223 vs 22 Hornet : Noise ?

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H

Hales Smut

Well-Known Member
As I am foxing in very urbanised areas I bought a 22 Hornet to see if noise reduction is important vs. my 223 wich I use for several years.
Could also do double duty on crows and magpies.
I don't reload. So have HDY factory ammo with 35 grain Vmax at the moment. In the 223 I use Federal 55 BTHP ammo.
Couldn't try it out yet, so am curious to hear some experiences.
 
I use my Hornet on the edge of two villages and haven't heard of any complaints, I wouldn't dare use the .220 Swift in the same places, but I wouldn't exactly say the Hornet was quiet, just quieter, and a sweet little thing to shoot!
 
As per example
I have a range just outside our kitchen window , out into the fields . My wife could hear the hmr I had with a sak moderator
She cannot hear the hornet with a pes scout cf moderator
Rimfire are not safe with such a moderator
That's with a case full of hogdens lilgun powder
223 has twice the powder capacity over a hornet so it's definitely more noise unless you put a bigger better moderator on it
My range is into open air with nothing for the sound to bounce off , it's allot noisier shot along the length of a stone wall as the sound wave bounces off the wall making a series of bangs but bleded into one by our brains , can't stop that with any supersonic cartridge
Hornet loads down well with red dot into 22 mag or 22 lr with cast lead
With full power jacked rounds you need to call a halt around 200 yards or so some say more but from a 160 yard zero I am needing 2 moa elevation and 10 mph fv wind is 5,6 moa ( ie around a foot ) so realistically your looking for little wind or 6 o clock 12 o clock for longer shots to be on
 
mealiejimmy said:
Sorry, in my experience, a 22 hornet with a Wildcat Panther mod (or even a full size CF mod) is noticeably louder than 17HMR

Cheers

Bruce
Click to expand...
Maybe so but you of all people should know that just like optics it’s all very subjective with regards environment.
meaning your environment may not be the same as his , if his is flat he will get a complety different muzzle report than you .
 
Or load 223's down to 22hornet level. Then it would be the same bullet going the same speed. With roughly the same pressure for the mod to deal with.
Then there should be little difference between the two?

(Though I do like the 22 hornet. Have a free slot for one, looking to fill.)
 
I’ve a 22 Hornet and a 17 Fire Ball. The FB is no noisier than the Hornet but as it uses 20gr bullets going over 4k, it’s inherently safer. I use 40gr Vmax in the Hornet and I’ve had two ricochets I’ve heard zinging off into the distance one at 60 - 70 yards and the other at 150 yards. Fortunately on both occasions there was nothing behind the poi (yes there was a backstop as I was shooting into a bank side on both occasions).
My point is, if you want something quieter than a 222/223/204, consider a 17 Fire Ball or 17 Hornet as they’re very quiet too.
N
 
mealiejimmy said:
Sorry, in my experience, a 22 hornet with a Wildcat Panther mod (or even a full size CF mod) is noticeably louder than 17HMR

Cheers

Bruce
Click to expand...
I shot a sak on my hmr and I shoot an mae scout on the hornet . The hornet is not heard in the house the h r was . Despite the lower fill the difference is the effect of a more effective and larger moderator ( that would be dangerous used with a hmr ) potential unburnt powder detonation being the issue .
Effectively its the gasses captured .
Fired at 8 ft into a bale the 22 hornet moderated only has the thump of the bullet as its too close to build a sonic boom . If a hmr moderator could manage that they would be equal both creating a sonic boom .
I have taken 1 shot with a hmr with a t8 on even given the bigger calibre hole it was a fair amount quieter
Shot along side a reflective barrier like a dry stone wall the hornet will be way more noisy than a hmr as its reflecting a repeating boom further out by making and retaining a higher supersonic speed longer
 
Bowland blades said:
As per example
I have a range just outside our kitchen window , out into the fields . My wife could hear the hmr I had with a sak moderator
She cannot hear the hornet with a pes scout cf moderator
Rimfire are not safe with such a moderator
That's with a case full of hogdens lilgun powder
223 has twice the powder capacity over a hornet so it's definitely more noise unless you put a bigger better moderator on it
My range is into open air with nothing for the sound to bounce off , it's allot noisier shot along the length of a stone wall as the sound wave bounces off the wall making a series of bangs but bleded into one by our brains , can't stop that with any supersonic cartridge
Hornet loads down well with red dot into 22 mag or 22 lr with cast lead
With full power jacked rounds you need to call a halt around 200 yards or so some say more but from a 160 yard zero I am needing 2 moa elevation and 10 mph fv wind is 5,6 moa ( ie around a foot ) so realistically your looking for little wind or 6 o clock 12 o clock for longer shots to be on
Click to expand...
Ran the exact same mod on a Sako Quad on three barrels for upwards of five years
Never had the written about detonation of unbury rimfire powder

OP - 22wmr was no quieter than the .222 using the same pes mod
Moved to CF as all the stupid foxes had fallen to the WMR and wanted the range
 
Edinburgh Rifles said:
Ran the exact same mod on a Sako Quad on three barrels for upwards of five years
Never had the written about detonation of unbury rimfire powder

OP - 22wmr was no quieter than the .222 using the same pes mod
Moved to CF as all the stupid foxes had fallen to the WMR and wanted the range
Click to expand...
Is it even fair to put rf against CF the powders and ignition systems are so different and there has to be a reason why mae make a 22 mag specific moderator , although many decide to put ithat on hornet
Rf do spit out a fair bit of unburnt powder so I can understand the science from that point . It's like cowboy action shooting chamber detonation from the flash over , very hard to recreate but its known to happen
Not really had a lot of 22 wmr experience, it's always seemed too niche to me compared to the hornet at one end and a 22 lr hv round at the other . Can certainly create similar ballistics with a 22 hornet to a wmr but why ?
 
Just as info : any rimfire is forbidden here for sporting purposes, as well as any CF below .22 , as well as moderators.
Rimfire only legal for target shooting.
 
No moderator! My 22 Hornet is pretty loud without a moderator - loud enough to make my ears ring if I don’t use ear defenders.
You could load a Hornet down to subsonic levels to reduce the muzzle blast and sonic crack but slow bullets = more ricochets; not ideal in an urban area.
N
 
Ttocs said:
No moderator! My 22 Hornet is pretty loud without a moderator - loud enough to make my ears ring if I don’t use ear defenders.
You could load a Hornet down to subsonic levels to reduce the muzzle blast and sonic crack but slow bullets = more ricochets; not ideal in an urban area.
N
Click to expand...
Energy is the measure of ricochet potential hence speed , not it going slower . That's just a myth from the fact that some folks think you hear a wizz that's like all ricochet! It's 100 % not like that ricochets traveling over the speed of sound and you won't hear it occur .
Before we had the use of moderator of cf rifles the 22 hornet was a very much more used fox rifle . Find a keeper who trained from high-school in the eighties or so and chances are they had a 22 hornet for foxes one big reason is its half the powdervof a 222 or 223
Moderators only really got going as regards licencing 20 years back on cf
 
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