doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com A Niedner .22 centerfire of some kind High-Wall

In Pennsylvania it's legal, at least up until recently when I quit paying much attention to such things. Basically, anything centerfire and not autoloading was/is the rule. I had an uncle who killed a pickup full of deer with one in Penna. He thought it was the ultimate deer rifle. I carried one for a season a long time ago in Penna. too, just to be contrary. Never got to fire it at a deer, though a few foxes succumbed to its bite.

In my state, I don't even need a hunting license to hunt on my own land and I'm permitted to kill as many deer as come onto my land to eat my crops. Also the timber companies who largely own & lease-out the hunting club lands have an iron-clad requirement that the club members kill NO LESS than a certain number of does each season. If their club doesn't kill that many does (and send their jawbones to the state) then that hunting club loses its lease.

That and other game conservation practices have allowed my state to have SO MANY deer that they have now become more of a dangerous nuisance than a big-game animal. For instance during one 2-year period I killed 5 deer WITH MY TRUCK while commuting to work!

Much of the state is now under a Big Buck Program, i.e. 6-point or better, 8-point or better or else a high B&C score in order to kill any buck. There's basically no limit on deer as long as they're does or meet the rack requirement.

My 'Primitive' season rifle is a high wall and we're legally permitted to bait deer.

Perhaps some of your states lacking deer should take notes from our LA and MS Game & Fish Depts?!?!
Regards, Joe

Mr. Gary D. is correct as the Hornet is legal in PA. I hunt in the N.E. corner of the state and know of 3 gentlemen who still hunt with this caliber. Lovely rifle and understand your thoughts on its use in your lovely state Michael. If you see the need of a new home in the lower 48 I have room in my safe!!!
Dave

BrentD,
There are more,but Alabama law allows on private land,any centerfire cartridge with expanding bullets.
Mike

In Minnesota,

It is at least .220 caliber and has center fire ignition;
It is loaded only with single projectile ammunition;
The projectile used has a soft point or is an expanding bullet type;*


* Note: Hunters are reminded to select bullets that are suitable for taking big game. Most major manufacturers offer either bonded or all-copper bullets that are appropriate for taking big game. Hunters are advised to select a proper bullet design and weight that is suitable for humanely taking big game.

Michael, if you would like some photos of deer taken with it just send it down and Ill do my best (I know, Im all heart.)

And I hasten to clarify that all my deer taken with 22s were head shots; almost all were behind the ear but a few were behind the eye. Longest was ~280 yds with a Swift, slightly below the eye. Shortest was ~25 yds with a LR.

I won't take a body shot anywhere except the shoulder/spine area, and then only with a 25-cal or more so as to break major bones and come out the other side.

We're fortunate to have so many deer and that makes it easier to cherry-pick the shots. But whenever I pull the trigger it's still my goal to see feet in the air instead of on the ground running off, and to me that means either precisely-placed head or catastrophically-destructive shoulder/spine shots.

That beautiful high wall Hornet would kill any native game in my state except a hog, bear (illegal anyway) or gator. My second-favorite woods loafing rifle is a low wall K-Hornet.
Regards, Joe

I must have ask a half-dozen times if the folks who had this rifle were sure it was a .22-Hornet. I was told they had some .22-Hornet ammo and fired it several times to check it.

The reason I asked and was unsure was because Niedner did not, as a rule, chamber for the .22-Hornet.

I do not have any Hornet ammo so before I bought or loaded some I did a chamber cast to make sure.

A real tight Niedner chamber in .22-3000 Lovell.

So..........they would have had some pretty strange fire-formed cases from their .22 Hornet firings?

Tennessee allows deer hunting with any centerfire caliber, and I belive Alabama is the same. Over the years, I have taken a number with my .22 Savage High Power. It is a deadly caliber as long as there is no danger of deflection by intervening brush. I once killed a deer with my 6mm-.225 loaded with 60 grain bullets. The shot shattered its spine. I have also killed plains game in Africa, up to and including impala, with a .222 Remington. One shot kills all.

That is a beautiful rifle no matter the chambering.