I posted a couple of months ago on a newly acquired, barely used H&R 22 Hornet I picked up on EE. It did very well with 50 grain Sierra Varminters which actually spec @ .225. Since then I ordered 45 grain Sierra Varminters and the accuracy went to pot. Cogitating on the 1:9 twist in this rifle I ordered some 55 grain Sierra GameKings. So far they are consistently the most accurate bullet overall that I've used, loading both Lil' Gun (below) and IMR4227. It's just consistently very nice groups up and down the recommendations...
So I decided to perform a penetration comparison. Using 1" rough lumber I strapped 10 boards together and shot at 20 yards with the following results:
1 3/4" - .22 long rifle high velocity Federal 38 grain copper clad
7" - .224 Speer TNT 45 grain hollow point (3025 fps) - Lil' Gun
7 3/4" - .225 Sierra Varminter 50 grain (2980 fps) - Lil' Gun
8.5" - .225 Sierra GameKing 55 grain (1,770 fps) - IMR4227
I am really impressed with these GameKings in the Handi. I was hoping for an accurate bullet, a bit on the heavy side, with controlled expansion, good penetration, under 100 yards, and quiet...very, very quiet. I got all of them in the end.
I'll do some more work up on this tomorrow.
And just to let you know, the above groupings should be in the 2800+ fps range.
What a fun cartridge...hoping to brain something bigger with it. Ithink the tighter twist does better with a heavier bullet, but can stand to be corrected as well...
So I decided to perform a penetration comparison. Using 1" rough lumber I strapped 10 boards together and shot at 20 yards with the following results:
1 3/4" - .22 long rifle high velocity Federal 38 grain copper clad
7" - .224 Speer TNT 45 grain hollow point (3025 fps) - Lil' Gun
7 3/4" - .225 Sierra Varminter 50 grain (2980 fps) - Lil' Gun
8.5" - .225 Sierra GameKing 55 grain (1,770 fps) - IMR4227
I am really impressed with these GameKings in the Handi. I was hoping for an accurate bullet, a bit on the heavy side, with controlled expansion, good penetration, under 100 yards, and quiet...very, very quiet. I got all of them in the end.
I'll do some more work up on this tomorrow.
And just to let you know, the above groupings should be in the 2800+ fps range.
What a fun cartridge...hoping to brain something bigger with it. Ithink the tighter twist does better with a heavier bullet, but can stand to be corrected as well...
