How Sweet is Thy Hornets Sting

[Screaminweasil]

I'll try not to make this a novel. Here goes......(in brief form).

I recently purchased a "now rare" Browning A bolt Medallion chambered in 22 hornet. Oh, boy, was I excited. The gun came from a fellow in NY State (hot and humid at times......this is important to note).

Anyway, it came to my FFL with a dirty barrel. I inspected it (although, it didn't matter because seller was selling "as is, no return").

Rifle looked nice, other than the dirty bore. I brought it home after transfer paperwork and ran my first cleaning patch soaked with Boretech C4 Carbon Remover.

Patch came out dirty.....with a hint of RUST color. I ran another wet patch through and this time, it came out looking like carrot tops head.......RUST.

I took an LED light and looked in the muzzle end. I could visibly see rust on the lands and in the groves of the rifling.

I was upset to say the least.

I spent two days cleaning this barrel, which is pitted from muzzle to chamber due to sitting in a closet for years in humid weather with powder fouling in the bore.

The seller refunded me $100 as per my request and claimed to not have known the condition of the rifle. After a brief lesson from me on "how to sell a gun online", I see that he is no longer a registered user on Gunbroker.

Anyway, thankfully this little hornet is a shooter, despite the barrel looking to have come from mars.

I bought a box of 25 rnds Hornady 35gr Factory loads to try through this, as I've only loaded for K hornets and wanted to be sure I was testing ammo known to be accurate in these Brownings.

Groups were 1/2 to 3/4" at 50 yards. I thought, hey, I can work with that.

Came home, loaded up the brass with 12.6gr and 13.0gr Lil Gun and a 40 gr Z max.........

Went back out after scrubbing the barrel some more and this is how she shoots.

I suspect it will get better with time and I'm more than happy with these results. It was a very windy day. Targets were shot at 50 yards.....and keep in mind, it took me two days, hundreds of strokes with ISSO Bore Paste to get the rust out. She appears to be rust free. Aside from the permanent pitting scars, this barrel is a shooter. I shot 75 rounds yesterday at Squeeks and never lost accuracy. Was making hits out to a ranged 160 yards consistently.

I'm thankful, even though I got stung on this online gun purchase......it turned out sweet in the end. Probably my FAVORITE squeek rifle.
I'm headed back out to burn up 250 rounds of Prvi Partizon ammo (to collect the brass for reloading). I shot 50 rounds of that PPU ammo yesterday and it was extremely accurate out of this rifle.

Top right target was with 35gr Nosler Varm Tipped bullets..........seems to prefer them(nice little bughole). But, i'm gonna stick with the 40gr Z max for more downrange ballistics.

Oh....P.S.......I bought an "Ernie the Gunsmith" Varmint trigger return spring for this rifle. Installed it in 30 seconds and it took the factory pull down from 4lbs crisp to 1.7 lbs crisp. Highly recommend. Man is this trigger sweet!

[long shot]

It's amazing at times to see how well a rusty pitted bore will shoot. Lots of old Winchesters go through my hands, some with bores you would never think could stabilize a bullet. Put a target up and presto, it's laying them on the bull. Glad it's shooting well. Very good of the seller to reimburse you somewhat for the condition of the barrel. I've probably purchased close to 50 firearms off gunbroker (lots of them for parts) in the last 10 years. Of all those guns only one instance I was not happy with the outcome. The seller was completely dishonest and I left lots of "free advertising" for him. If it does go south on you it's a wonderful platform to rebarrel in a 17 or 17Ackley Hornet. Laser beams out to 200 yards. I still enjoy my 22 Hornet but it always seems I grab the 17AH.

Aaron

[Screaminweasil]

Originally Posted by long shot

It's amazing at times to see how well a rusty pitted bore will shoot. Lots of old Winchesters go through my hands, some with bores you would never think could stabilize a bullet. Put a target up and presto, it's laying them on the bull. Glad it's shooting well. Very good of the seller to reimburse you somewhat for the condition of the barrel. I've probably purchased close to 50 firearms off gunbroker (lots of them for parts) in the last 10 years. Of all those guns only one instance I was not happy with the outcome. The seller was completely dishonest and I left lots of "free advertising" for him. If it does go south on you it's a wonderful platform to rebarrel in a 17 or 17Ackley Hornet. Laser beams out to 200 yards. I still enjoy my 22 Hornet but it always seems I grab the 17AH.

Aaron

Thanks Aaron.

I'm only in the gun $710 all told (with the $100 refund), as much as these Brownings have been selling for......It would make a great donor and I don't feel too bad about it looking at it in that light.

I'm sure if I had a bore scope, I'd puke, but the bore seems to have smoothed out pretty well. Pitted, but not as bad as it could be. The rifling is still sharp and pronounced.

Great little action, this is my first little Browning A bolt and I must say I prefer it to the many CZ 527's I have.

[hemiallen]

Thanks for the reply to my PM about primers backing out.

I would consider adding this to your bore
https://www.brownells.com/gun-cleani...prod41538.aspx

I have used it on all of my skippy guns, and have read it protects against rusting and has helped older pitted bores, mainly posted by gunwriter John Barsness.

Yours shoots exceptionally well for a rusted bore. I had an old 94 that I had the same issue with, the more I cleaned after the first few patches, the worse it got and the sicker my stomach was turning. I couldn't believe the sewer pipe actually shot very well at 50 yards.

Allen

[Screaminweasil]

Thanks Allen.

I've heard of that bore coating before. May be a good option to fill in the pits. I'll monitor if I'm having fouling issues and go from there.

Sewer Pipe is a pretty accurate description. I'm very pleased that it atleast shoots. I thought for sure I was looking at a $500 rebarrel.

I'm headed out in an hour to hopefully shoot several hundred rounds through it at some squeeks.

Currently waiting for Fedex to deliver my PPU 45gr ammo so I can head out.

That ammo shoots excellent in my browning FYI..........I haven't shot any on paper, but I was hammering squirrels with no issues yesterday.....I shot a box of 50 and was very impressed.

Here is a link for a great buy on the ammo, the brass is pretty well respected for reloading in the standard hornet as well. Can't wait to shoot up my 250 rounds so I can load up some Z maxes with Lil Gun.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...t?k=PPU+hornet

Free Shipping on orders over $49 right now as well.

[Screaminweasil]

Ammo just showed up.

I'll have a report later..............time to go hammer some squeaks.

[cmatera]

I have the same gun. Did the Ernie spring too. Had GreTan rebarrel it to a .19 Calhoon. One of my most accurate rifles.

[admiral]

There's always the chance that he really didn't know how bad it was. Some people rarely if ever clean the bore. One of my bowhunting friends has a Rem 700 in 270WCF that he got for Xmas as a teenager back in '87. He's never pushed a patch through the barrel. His words: " Why? It's not a muzzleloader"

[rider]

S.W. I have the same gun. I have had the gun for 15 plus years and it has always shot 1" 5 shot groups at 100 yrds. with the 40 grain V-Max. I also purchased it from back east. Recently I purchased a Lyman bore scope and scoped the bore. To my surprise looked like a wash board road the entire length of the barrel. Like yours the exterior looks immaculate. I see no reason to rebarrel as long as it continues to shoot that well. Hopefully yours will work out. ( I am watching one on GB that is close to 1300.00 with time left.)
Rider

[fat cat]

How could someone let a beautiful rifle like that set an not shoot it?!!!