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http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ammunition/sub_072604/
Ammunition
Subcaliber Stinger
The .19 Calhoon is quiet, devastatingly efficient and exceptionally accurate. What more do you want?
By Jim Matthews
The .19 Calhoon Hornet (c) is flanked by its parent cartridge, the .22 Hornet (r) and a .223 (l). The Calhoon matches the performance of the .223 in a smaller, lighter, quieter package.
Why do gun tinkerers constantly seek new calibers and come up with new cartridges? To fill a specific want or need. Cartridges that we all think of as standards today usually started life as experimental military cartridges or wildcats developed by rifle cranks. The 7mm Remington Magnum, the .22-250 and the .243 are three of the most popular factory rounds today, and all started life as popular wildcats, inspiring manufacturers to finally turn them into production chamberings.
Which of today's wildcats will become tomorrow's factory standard is anyone's guess. But the varminting community is all abuzz about .19 and .20 calibers. Some of the hype is justified, some of it less so. These calibers shoot 27- to 46-grain bullets, which have greater ballistic coefficients than similar bullet weights in .22 caliber. This makes them better for long-range shooting because they have better trajectories and slice through the wind more efficiently. They don't have the same fouling problems that high-velocity .17s are plagued with, so they seem to be an ideal compromise.
But a lot of varmint hunters and target shooters are staying with the standard .22 caliber and simply shooting heavier bullets in faster-twist barrels to achieve the same goal. The new .223 Winchester Super Short Magnum, .220 Swift, .22-250 and a host of other .22-centerfire wildcats will shoot 62- to 75-grain bullets at velocities comparable to the hot .19s and .20s. They also have equal or better downrange performance, plus there is the advantage of a wide range of barrel- and bullet-makers who work in .224-diameter wares.
So where is there an advantage in the .19s and .20s?
How about with a compact cartridge than can run through actions like the CZ 527 or Ruger's 77/Hornet yet has ballistics equivalent to the .223 Remington and noise levels that are about on par with the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire? This is a cartridge that is devastating on ground squirrels and prairie dogs and yet one that pushes tiny, frangible bullets fast enough to anchor coyotes, foxes and bobcats but doesn't blow gaping holes into hides--a real consideration now that pelt prices are rising again. Does that sound appealing?
THE .19 CALHOON HORNET
Montana winters are long, and the guys at James Calhoon (Dept. GA, Shambo Rt. 304, Havre, MT 59501; 406/395-4079; jamescalhoon.com)--a small, custom bullet-maker in Havre--began reading up on an experimental military round after being shown a little cartridge at a gun show in 1992. Calhoon owner Jim Leahy said the round was called the 4.85 Experimental and was made in 1976 at the Radway Green Factory in England. It was developed for Royal Ordnance as a new battle rifle round.
TRAJECTORY COMPARISON
The following chart compares trajectories of the .22 Hornet and .223 Remington with the .19 Calhoon Hornet, all with a 100-yard zero. You can see the huge improvement over the Hornet, even with the hot 34-grain Winchester Load, and how the Calhoon is on par with the standard ,223 loads used for varminting.
Load Data Bullet Weight (grs.) Trajectory (ins.)
150 yds. 200 yds. 250 yds. 300 yds.
Rem./.22 Hornet 45 -2.1 -7.1 -16.0 -30.1
Win./.22 Hornet 34 -1.9 -6.6 -15.5 -29.9
.19 Calhoon Hornet 32 -.07 -2.5 -5.7 -10.6
.19 Calhoon Hornet 27 -0.5 -2.2 -5.2 -9.7
Win. Supreme/.223 40 -0.5 -2.0 -4.7 -8.8
Win. Supreme/.223 50 -0.7 -2.4 -5.5 -10.0
Fed. Premium/.223 55 -0.8 -2.7 -5.5 -10.9
The cartridge was similar to the .223 but had a longer neck and used a .198-inch bullet that weighed 55 grains. In testing, it outperformed the .223 with a similar bullet weight, but the smaller bore diameter made the use of a jointed field-cleaning rod even more problematic than for the .223. NATO decided to say with the .223 but increased its bullet weight to 62 grains to achieve the same performance levels met by the 4.85 Experimental.
Leahy and his cronies mulled over the .19 for a few more winters before finally making their first rifle in 1998. They settled on two initial cartridges to neck down to .19 for their experiments--the .22 Hornet and the .223 Remington. Since then, Calhoon has made more than 100 completed rifles in .19 caliber and sold more than 300 rebarrel kits, and Cooper Arms also chambers rifles for both cartridges--the .19 Calhoon Hornet and the .19-223. Leahy said he figures there are about 500 of the .19s out there.
James Calhoon offers five .19-caliber bullets for the .19 Calhoon Hornet and its sister cartridge, the .19-223. Both chamberings are available as conversion kits. Bullet weights include (left to right) 27, 32, 36, 40 and 44 grains.
The cartridge that interested me was the necked-down and blown-out .22 Hornet case designed to shoot 32- and 27-grain Calhoon bullets in the 3,300-to-3,600-fps range, respectively. When Leahy told me it didn't make much more noise than a .22 Magnum, I was sold.
When you look at the ballistics, you quickly realize the .19 Hornet is a .223-type cartridge in an ultra-tiny package that is downright quiet. With either the 27-grain or 32-grain bullet, the trajectory out to 300 yards is almost identical to that of a .223 with a 50-grain bullet. With a sight-in point of 100 yards, all three loads are about 10 inches low at 300 yards. Sighted in one-inch high at 100 yards, holdover for a 300-yard shot is just under seven inches with the 27 grainer.
Calhoon rebarrel kits for either cartridge consist of a match-grade, hand-lapped PacNor barrel (six lands and grooves, 1-in-13-inch twist), cleaning brushes, a set of Bonanza BR reloading dies, 100 bullets and loading data. Calhoon has a whole range of accessories available, including varmint bullets.
For shooters not familiar with James Calhoon bullets, Leahy only makes varmint slugs in three calibers; .17, .19 and .22. There are five .19 bullets available: 27, 32, 36, 40 and 44 grainers. They all feature a trademarked Slick-Silver coating that is electrochemically applied. The silver coating reduces fouling and makes barrel cleaning much easier. They also have a unique double-hollowpoint that extends into the soft lead core, making for explosive varmint performance even at lower velocities.
.19 CALHOON HORNET HANDLOADS
All loads here feature Calhoon's double-hollowpoint .198-inch-diameter bullets. These are all maximum loads, and shooters should start with loads about 10 percent below these and work up. These loads were developed with Remington brass and CCI 400 primers. Some of these loads were hot in Winchester brass. Accurate Arms 1680 and Vihtavuori N120 were the two most consistent and accurate powders tested.
Bullet Weight Charge (gr.)/Powder Muzzle Velocity (fps)
27 gr. 14.7/AA1680 3,610
27 gr. 12.5/Lil' Gun 3,605
27 gr. 14.2/N120 3,595
27 gr. 12.0/2400 3,585
27 gr. 12.0/N110 3,540
27 gr. 12.8/WW296 3,520
27 gr. 12.5/IMR 4227 3,510
27 gr. 13.0/Norma 200 3,410
32 gr. 13.5/AA 1680 3,340
32 gr. 11.2/Lil' Gun 3,310
32 gr. 13.3/N120 3,270
32 gr. 12.8/Norma 200 3,270
32 gr. 12.0/IMR 4227 3,275
32 gr. 12.8/IMR 4198 3,250
32 gr. 15.0/AA 2200 3,230
36 gr. 15.0/AA 2200 3,165
36 gr. 14.0/N130 3,125
36 gr. 12.2/Norma 200 3,040
36 gr. 12.5/AA 1680 3,005
36 gr. 12.3/N120 2,980
36 gr. 12.3/IMR 4198 2,940
36 GR. 14.0/AA 2015 2,935
WARNING: The loads shown here are safe only in the guns for which they were developed. Neither the author nor Primedia assumes any liability for accidents or injury resulting from the use or misuse of this data.
I first became familiar with his bullets when I discovered Calhoon 37-grain .224 slugs and started using them in my .22 Hornets a decade ago. These little bullets could be pushed at more than 2,800 fps for a huge improvement in field performance. But more important, they were accurate--shooting three-quarter- to one-inch groups--and would work through the magazine of my Ruger 77/22 Hornet. I was able to get equal accuracy with 40-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and similar bullets, but the gun became a single-shot because the slugs were so long. Not so with the Calhoons, and the tiny bullet became my standard Hornet projectile.
Leahy and I had a number of conversations back in those days about making even lighter .22 bullets, mostly for the Hornet, but he said that bullets lighter than 37 grains just weren't accurate enough. But I persisted. For close-range shooting--out to, say, 125 to 150 yards (Hornet distances)--11?2-inch groups were OK. I wanted velocity out of that little case. I don't think it was my begging that did the trick, but he eventually came out with a cute little 30-grain .224 slug that was pretty easy to push past 3,150 fps in a Hornet case. It was during one of those phone calls to order some more 30 grainers (that also shot one-inch groups) that he told me about the .19 Calhoon Hornet.
"How'd you like to get 3,600 feet per second out of that Ruger of yours?" That was his opening line. The line about how quiet the .19 was came shortly after.
Living in suburban Southern California, there are vast areas of public hunting land tucked right up against growing communities. I've seen coyotes run across the church property that sits behind the block fence in my backyard. I can walk to U.S. Forest Service property where hunting is legal, but people call the sheriff if they hear the boom of a .22-250, regardless of how legal it might be. The .19 Calhoon Hornet was the perfect solution.
I ordered one of the Calhoon barrel kits for my Ruger 77/22 Hornet and had Jim Gruning (Gruning Precision, Dept. GA, 7101 Jurupa Ave., No. 12, Riverside, CA 92504; 909/289-4371; gruningprecision.com) hog out the barrel channel on the stock and install the barrel. I had already replaced the factory Ruger trigger with a very nice, very crisp Dayton-Traister, and the rig was topped with a Simmons 6.5-24x50mm scope.
The gun was broken in on a benchrest at Southern California's Tejon Ranch. I was there with a group on a wild hog hunt, but I was more interested in the varmints. The Tejon is thick with ground squirrels, and the shooting-cleaning procedure was getting tedious with the sound of squirrels chirping all around. It was getting late in the day when I finished running the last patch through the gun, so I did a quick sight-in and took a walk with the new rifle.
The .19 Calhoon, thanks to the PacNor barrel, offers amazing accuracy. This five-shot, 100-yard group was shot with a 27-grain bullet--not normally considered the most accurate projectile.
The plan was to shoot a few squirrels before dark, but while on a flat above the main lodge, a pack of 40- to 50-pound hogs came trotting right toward me. We call these "Weber pigs" because they fit perfectly on a barbecue when split lengthwise. Almost without thinking, I dropped into a sitting position. When the last hog in the group trotted past, I swung out on its nose and the new .19 barked.
The pig died instantly, with the little 27-grain slug coming apart in its neck at the base of the skull. Hardly a speck of meat was wasted. It was the first game taken with the new rifle, which seemed a little odd for a "varmint" gun.
Over the next few days, I shot every round I had loaded for the .19 and rectified that first-kill anomaly. The ground squirrels took a beating. Later, after a few more range sessions, I realized that half-inch groups with the 27- and 32-grain loads were pretty common. No wonder hitting the squirrels is so easy out to 250 yards. And while hunting coyotes here in suburban Southern California--well, let me just say that no one has called the sheriff on me, thanks to the quiet .19 Calhoon Hornet.
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ammunition/sub_072604/
Ammunition
Subcaliber Stinger
The .19 Calhoon is quiet, devastatingly efficient and exceptionally accurate. What more do you want?
By Jim Matthews
The .19 Calhoon Hornet (c) is flanked by its parent cartridge, the .22 Hornet (r) and a .223 (l). The Calhoon matches the performance of the .223 in a smaller, lighter, quieter package.
Why do gun tinkerers constantly seek new calibers and come up with new cartridges? To fill a specific want or need. Cartridges that we all think of as standards today usually started life as experimental military cartridges or wildcats developed by rifle cranks. The 7mm Remington Magnum, the .22-250 and the .243 are three of the most popular factory rounds today, and all started life as popular wildcats, inspiring manufacturers to finally turn them into production chamberings.
Which of today's wildcats will become tomorrow's factory standard is anyone's guess. But the varminting community is all abuzz about .19 and .20 calibers. Some of the hype is justified, some of it less so. These calibers shoot 27- to 46-grain bullets, which have greater ballistic coefficients than similar bullet weights in .22 caliber. This makes them better for long-range shooting because they have better trajectories and slice through the wind more efficiently. They don't have the same fouling problems that high-velocity .17s are plagued with, so they seem to be an ideal compromise.
But a lot of varmint hunters and target shooters are staying with the standard .22 caliber and simply shooting heavier bullets in faster-twist barrels to achieve the same goal. The new .223 Winchester Super Short Magnum, .220 Swift, .22-250 and a host of other .22-centerfire wildcats will shoot 62- to 75-grain bullets at velocities comparable to the hot .19s and .20s. They also have equal or better downrange performance, plus there is the advantage of a wide range of barrel- and bullet-makers who work in .224-diameter wares.
So where is there an advantage in the .19s and .20s?
How about with a compact cartridge than can run through actions like the CZ 527 or Ruger's 77/Hornet yet has ballistics equivalent to the .223 Remington and noise levels that are about on par with the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire? This is a cartridge that is devastating on ground squirrels and prairie dogs and yet one that pushes tiny, frangible bullets fast enough to anchor coyotes, foxes and bobcats but doesn't blow gaping holes into hides--a real consideration now that pelt prices are rising again. Does that sound appealing?
THE .19 CALHOON HORNET
Montana winters are long, and the guys at James Calhoon (Dept. GA, Shambo Rt. 304, Havre, MT 59501; 406/395-4079; jamescalhoon.com)--a small, custom bullet-maker in Havre--began reading up on an experimental military round after being shown a little cartridge at a gun show in 1992. Calhoon owner Jim Leahy said the round was called the 4.85 Experimental and was made in 1976 at the Radway Green Factory in England. It was developed for Royal Ordnance as a new battle rifle round.
TRAJECTORY COMPARISON
The following chart compares trajectories of the .22 Hornet and .223 Remington with the .19 Calhoon Hornet, all with a 100-yard zero. You can see the huge improvement over the Hornet, even with the hot 34-grain Winchester Load, and how the Calhoon is on par with the standard ,223 loads used for varminting.
Load Data Bullet Weight (grs.) Trajectory (ins.)
150 yds. 200 yds. 250 yds. 300 yds.
Rem./.22 Hornet 45 -2.1 -7.1 -16.0 -30.1
Win./.22 Hornet 34 -1.9 -6.6 -15.5 -29.9
.19 Calhoon Hornet 32 -.07 -2.5 -5.7 -10.6
.19 Calhoon Hornet 27 -0.5 -2.2 -5.2 -9.7
Win. Supreme/.223 40 -0.5 -2.0 -4.7 -8.8
Win. Supreme/.223 50 -0.7 -2.4 -5.5 -10.0
Fed. Premium/.223 55 -0.8 -2.7 -5.5 -10.9
The cartridge was similar to the .223 but had a longer neck and used a .198-inch bullet that weighed 55 grains. In testing, it outperformed the .223 with a similar bullet weight, but the smaller bore diameter made the use of a jointed field-cleaning rod even more problematic than for the .223. NATO decided to say with the .223 but increased its bullet weight to 62 grains to achieve the same performance levels met by the 4.85 Experimental.
Leahy and his cronies mulled over the .19 for a few more winters before finally making their first rifle in 1998. They settled on two initial cartridges to neck down to .19 for their experiments--the .22 Hornet and the .223 Remington. Since then, Calhoon has made more than 100 completed rifles in .19 caliber and sold more than 300 rebarrel kits, and Cooper Arms also chambers rifles for both cartridges--the .19 Calhoon Hornet and the .19-223. Leahy said he figures there are about 500 of the .19s out there.
James Calhoon offers five .19-caliber bullets for the .19 Calhoon Hornet and its sister cartridge, the .19-223. Both chamberings are available as conversion kits. Bullet weights include (left to right) 27, 32, 36, 40 and 44 grains.
The cartridge that interested me was the necked-down and blown-out .22 Hornet case designed to shoot 32- and 27-grain Calhoon bullets in the 3,300-to-3,600-fps range, respectively. When Leahy told me it didn't make much more noise than a .22 Magnum, I was sold.
When you look at the ballistics, you quickly realize the .19 Hornet is a .223-type cartridge in an ultra-tiny package that is downright quiet. With either the 27-grain or 32-grain bullet, the trajectory out to 300 yards is almost identical to that of a .223 with a 50-grain bullet. With a sight-in point of 100 yards, all three loads are about 10 inches low at 300 yards. Sighted in one-inch high at 100 yards, holdover for a 300-yard shot is just under seven inches with the 27 grainer.
Calhoon rebarrel kits for either cartridge consist of a match-grade, hand-lapped PacNor barrel (six lands and grooves, 1-in-13-inch twist), cleaning brushes, a set of Bonanza BR reloading dies, 100 bullets and loading data. Calhoon has a whole range of accessories available, including varmint bullets.
For shooters not familiar with James Calhoon bullets, Leahy only makes varmint slugs in three calibers; .17, .19 and .22. There are five .19 bullets available: 27, 32, 36, 40 and 44 grainers. They all feature a trademarked Slick-Silver coating that is electrochemically applied. The silver coating reduces fouling and makes barrel cleaning much easier. They also have a unique double-hollowpoint that extends into the soft lead core, making for explosive varmint performance even at lower velocities.
.19 CALHOON HORNET HANDLOADS
All loads here feature Calhoon's double-hollowpoint .198-inch-diameter bullets. These are all maximum loads, and shooters should start with loads about 10 percent below these and work up. These loads were developed with Remington brass and CCI 400 primers. Some of these loads were hot in Winchester brass. Accurate Arms 1680 and Vihtavuori N120 were the two most consistent and accurate powders tested.
Bullet Weight Charge (gr.)/Powder Muzzle Velocity (fps)
27 gr. 14.7/AA1680 3,610
27 gr. 12.5/Lil' Gun 3,605
27 gr. 14.2/N120 3,595
27 gr. 12.0/2400 3,585
27 gr. 12.0/N110 3,540
27 gr. 12.8/WW296 3,520
27 gr. 12.5/IMR 4227 3,510
27 gr. 13.0/Norma 200 3,410
32 gr. 13.5/AA 1680 3,340
32 gr. 11.2/Lil' Gun 3,310
32 gr. 13.3/N120 3,270
32 gr. 12.8/Norma 200 3,270
32 gr. 12.0/IMR 4227 3,275
32 gr. 12.8/IMR 4198 3,250
32 gr. 15.0/AA 2200 3,230
36 gr. 15.0/AA 2200 3,165
36 gr. 14.0/N130 3,125
36 gr. 12.2/Norma 200 3,040
36 gr. 12.5/AA 1680 3,005
36 gr. 12.3/N120 2,980
36 gr. 12.3/IMR 4198 2,940
36 GR. 14.0/AA 2015 2,935
WARNING: The loads shown here are safe only in the guns for which they were developed. Neither the author nor Primedia assumes any liability for accidents or injury resulting from the use or misuse of this data.
I first became familiar with his bullets when I discovered Calhoon 37-grain .224 slugs and started using them in my .22 Hornets a decade ago. These little bullets could be pushed at more than 2,800 fps for a huge improvement in field performance. But more important, they were accurate--shooting three-quarter- to one-inch groups--and would work through the magazine of my Ruger 77/22 Hornet. I was able to get equal accuracy with 40-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and similar bullets, but the gun became a single-shot because the slugs were so long. Not so with the Calhoons, and the tiny bullet became my standard Hornet projectile.
Leahy and I had a number of conversations back in those days about making even lighter .22 bullets, mostly for the Hornet, but he said that bullets lighter than 37 grains just weren't accurate enough. But I persisted. For close-range shooting--out to, say, 125 to 150 yards (Hornet distances)--11?2-inch groups were OK. I wanted velocity out of that little case. I don't think it was my begging that did the trick, but he eventually came out with a cute little 30-grain .224 slug that was pretty easy to push past 3,150 fps in a Hornet case. It was during one of those phone calls to order some more 30 grainers (that also shot one-inch groups) that he told me about the .19 Calhoon Hornet.
"How'd you like to get 3,600 feet per second out of that Ruger of yours?" That was his opening line. The line about how quiet the .19 was came shortly after.
Living in suburban Southern California, there are vast areas of public hunting land tucked right up against growing communities. I've seen coyotes run across the church property that sits behind the block fence in my backyard. I can walk to U.S. Forest Service property where hunting is legal, but people call the sheriff if they hear the boom of a .22-250, regardless of how legal it might be. The .19 Calhoon Hornet was the perfect solution.
I ordered one of the Calhoon barrel kits for my Ruger 77/22 Hornet and had Jim Gruning (Gruning Precision, Dept. GA, 7101 Jurupa Ave., No. 12, Riverside, CA 92504; 909/289-4371; gruningprecision.com) hog out the barrel channel on the stock and install the barrel. I had already replaced the factory Ruger trigger with a very nice, very crisp Dayton-Traister, and the rig was topped with a Simmons 6.5-24x50mm scope.
The gun was broken in on a benchrest at Southern California's Tejon Ranch. I was there with a group on a wild hog hunt, but I was more interested in the varmints. The Tejon is thick with ground squirrels, and the shooting-cleaning procedure was getting tedious with the sound of squirrels chirping all around. It was getting late in the day when I finished running the last patch through the gun, so I did a quick sight-in and took a walk with the new rifle.
The .19 Calhoon, thanks to the PacNor barrel, offers amazing accuracy. This five-shot, 100-yard group was shot with a 27-grain bullet--not normally considered the most accurate projectile.
The plan was to shoot a few squirrels before dark, but while on a flat above the main lodge, a pack of 40- to 50-pound hogs came trotting right toward me. We call these "Weber pigs" because they fit perfectly on a barbecue when split lengthwise. Almost without thinking, I dropped into a sitting position. When the last hog in the group trotted past, I swung out on its nose and the new .19 barked.
The pig died instantly, with the little 27-grain slug coming apart in its neck at the base of the skull. Hardly a speck of meat was wasted. It was the first game taken with the new rifle, which seemed a little odd for a "varmint" gun.
Over the next few days, I shot every round I had loaded for the .19 and rectified that first-kill anomaly. The ground squirrels took a beating. Later, after a few more range sessions, I realized that half-inch groups with the 27- and 32-grain loads were pretty common. No wonder hitting the squirrels is so easy out to 250 yards. And while hunting coyotes here in suburban Southern California--well, let me just say that no one has called the sheriff on me, thanks to the quiet .19 Calhoon Hornet.
