Well, first of all I did not mean in any way to insinuate that you had minimal experience with the .22 Hornet.
As to your experiences with the ball tip bullets etc. First of all, my testing on smaller targets- Prairie dogs Jack rabbits starlings, crows etc(ie light skinned targets) shows that the 40 Vmax slugs expand pretty well(blows 'em apart with good hits).
The SHAPE of the .22 40g slugs is their advantage IMHO, they are just more efficient in retaining velocity all longer ranges. The trajectories are definitely flatter at longer ranges than the rounder nosed slugs.Wind resistance is another big factor. In my part of the world, the wind blows nearly ever day. Sometimes shifting 360degrees in a 12 hour period(I've seen it happen).
One thing I definitely found was that the 35g slugs are useless to me in a Hornet because they have SUCH POOR BCs!! I once did a head to head comparison in an 1885 Browning Low wall hornet I had at the time. It was very accurate with both the Hornady 35g and 40g Vmax slugs at 100 yards (near .4 MOA). I shot loads with both bullets in the rifle side by side in a stiff 15mph crosswind at paper at 150 and 200 yards. Past 150 yards, the 35g slugs were very inconsistent due to the wind's effect on them.
As to the 17HMR comparison, While I agree that the Hornet suffers from a lack of rotational velocity due to the slow twist rate,it DOES retain energy and hit MUCH MUCH harder than the 17HMR does at 200 yards due to the mass and ballistic coefficient's of the bullets.To me, it's like comparing a .357 mag to a 44 mag.
The next slug I am going to try will be the Sierra Blitz king 40g slugs. I will do a bit of "Lab work" on my own to see if they expand any better than the Hornadys do.
Last edited by jim62; 05/11/08.
