THE wide range of .22 rimfire
ammunition is not only
superbly accurate, but has more
hitting power than most
shooters realise. Now magnum
rimfires reign supreme. Few
modern gun owners spare a
fleeting thought to the humble
.22 rimfire andnow many small-
game hunters prefer the hyper
velocity loads over standard .22
LR hollow-point and solid
loads. However, the standard
high-speed loadings are
powerful enough to deliver
one-shot kills on small game out
to 80 metres. At 50 metres, .22's
may still retain 1000 + fps, and
deliver over 100 ft/lbs of energy.
A few years ago I carried out
a tests at various distances
into wet newsprint and yellow
laundry soap and compared
the "wound channels" made by
solid and hollow point bullets.
Both mediums react much like
live tissue to bullet impact, but
take a set after expanding,
instead of springing back to
fill the hole as living flesh
does. Inspecting the soap and
the wet paper allowed a valid
comparison of the expansion
and penetration of both solid
and hollow points.
Any ideas I’d had about the
effectiveness of standard and
high velocity rimfire ammowere shattered by these tests. I
was surprised recently when I
viewed the width of the
impact channels made in
modelling clay by Winchester
high-velocity Powerpoints,
Subsonics and standard-
velocity solids. Mostly, the
solids’ cavities were almost as
wide as those of the Subsonic
but Power Points carved a
considerably larger cavity.
Over the years I have
experienced how well lead .22
bullets expand in rabbits. What
surprised, however, was the
expansion of the solid bullets.
In damp newsprint at 25 metres,
the high velocity 40gn solidsexpanded to an impressive .40
calibre, and the standard
velocity solids expanded to
.375. even more amazingly, but
the Laser 37.5gn hollow-point
formed a .50 calibre mushroom!
The Subsonic 40gn hollow-
point did well too, ending up
with a frontal area of .380.
The hollow-point gave
superior expansion, even at
longer ranges, forming a classic
mushroom at every range from
25 metres to 100, while the
high-velocity solid measured
only .340 at 50 metres and .225
at 80 metres, When it hit a wet
newsprint at 100 metres, the
high velocity solid had slowed
to just 1045 fps, only slightly
deforming the bullets point.
The wide cavities formed by
the solids were probably
caused by the slightly greaterGUN
LORE AN ASSORTMENT OF HUNTING FACTS & FIGURESDon’t Underestimate The .22 Rimire
66 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ MAY 2018
Much of what we believed about .22 rimfire
performance is not true.
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