OT- Winchester Model 43 Bolt Action

[Jarhead]

Hi fellas,

Been awhile since I've been here. I've been working on my 30 acre 'homestead' in Eastern Oregon and getting ready to go off grid. Will be all squared away and living on my farm for good very soon.

Anyway, anybody here own or have owned a Model 43 Bolt Action? I just picked one up(Mint) in 22 Hornet and am just curious. Any problems? etc. I haven't shot mine yet, but with Ground Squirrels starting to come out now, that will change soon. I've heard they work good on Coyotes under 100 yards?

My next step is to do a bench rest and see what kind of barrel I've got going. Will see.

Should be a fun little rifle...will see.

Mike

[airedaleman]

Had a De Luxe model in .218 Bee, a Christmas present in 1955. Handloaded for it, and it would shoot 1" -1-1/4" five-shot groups all day long, wearing a ten-power Fecker scope. Shot a lot of chucks with it, and I rated it as an odds-on 175-yard rifle. See Frank de Haas's "Bolt Action Rifle" for an in-depth assessment of the Model 43. Mine was stolen in the aftermath of my rolling my '47 Mercury convertible coming back from a chuck hunting session.

[Jarhead]

Airedaleman,

That's a shame that your rifle was stolen. Too bad about your Merc too...you're lucky to be alive.

I hope mine shoots as well as yours. Mine has a K6 Weaver. Here's a pic:



I picked up 300 rounds of Hornady 35 grainers to start out with. I'll get some brass built up, so I can start loading my own. I'd love to have a pre 64 model 70 in a 22 Hornet, but they are spendy.

[JReed]

The Hornet should be good for song dogs out to 150 or a bit more. I don't have any info on your model rifle but I used to use my 22mag on yotes out to 100 and it did well.

[jnyork]

Some Lil Gun powder will make those bullets really sing to ya. Best thing that ever happened to the .22 Hornet.

[Sixgun]

Hey Jarhead you 'ole rascal--where you be hidin'? Good to hear from you---thought you might have been hanging out in the "big house" or somethin'

Yea, the Model 43 is a nice gun. I just sold one in 218 Bee. Shot pretty good in the short time I had it. (about 3 years) It was good for 1 and 1/2" with 50 grain bullets. The gun fed well and had good ergonomics.

Ready to part with that Model 71 carbine? -----------Sixgun

[Jarhead]

Hey Jarhead you 'ole rascal--where you be hidin'? Good to hear from you---thought you might have been hanging out in the "big house" or somethin'

Yea, the Model 43 is a nice gun. I just sold one in 218 Bee. Shot pretty good in the short time I had it. (about 3 years) It was good for 1 and 1/2" with 50 grain bullets. The gun fed well and had good ergonomics.

Ready to part with that Model 71 carbine? -----------Sixgun

Been doing good, Sixgun. I'm building a cabin on my 30 acres and bailing out.

I'm keepin' the '37 Model 71 Carbine...might be worth something someday?

[w30wcf]

Jarhead,
Welcome back! I have two 43's one in .22 Hornet and the other in "K" Hornet. I have not shot any 35 gr bullets in them but they both like 40-46 gr. bullets very well. For years my favorite powder in the std. Hornet was W680 in 11.5 gr. doses for the 46 gr and 12.5 with the 40 gr. Groups averaged 1 1/2" @ 100 yards.

I still have some W680 but now that it has been discontinued, I recently bought some Lil' Gun to give that a try. Based on Hodgdon data it gives the lowest pressure and highest velocity with the 40 and 45 gr bullets compared to the other Hodgdon powders.

w30wcf

[Jarhead]

Jarhead,
Welcome back! I have two 43's one in .22 Hornet and the other in "K" Hornet. I have not shot any 35 gr bullets in them but they both like 40-46 gr. bullets very well. For years my favorite powder in the std. Hornet was W680 in 11.5 gr. doses for the 46 gr and 12.5 with the 40 gr. Groups averaged 1 1/2" @ 100 yards.

I still have some W680 but now that it has been discontinued, I recently bought some Lil' Gun to give that a try. Based on Hodgdon data it gives the lowest pressure and highest velocity with the 40 and 45 gr bullets compared to the other Hodgdon powders.

w30wcf

Thanks w30wcf...

I may have made a mistake buying the Hornady VMAX 35 grainers. Does the Model 43 have a 1:16 bore? I think so? I just found out that the heavier bullets work better in the Model 43. I'll use up the 35 grainers on ground squirrels and see what happens.

Sounds like you like the Model 43? Had any problems? Thanks for the reloadin' info.
That K Hornet sounds like a good cartridge...

[JOHNNY WACKO]

I don't have one ether,but like your story about your place.I have a farm in Western Pa.And love having a place in the country.I inherited my place in 1966 at 11 years old.Have lived here all my life.
I bet your place is like a piece of heaven for you.

[Jarhead]

Johnny,

I inherited my farm as well. Joined the Marines from there 40 years ago and came back full circle. My Dad sold the old farm house, but kept 30 acres across the road. I feel blessed to have the place. It boarders the Starwberry Mountain Wilderness, so it's like living in hunting camp year around. Finally made it back home....

I'm getting a couple of mules and bought a late 1800's farm wagon(John Deere buckboard) in case gas too out of hand. I'll post a few pics of the 'Ole Wagon' under a new topic just for kicks.

I'll leave the farm to my daughters.

[JOHNNY WACKO]

From the sounds of things your back home to stay.The only thing about inheriting is you have to loose a love one first.I seen the wagon,it is super nice.I bet your dad is glad your back on the old homestead.He is looking down with a big smile.There is no place like home.

[Mitch1352]

When you say "off grid" what do you mean?

[Jarhead]

When you say "off grid" what do you mean?

"Off Grid" means I won't be hooking up to the power company. I'll be heating with wood and running a 7000W generator when needed. I am looking into solar as a viable option and heating with wood.

[airedaleman]

Just remembered that I shot mostly 36- and 40-grain Sisk pointed soft point bullets over Hercules 2400 in my .218 Bee.
I believe rate of twist for the Hornet is 1 in 14. I more recently had a Ruger Model 77/22H (the Hornet) that I shot a fair
number of the 35-grain VMax bullets through. Nothing that rifle did impressed me a great deal, so I didn't fell too terribly bad when I sold to cover some medical expenses. It WAS pretty to look at, though (had factory iron sights)...

[w30wcf]

Jarhead,
Those 35 gr. bullets may shoot just fine. As I recall, several years ago someone wrote an article about 32 gr. bullets in the .22 Hornet. The bullets used were the h.p.'s used in the higher velocity .22 Magnum. The fellow must have a connection with Olin Corp. because those bullets are not available commercially. Anyway, he reported excellent accuracy with some groups around 1" @ 100 yards. I don't recall which rifle he used.

1-16" is the twist rate for the '43 Hornet.

Johnny Wacko,
What part of Western, PA do you reside? I live close to Erie.

w30wcf