22 hornet and barnes 45gr tsx?

[Dean2]

I am a big fan of the Hornet. I have owned as many as a dozen at a time, I still have 4 that I will never get rid of. The CZ 527 does have a 1/16 twist and a tight bore but it shoots 50 grain bullets just fine and I use .224 diameter in it with no pressure issues.

If you really want to use the Barnes bullets, one thing you can do is to trim your brass shorter than normal so that the Ogive at max magazine length is not below the end of the neck. Hornady does this with 45-70 brass to load their plastic tipped bullets. On a cartridge that headspaces on the rim shorter brass is not an issue.

If you want good reliable expansion at Hornet velocities the 50 grain Hornady SP and SPSX, 40 grain Blitzking or 40 Grain Vmax all work great. The 2700- 2800 fps you can get out of a Hornet with a 45 grain bullet is generally not the best for Barnes Copper bullets, but in truth I have never tried the 45 grain ones. I know the 50 grain version did not open up, they were accurate but they behaved like an FMJ. I would call Barnes and ask them what velocity is required as I have read of people using the 45 grain out of pistols and being happy with the expansion.

I would load up 10 SP and 10 SPSX, 10 Vmax and 10 Barnes and try them on the feral goats you are shooting and see which expansion characteristics you like better.