.22 Hornet's History

The .22 Hornet is a low-end vermin, small-game and predator centerfire rifle cartridge. It is considerably more powerful than the .22 WMR and the .17 HMR, achieving higher velocity with a bullet twice the weight. The Hornet also differs very significantly from these in that it is not a rim fire but a center fire cartridge. This makes it hand loadable and reloadable, and thus much more versatile. It was the smallest commercially available .22 caliber centerfire cartridge until the introduction of the 5.7x28mm.

The .22 Hornet fills the gap between such popular varmint/predator cartridges as the .22 WMR and the .223      remington. In regard to muzzle velocity, muzzle engery and noise, it is well suited to vermin and predator control in relatively built-up areas. The Hornet's virtual absence of recoil has made it even quite popular among deer hunters in some areas, although it is generally regarded as very underpowered for deer unless bullet placement is absolutely precise. Many jurisdictions such as the Netherlands, the UK and most states in the USA currently prohibit the Hornet for use on deer.

The .22 Hornet is also known as 5.6x35mmR.

The .22 Hornet's ancestry is generally attributed to experiments done in the 1920s using the black-powder .22 WCf at Springfield Armory.Winchester adopted what had so far been a wildcat cartridge in 1930, producing ammo for a cartridge for which no commercially made guns yet had been built. It wasn't until 1932 that any company began selling commercially made guns for the cartridge.

Older guns generally have a slower twist rate of 1-16" (or one turn in every 16 inches (410 mm) of barrel length) for lighter bullets with a .223 caliber dimension. Newer guns feature a faster 1-14" twist for 40 to 45-grain (2.9 g) bullets in the more standard .224 caliber.

Beginning during World War II, aircrew survival rifles in .22 Hornet were developed and issued by the U.S. military. They typically were bolt-action rifles with telescoping stocks (m4 Survival Rifle) or break-open rifle/  shotgun-under designs (M6 Aircrew Survival Wapon). Military issue .22 Hornet ammunition was loaded with full metal jacket bullets to comply with the Hague Convention.

Rifles are currently (2007) being chambered in .22 Hornet by Ruger New England Firearm and various other mass-market manufacturers. Most current-production rifles in .22 Hornet are either bolt-action or single-shot  designs, with the exception of a very few "survival" rifle/shotgun over-under designs such as the Savage Model 24  from Savage and a few European-made kipplauf break-action, single-shot rifles. It is possible to get an extremely accurate new .22 Hornet rifle for as little as US$200, although prices can go much higher for rifles made by custom riflemakers and the specialist London and European trade.

Revolvers have been produced in .22 Hornet by Tarus, Magnum Research, and others. Single-shot pistols in .22 Hornet have been made by Thompson. (Power levels are somewhat less for this cartridge in short-barrelled handguns than in rifles.)

Wildcat variants of the .22 Hornet, such as the .22 K-Hornet, can boost bullet velocity and energy considerably above factory .22 Hornet levels, but performance still falls short of what is deer-legal in the Netherlands or any part of the United Kingdonm.

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