IMO the hornet is a great rifle. I have one, and have owned several. I was never much on the .223 Remington, but boy was I wrong. I will share with you what I have learned. I shoot 50 grain V-Max in my .223 Remington at 3350 fps.

I suggest you buy a .223 Reminton if you handload. You can load a 40 grain V-max at 2800-3000 fps with 11-13 grains of Blue Dot(no filler needed). I also suggest you get a 26 or even a 28 inch barrel. The length of barrel is not a concern for velocity, the longer barrel will make less noise-or crack. In a heavy barrel configuration the 40 grain pill will hit within an inch of the 50 grain pill out to 150 yards.

Now you have two rifles in one by carrying different ammo. Mark your ammo any way you want to, just be consistent. Your 50 grain pill is effective to 400 yards with no problem. Your 40 grain pill is effective to 175 yards with no problem. I do this all the time in the ground hog field's. Low report on your close shots with the ability to reach out and touch them. The only thing better is a suppressor, I just sent my $200 in for my permit to buy one of them.