Hello All...and Merry Christmas :-)

I have a chance to pick up a used M6 Scout in 22 hornet/410 from a friend. The only use its seen is a few rounds for testing. I was looking for some input from people who have actually used the gun for hunting. How did it shoot? What type of game was it effective on?

Thanks in advance for any info :-)

Dean

I have had mine in 22LR/410 to the range only once. The trigger/lever is heavy and accuracy suffers. It will take some practice and I think that is the limiting factor.

I have mine in 22LR/410 combo. 22LR is useless except for small game. 410 on slugs has a better pentrating power and accuracy. 410 on pellets can't really damage much. Pellets burry themselves in clay bird and can't break it. It is better than nothing and accuracy does take practice as it was mentioned here. After you take it appart it is quite small and easy to carry around that's why it goes with me on almost all kayaking trips. For the money it is an ok rifle but if the size is not an issue go with something else. The only thing this gun has going for it is a size. Maybe with Hornet round you will have more punch. Having said that being stuck somewhere with no rifle and with the M6 I would choose M6 anyday.

Let me preface with saying I've never actually fired the .22 Hornet, but I've read about it for years. I am familiar with it on paper. That disclaimer made:

.22 Hornet is, IMO, abou 1/2 of the way from .22Mag to .223, dependong on how it is loaded. I'd call it roughly comperable to the .221 Fireball, or .223 from a 10-12" pistol barrel. Not shabby, but remember it's limitations.

Deer are out, and ditto black bear and hog. But for anything smaller, you are more than fine on. Smaller deer you might be OK on, but I'm hesitant to say yes- I know deer are smaller in the South, just not sure by how much. (The smallest one I've gotten was 80pounds or so press dress- I took it because it had a leg about two inches shorter than the others.) It was made for small predator and medium varmints, like coyote and big jack rabbits. Hollow/soft points are good, the solid cores are better if you going after little game.

Is it an M6 with a squeezie-bar "winter" trigger, or a real trigger? I've never fired the M6, but I think that the winter trigger would be worse.

Buy it! The M6 was recently discontinued. It is made in Czechoslovakia in the famed firearm town of BRNO. I've shot the service issue Ithaca rifles and the Springfield version. Aside from the trigger, which was designed for heavy winter mittens, accuracy issues are in the ammunition. .22 Hornet is commercially loaded with small rifle primers which are entirely to hot for this mild case. If you handload, merely substituting pistol primers will give dramatic results. You can also rechamber it to the 'K' hornet, a standard wildcat that improves the shoulder and case life with mild accuracy gains.This is definitely a stalking carbine, even if the trigger could be inmproved- and by design it can't. The military decided on the round because centerfire cartridges are more reliable longterm and it just happened to be the smallest modern round at the time. Remember it was developed with wieght the main consideration. If you can wingshoot a .410 this piece will work well in spite of looks. the .22 hornet can take up to deer size animals with VERY carefull shot placement. I opened my peep up into a ghost aperture and had a bronze ring inlayed to gather additional light and painted the front ramp orange. Some people sacrifice a .410 to create a casehull PSK. This is dumb, considering the limited rounds in the buttstock. I just taped a few items on the stock including a Ulu knife. Some people have wrapped paracord on the barrels to create a forend. It looks trick and gives a good grip. then you use the stuff and throw the shot placement and everything else out of wack. If you are restricted to factory ammunition, try everything available. This little rifle is very particular.

The M-6 is an interesting approch to the multi-purpose survival firearm. The advantages of having both a rifle and a shotgun are pretty obvious.
That being said, the M-6 has several serious limitations:
.410 bore shotshells are only effective at close range since they carry a lighter shot load than, say, a 20 gauge. The small bore also tends to extend the shot string
Slug loads for the .410 are not effective on deer size game because of low power and relatively low weight. Many juristictions which permit slugs for hunting whitetail deer do not allow the .410 for that reason.
The .22 Hornet is needlessly powerful for small game such as squirrel and rabbit. Use solid cartridges to minamize meat destruction. On the other hand, the Hornet's pretty light for hunting deer size game.
As mentioned previously, the trigger pull (squeeze?) is rough, heavy and has a unconventional feel, although I must admit I like the concept of firing with heavy mittens.
For a better, though larger, combination gun look at the Savage 24s, particularly some of the older models with the 20 gauge shotgun barrel.

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

I have a .22LR/.410 version.

I also recommend you buy this, try it out and if you do not like it sell it. Since these are discontinued it would be foolish to not try it out.

I have never used mine on game and the trigger does take some getting used to, but for what it is I find it near perfect.

Hello All,

I have two M-6 rifles, an earlier Springfield 22lr/.410 and the later Czech BRNO 22 Hornet/.410. Of the two, I find the 22lr/.410 the most practical. The 22lr shoots to point of aim at 15 yards with high velocity lr ammo, the .410 shoots I nice pattern, with no holes, at the same range with #6 or #8 2 ½ inch . For some reason the 2 ½ inch shells shoot tighter than the 3 inch shells of the same shot sizes, go figure. In addition, the earlier M-6’s had an “Improved” choke on the .410, the later BRNO M-6 has a “full” choke. Since the 22lr/.410 has an Improved choke it will also shoot .410 1/5 oz. slugs into a 2 to 3 inch group at 15yds. My 22 Hornet/.410 is an entirely different beast… since I reload I can afford to feed it a steady diet of home rolled Hornet ammo, usually a 45gr soft point backed by enough 2400 or H-110 to get is moving from 2400 to 2600 fps. The first thing I found was that the Hornet chamber is a little on the generous side allowing the case to expand out a bit, but no worries, I ordered a neck sizing die and was back in business. At 15yrds, the Hornet is just at accurate as the 22lr, but an inch or so low. 15 yards being the length of local indoor range, I belong to. Were the 22lr is a pop the Hornet lets loose with a definite crack! The .410 barrel on the Hornet has a full choke and also shoots tight patterns at 15yrd, but the full choke does not work well with .410 slugs throwing them all over the target. As others have noted, M-6 does not have a trigger, but something more akin to a lever that you press and takes some getting used to.

Mine's the Hornet/.410 and it's a hoot.

I don't seem to have any accuracy problems with the .410 slugs - about 1 1/2 inch pattern at 25 yards - but as I've said, I'm no marksman and I've had limited time to use the rifle. The slugs are Winchester 1/5 oz.

I've been using Hornady .22 Hornet ammo with the ballistic tips. Again, no accuracy problems.

The trigger takes some getting used to, but seems to work fine.

I did mount a Bushnell scope and it, too, seems fine. I used the standard scope mount supplied by Springfield along with risers and the Leupold quick-release rings. Even with all of that, I also had to mount a side extension on the hammer since the scope barely clears it. The risers were necessary to be able to get to the break down lever.

As said above, if you can get it buy it. They've stopped production of them again and who knows when and if they'll start back up.

Thanks for all the advice and information :-)

I went ahead and bought the rifle today. I was suprised at how small it will pack up. It goes to the range tomorrow, and hunting this weekend. I'll post my experences later.

Dean