that you have loaded for the .223 and still had good performance on groundhog sized varmints? I don't know why I would want to but has anyone broke the 4000fps barrier? What type/weight bullet and powder did you use? Thanks

.22, years ago when I had a K Hornet I was making my own jacketed .22 caliber bullets and got to experimenting with crazy things. I made some bullets as light as 26 grains. They grouped about 1 3/4 at 100 in my rifle. 1 1/2 was about as good as this rifle would shoot with anything, however.

I guess my point is your hornet will shoot anything you are likely to be able to find for it. I don't know what velocity I was getting but doubt it was close to 4K. Any bullet light enough to come out the barrel of a hornet going 4K is going to be so light that its mass won't sustain that velocity for any distance. It will slow down mighty fast.

The best we have done with a 223 Remington was 3832 fps with a 40gr HV bullet. Accuracy is under 1 moa and it works well on springbuck and blesbuck. We have a 35gr HV but as Pecos45 says the shorter the bullet the worse the BC and the 40gr HV will outrun it eventually.

Thanks Pecos and Gina,
Pecos, I may not have been very clear on my question. I was inquiring about the .223, not the Hornet. But for what it's worth, I am achieving 3000+fps from my Hornet with 40gr v-max's and 13.4gr Lil'Gun. Usually get 1" or less at 100yrds. This powder is awesome!

But, I've recently began reloading for my Ruger .223 and I'm having excellent results with 40gr v-max, 28.0gr Benchmark, WSR primers and seated to 2.260. I don't have a chrony to measure my velocity but the Nosler manual says this load is at 3800fps. If it really is moving that fast, it almost seems that with 30gr or 35gr bullets someone could conceivably hit the 4000fps mark with the right combo of powder, primers etc.

Gina, what weight are the game animals you mentioned in your post?

A springbuck dresses out to between 33lbs and 55lbs (Eastern Cape to Namibia) while a blesbuck will yield up to 100lbs. Anybody know what the typical weight on the hoof would be?