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You guys covered all the usual bases. NEF also makes their break-open rifle in Hornet, and it's a great inexpensive way to get your feet wet in the Hornet business.
I still believe that the Browning is the best of the bunch (but that may be because I own one.)
Today's Hornet is better than ever, mainly due to Hodgdon LilGun powder. That magic pixie dust REALLY makes the Hornet sting!
I was just discussing a ground hog problem that Skinny Shooter sometimes has. He hunts some properties where too much gun blast is most definitely unwelcome, but his 22 WMR sometimes doesn't anchor a g'hog as well as he'd like. With body shots, there are too many of what Skinny calls DNRs: Dead-Not Recovered.
I suggested (what else?) a Hornet. With almost double the effective range of a 22 WMR but with not much more muzzle noise, it's a perfect choice. But the Hornet was developed for precisely those situations: eastern g'hog hunting in settled areas. So you'd expect that it's still a top choice for those situations.
With 40 or 45-grain bullets, the Hornet can tag a g'hog out to 150 or perhaps 175 yards with ease - and finality. Because the bullets are designed for the Hornet's speeds, they perform all out of proportion to what the "paper" ballistics seem to show.
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