Went out to the range last week and spent a couple of hours with the ole 22 bolt action - mucho fun as usual.
Anyway - this morning I discovered a .22LR case in my shirt pocket that must have popped in there while I was at the range. When I looked at it I started thinking just how small that thing really is. There can't possibly be more than 2 or 3 grains of powder in there yet the 40 gr copper plated bullet in that particular brand (federal) pops out the end of a 22" barrel at 1100 fps.
Most .223 Rem loads for 40gr bullets use 18 to 24 gr of powder depending on the powder and the velocity one is trying to achieve. Velocities for a 40gr bullet run 3000 to 3400 fps depending on load.
The centerfire loads use almost 10 times as much powder in a case that's probably 5 time bigger but only get 3 to 3.5 times the velocity for the same size bullet.
Click...
Went my brain as it wondered...
Are rimfire cartridges inherently more efficient than centerfire. If the .223 was made a rimfire would it take less powder and a smaller case to get the same velocity out of it as the centerfire.
Or is it all just a function of case size and how much volume the powder takes up in it?
Inquiring minds want to know...
Anyway - this morning I discovered a .22LR case in my shirt pocket that must have popped in there while I was at the range. When I looked at it I started thinking just how small that thing really is. There can't possibly be more than 2 or 3 grains of powder in there yet the 40 gr copper plated bullet in that particular brand (federal) pops out the end of a 22" barrel at 1100 fps.
Most .223 Rem loads for 40gr bullets use 18 to 24 gr of powder depending on the powder and the velocity one is trying to achieve. Velocities for a 40gr bullet run 3000 to 3400 fps depending on load.
The centerfire loads use almost 10 times as much powder in a case that's probably 5 time bigger but only get 3 to 3.5 times the velocity for the same size bullet.
Click...
Went my brain as it wondered...
Are rimfire cartridges inherently more efficient than centerfire. If the .223 was made a rimfire would it take less powder and a smaller case to get the same velocity out of it as the centerfire.
Or is it all just a function of case size and how much volume the powder takes up in it?
Inquiring minds want to know...