.222 HORNET?

[Offfhand]

Ever see a .222 Hornet? That caliber never existed that I know of, yet there were rifles so marked. I've had three of them, all Pre-64 M-70 Winchesters. They came about back in the 1950's, 60's when the .222 Remington was new and popular. Winchester didn't offer .222 chambering at that time so some gunsmithing firms like Griffin&Howe converted Winchester .22 Hornets to .222. It was a pretty neat piece of gunsmithing and worked pretty well, with and extra numeral "2" added to .22 Hornet. As shown in attached photos....

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Sweeeet rifle

 

[adcoch1]

Man, I like that! Classic varmint rig.

 

[Varminterror]

So lemme get this - they rechambered 22 Hornet rifles to 222 Rem and they just restamped them as 222 Hornet by adding a 2 out front?

 

[LoonWulf]

AND they trusted customers not to screw that up????

 

[22250Rem]

AND they trusted customers not to screw that up????

..... That was my first thought... Doesn't seem like a smart move. I know the 222 was very popular in its early days and really put a hurt on sales of rifles in 22 Hornet. But they are two entirely different cartridge cases with the Hornet being rimmed and the 222 rimless which must have entailed some clever gunsmithing. I'm surprised I never heard of that conversion. But that's a sweet looking rifle and an interesting piece of history. Could you fill us in with some details of how that was done?

 

[tark]

Whats to screw up? Once re- chambered to .222 a 22 Hornet would not feed from the mag, wouldn't be large enough to fit properly in the bolt face and would fall too deep into the chamber for the firing pin to reach anyway.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

On the other hand, the bolt face and extractor were designed for a smaller, rimmed cartridge head, and the .22 Hornet magazine would make Rube Goldberg proud.

 

[RugerNo1Fan]

I had a Mod. 70 22 Hornet that was also rechambered to 222 Rem.
I wonder how many of the 70 Hornets suffered the same fate? As I like to say, just makes the unaltered examples that much more valuable.

 

[Jerry M]

So lemme get this - they rechambered 22 Hornet rifles to 222 Rem and they just restamped them as 222 Hornet by adding a 2 out front?

+1 I think that this conversion was a popular conversion.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I had a Mod. 70 22 Hornet that was also rechambered to 222 Rem.
I wonder how many of the 70 Hornets suffered the same fate? As I like to say, just makes the unaltered examples that much more valuable.

Think about all the .300 H&H Model 70s that were rechambered to .300 Weatherby Magnum.

 

[tark]

But you would have to do more than just re-chamber. The Hornet's rim is quite a bit smaller than the 222s, and a 222 is way too long to fit in the hornet's magazine. The extractor and bolt face would have to be modified as well, would they not? Somebody educate me on how this was done.. The twist rate isn't even right. A hornet usually has a 1-16" twist. Isn't that a little slow for a 222?

 

[Offfhand]

But you would have to do more than just re-chamber. The Hornet's rim is quite a bit smaller than the 222s, and a 222 is way too long to fit in the hornet's magazine. The extractor and bolt face would have to be modified as well, would they not? Somebody educate me on how this was done.. The twist rate isn't even right. A hornet usually has a 1-16" twist. Isn't that a little slow for a 222?

The conversion project requited some pretty gunsmithing to be sure, probably beyond the skill and knowhow of many 'smiths of the time, but well within the scope of blue ribbon shops like Griffin&Howe which did a number of this and similar conversions. Rechambering of course was pretty straight forward, as was opening the face of the bolt to accept larger case rim and extractor accordingly (See Gunsmithing 201) Bolt stop then cut shorter for longer stroke rearward, ejector blade likewise modified. Magazine well lengthened by simply re-positioning the partition to accept longer cartridge, with replacement cartridge follower installed (Using .222 follower from Remington M-722.) Receiver rails tuned as needed to ensure smooth feeding and the job is done. For Griffin&Howe, and perhaps a few other gunsmithing firms, these conversions were almost a cottage industry and I expect they were made up and sold at Aberchrombie&Fitch. I've owned three of them without even trying to find. Attached are photos that help explain. Accuracy has been delightful with .224" dia bullets as well as .223" Rate of twist has proven about perfect for 52 gr. .224" BR bullets.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

In general, bullet spin is governed by 1) Twist, and 2) Velocity. A slow twist at a higher velocity will produce a higher rate of spin, so the added velocity of the .222 ought to stabilize bullets somewhat longer (and heavier) than the standard Hornet .45 grain bullet.