what is the most fragile .224 bullet?

[AusFclass]

as the title suggests what is the most fragile .224 bullet?

i now hace access to some propertys on the outskirts of town to shoot rabbits, hares and foxes at night. i usually use a .222 or .243 but im looking at someting with a shorter danger zone down range, low ricochet risk and a bit less report. i would like to shoot rabbits and hares out to 150 but could limit the foxes out to 100.

i have been considering a .17HMR (and still am) but i get conflicting reports as to weather it will do the job on foxes. so i thought maby i could use a reduced load, maby around 2300fps and a fragile bullet that will still expand at low velocity. has anyone had experience with this type of set up and what have you deduced??

 

[40X Guy]

I have used the Barnes Varmint Grenades out of a 22-250, but i drove them pretty hard and they were over 4000 fps. I used the little 36 grain pills. Results on chucks were very good. But I have no clue about how they would perform at lower speeds.

Frank

 

[hogpatrol]

17 hmr in 20 gr game point, head shots, will take out fox @ 200, easily. Body shots, a big maybe. Hog

 

[CJ6]

35-40gr bullets designed for the 22 Hornet do a real nice job at moderate/low velocities. Hornady's 40 grainer(hornet) bullet was designed for a MAX of 3400fps I believe. I've used this in the Hornet and it does a great job at Hornet velocities. Note ..some Hornet bullets are .223 not .224. Sierra has both .223 and .224dia. 40 and 45 gr. bullets, Hornady has 45gr. Hornet #2230 and Bee #2229 in .224 dia.

 

[357Mag]

Ausie -

Howdy !

Both the Hornady .224" cal 50 & 55SX are very explosive !!!
I have not found ploymer-tipper bullets to any more explosive, than the SX.

Although they they come with a cautionary note inside their box, not ot exceed 3,200fps ( I believe ); I have shot 55s out of a 24" 1-14 @ 3,690fps; and they made it out past 500.

That extra couple hundred FPS put on the 55s ( if one is able to ) catapults them into a whole new
realm of "unreal performance " !!

With regards,
357Mag

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

I would suggest Speer TNT bullets. The 6mm 70gr. come undone pretty well and are very accurate. Speer makes a 52gr. fbhp varmint bullet that is very frangible. My 9 twist 22-250 would explode them before they made it to the target. Too many RPMs for that particular bullet. The Berger 52gr. Match Varmints would hold up to the abuse so I would have to say they are a bit tougher and are extremely accurate. Just my experiences!

Mike

 

[bheadboy]

i have had great result with either the 50 55gr blitzking out of 221, 22-250, limiting range and noise the 221/222or even the 223 would be my choice for 40 or 50gr blitzking as the just blow on empact.

Bob

 

[vmaxpro]

223, 40gr vmax, 9.5 gr bluedot is my quieter night time fox load. Caution with that one tho, as you know the risk with bluedot loads. Ive also used trailboss with the 40 vmax's, very accurate and quiet, never heard a ricochet from that at 1900 fps. The blue dot loads hoverd around 2700 I think

 

[tbird1960]

I have been shooting a 17 Ackley Bee for 40 years and it is certain death up to 20 yards for anything. I have on several attempts tried to recover a bullet and have shot it into almost everything trying to get one, with no luck all I ever find is a hole. Almost anything I shoot with it drops like a rock and not much danger of ricochet. Has good barrel life and is very accurate. I usually shoot Hornady 25 gr hollow points and they are very accurate, usually .5 inches at 100 yards. I have a 12 power unertl on the rifle.

 

[tbird1960]

That is 200 yards not 20 yards.

 

[SS427]

I've never shot anything at the lower velocities, but with full strength loads the Hornady v-max have been the most fragile bullets I've ever shoot out of a .224 caliber. I've used a few supposedy fragile soft points but never got the explosions out of them like I did the v-max. The Sierra BlitzKing and Nosler varmint ballistic tips are also explosive but not quite as good as the v-max. I never have gotten great accuracy with the v-max, so I use the Sierra and Nosler bullets for the most part.

 

[AusFclass]

17 hmr in 20 gr game point, head shots, will take out fox @ 200, easily. Body shots, a big maybe. Hog

what sort of HMR do you have? how do you find the accuracy?

we shoot at night with a spotlight and estimating range is very difficult. a foxes brain is under 2" in diameter and at 200yds a range estimation error of 20yds will cause a miss. beacause we use a spotlight 95% of the time foxes are on the move. making it impossible to use a range finder and almost as difficult to hit a moving brain at that range. we shoot off the back of a "ute" (pickup) with fuel sloshing in the tank and 2 or 3 other people mooving around in the vehicle. im not having a go at you at all just being honest about knowing my own limitations.

 

[AusFclass]

form my own previous experience ballistic tips arnt always relyable at velocity extreams.

i think 40gr or under and hollow point is going to be the rite thing maby loaded with trial boss. 32gr varming greanade is at the top of my list of things to try at the moment i havnt had any experience with trial boss so suggestions are welcome!!

 

[hogpatrol]

17 hmr in 20 gr game point, head shots, will take out fox @ 200, easily. Body shots, a big maybe. Hog

what sort of HMR do you have? how do you find the accuracy?

we shoot at night with a spotlight and estimating range is very difficult. a foxes brain is under 2" in diameter and at 200yds a range estimation error of 20yds will cause a miss. beacause we use a spotlight 95% of the time foxes are on the move. making it impossible to use a range finder and almost as difficult to hit a moving brain at that range. we shoot off the back of a "ute" (pickup) with fuel sloshing in the tank and 2 or 3 other people mooving around in the vehicle. im not having a go at you at all just being honest about knowing my own limitations.

I have two Annies, a sporter and an MPR and two CZs, a fluted HB and a sporter that, wind conditions permitting, I use for varmints 200 yds & inside. Usually have plenty of time to laser the target, & use a high enough bipod so I can sit and get a steady shot. Your type of shooting probably dictates more horsepower in the caliber department & the hmr might not suit.