Post by Bullshop on Jan 3, 2018 19:00:44 GMT -7
Here is a neato silent load I developed for the 22 hornet to dispatch chickens. This year I had to butcher somewhere about 100 chickens that we raised for meat. I do ten at a time and put five each in my brine buckets for about a week before smoking them. The way that I dispatch chickens is to run a line of feed out about 30 feet long about 20 yards from my tree stand known as the reapers roost. When the chickens come to the feed I pick their heads off from the elevated position where I have a nice solid shooting bench in my stand.
For the chicken harvest I have been using my favorite hornet load of 2.9gn Accurate Arms #2 that generates 1550 fps velocity with our 50gn plain base bullet. and is wonderfully accurate to about 150 yards. This load though generates enough of a crack that after about three shots the chickens get wise to what the sound means so I have been feeling the need for a load that has enough energy at 20 yards to crack a chickens coconut but is as low noise as possible.
Today I think I have found that load. The load uses .8gn of Bullseye with the NEI #2 bullet but without the gas check. Without the check the bullet weight is about 45gn. I put some of this load up in RP cases using CCI # 400 SR primers. The load is subsonic so has no crack and the sound it makes is more of a swoosh than a bang. Neighbors 50 yards away would never hear it if used in a populated area to dispatch a back yard pest.
The weather wasn't too bad so I got out the old Ohler model 35 and chronographed a 5 shot string. The string went like this, FPS, 624, 592, 581, 609, 642. That's a 61 fps extreme spread but I think a firm crimp which I did not use in this batch of ammo should tighten up those numbers a bit. Accuracy at 25 yards looks like it will be more than adequate for the job of staying on a chickens head at that range. I didn't do any formal accuracy testing but resting on a fence post and shooting with an old Bushnell 3x9 set on 3 powder a three shot group went about .75".
I still have about another 25 chickens to get done so plan to try this new load to see if I can get closer to ten shots off before they begin to scatter. This load should work out good for folks that live in town but occasionally have to deal with a pesky skunk, or possum. or coon, or feral cat or whatever. The average 600 fps velocity with a 45gn bullet given head shots are made I am sure will get that job done.
Long ago I read of an army ordinance report that looked into what would be the minimum velocity for a projectile (not sure which one) to penetrate human tissue and they determined it to be 300 fps. At 600 fps MV a 45gn bullet should have plenty to penetrate a chickens head. I shot some into 1" pine and it did not stop them.
In developing this load I started with the smallest charge my RCBS powder drop would throw which was .5gn. With a .5gn charge the bullet lodged a few inches ahead of the chamber in the barrel. The lubed bullet came out easy enough but its not something I like to do. I then upped the charge to .8gn which got about what I was after for both noise level and velocity.
So with my new chicken load in hand I will watch for a break in the weather that will allow standing outside and skinning ten chickens without discomfort. My gnarly knuckles freeze up pretty easy now and I cant do that job with gloves on.
I still have two hogs to butcher but I wont use this light load for that but I do have a good hog load with the 52gn CBE bullet at about 2300 fps. I used that load to dispatch two Yak that were given to me in Alaska if I just went to get them. I arrived with my hornet rifle and the farmer asked what it was "" a 30-06 or sumthin"" I told him no it was a hornet and he said, " a what " ! Two yak dropped in their tracks with two shots from the hornet and the farmer looked at me with great surprise and said, " what kinda gun is that?""
For the chicken harvest I have been using my favorite hornet load of 2.9gn Accurate Arms #2 that generates 1550 fps velocity with our 50gn plain base bullet. and is wonderfully accurate to about 150 yards. This load though generates enough of a crack that after about three shots the chickens get wise to what the sound means so I have been feeling the need for a load that has enough energy at 20 yards to crack a chickens coconut but is as low noise as possible.
Today I think I have found that load. The load uses .8gn of Bullseye with the NEI #2 bullet but without the gas check. Without the check the bullet weight is about 45gn. I put some of this load up in RP cases using CCI # 400 SR primers. The load is subsonic so has no crack and the sound it makes is more of a swoosh than a bang. Neighbors 50 yards away would never hear it if used in a populated area to dispatch a back yard pest.
The weather wasn't too bad so I got out the old Ohler model 35 and chronographed a 5 shot string. The string went like this, FPS, 624, 592, 581, 609, 642. That's a 61 fps extreme spread but I think a firm crimp which I did not use in this batch of ammo should tighten up those numbers a bit. Accuracy at 25 yards looks like it will be more than adequate for the job of staying on a chickens head at that range. I didn't do any formal accuracy testing but resting on a fence post and shooting with an old Bushnell 3x9 set on 3 powder a three shot group went about .75".
I still have about another 25 chickens to get done so plan to try this new load to see if I can get closer to ten shots off before they begin to scatter. This load should work out good for folks that live in town but occasionally have to deal with a pesky skunk, or possum. or coon, or feral cat or whatever. The average 600 fps velocity with a 45gn bullet given head shots are made I am sure will get that job done.
Long ago I read of an army ordinance report that looked into what would be the minimum velocity for a projectile (not sure which one) to penetrate human tissue and they determined it to be 300 fps. At 600 fps MV a 45gn bullet should have plenty to penetrate a chickens head. I shot some into 1" pine and it did not stop them.
In developing this load I started with the smallest charge my RCBS powder drop would throw which was .5gn. With a .5gn charge the bullet lodged a few inches ahead of the chamber in the barrel. The lubed bullet came out easy enough but its not something I like to do. I then upped the charge to .8gn which got about what I was after for both noise level and velocity.
So with my new chicken load in hand I will watch for a break in the weather that will allow standing outside and skinning ten chickens without discomfort. My gnarly knuckles freeze up pretty easy now and I cant do that job with gloves on.
I still have two hogs to butcher but I wont use this light load for that but I do have a good hog load with the 52gn CBE bullet at about 2300 fps. I used that load to dispatch two Yak that were given to me in Alaska if I just went to get them. I arrived with my hornet rifle and the farmer asked what it was "" a 30-06 or sumthin"" I told him no it was a hornet and he said, " a what " ! Two yak dropped in their tracks with two shots from the hornet and the farmer looked at me with great surprise and said, " what kinda gun is that?""
