221vs 22 hornet 10" bbl

[Archie]

Any opinons on which one is better out of the 221 fireball of 22 hornet.  This will be from a 10 " bbl mostly target shooting and maybe a little varimit hunting.

[The Duke]

I don't think there is any question that the 221 Fireball is the superior round.  It was developed specifically for the Remington XP-100 pistol which has about a 10 1/2" barrel.  I had a 14" Hornet barrel that drove me crazy.  Accuracy was fair and brass life was poor.  Hornet brass is like tissue paper.  The only Hornet I would consider would be the K-Hornet which has better ballistics and decent brass life.

[Questor]

I made that decision a couple of years ago without later regrets: get the 221 Fireball.  Try Speer 50 grain TNT bullets with IMR 4198 powder.  Note that the factory Contender barrel has a 1:14 twist rather than the original XP100's 1:10 twist. I found that plastic-tipped 50 grain bullets would not stabilize.  The TNTs are fantastic on prairie dogs.

[B_Koes]

I would agree that the .221 fireball is probably the better choice even for a 10" barrel.  Having said that, I own a Hornet and I LOVE it.  It is very accurate and my brass lasts just fine.  I am not pushing the round to its limits which is why I think that I don't have much trouble.  The fireball probably has a little more forgiving nature and a litte more velocity potential.  Bottom line is that they are both great rounds and the Hornet doesn't deserve to be maligned the way that it often is.

[casper_zip]

:grin:

Well, here goes my 2 cents. I don't have the Hornet, altho Lyman has said in their reloading manual it was the most accurate barrel they saw in all the shooting and testing of loads. I've often wanted one, just for the history, etc. and also shooting.

I do have the 221 Fireball in 15", Fox Custom Shop, and I also have the original 221 Fireball in the XP-100. Both of mine are extremely accurate, and I shoot mostly the 55 grain FMJ bullets, because I used to get them on sale prices, pretty cheap delivered by the 1,000. I have not detected any destablized shots yet.

My "full power" load or regular load is 18.3 grains of AA-2200 which gives me an average of 2693 FPS on my chronograph. This is my average used over a long period of time. This load puts them all in a ragged small hole when I do my part. This is fairly close to being a maximum load in my Contender. I have easy extraction, etc., no sign of pressures. I have shot this load many, many times.

If you want a super small game load, read "Squirrel", then load the same 55 grain FMJ with 4.5 grains of Red Dot. This gives about 1303 FPS average on my chrono, and 207 Ft/lbs. The 22 Remington Rimfires give average of 1280 FPS, and 131 Ft/lbs. This is one dynamite squirrel killer. It will shoot all into a small ragged hole that usually is covered by a nickel coin at 75 yards. I haven't tested it any furthur, never had any need to.

So, like I said, I've never even shot a 22 Hornet, but I like them, and love the history behind it, and also the 25/20, which I don't have, but would love to have that barrel, also.

You can't go wrong with either is my opinion. I handload all I shoot, and I just enjoy them all.

Keep it Safe, and Keep Shooting !!!! :grin:  :grin:  :grin:  :grin:

Casper_Zip