Hornady Superformance

Marketing is a necessary evil for any manufacturer or seller. If you don't have anything new, you market it as "improved." When all else fails, they put a hot, sexy woman next to it and will likely sell every unit they have. True, I am a bit of a skeptic, but that's why I get to test so much of the latest products and decide which ones make it into the magazine.

Twice a year I attend a writer's event where every company promises--and delivers--something new even if it was just last year's "new" repackaged with a slight tweak. This year, however, Hornady brought something that is not only new, it's revolutionary. I had a chance to sit down and chat with one of the engineers, and here are the high points from my notes.

Superformance
Hornady's Superformance gets high performance with all bullet weights across all calibers without excessive recoil. That is a pretty bold statement by any standard, and during the presentation several writers straightened up to listen while others rolled their eyes, marking it as just another advertising slogan. Later, on the range, Hornady was all the buzz.

Why such a revolution in technology? Hornady has spent the last several years developing this new propellant, utilizing new ways of manufacturing that make the propellant extremely progressive. That is to say, Hornady found a way to control the speed at which the propellant burns yet get it to burn out cleanly. In the past, the only way to get high performance from a cartridge was to put a large powder-charge behind the projectile. To do this without getting excessive pressures, you had to slow down the burn rate of the propellant. This inevitably meant you could not get all of the powder to burn out. Thus, you were not getting all of the energy available from the load.

Hornady's new progressive powders are able to control the burn speed and peak pressures yet still burn out, converting all of the available energy out of the propellant and using it to push the projectile for added velocity. As a by-product of that, it dramatically lowers the pressure of the gases as they exit--lowering the felt recoil. In fact, 60 to 70 percent of recoil is produced by the kinetic energy of the gases exiting the gun, so this is no small measure to consider when picking a cartridge or, now, a brand of ammunition.

In essence, Hornady can now offer a standard load in what would in the past have been considered a high-performance magnum without the added recoil or compromise in accuracy that was often associated with magnum or light-magnum rounds. The other real advancement here is the previous high-energy load only worked with heavier bullet weight per caliber. However, with the technology here Hornady can get this to work with virtually every bullet weight in every caliber and cartridge and dramatically increase performance.

Suitable For Shotgun Loads?
No. Shotguns are in a completely different realm than a centerfire cartridge. Shotgun shells use a very low pressure by comparison. It isn't currently possible to get any heavier charges in shotshells and get them to burn out and keep the pressure at the low levels required for a shotgun. This technology is only going to affect what you would consider a normal centerfire hunting cartridge.