Picked up a 150rnd box of the new Hornady 55gr Black, I did not know they made a 55gr so I figured I would try it and see how it faired in my SBR and 8.5" pistol.

It did well ...to say the least, I am basing this on my current HD load, the Barnes TSX 55gr at 2551fps. I chose the Barnes TSX due to the low expansion threshold of ~1700 FPS, this gives my 11.5" SBR an effective range of 220 yards.

On to the results

Weather - 58 degrees, 89% humidity, approx 600' above sea level

8.5" pistol
10 shot Avg = 2305fps (low 2269fps / high 2370fps)
ext spread = 99FPS

11.5" SBR
10 shot avg = 2620 (low 2534 / high 2652)
ext spread = 88, if I had thrown out the lowest and highest it would have been 58fps.

Hornady 75gr black / 11.5" SBR (did not have pistol at time of test.
10shot Avg = 2320fps (low 2257fps / high 2402)
ext spread = 106fps

Federal 55gr gold dot / 11.5" SBR
5 shot avg sorry all I had on hand) = 2427fps
ext spread = 65fps


Now the issue with the 55gr black, I cannot find the bullet specs anywhere online so I do not know if it is just Hornady's normal HPBT or something better. The 62gr bullet I beleive is the TAP round which has a pretty good record of expansion but not sure about the 55gr HPBT.

I found a few reports on the 55gr HPBT and it did not show the 12-14" penetration needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVa_I3YdCzc

Anyone know know if the black using a different bullet or the standard HPBT?

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:
It did well ...to say the least,

I'm curious as to how "it did well". You don't list accuracy. You only list MV and MV ES. MV is likely within normal ranges for your barrel lengths, but ES is higher than I expect. Actually, ES is bordering on pretty bad.

As for the terminal performance of 55 HPBT, the linked video from Hornady is about what I expect. 55 HPBT is a thin-skinned match bullet, made to punch holes in paper and varmints. In other words, the bullet flies true in the air and expands rapidly upon impacting any kind of liquid or solid. Hornady lists only one 55 HPBT bullet in their lineup, and I doubt they are using any other manufacturer's HPBT bullet. Even if Hornady did load someone else's 55 match bullet (think Sierra), the ballistic gel results should be similar.

Ok....fair enough, I was really only looking at the velocities.