Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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Sporty
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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Using a Ballistic Calculator, Hornady 30 grain V-MAX maintains greater velocity from chickens to rams but will have less energy than 45 grain Critical Defense after traveling 53 yards.

EDIT: I added CCI .22 WMR MAXIMAG jacketed hollow point to this comparison because it left craters in my standard steel (A36) chickens (0.0295") & pigs (0.016") and left a slight dimple on turkeys (0.001"). The rams were not phased. Hornady Critical Defense did no such damage to the chickens. Here's a link to a photo with a crater in a chicken. The impact to the right of that is from Hornady Critical Defense. I didn't shoot Hornady V-MAX at steel to see if it damages the target because I personally ruled it out because it appears to violate the NRA rule for required flat or round bullet shape.

Here are the numbers:
(A) .22 Mag Hornady 30 grain V-MAX
(B) .22 WMR Hornady 45 grain Critical Defense
(C) .22 WMR CCI MAXIMAG 40 grain
(D) .22 WMR Federal Game-Shock 50 grain

Velocity (FPS)/Energy (ft-lbs)
40 Meters
(A) 1824/222
(B) 1475/217
(C) 1608/230
(D) 1368/208

60 Meters
(A) 1622/184
(B) 1379/190
(C) 1493/198
(D) 1300/188

77 Meters
(A) 1526/155
(B) 1300/169
(C) 1397/173
(D) 1243/172

100 Meters
(A) 1364/124
(B) 1208/146
(C) 1283/146
(D) 1176/154
Last edited by Sporty on Tue Jun 26, 2018 4:47 pm, edited 8 times in total.
-Charlie (Lee) Meli
Retired match director @ Piedmont Gun Club, Rutherdfordton, NC
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Jason
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

Post by Jason »

Energy is typically a poor indicator of reliability in knocking over silhouette targets. Multiple rounds of testing by lots of different individuals pointed to momentum being a better measurement. If you would like more details, do a search on this forum for "ramentum" and settle in for a while. :D
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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Jason, I appreciate the "ramentum" theory but don't know the formula. Does the forumula include a variable on bullet hardness? What's the ideal "ramentum" number for a 3/8" thick half scale ram weighing about 13.8 pounds?

I edited my tabulation of velocity & energy to include the .22 WMR 40 grain CCI MAXIMAG jacketed hollow point. It appears to be a very hard bullet resulting in unacceptable target damage with standard steel (A36) chickens & pigs. I wouldn't allow that ammo in any PCLAR match I was running except for shooting at rams and other animals that are AR500 steel.
-Charlie (Lee) Meli
Retired match director @ Piedmont Gun Club, Rutherdfordton, NC
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Jason
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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The "ramentum" theory that investigated whether momentum was a better measure of ability to knock down a target than energy was discussed in exhausting detail. The discussion centered around knocking down a high power ram, so could be translated to a lighter and shorter target. I pointed it out because measuring energy and comparing it to ability to knock down a silhouette target will incorrectly lead you toward lighter bullets going faster since energy varies as the square of velocity. The only discussion about bullet hardness/construction was related to discussing how fast a bullet can impact a target and still maintain enough integrity to avoid splattering and deflecting the momentum transfer of a large portion of the bullet mass in a direction other than directly forward in the bullet path against the target.

We commonly have both the 40-grain CCI Maxi-mag TMJ and the 40-grain Federal 737 FMJ shot at our pistol cartridge targets. They are effectively the same bullet at the same velocity, and are the most commonly use ammo in 22 WMR rifles, which are commonly used. I've never seen any more damage than a small dimple that would be hard to see after the next time the target was painted. We also have competitors (me included) who shoot downloaded 22 Hornet pistols at the same targets that use 55-grain FMJ bullets at 1600+ fps, which can make the same tiny dimples that are nearly invisible after painting. I don't know what type of steel our pistol cartridge targets are, as they were at our club long before I was.

I've also never heard of those 22 WMR loads doing any real target damage at other ranges. I have shot them at a few ranges, and I know a few who shoot them at very large matches. If you have that much damage from those on your targets, the problem might be the targets and not the ammo being shot at them.
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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As a followup to the ammo I tabulated, the 50 gr WMR Federal Game-Shock appeared to group as well as the Hornady Critical Defense on paper at 100 meters. But, after examining the bullet holes up close I found two "flyer" bullet holes on the backer just below the 12" target to complete the group of 10.
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Retired match director @ Piedmont Gun Club, Rutherdfordton, NC
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

Post by edgehit »

Let me guess. The dropped fliers were from Federal 50.
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

Post by edgehit »

Sporty wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:10 pm Jason, I appreciate the "ramentum" theory but don't know the formula. Does the forumula include a variable on bullet hardness? What's the ideal "ramentum" number for a 3/8" thick half scale ram weighing about 13.8 pounds?
According to the wise silhouette shooters at the Las Angeles Silhouette Club, the momentum equation is:
Bullet weight x velocity divided by 226,000 = pound-sec momentum. You need about 1 lb-sec momentum to take a full size ram.

I have no idea how much ‘ramentum’ is needed for a 1/2 scale PC ram. I do know a 40gr CCI Maxi-mag TMJ will take down most Raton PC rams. The 45gr Hornady is very reliable. This is true at Raton. Other ranges have different rails, etc.

Here’s ‘ramentum’ for PC rams. Drum roll! So using the previously posted 100m velocities for the 45gr Hornady we can calculate: 45x1208/226,000 = 0.24 lb-sec ‘ramentum’ to take a 1/2 scale PC ram. Whatever. Who cares. L-)
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Re: Hornady 45gr .22 mag

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edgehit wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:35 pm Let me guess. The dropped fliers were from Federal 50.
Yes, sorry for the ambiguity. It only took 10 shots to see two Federal 50 gr. Game-Shock fliers.
-Charlie (Lee) Meli
Retired match director @ Piedmont Gun Club, Rutherdfordton, NC
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