Is a round nose .22lr bullet more accurate at 50 yards than a hollow point if velocity, brand, etc. is the same?

All 22lr target ammunition that I have seen is round nose. I am wonding if the "hole" in the hollow point nose could cause it to be less aerodynamic over longer distances and thus less accurate than the round nose bullet.

Any thoughts on this?

That's been my impression too

I don't think the hollow-point design, by itself, is any less accurate that solid nose 22LR. Hollow-point 22's tend to mostly be high velocity ammo used for hunting and/or plinking and as the muzzle velocity decreases with distance below the sound barrier, it tends to cause some instability to occur. That's also why match quality 22LR ammo is designed to operate just below that point.

I haven't fired a .22 caliber rifle for a very long time and I don't try to be 50 yard accurate with my .22 caliber handguns. However, I wouldn't expect too much difference if I'm using high quality rounds whether they're HP or not.

I agree that most all target grade .22 ammo is RN, but I have found most .22's to be particular in what they like when it comes to accuracy. Target loads do not always work best. My most accurate .22 rifle likes CCI Velocitors. My HS Victor loves CCI Green Tag.

Larry

Target grade .22 ammo is round nosed because hollow points are prohibited from some competitions.

My experience has been that from a rifle the 40 grain RNL .22 High Velocity (around 1200 fps + or -) ) is more accurate than the lighter and faster hollow points (1350 - 1400 fps). I find that the Hyper Velocity stuff like Yellow Jackets will never equal the accuracy of the regular RNL high velocity ammo, but even the Velocitor from Speer (40 grain RNL) is not as accurate either. I don't know if it is so much the bullet shape as it is the velocity.

I do use Velocitors for small pests at up to 100 yards and while they get the job done they do not have the pin point accuracy as the regular HV stuff does. I stopped using the lighter weight Yellow Jackets but that's another story for another post.

It's a good question and as others have noted, the hollow point itself is not the limiting factor.

Most target ammo is "standard velocity" ammo with a muzzle velocity in the 1060 fps range, as that's slow enough to stay sub sonic even in cool weather.

The speed of sound changes with temperature (altitude and humidity have extremely minor effects, so small they don't matter):

-10 degree F = 1039 fps
20 degrees F = 1073 fps
50 degrees F = 1107 fps
80 degrees F = 1139 fps
110 degrees F = 1169 fps

Staying sub sonic is important as the change from supersonic to sub sonic flow destabilizes the bullet and cause the bullet to yaw. A spinning object that yaws also precesses in a direction 90 degrees prior to and opposite to the fire that caused the yaw. In other words the bullet will spiral a bit, and while it will settle down again, it might not settle down on the same path.

An average 40 gr .22 LR "high velocity" cartridge will produce about 1270 fps in a rifle barrel. At 70 degrees F the speed of sound is 1128 fps, and the above round will go subsonic right at 50 yards. On the face of it then, it would appear that it's not that big a deal. However the instability starts in the transonic range at around mach 1.1, and that means the entire flight from muzzle to is in the transonic range.

As long as the temperature is above freezing, standard velocity ammo, with a muzzle velocity around 1060 fps, will be well under the speed of sound and outside the transonic zone all the way from the muzzle to the target and have a much more stable flight path.

The differences are even more significant at longer ranges in two ways:

First, that HV round loses 142 fps in the first 50 yards. In the next 50 yards, in subsonic flight, it will only lose another 99 fps, as there is a lot less drag once the bullet drops below the speed of sound.

Second, if we compare the same bullet at an MV of 1270 fps and at 1060 fps, at 100 yards in a 10mph full value cross wind, you'll find the slower round has less wind drift.

1270 fps = 1.6"
1060 fps = 1.2"

That's a 33% increase in wind drift for the high velocity round.

The faster round still shoots flatter with a 2.6" mid range trajectory with a 100 yard zero, compared to 3.7" for the standard velocity round, but the standard velocity round will drift less.

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The .22 LR is also a heel base design, meaning the diameter of the mouth of the cartridge case is the same as the diameter of he bullet. This requires the base of the bullet to be smaller so that it can fit in the case.

That poses a significant challenge to accuracy as it makes it very hard to have a consistent base, and a consistent base is critical to getting the bullet to exit the muzzle cleanly with even gas pressure all the way around.

If that doesn't happen, the difference in pressure form more gas escaping on one side of the bullet causes yaw, and yaw causes precession, which causes a decrease in accuracy. That's the major reason why sub MOA accuracy is extremely difficult to achieve in a .22 LR, and why 1 MOA accuracy at 100 yards is considered to be excellent, when it's not uncommon for a 40 grain .22 Hornet to produce 1/2 MOA accuracy at the same range.

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With that said, some precision .22 LR shooters will take round nose ammo and put a hollow point in it, using a tool made for the purpose.

Pack Kelly sells it and calls it the Acu'rzr. It creates a hollow point but the more important function is to bump up the diameter of the bullet to snugly fit the chamber, and it's the snugger fit of the bullet in the throat that causes better accuracy.

I've never used it, in part because my precision .22 LR rifles already have tight chamber dimensions.

Thanks everyone for all the information!

Informative thread. Thanks.

Huh... I'd always been a bit curious about why SV was noticably more accurate than HV even at 20 yards. I just figured all of my rifles liked the SV better. Thanks for that.

Thanks for this great information BB57,I really enjoyed your knowledgeable explanation.

I guess there is a very good reason why Eley'S Tenex,Biathlon and Match ammunition have flat bullet heads as well as many brands having both subsonic and match ammunition being hollow points.

Several years ago, I fired my Model 52 from a bench rest with about every type of ammunition I had, including some match loads (Western and Eley) at 50 yards. I don't have the results in hand, but I do remember that the bulk pack Remington "Golden Bullet" HPs grouped almost as well as the match loads. Enough so that I questioned the need for spending the extra money for match loads.

By the way, if anyone wants to do such a comparison, fire no fewer than five 10-shot groups and take the average extreme spread for each brand and type. Anything less is statistically unreliable as a basis of comparison.

About 10 of us shot 200 yards bench 6 years ago with 22 rifle. You could shoot standard to mag. Standard won.

Logically (Apriori) you are right. BUT, Empirical observation says otherwise when limiting the premise to calibers. I.E., the 22 LR is a rimfire therefore the bullet design as so aptly covered by BB57 doesn't lend itself to your required conformity when hollow pointed. But, move up to centerfire 22 caliber and 6 mm centerfire, your reasoning seems to prove out. BUT, I contend that the method commonly used in making superbly accurate jacketed bullets for centerfire causes the hollow point feature and the physical moving of the center of mass rearward is an unintended consequence. Bullet designers control the apparent matching of center of mass and center of rotation by their design of the ogive making use of air pressure on the nose of the bullet.

The external ballistics of projectiles has confounded Physicists since the Chinese started shooting same. You touched on the "bazillion variables" of the problem when attempting to maximize accuracy. It is probably a true condition when shooting in other than a lab setting that every shot has slightly different physical parameters from every other shot of that group.

I've never heard of a competitive shooter winning with hp ammo.

If "Golden Bullets" are like other Remington rimfire ammo you would have to chamber 20 to get 10 to fire.

The most consistently accurate bullets made are those used by the Benchrest Competitors. Those bullets are mostly HP because of the way the components are mated together when they are made. Granted the HP opening is very small, but it is there.

Winchester dynapoint a 40 grain has a small opening and they shoot nice groups in my target guns.