Highest velocity

[Minihuntur]

A few months ago I read ,in Petersen's Hunting magazine, that, at 4250 FPS, the .17 Rem is the fastest commercial caliber available. Are there any faster wildcats or sub-calibers?
Minihuntur

[Jack]

There are always wildcatters seeking higher velocity. In fact, naming all the wildcats with higher velocity would be an impossible task.
For example, back in the 60's, a prominent ballistitian named Bob Hutton developed the .22 Eargesplittenloudenboomer. The cartridge is a 50 caliber BMG case necked down to use a .224 bullet. Barrel life was about 10 rounds.
I suspect that wildcat may still hold the record for the highest velocity wildcat.

[Catfish]

I have a .22-6mm that I`m sure would beat that with a lite bullet, but the 75 gn. Hornady HP`s blow up before the make the target. The higest velosity I fired it at was 3779 with and 80 gn. .22 cal. bullet, but that load was to hot and abt 3,700 is max safely. The thing is if your wanting a good long range round you want to shoot heavy for the cal. bullets. They carry farther due to their higher BC, and you have alot less wind drift. I ask Sierra about their 90 gn. bullets and they told me to stick with the 80 gn. bullets, I guess they won`t stand the spin rate eather. I have a 1 in 8 twist and if I shoot a bullet at 3,600 fps. it is spinning at 5,400 rev`s per sec. That`s alot of sentrifical forse.

[skb2706]

Among some of the ones I believe to be a bit faster that I have worked with
.223 WSSM with any bullet lighter than 55 gr.
22-250 AI 40 gr. Vmax (mine will go over 4300)
.220 Swift 40 gr. bullets

Theres plenty of wildcats that will do it.....all at the expense of barrel life.

[Minihuntur]

check This OUT! btw, whats a nauga


I have been mulling around the idea for a new wildcat cartridge. I start with a .50 bmg and neck it down to a .17 and create the fasted load known to date. To add to this new load i might use advanced gain reverse twist rifiling i.e. the first ten inches are right hand twist at 22 to one then a bit of free bore then six inches of left hand gain twist starting at 20 to one and ending at 36 to one. Hold on i thnk thats Ruger one the phone wanting to buy the idea, no sorry just another gun writer wanting a photo exclusive.
I've had a varmint gun in that calibre for several years. I
found that none of the available powders were slow enough
so have had to develop my own propellant combining
horsehair reclaimed from old overstuffed furniture, fuel oil,
and nitrate fertilizer ground super fine. It is especially good
for fur bearing critters; the bullet is so fast that the innards of the critter actually vaporize. The entry and exit wounds heat
seal shut, and all the vaporized innards exit thru the anus,
causing the critter to fly around like a toy balloon you blow
up and release. when he hits the ground the pelt is clean
and ready to stretch



got this off a different site,
Minihuntur

[TheeBadOne]

Originally Posted by Jack

There are always wildcatters seeking higher velocity. In fact, naming all the wildcats with higher velocity would be an impossible task.
For example, back in the 60's, a prominent ballistitian named Bob Hutton developed the .22 Eargesplittenloudenboomer. The cartridge is a 50 caliber BMG case necked down to use a .224 bullet. Barrel life was about 10 rounds.
I suspect that wildcat may still hold the record for the highest velocity wildcat.

[Jack]

Oops, my mistake- 378 Weatherby case, not the 50 BMG. Although, I think the 50 BMG's been necked to .22 also.

[Rocky Raab]

I have a 5-35 SMc which is now available from Savage as a special order chambering. It easily makes 4300 fps, and the designer has gotten 4500. The problem is keeping bullets intact at those speeds, because the rifling weakens the jackets and the spinning force rips them apart inflight.

There aren't yet many makers of .20-caliber bullets, and those are all designed for the 204 Ruger at about 4100 max. They work very well at that speed from the 5-35, but Sierra versions come apart above that. Hornady stays together, but are less accurate than Sierras (when Sierras make it to the target). I haven't shot the Noslers or Barnes Varmint Grenade bullets though it yet. If they stay together, those lightweight VGs might hit 4700.

[Catfish]

Rocky, the Seirra bullets have a jacket that is .009 thick. The Hornady`s have a jacket that is .014 thick, reason the Seirra`s vaporizing. If you have enough twist to stablize the 50 Bergers you should have a long range coyote hammer there.

[longdistanceoperator]

there are many that daily surpass that with good handloads.. and heavier bullets.. the problem with the 17 is once you push it up past about 4350 the jackets spin off the core...or they keyhole wildly... others with larger bullets dont usually do that..

[Rapier]

Believe it or not, the little 22-243 is the bad boy on the block and it is nothing real special, just a 6mm necked to 22 in a very efficent case.

But be warned, when you get past 3,200 fps steel starts to get worn and a barrel does not last very long.

.22-243 Middlestead

Bullet Berger HP MEF
BulletWeight 30 grs
Powder Alliant Reloader 15
PowderWeight 50 grs
Primer Federal 210
Brass Make Winchester
Velocity 5278 fps
Group 0.554 (inches by 3 shot at 100 yds)
Submitted Date 3/18/2002 1:06:00 PM

Most of the larger capacity cases will not drive a bullet as fast as the 22-243. The larger capacity cases in 22, 20 and 17 are so far over bore that they simply do not work in the attempt to gain velocity. Probably the best example of this is the 260, 6.5x06, 6.5x284 and the 264 WM. My 260 will push a 120 Sierra MK to 3,215 fps. The bigger cartridges will just about duplicate the 260 velocity while burning a lot more powder, for little or nothing.

The moral to the story is bigger is not always better in the speed race.
Best,
Ed

[Larryjk]

When you are trying for extreme velocity, you will find quite a bit of variation between barrels. I am not saying between brands, but within the same make. Take 5 barrels from brand X and chamber them all the same and fire them across the chronograph. You will likely get quite a bit of variation. The tightness of the bore determines which are fastest, and the barrel makers do not want to get into the business of air gauging barrels to select out the tightest ones. Put moly on a bullet and velocity goes down because that bullet has less resistance as it passes through the barrel, the pressure goes down and the velocity follows the pressure. You have to add to the powder charge to maintain velocity if you use moly; just don't forget to go back if you quit using moly. On extreme velocity I am always hesitant to quote it unless I have seen the chronograph readings myself. I have completed a .22/243 Ackley Imp. for a fellow that is a speed freak and I won't mention his velocity until I see it on the chronograph.

[bulletpusher]

Yes, I said a smooth bore, and to be honest its not a sub-caliber so it really doesn't qualify but its a wonder to behold.

It's a 120mm on the M1 Abrams tank. Will punch thru multiple inches of armor at better than 3 miles, and get there in just a couple of seconds. Puts the muzzle velocity in the 5,000 fps plus range.

I also here that there are attempts at 10,000 fps in the works, but what do I know.

Oh yes, by the way the bore of the barrel is 120mm the projo is actually 2" in dia. about 24" long with vanes kinda like an arrow. It is the sabot round that the Army uses and the vanes burn off while in flight giving the round a golden low as it goes downrange.

Just for the fun of it
Bulletpusher