What's the difference..................

[Niner Delta]

What's the difference between a .22 Hornet and a .22 Magnum ??

Vern.

[M14man]

The Hornet is a centerfire cartridge and the ammo is not easy to find. The magnum is a rimfire and is available in most stores that sell ammo.
The Hornet is faster than the 22 magnum.
The Hornet costs 2-3 times the cost of the 22 magnum.

[Niner Delta]

Thanks for the answer, M14man.
Glad my Chuckster is a Magnum, not a Hornet.

Vern.

[Aughnanure]

The .22 Hornet is easy to reload whereas the .22 Magnum rimfire is a bit difficult, not impossible, but difficult.
The Hornet is based on the old .22 WCF which was originally a black powder cartridge. The rounds are not interchanceable but I have seen .22 WCF low wall s/s that had original but oversize chambers that would accept the Hornet. Still used in Australia as a good fox cartridge; mostly I use an SMLE on foxes, it kills 'em.

[rice paddy daddy]

The Hornet was, in it's day, a very popular varmint cartridge. It has since been eclipsed by the .223 Remington, .22-250, and others. It's an acurate round out to about 125-150 yards, relatively quiet, and the standard load is a 45 grain soft point at about 2700 fps, for about 700 ft pounds muzzle energy.
I have a Savage bolt action in 22 magnum, but wanted something with more power around the homestead for things that a 22 mag would be borderline on, so I bought a New England Firearms Handi Rifle in 22 Hornet and put a scope on it. My Ruger Mini 14 would work, but it's just to darn loud!