Hornady introduced the 22 ARC in 2024 to give an AR-15 a case that could push a heavy .224 bullet at speed, and it does exactly that. The 62 grain V-Match leaves at 3,300 feet per second and is still doing 2,150 at 500 yards — where the best .223 factory load on this site is down to 1,913.
Five factory loads exist. One of them is a varmint load.
The loads
The Application column is Hornady’s own classification, taken from the product line rather than from my opinion of it. It matters more here than on an established cartridge, because four of the five loads in 22 ARC were built for something other than shooting a coyote.
| Brand | Load | Grain | Bullet | Application | Test barrel | Muzzle | 300 yd | 500 yd | Muzzle energy | 500 yd energy | Drop at 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady | V-Match | 62 | ELD-VT | Varmint | 24” | 3,300 | 2,574 | 2,150 | 1,499 | 636 | -33.5” |
| Hornady | Superformance | 70 | CX | Hunting | 24” | 3,125 | 2,421 | 2,008 | 1,518 | 627 | -38.1” |
| Hornady | Precision Hunter † | 80 | ELD-X | Hunting | 24” | 3,010 | 2,447 | 2,108 | 1,609 | 789 | — |
| Hornady | Match ‡ | 88 | ELD Match | Match | 24” | 2,820 | 2,335 | 2,040 | 1,554 | 813 | -42.1” |
| Hornady | Match Black ‡ | 75 | ELD Match | Match | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
What the labels mean on a stand.
Varmint is the ELD-VT: a thin-jacketed, polymer-tipped bullet designed to come apart on a small animal. It is the one that kills a coyote without opening the far side.
Hunting is the CX and the ELD-X, and both are built to do the opposite. The CX is a monolithic copper bullet made to hold together and penetrate deer; the ELD-X is a controlled-expansion hunting bullet. Either will kill a coyote comfortably and neither will leave you a hide worth selling.
Match is the ELD Match, a target bullet. People shoot coyotes with match bullets all the time and it works, but the terminal behavior is not designed and not consistent.
What that means for coyotes
If you are buying one box, it is the 62 grain V-Match, and there is no second choice inside its category because there is no second varmint load.
That is worth sitting with. A cartridge two years into its life, from the company that designed it, with five factory offerings — and a predator hunter has exactly one of them. The 22 ARC is a genuinely good coyote cartridge being served by a catalog built for target shooters and deer hunters.
The full chart
Velocity and energy from the muzzle to 500 yards, every load. It scrolls sideways.
| Load | Grain | Bullet | Application | Muzzle | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | Muzzle energy | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V-Match | 62 | ELD-VT | Varmint | 3,300 | 3,044 | 2,803 | 2,574 | 2,357 | 2,150 | 1,499 | 1,275 | 1,081 | 912 | 765 | 636 |
| Superformance | 70 | CX | Hunting | 3,125 | 2,877 | 2,643 | 2,421 | 2,209 | 2,008 | 1,518 | 1,287 | 1,086 | 911 | 759 | 627 |
| Precision Hunter † | 80 | ELD-X | Hunting | 3,010 | 2,814 | 2,626 | 2,447 | 2,274 | 2,108 | 1,609 | 1,406 | 1,225 | 1,063 | 918 | 789 |
| Match ‡ | 88 | ELD Match | Match | 2,820 | 2,652 | 2,491 | 2,335 | 2,185 | 2,040 | 1,554 | 1,375 | 1,212 | 1,066 | 933 | 813 |
| Match Black ‡ | 75 | ELD Match | Match | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Notes on the data
Every figure is Hornady’s published one, from the product page for each item number, and where they publish nothing the cell is empty rather than filled in from a ballistic calculator. Source: Hornady 22 ARC, and the individual product pages for 62 gr ELD-VT, 70 gr CX, 80 gr ELD-X and 88 gr ELD Match.
† The 80 grain ELD-X is published at a 100 yard zero, and every other load here is at 200. Its drop is therefore not comparable and the column is left empty rather than converted — velocity and energy do not depend on the zero, so those are directly comparable and are shown. Recomputing the trajectory would mean publishing a number Hornady has not, which is not what this table is for.
‡ Two loads have no published ballistics at all. The 75 grain ELD Match Black has no table on Hornady’s site, and the 88 grain ELD Match is marked coming soon — its figures are published, but you cannot buy it yet.
No ballistic coefficients. Hornady publishes BC on its bullet pages and on the ammunition listing, but not on the individual ammunition product pages these figures came from. Rather than mix a bullet’s BC with a loaded round’s velocity from two different documents, the column is left off this page entirely. It will go on when it can come from one source.
Know a load that should be here? Tell me and I will add it. And check your state’s rules before you go.