hornady new 22 arc - thoughts?

Bowhntr6pt said:
Well at first I was all in not because I believed Hornady's hype and expected the 22 ARC to be magic sauce, I just like having different chamberings in the AR to play with.

However, the more I really look at it, I've cooled my jets.

The 22 ARC is starting out just like the 6 ARC di, which I have and really like:

- No brass available
- Little Ammo if any, and really expensive if you can find it, with one to two box limits common really driving up the per-box price if ordered on line.

All of this for what? A couple hundred FPS?

It took a couple years or more for 6 ARC stuff to come available, when this is the case with the 22 ARC I'll give the neat little cartridge a second look.
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I am wondering if the current component availability is as good as it is going to get for the foreseeable future?

With that spirit, i will do what i have always done, add to my current inventory.

Components for 223, 308, 6.5 PRC etc plentiful right now.

I love all the new calibers. Common availability always wins for me though.
 
rottengander said:
I have since renamed the 22 arc for myself as the 223 magnum. Hopefully a while down the line more info will be readily available. I thank all of you for the info! Saved me a bunch of money and time.
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I believe the one that's going to interest predator hunters more is going to be the 22 MAX. The 22 ARC is nice if you really want to shoot a big long heavy bullet....and a lot of folks do (myself included). But predator hunters seem to be looking for speed with the least amount of headache...or at the very least, the most speed they can get from a case with a suitable predator bullet.

Since it was made for ARs...lets look at the 22 ARC vs the 223
223 hols aprox 28-29gr of h20
22 ARC holds aprox 34gr of h20
Obviously advantage goes to ARC, except that you need a different bolt, different mags, and potentially you're going to need to tune your system for the cartridge.
Not a huge deal...I like to tinker
HOWEVER, when you compare the 22 ARC to the 22 MAX, you're getting 35gr of h20 AND you run it from standard mags, with standard bolt faces. That's the key for me.
If I wanted to really go for the throat, I'd just build another WSSM...but if you want to run with a standard AR system...I think the 22 MAX is going to be the answer.

IMO, that's a great time to call it the 223 Magnum.

I don't know if either of them are going to end up being the end all, be all answer, but I've been chatting with the boys over at BC Precision Ballistics and they assured me, once they are up and running at full clip, the 22 MAX is next out the door.
 
What about the 22 Nosler? The 22 Nosler has a little more case capacity then the 22ARC and it runs from the same bolt as a 223 but does take a different magazine which is no big deal.

I've been flirting with the idea of doing either 22 Nosler or 22 ARC with one of my AR15's but can't decide which to go with. With regard to cost, the 22 Nosler is the clear winner based on the list of parts I've sourced that I'd need to convert one of my AR's.

What is a 22 MAX??
 
B23 said:
What about the 22 Nosler? The 22 Nosler has a little more case capacity then the 22ARC and it runs from the same bolt as a 223 but does take a different magazine which is no big deal.

I've been flirting with the idea of doing either 22 Nosler or 22 ARC with one of my AR15's but can't decide which to go with. With regard to cost, the 22 Nosler is the clear winner based on the list of parts I've sourced that I'd need to convert one of my AR's.

What is a 22 MAX??
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pretty close to the exact same as the MAX but with different mags. It's currently just a 6 MAX. (based on a 350 Legend) but it's an easy neck down now...and like I said...will be coming sooner or later. It really comes down to which bullet you want to use.
Anything heavier than 60, I'd probably take the ARC
Heavies, go with the ARC.

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QL has the 22 Nosler at 35.60gr H2O and Nosler says 35.90 H20 either way that's a fair bit more then my 223AI and doesn't require any fireforming.
 
B23 said:
QL has the 22 Nosler at 35.60gr H2O and Nosler says 35.90 H20 either way that's a fair bit more then my 223AI and doesn't require any fireforming.
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I'm not debating your info, because I don't have one...but this is right from the Nosler website...but yes...either way, it's going to be plenty more than a 223 AI
I'm assuming this is accounting for variations in brass, both new and fired, as well as different manufacturers.

22 Nosler.jpeg
 
B23 said:
QL has the 22 Nosler at 35.60gr H2O and Nosler says 35.90 H20 either way that's a fair bit more then my 223AI and doesn't require any fireforming.
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Also, look at the ballistics listed for the 22 Nosler
55gr at 3350 (I'm sure we can assume a 24" barrel)
77gr at 2950 (again a 24" barrel)

6 MAX SAAMI (Not quite apples to apples, but it will give you an idea because the case and H20 will be virtually identical)
55gr at 3550 from 24" SAAMI
87 VLD at 3010 from a 24" SAAMI

You're looking at basically +100-200fps from a virtually identical case that's SAAMI approved and uses standard 223/556 mags and bolts.
(I realize it's not a fair comparison looking at 6MAX vs 22 Nosler, but unfortunately that's the only info currently available)
 
So at the least it holds the same as the 22 ARC but it runs in a standard 223 bolt. I've seen good 22 Nosler barrels for an AR as little as 240 bucks. I already have a spare adj gas block and gas tube but even if I didn't those are relatively inexpensive items and will be required with the 22ARC or the like as well. Regardless of what I got I'd be shooting the mid 50gr bullets in fact since this would be something I probably wouldn't shoot a lot I'm not sure I'd even reload for it. If the Nosler or Dogtown factory ammo shot decent I very well could just stick to shooting that stuff.
 
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