GUN
LOREagainst using hyper-velocity
ammo in their guns.
Practically, the test results
indicate that rimfire Nimrods
are well armed with any one of
the three conventional Long
Rifle loads, subsonic or
high-velocity solid or solids, at
least out to 50 metres. Any
farther and I think the hollow
point still offers greater
expansion and stopping power,
Now I have made no mention
of killing power. You can shoot
a hog or billy goat with a .22
through the heart or lungs and
they won't go very far before
they expire, but there are better
choices. We should always try
for quick humane kills,
whether it be vermin like rats
at the local garbage dump,
rabbits or other small game
animals. If a .22 Long Rifle
bullet is placed with the same
precision in small game as is
normally the case with
centrefire bullets in big game,
you can account for rather
large animals. A hollow-point,
if well placed in the heart or
lungs will consistently bring
down larger animals. Even a
deer will succumb to a .22
Long Rifle solid placed
squarely in brain or heart, but I
don't recommend the .22LR for
feral pigs, goats or deer; on
predators such as foxes and
dingoes it should be used by
cool experienced hunters and
solely at close ranges.
Rabbits are seldom shot at
over 75 metres, and I've gained
excellent results using
Subsonic hollow points and
highly accurate target-speed
ammo like this is, I have
found, a good choice.
Travelling under the speed of
sound, their bullets are less
affected by wind. I've been
told that meat loss is reduced
by using solid bullets, but a
broadside hit through the
shoulders of a rabbit with
either projectile will destroy
both forequarters. If you want
rabbits to eat, you'd best lmake
a head shot. Even rabbit
hunters are better off with
hollowpoints, no matter how
close the range. A big buck
rabbit’s tenacity is astonishing
and if the shot is even slightly
misplaced they'll often
manage to get down the
nearest burrow.
The CCI Velocitor is the
powerhouse of .22 rimfire
loads. It shoots a 40gn hollow
point bullet at a velocity of
1435 fps and has a muzzle
energy of 183 ft/lb from a
standard length .22 Long Rifle
case. Even at 100 metres it still
retains 1150fps and hits with
110 ft/lbs of energy. And
unlike Stingers and Quik-
Shot, the Velocitor gives good
accuracy in most rifles. If you
want to hunt larger varmints
with a .22 rimfire, Velocitor
may give you an edge.
Expansion tests indicate
violent disruption of tissue,
occurs within the first 25mm
of penetration, but a great deal
depends upon the location of
the impact, and size of the
animal. If the bullet drives
through the shoulder bone of a
rabbit, the expansion and
disruption is likely to be far
greater even than shown in
clay and wet paper whether the
bullet be a hollow point or
solid, but fragile rib bones and
thin skin and guts doesn't
present enough resistance to
upset a solid bullet.
When I was young I always
used Super-X hollow points
because they had higher
velocity than solids and
autopsies on rabbits revealed
5-cent sized exit holes. Of
course, I also tried solids, but
the rabbits usually ran a short
distance before they dropped
and showed pencil-sized exit
holes, which told the story.
Hollow points proved far
better than solids for stopping
running rabbits, or even much
larger hares. A hit with ahollow point in the head, neck
or chest, usually took the zig
out of their zag. Shots that
landed farther back , more
often than not, slowed the
escaping bunnies enough to
deliver the coup de grace.
With the .22 Long Rifle, the
curved trajectory is an even
greater problem. Winchester
Power Points 40gn hollow
points at 1280fps give very
good accuracy in most rifles.
In order to zero this load at
100 metres, the bullet mustland about 64mm high at 50
metres. This much deviation
from the line of sight makes
hitting small targets difficult
because the shooter must "hold
under". For rabbits the bullet
shouldn't deviate more than
30mm from the line of sight.
The best plan is to sight a .22
to hit about 12mm high at 25
metres, then it will be about
25mm high at 50 and drop
about 100mm at 100. So, a
good shot with an accurate hit
a rabbit out to 80 metres using
a dead-on hold. Some with a
high-quality rifle and scope,
accurately estimate range can
stretch it a bit by holding over
to hit rabbits at 100 metres.
In the final analysis,
comparing test results with
decades of game shooting with
a .22, I still lean strongly to
using hollow point bullets for
all small game shooting, where
solids do not show some
positive advantage, such as
limiting meat damage, or in the
case of target-velocity ammo,
reducing wind deflection.68 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ MAY 2018
Hollow points
proved far
better than
solids for
stopping
rabbits.”
4
Winchester 9422 Legacy was an exceptionally fine .22
for small game hunting. Sadly it is no longer available.