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**44 AMP** · December 21, 2008, 07:30 PM

I prefer the .22 Hornet over the .22WMR. True, Hornet ammo is hideously expensive, but the brass isn't. I dislike paying the high price for rimfire magnums, when I can reload the Hornet for much less, and tailor my ammo to the gun for best performance.

I have .22LR, .22WMR, .22 Hornet, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, and .22-250, and for me, the Hornet is the perfect round for inbetween the .22LR and the .222. I can handload it to 22WMR perfromance cheaper than I can buy .22mag, and with the benefit of reusing the brass.

There is no good reason for going to the .221 Fireball case. The only reason Remington developed the round was to get the most from the 10" barrel of the XP-100 pistol. The .222 case had too much wasted capacity for what they could get from the pistol, so the shrank it and called it .221 Fireball.

In a rifle, downloading the .222 makes better sense, if you want .221 perfomance (or less), while still retaining full .222 performance when and if needed.

December 21, 2008, 07:30 PM	#24
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,804	As a handloader for nearly 40 years... I prefer the .22 Hornet over the .22WMR. True, Hornet ammo is hideously expensive, but the brass isn't. I dislike paying the high price for rimfire magnums, when I can reload the Hornet for much less, and tailor my ammo to the gun for best performance. I have .22LR, .22WMR, .22 Hornet, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, and .22-250, and for me, the Hornet is the perfect round for inbetween the .22LR and the .222. I can handload it to 22WMR perfromance cheaper than I can buy .22mag, and with the benefit of reusing the brass. There is no good reason for going to the .221 Fireball case. The only reason Remington developed the round was to get the most from the 10" barrel of the XP-100 pistol. The .222 case had too much wasted capacity for what they could get from the pistol, so the shrank it and called it .221 Fireball. In a rifle, downloading the .222 makes better sense, if you want .221 perfomance (or less), while still retaining full .222 performance when and if needed. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.