Or…at 3.5 lbs, the perfect walk-around varmint rifle?
While I'm not much of a handgun guy, I admit to being a .22 Hornet fanatic (root word to fan). I get a little weak in the knees when I see nice Hornets, maybe not to the extent of rimfires, but pretty darned close…sometimes more…this one is probably a "sometimes more" example.
I have mildly coveted the Anschutz Exemplar Hornets. Whoever designed that stock understood something of aesthetics and functionality. They just look so wickedly rakish to me. I've had several opportunities to buy one but never did; I am, after all, a rifle enthusiast. So, when I was approached about this unique version of the Exemplar, with original box and silhouette sights, I took the plunge. The mirror image, left-hand action gives me slight pause everytime I look at it.
The unique comment involves the uniquely faceted receiver, the lighter and slightly shorter barrel with about as sexy a contour as I can imagine (no doubt both for weight savings), and the single-shot configuration. Some of you may even remember a thread on this gun here.
So, did Anschutz do all this? I don't think there is any doubt about it. First, the unique barrel configuration is clearly stamped "Exemplar-Hornet" on the tapered-down, minor diameter end. This font matches the Anschutz font for the Exemplar (and who else would go to the trouble?). Second, both the serial number (also in Anschutz numerals) and the importer's mark (ISS Fort Worth, TX), are rolled into one of the facets. So, it was serial numbered after faceting, almost certainly leaving Germany that way, and it was imported that way. Yes, I suppose someone could replicate all that and reblue the whole thing, but why? The serial number matches the original Anschutz box, by the way.
On the single-shot configuration, some had opined on the previous thread that Anschutz would not do that, because the loading ramp was left in the white. Maybe. But Anschutz leaves most of its aluminum trigger housings and some trigger finger pieces in the white, and I don't recall many aluminum Anschutz parts that were anodized…maybe some target sight parts??? In any event, the bottom metal is left completely solid for the single-shot configuration (certainly no evidence someone plugged the mortise in a standard repeating 54 bottom plate to make this), which, to me, speaks to originality. We also know Anschutz did/does do custom work for some customers. So, I'm proclaiming it an original Anschutz. Even if it is not, however, I don't really care, because this is one sweet handling and sweet looking Exemplar.
I already have a Burris 3-12X32 handgun scope with the "ballistic plex" reticle on the way. Yes, a 12X pistol scope
Enjoy:
I also scored several pounds of H110, probably the perfect powder for a handgun Hornet. Out of a 9" barrel, it supposedly gives a 40 grain bullet 2500 FPS, which is right there with (probably better than) the original Hornet ballistics that made it the darling of Landis and other eastern woodchuck shooters of the day.
TBR
While I'm not much of a handgun guy, I admit to being a .22 Hornet fanatic (root word to fan). I get a little weak in the knees when I see nice Hornets, maybe not to the extent of rimfires, but pretty darned close…sometimes more…this one is probably a "sometimes more" example.
I have mildly coveted the Anschutz Exemplar Hornets. Whoever designed that stock understood something of aesthetics and functionality. They just look so wickedly rakish to me. I've had several opportunities to buy one but never did; I am, after all, a rifle enthusiast. So, when I was approached about this unique version of the Exemplar, with original box and silhouette sights, I took the plunge. The mirror image, left-hand action gives me slight pause everytime I look at it.
The unique comment involves the uniquely faceted receiver, the lighter and slightly shorter barrel with about as sexy a contour as I can imagine (no doubt both for weight savings), and the single-shot configuration. Some of you may even remember a thread on this gun here.
So, did Anschutz do all this? I don't think there is any doubt about it. First, the unique barrel configuration is clearly stamped "Exemplar-Hornet" on the tapered-down, minor diameter end. This font matches the Anschutz font for the Exemplar (and who else would go to the trouble?). Second, both the serial number (also in Anschutz numerals) and the importer's mark (ISS Fort Worth, TX), are rolled into one of the facets. So, it was serial numbered after faceting, almost certainly leaving Germany that way, and it was imported that way. Yes, I suppose someone could replicate all that and reblue the whole thing, but why? The serial number matches the original Anschutz box, by the way.
On the single-shot configuration, some had opined on the previous thread that Anschutz would not do that, because the loading ramp was left in the white. Maybe. But Anschutz leaves most of its aluminum trigger housings and some trigger finger pieces in the white, and I don't recall many aluminum Anschutz parts that were anodized…maybe some target sight parts??? In any event, the bottom metal is left completely solid for the single-shot configuration (certainly no evidence someone plugged the mortise in a standard repeating 54 bottom plate to make this), which, to me, speaks to originality. We also know Anschutz did/does do custom work for some customers. So, I'm proclaiming it an original Anschutz. Even if it is not, however, I don't really care, because this is one sweet handling and sweet looking Exemplar.
I already have a Burris 3-12X32 handgun scope with the "ballistic plex" reticle on the way. Yes, a 12X pistol scope
Enjoy:
I also scored several pounds of H110, probably the perfect powder for a handgun Hornet. Out of a 9" barrel, it supposedly gives a 40 grain bullet 2500 FPS, which is right there with (probably better than) the original Hornet ballistics that made it the darling of Landis and other eastern woodchuck shooters of the day.
TBR