17 and 22 Hornet in the wind

[WeaselCircus]

I'm looking to find the best load for windy conditions for small varmint shooting (rock chucks and ground squirrels mostly) for these two rifles and wonder if anyone knows what would drift the least. Would a heavier,slower round from the 22 hornet be affected less or more than a lighter but faster 17 hornet? Have started handloading and I'd like to build a goto round for days when the wind is kicking up.

 

[Mike B]

If ya get on Hornady's site, you can use their Ballistic Calculator to guesstimate wind effect on a bullets trajectory - that's for steady wind only as changing wind (which is inevitable) will change the effect,but it will give ya some idea.

Somebody will be along to give real world experience.

 

[coyotekillerNE]

Both calibers pretty much suck in the wind. Load the most accurate load in both calibers and either use Kentucky windage, mils, or dial it. Best choice is to leave those at home and pick a cartridge better suited for the conditions.
As to your statement about developing a 'wind' load; sounds like you better do a lot more reading and research before hitting the press.

 

[Furhunter]

Find a load the rifle liked using the bullet of your choice. Then learn to shoot in the wind.

Personal opinion here but I'd shoot a 20 in the 17 and a 40 to 45gr bullet in the 22h. The 17HH is best suited for the light 20gr bullet. Yea you can shoot 25's but in doing so it takes some of the appeal of the cartridge away because the velocity drops off so much and it ain't that much better in the wind.

 

[Blackhawk43]

The 17 will be the best, simply because it is about 800 fps faster. Elapsed time is the biggest factor in wind drift.

 

[Mike B]

Near max loadings, the 17 HH will have about an inch more drop at 300 yards (with a 200 yd zero) with a 25 grain bullet than with a 20 grainer Vmax's. But it will have a fair deal more energy, and less wind drift by a few inches @ 300.

The 22 Hornet at this range with a 40 Vmax will have more drop, drift and less energy.

This said, I don't think anyone claims either caliber to be a 300 yd cartridge - sighted at 200 yds, differences are negligible.

 

[WeaselCircus]

Thanks for the replies guys. This morning I did some more searching and found an app that calculates drops and wind drift effect when you plug in bullet weights, muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient, etc. Gave interesting results (to me anyway.) For example, in a 10 mph 90 degree crosswind a standard 17 grain vmax 17hmr will move 3.3 inches off target at 100 yards and up to 15.4 inches at 200. A 20 grain 17 hornet vmax moves 1.3 inches and 5.6 at 100/200 yards. A 45 grain Psp 22 hornet moves 2.9 and 13.7 inches at 100/200. Ran through a bunch of others but you get the Drift. Obviously these are not taking into account real world variables but at least it gives me the gist and looks like the 17 hornet with a 20 or 25 vmax seems to be the winner in that particular scenario- I will probably stick to the 20 grain as fur hunter mentioned. And I do have larger calibers I can go to if needed, but when I'm out on mass target shooting days these are the guns I have with me and enjoy shooting.