50g Hornady FB SP vs wet newspaper in 223 Rem

bobnob

Handloader
Nov 3, 2012
678
11
50g Hornady SP wet newspaper

I've used this as a cheap general purpose bullet in the 222 Rem since I was a teenager. Recently I've shot a hundred or so out of my new RAR 223 Rem Compact and wondered how they'd fare in the wet newspaper...

So with 15 inches of wet newsprint I fired two of these little Hornadys in at a MV of 3100fps which is modest I admit, but indicative of impact ranges commonly experienced when hunting pigs and goats in some of the places I hunt.

I expected these bullets to fly apart. They didn't.

Total penetration was 170mm for both bullets. Modest compared to the 280-300mm I got with the 75g Hdy BTHP recently, but not awful.

Retained weight was a surprising 25 and 30 grains, or 55% average. Expanded diameter was 0.48 and 0.47 inches.

These are the two recovered bullets. Not bad I thought for a supposed varmint bullet.

96D759D0-2FCF-4FBB-98D6-67426E4257A5_zpseihhzncf.jpg


All in all I thought they behaved a lot more like a big game bullet than a typical varmint bullet. They certainly hold together better than the Vmax and Zmax bullets sold by Hornady.

FYI anyway.
 
Cool. I've actually shot quite a few deer with little 55 grain soft points from an AR-15. Always killed quickly and well. Line of duty stuff - putting down injured mule deer from dog attacks, being hit by autos, being hit by the train, getting tangled up in fences... :( Bad things happen to mule deer when they come down out of the mountains in the winter - to their natural wintering grounds - which is of course right where we built a city...

Guy
 
Yep Guy I wouldn't doubt they'd do the job on a deer but I'd only do it if precise placement were ensured; a bit like your situations above.

Did you know that patrol cops over here do not have access to any long arms at all? None, not even a shotty.

Try putting down 300 injured sheep from a pranged road train with a Glock with them limping all around a paddock!
 
Wow. That's danged good performance from that little Bullet. Pretty interesting Bob.
 
The 55 grain hornady (often sold in bulk cheaply) is tough as hell!

Still not legal for big game in Wyoming though. 60 gr minimum
 
FOTIS":3klssgah said:
The 55 grain hornady (often sold in bulk cheaply) is tough as hell!

Still not legal for big game in Wyoming though. 60 gr minimum

Hmmmm. Need to grab some. I like those tough little pills.
 
Scott
I have an old (1980's) magazine from Petersen Publishing called magnum rifles. They test the 224 bee mag vs whitetail deer and the little 55 gr factory hornady looks like a miniature Partition.
 
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