.22 FX Hybrid's...do they work for tough and furry critters?

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peaceful_ruler

peaceful_ruler

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Dec 30, 2021
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After some experimenting with my customized Taipan Veteran Long .22 and finding what she likes to eat...I've settled on the FX Hybrid slugs at about 985 fps. This is just under 50 fpe but more importantly these things are really accurate out of my setup. The Hybrid's are absolute carnage on every bird I've hit with them so far...I'm talking bird parts flying everywhere. It sounds like a .22 rimfire when I center punch unfortunate fat fowl.

Since I've got these dialed in so well I'd like to stay with them if possible but I'm concerned about larger tougher critters...do these Hybrid's stay together well enough to penetrate a groundhog skull at 75 meters? Has anyone tried the .22 Hybrids on tougher critters than just birds?
 
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peaceful_ruler said:
After some experimenting with my customized Taipan Veteran Long .22 and finding what she likes to eat...I've settled on the FX Hybrid slugs at about 985 fps. This is just under 50 fpe but more importantly these thing are really accurate out of my setup. The Hybrid's are absolute carnage on every bird I've hit with them so far...I'm talking bird parts flying everywhere. It sounds like a .22 rimfire when I center punch unfortunate fat fowl.

Since I've got these dialed in so well I'd like to stay with them if possible but I'm concerned about larger tougher critters...do these Hybrid's stay together well enough to penetrate a groundhog skull at 75 meters? Has anyone tried the .22 Hybrids on tougher critters than just birds?
Click to expand...
As a general note I found groundhog skulls to be mighty tough at times. I finalized on back-of-head shots with Metalmag pointed pellets. I was getting good accuracy out to 50 to make that shot.

I’m sure there are those who shoot them from further with less potent projectiles but that formula was my 100% success baseline.

David
 
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I think if you keep the distances under 100 yards you will be fine. They do deform/expand a lot more than something like a Nielsen so at further distances that will work against you with tougher critters. For some reason the 25/30 cal Hybrids dont seem to deform/expand very well, but the 22 cal is different. If it were me, I would try to get something a little heavier and harder to go after tough critters, like the Nielsen 28.5 or 31.2. That would get you better penetration, more potential energy, and a bit higher BC. The higher BC alone will make a difference at longer rangers since more of your energy will be preserved on target.
 
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You have nothing to concern yourself with when it comes to a Hybrid. It’s no different than shooting a good pellet at a critter with a strong will to live. As long as they hit exactly where you aim all the time, the brain, there‘s no worries about them flattening out like a polymag. I’ve shot lots of raccoons 30-60 yards with them going 935 and it’s game over. It’s all about shot placement with limp noodle airguns. Grundy’s are wicked tough until you pop them behind the eye. If you can hit a quarter every time with your Hybrids at 80 yards, you’re in business.
 
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MongooseV8 said:
I think if you keep the distances under 100 yards you will be fine. They do deform/expand a lot more than something like a Nielsen so at further distances that will work against you with tougher critters. For some reason the 25/30 cal Hybrids dont seem to deform/expand very well, but the 22 cal is different. If it were me, I would try to get something a little heavier and harder to go after tough critters, like the Nielsen 28.5 or 31.2. That would get you better penetration, more potential energy, and a bit higher BC. The higher BC alone will make a difference at longer rangers since more of your energy will be preserved on target.
Click to expand...
The .30 cal Hybrids expand very well. Expand any more than this and
20221017_145719.jpg
You can watch a video of that shot here
 
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peaceful_ruler said:
After some experimenting with my customized Taipan Veteran Long .22 and finding what she likes to eat...I've settled on the FX Hybrid slugs at about 985 fps. This is just under 50 fpe but more importantly these things are really accurate out of my setup. The Hybrid's are absolute carnage on every bird I've hit with them so far...I'm talking bird parts flying everywhere. It sounds like a .22 rimfire when I center punch unfortunate fat fowl.

Since I've got these dialed in so well I'd like to stay with them if possible but I'm concerned about larger tougher critters...do these Hybrid's stay together well enough to penetrate a groundhog skull at 75 meters? Has anyone tried the .22 Hybrids on tougher critters than just birds?
Click to expand...

JSB 15s and 18s will kill a groundhog out of a 30 fpe gun, and you don't even need a head shot. 50 fpe with a slug will do the trick as long as your aim is on.

As others have said the FX hybrids are fairly light slugs and the hollow point does its job too.
 
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N2 Shooter said:
The .30 cal Hybrids expand very well. Expand any more than this and
View attachment 346216
You can watch a video of that shot here
Click to expand...
Impressive. I wonder what the difference is, as even gel testing has shown the 25/30 Cal Hybrids wont expand. Buddy has shot more than a few critters with his, and so far we have only seen pass throughs with no signs of expansion. Maybe velocity is having an adverse affect. Its pretty rare, but sometimes slower is better for expansion.
 
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MongooseV8 said:
Impressive. I wonder what the difference is, as even gel testing has shown the 25/30 Cal Hybrids wont expand. Buddy has shot more than a few critters with his, and so far we have only seen pass throughs with no signs of expansion. Maybe velocity is having an adverse affect. Its pretty rare, but sometimes slower is better for expansion.
Click to expand...

That slug I showed was after a full passthrough. The velocity was 930fps.

Here is a Hybrid Slug taken from 10% Clear Ballistics Gel. Here, the slug top stripped away from the base.
20230204_002046 (1).jpg

20230204_001950 (1).jpg
 
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Seeker said:
Not true. .30 expands like hell in a ballistic gel:

But CONSISTENT expansion on game is a different story.
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Not trying to be argumentative but there are plenty of gel testing videos that show they dont reliably expand. And as you noted consistency is the key. Gel testing is showing the best case scenario for each ammo, but critters are much different. Here are 2 videos but there are more on the youtubes. Both videos pretty clearly show little to no deformation, let alone expansion. In clay they expand and fragment, but virtually everything does. This is in addition to first hand results that have shown pass throughs on critters with no signs of expansion. Maybe something like a coyote would improve our results. As I mentioned above it seems speed is very critical, and I think might they expand better at slower speeds. If we slowed them down to 800-850fps they might work better. Send them at the normal goal of 950-1050fps and the zip through. I have seen this in some target style centerfire bullets. If they go too fast they close up and act like an fmj, slow them down and they turn into little slicey bits. The 22 Cal FX Hybrids are very nice on the other hand, and my buddy has had great success with expansion.


 
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