Hornet. No potentially useful (accurate) heavier bullets will either add to “explo- sive” range or significantly reduce wind drift within the range where the Hornet can produce explosive results. (Those interested in hunting heavier vermin might take exception to this but I know of no Hornet bullet designed for deep penetration. Likely the best choice for such an application is the solid-based Nosler BT — included here.) Note that the CZ, and most other


Hornets, have the specified 16-twist barrel; the new Savage uses a 14-twist barrel. Some manufacturers of plastic- tipped, 40-grain, bullets specify that those will not stabilize when used in a 16-twist barrel. Perhaps this is true but these bullets are on the edge when launched from such a barrel. When fired at or near top-end Hornet velocity, and especially when used at any elevation significantly above sea level, these bul- lets are indeed accurate. Therefore, I tested these. You must determine if your gun and shooting conditions will allow for the accurate use of such bullets. I define explosive range as that


distance within which one can expect a properly placed bullet to instantly dispatch any appropriate vermin. Gen- erally, this is limited to the range where bullet velocity remains above about 2,000 feet per second. While I tested all three 40-grain,


plastic-tipped bullets, I suspect that the Hornady V-Max is the best choice for the Hornet for use on smaller spe- cies. Independent long-range terminal performance tests of all three of these bullets demonstrated that the V-Max offers the most violent performance at the lowest retained velocity. However, the other two are excellent bullets and might offer advantages in your gun or in your application (as noted, when using the Hornet to hunt coyotes, the 40-grain Nosler BT is probably the best choice to humanely do the job). Generally, the various 40-grain


plastic-tipped bullets are so good that older bullets are simply obsolete. If you have a supply of older HP or SP bullets, you can usually substitute bullets of the same weight without too much worry. So long as you seat the bullet base to the same depth as is listed in the loads suggested here (overall length will vary, because bullet length varies), pressure and velocity will be similar — neverthe-


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less, charge adjustments of a few-tenths- grain are apt to be necessary. Noteworthy is the fact that several


otherwise-feasible loads could gener- ate, with deeper bullet seating, enough charge compression to result in bullet damage or a bulged case. Such loads could be inaccurate or unusable. Gen- erally, once bullet seating compresses the charge more than about 10% with a “swirled” charge or about 15% with a “dumped” charge, accuracy problems are apt to ensue. Calhoon (and boat tail) bullets


were a pleasure to load. Evidently, compared to what other manufactur- ers have done with flat-based bullets, Calhoon has done a better job of creating a sufficient radius at the shank-to-base junction. These bullets just slipped into the case mouth, without a hitch, and I believe that this is apt to result in fewer loads where the case neck is bent out of alignment with the case body during bullet seating (by bending the case shoulder). Likely, less care will be required to produce accurate loads. And, for sure, one destroys fewer cases during bullet seating! However, I had significant problems when attempting to use nearly case-full charges of ball- type propellants. First, as the bullet drove into the charge, granules would spill over the case mouth. Second, seat- ing the bullet traps granules between case neck and bullet shank. It is possible, although extremely


unlikely, that some older factory guns — those chambered according to origi- nal Hornet specifications, for use with 0.222- and 0.223-inch bullets, might not freely chamber loads using 0.224-inch bullets. Realistically, the only way this could happen is with a Hornet that was custom chambered to have unusually


tight neck clearance with the smaller bullets and, no doubt, such guns exist. If in doubt, never use 0.224-inch bullets in any Hornet with the original, smaller, bore and groove. ceramic Bore treatment My experience is that, when prop-


erly applied to a quality barrel, ceramic bore treatment can essentially eliminate bore fouling, especially when combined with the use of properly moly-plated bullets. I treated the barrels of the Sav- age M-40 and CZ 527 before beginning this testing. The Savage generates es- sentially zero fouling; unfortunately, the CZ does not seem to have such a good bore and fouling persists. However, note that I did not see any evidence that bore fouling decreased accuracy, even when firing several hundred shots in one session. My experience suggests that I


might need to repeat treatment of the Savage M-40 after perhaps 5,000 shots (the ceramic treatment in my 17 Ackley Hornet held up through about 3,000 rounds). I am contemplating fire lapping the CZ rifle’s bore before repeating the ceramic treatment.


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