Back in January 2016, Eley Ammunition announced three new 22LR products. For the rimfire competitor, Eley Force and Contact. For the rimfire hunter, High Velocity Hollow small game hunting ammunition. At the time, I made a mental note to give High Velocity Hollow a try in the gel to see how it performed as compared to Eley Subsonic Hollow. I was curious to see the performance differences in the areas of accuracy, velocity and terminal expansion performance.
I recently had the chance to test High Velocity Hollow with some samples provided to me by Eley USA.
Velocity, accuracy, function, and terminal performance testing were all done in a Ruger 10/22 Carbine with 18.5 inch barrel at a distance of 25 yards. The testing results are documented in the video and data sheet immediately below. You may need to click on the data sheet image to enlarge it for better visibility.
Direct Link to Video on YouTube
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I was really curious to see the performance differences between High Velocity Hollow and Subsonic Hollow. You can refer back to my previous test of Subsonic Hollow HERE.
High Velocity Hollow runs about 200 fps faster than Subsonic Hollow when tested in the same rifle under similar conditions. Eley publishes a velocity specification of 1250 feet per second for this load which falls in the ballpark of what US consumers expect from high velocity rimfire ammunition. My velocity measurements came in quite a bit lower so I asked Eley about it. I learned they establish their velocity in 23 inch test barrels with chronograph screens positioned at the muzzle. My data was generated with a much shorter 18.5 inch barrel and chronograph screens positioned at 25 yards. Knowing this, it's understandable to see velocities in the 1100 fps range.
In my rifle, accuracy with this load was minute of quarter. It didn't appear to be as accurate as Subsonic Hollow, but I've changed my accuracy testing from 5 rounds to 10 so it's not a perfect comparison. At 25 yards, point of impact shift between the two loads was small so switching between the two shouldn't require re-zeroing of sights and optics at this distance.
I found on target terminal performance was the most notable difference between Subsonic and High Velocity Hollow. As you can see in the image below, the extra velocity really helps the 40 grain soft lead hollow point expand, and still penetrate to a slightly greater depth than Subsonic Hollow.
Functional performance in my rifle was perfect through the testing. I didn't experience any failures to feed, fire, or extract.
For small game hunting and varmint control, Eley High Velocity Hollow delivers higher velocity and enhanced terminal performance over Subsonic Hollow. For those that prefer Eley ammunition, this new load is definitely worth a look, and test, in your own rifle. Eley High Velocity Hollow is currently available at many retailers that stock Eley brand ammunition.
Recently acquired 1st trial box of hshp Using Tuned Brno Mod 2 Weaver T6 scope. consistently shot 3 shot groups into key hole patterns at 50 Metres. Bought 500 will compare with Subsonic in due course. KJ.
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