My first centerfire was a hornet, and now I own 3 of them. I never bothered with the K, if you want more speed then get something different IMO. Same thing goes with loading it: some people try to drive it hard, but then you have brass life problems. It's just not a 223 rem. At first I had a RCBS die that was working the brass like 0.020" each reload, which was killing it. I switched to a redding neck die, I don't drive it hard, and I'm getting ~40 reloads before the heads start to come off. Win brass seems a little thicker than the others and lasts a bit longer.
That being said, if I had it to do over I'd go with a Spitfire. If you're a reloader and not looking for an off-the-shelf rifle then I'd suggest this. It's basically the 30 carbine case necked down to 22. The case head is only slightly bigger than a hornet, so something like a cooper M38 can be modified slightly, or something in 30 carbine can be re-barreled. Actually, one of my current projects is this reamer run in short. This yields a shorter case with about the same capacity as a K hornet and lets me fit the pointy 40gr nosler ballistic tips in the 30 carbine magazines. I can use all the same primers/powders/bullets I already have for the hornet and brass is still easy to find. A small bolt action with a 30-round magazine and a can is a nice little toy and great for varmints inside 200.
Good luck!
