Just got this Hornet barrel Monday and worked up a real quick and mild load to just see how it does. I have never had any experience with the Hornet, although I have wanted a Hornet barrel for years.

Anyhow, I just put something together and slapped this $35 NIB yard sale Simmons 4X on it and shot it a few rounds. I quickly saw that apparently, most any load will shoot in it...some will just shoot extremely well. My first try yielded about a 1" group at 50yds...hunting accuracy...which is really all that I want it for. However, I will continue tweaking and try it out to 100yds, when time allows. For now, it will do most of what I want it to do.

This afternoon I took it out to a place that I occasionally hunt to check around and see what the hogs were doing. I kept hearing this movement off in the distance and decided to investigate. I had my little Leupold Yosemite binos with me, kept looking until I saw this fellow out there. I starting heading in his direction, slowly, and immediately he spies me and takes off. I just eased in his direction until I saw him again, pretty good ways out, and I finally had to get down on my belly and crawl to get a shot at him at 30 odd yards. He was about to run when I got enough of him in the scope, to punch his ticket. He is by far, the wariest one that I have ever seen. Ridiculous, to have to stalk an armadillo... The little round went right where I aimed and with little more than a pop for noise...it was a pop/flop.

Hope this doesn't hurt anyone's sensitivities here, but these things have gotten to be a nuisance animal around here...and I tend to eliminate them every chance I get.

Sorry for the bad pic...CHEAP cell phones will do that.

Good on ya.

And ya didn't shoot yer mother in law in the back with the ricochet ;-)

Hoover hogs but folks scarded to eat them now.

You know, I've never seen one on our farm, either in person or on trail camera, but I see where they've been run over all the time.

i shoot an old contender with a hornet barrel, it is my favorite! Hogs and yotes hate it when i show up with the hornet.

I have a stainless 10" T/C Contender and agree, it's a great little cartridge.

After my initial time with this cartridge, I am getting eager to further explore its potential from squirrels to coyotes. I have the .223, but I seem to be really attracted to the versatility of the Hornet...and it's very mild manners.

My first contender purchase was a SS 14 inch super 22 k-hornet with a Burris scope and I still love to shoot it. It was the one that gave me the addiction. Or was it there all along? Probably the latter.

I do not think you hurt my feelings on shooting one those ugly looking things. They are a nuisance for sure. They have migrated into some areas of Southern Missouri and Kansas and people hate those darn things. My youngest son has lived in both areas and he never talked about any one that was fond of them. At-a-boy.

This weekend, I changed out the cheap scope for Weaver 2.5x8x28 that I bought a couple of years ago and had never used. I stepped up the 296 charge a little and it seems to shoot them well. I need to shoot them a little more to see how well they will do. So far, this has been a gratifying endeavor...look forward to a little more time in the field with it.