Hornady has come up with a few surprises for 2004. Perhaps most interesting is its new .204 Ruger, a .20-caliber varmint cartridge that delivers extremely high velocity, low recoil and muzzle blast, and a flat trajectory. According to Hornady, the new .204 Ruger’s design allows the cartridge to perform at “the edge of the velocity envelope” while using one-third less powder than other high-velocity cartridges.
Hornady also takes an old favorite of Teddy Roosevelt and puts a modern-day spin on it. The new .405 Winchester SP pushes a 300-grain bullet to 2200 fps muzzle velocity with 3224 ft-lbs of energy.
Turning its attention to handgun ammunition, Hornady “put everything we know about large caliber ammo into the only handgun cartridge big enough to hold it.” The new Hornady .500 S&W Magnum loading features a 350-grain XTP Magnum bullet. It generates 1900 fps velocity at the muzzle and 1439 fps at 100 yards. Energy is 2805 ft-lbs at the muzzle and 1610 ft-lbs at 100 yards.
And for muzzleloaders, the new .50-caliber Lock-N-Load™ Speed Sabot allows hunters to preload pellets for fast and convenient loading and reloading. Simply lock on three Pyrodex or Triple Seven pellets onto the sabot’s “tail”—or trim the tail to lock on two pellets. The Lock-N-Load Speed Sabot encloses Hornady’s exclusive polymer-tipped 250-grain SST-ML bullet. For more information, contact Hornady Manufacturing Co., Dept. ST, P.O. Box 1848, Grand Island, NE 68802; 308-382-1390; www.hornady.com.