People have asked for my opinion on the new 22 ARC, so this is it.

When the 6 ARC came out, a lot of us thought its nothing more than a 6 grendel, which is fairly accurate, but they pushed the shoulder back to accomodat

e the longer, heavier bullets.   Another company, catering to the rise of the long range shooting platform.  Just like the 224 Valkyrie did.  I remember reading somewhere that an 87gr vmax would be coming out for the 6 ARC for the predator hunting community.   Never seen it, nor heard anything about its conception.

Fast forward 3ish years, now Hornady announces this awesome, new 22 caliber cartridge…………THE 22 ARC…….   Heck yeah, we’ve already been in the works, along with other companies, necking down 6 ARC brass to create the 22 ARC.

But wait!  Hornady, on their own podcast, says that its not just a 6 ARC necked down to 22 caliber.  Its shoulder is not pushed back like the ARC, so theoretically they’re producing a 22 Grendel.  Which has been wildcated for at least 15 years.  Whats odd is that they’re still calling it the 22 ARC, the “Double Deuce”.

All the companies who are making barrels from the 6 ARC case, necked down to 22 are now in a pickle.  Our customers 

 won’t be able to use Hornadys factory ammunition, as the shoulder is too long for our cartridge.  Most of the customers, who we have dealt with this know this and doesn’t really matter, because they reload and already have the 6 ARC brass that they’ve necked down, but for new customers who don’t reload, we now have to put a disclaimer on our site or buy a second reamer for this 22 Grendel(of sorts).

Hornady, in my opinion is doing this to bump sales on a new brass, while keeping sales up on their 6 ARC brass.  This is looking like a marketing ploy, more than making the best product available.

Remember when the 6 ARC came out and how they said the efficiency of the case is more desireable than the grendel and this is the newest, greatest thing. (I’m ad libbing), but it seems they’re really good at being a marketing company who sells bullets.  Just like others did with the 224 Valkyrie, the 22 Nosler and other cartridges that came out within the past several years.

Final thoughts, the 22 ARC seems to be intriguing, but other than bumping sales on a new product, why wouldn’t they just use the ARC case?  1 grain of powder(about), will make very little difference in performance.