads consisting of semi-smokeless and smokeless powder. He called it the Hornet, and this so-called “Harwood-Hornet” was modernized during the 1920s, first by Captain GL Wotkyns and later by Colonel Townsend Whelen.
When Hercules 2400 propellant became available, it was used to push Hornet velocities up to 2 400fps. Winchester then
