Hornady NTX .22 Mag in Black Widow

[antares_b]

I recently tried this ammo in my Black Widow. It's the first 25-grain ammo that I've tried in this gun. It seemed to perform OK, but the cases bulged so badly that removing them from the cylinder was tough. (One stuck so firmly that I couldn't remove it until I got home and could pound it out with a dowel.) The back of each case was rounded instead of flat.

I won't use this ammo again in the Black Widow. Has anyone else used it and found the same problem?

[TwoGunJayne]

Hornady has replaced ammo before. A call or email to their customer service might be in order.

This sounds like a problem for a "premium ammo" fired through a currently available pistol in that chambering.

Couldn't hurt to try...

[Goatpacker]

Interesting, I have never tried those, I guess because I have not seen any to buy. I have tried the 30gr V-Max and had no issues with them. They appear to be brass cased and from some of my earlier experience brass seems to do well. I had some issues with extractions being a little harder with the nickel plated at first but not any more. The bulging does not sound right though, you would think lighter bullet would be less pressure?

[antares_b]

I sure didn't expect it. I bought this stuff only because it was the only .22 Mag ammo that my local gun store had. I prefer the Federal or Speer TNT, but that has become impossible to find.

I'll contact Hornady. Could be a real safety hazard.

[grayelky]

I strongly suspect I am wasting electrons, but, just to confirm, you have not had this problem with other ammo in this gun, right? Do you have another .22 mag you could try that ammo in? Rifle or revolver.

I do agree with the others re: calling Hornady. I suspect they may ask you the questions I just asked.

[antares_b]

I've tried ammo of many different brands and bullet weights in the BW. All have worked fine. The Hornady NTX is the only one that has given me trouble. Unfortunately, I don't have any other gun in .22 Mag where I can test this stuff.

The only brand of ammo that I've deliberately avoided in NAA minis is PMC, because the owner's manual says not to use it.

[Adk.IBO]

My new Wasp (1 month) has had 4 brands of ammo in it so far and about 1/2 of the box of 50 Winchesters split the cases. No problems with the CCI's, the Hornady Critical Defense or the shotshells. As long as I don't have problems with an ammo brand I'll continue to buy what I can find. No more Winchester for my Wasp, or the PMC. Might have been the box, but no way of knowing now, they're all shot up, hopefully with no harm done. I really like this gun and wish the shortage would subside so I could shoot it more. No other 22mags for me to try either.

Stay safe, John

[antares_b]

Even the venerable Winchester, eh? Interesting.

Enjoy the Wasp. Those are good-looking guns.

[TwoGunJayne]

I heard conflicting information....

That PMC is generally lower quality than Winchester, and that Winchester has outsourced some brass from PMC due to Obama, money, and market demands.

It makes me wonder if current rimfire .22 ammo is the worst its ever been due to "get it out the door... NOW" pressures from management.

Interestingly, extremely high quality Eley ammo has been trickling into my area. It is nominally too expensive for the average .22 shooter, they've actually dropped prices a bit and seem to be selling a bit more to the common man these days, instead of Olympic shooters.

[Kevin55]

Bulging cases is why you see so few semiautomatic 22mag pistols and rifles.

It would be interesting if others had this problem or this is a bad batch of NTX.

[cwlongshot]

I have only ever seen PMC Maggie's a couple times many years ago...  I know NAA dosent recomend it and if you look at the velocities guys are getting you get an idea why it runs a solid 100+ fps higher.

If I find any I'll buy what I can! I would like to try it! I am lucky I. That I had a feeling things might get bad and bought a bunch of magnum ammo before all this occurred. I bought every flavor I could. Not cases but in many cases bricks. (As I could afford). It's paid off now as I can still shoot.

CW

[antares_b]

Well, I never did call Hornady about the bulging-case issue in the Black Widow. It dropped off my radar, and the NTX ammo sat around awhile.

I recently bought a Pug and decided to try this ammo in it--no problems at all. In fact, it was very accurate and a pleasure to shoot.

Ballistics data is lacking for the 25-grain NTX bullet out of a 1" barrel, so I'll likely use Gold Dots for carry. But it's good to have the option.

[Dinadan]

Antares - thanks for the update. I have never tried any of the Hornady ammo. Sounds like it was a mismatch with one gun in your case.

[grayelky]

antares_b-

Could you shoot some milk jugs of water with the NTX and hopefully another brand we are familiar with to compare terminal performance of this very light weight bullet?

If you need some rounds for comparison, send me a PM with your address.

[antares_b]

I wish I could, Grayelky. For now, my shooting is limited to a public range, where I don't have the freedom to do ballistics tests.

Ballistics by the Inch has velocity data for this round (http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/22mag.html). The shortest barrel length tested was 2 inches: 1,114 fps. That would yield 69 ft-lbs out of the Black Widow.

[grayelky]

I have never thought very much of  50 grain 9mm moving at 2000 fops. HOWEVER, I have very recently seen YouTube video that has drastically changed my mind! I was hoping to find this 25 grain slug would behave similarly. With only 1100 fops, seems the architect of this load did not take full advantage of its potential. If I can find the ammo, I'll give it a try.

[antares_b]

I think Hornady optimized the load for rifles. Still, I'd love to see penetration/expansion test results out of short barrels, instead of relying on velocity data to anticipate performance.