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Hi Folks. One of my rules for buying guns is that whatever I buy I have to be able to get a Lee Enfield in the same Caliber. I have been offered a sweet deal on a nice 22. Hornet 1885 Winchester and I am wondering if there are any LE's in 22. Hornet around in the US??
I have heard mention of No.1s being converted but only in Australia IIRC.
Lithgow made a real nice sporter in .22 Hornet on No.1 Mk. 3* action
They are not that common this side of the pond but I am sure there is a few in the USA.
If you want a picture let me know.
I have a list of all the calibers that Winchester produced for their Hi Wall and Low Wall single shot rifles, 22 Hornet is not on the list. I would assume
that a custom gunsmith built your Winchester in 22 Hornet. Look around as you might find a Martini small action rifle in 22 Hornet (or K-Hornet)
Picture of a .22 Hornet No.1 Mk3 would be splendid please. sounds like just teh excuse I need , IF i can find one over here :)
The Oz / Lithgow Hornets appear to date back to the late 1930s, with a "hole" in production during WW2. They used the Savage Hornet magazine of the period.
I had one for a while. Impressively accurate, feed with soft-points was "variable", hollow-points better. They had machined off the charger bridge so the only scope-mounting option was the Oz "Field" brand side mount; actually pretty rugged. The barrel was standard No1 Mk 3 profile; pretty substantial with a .22 cal hole through it. "Recalibrated" standard rear sight, "commercial" front-sight.
Fore-end was a "reworked original Coachwood job. Specially modified bolthead with a narrow extractor that reached further to the tiny rim. The ejector was inlet into the left wall of the action and ran in a narrow slot in the bolthead. There were also a couple of small cuts on the lower surface of the bolthead to ease it through the magazine. The one I had wore a commercial semi-cheekpiece / pistolgrip butt.
Excellent "bunny-whacker".
In 1978 it cost me fifteen Oz bucks, pre-loved, as is, where is. Impecunious University students can't afford to get too picky. The local hardware store had a sizeable stash of very affordable ammo: Sako brass loaded in Oz by "Riverbrand" with 45gn SP bullets of unknown origin.
An "unmolested" one is a piece of Lithgow history; I think I have a "spare" factory-modified triggerguard around here somewhere. I know someone with a couple of boltheads. Hmmm......
Left the factory 24th May, 1950.
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That's the beast!
That is a thing of beauty! Guessing the search begins here.
I recently did some work on a Martini Cadet chambered in .22 Hornet. Sweet shooter. Great for P-Dogs