60 gr Vmax on deer

H

higbean

New member
Talking to a friend a few weeks back about him taking his two sons deer hunting. His youngest(6)is shooting a Savage in .260 and his oldest (13) wants to shoot his .223. Now this kid has been shooting that .223 for 7 or 8 years and flat knows that gun and what it will do. I have seen him make some incredible shots. So my buddy asks me what I think, and I tell him the way his kid shoots that .223 if he keeps shots under 200 or so he should be fine. He asks what bullet so I gave him some of my Coyote loads with 60 gr Vmaxes.

They took em out sighted in and went hunting. Talked to him yesterday and his son flat dumped a nice forky at 230 yards! The buck was going straight away from him up hill. He hit him right behind the rib cage and the bullet exited out his chest. It ran 10 yards and collapsed. I had been impressed with the 60 gr Vmax on yotes and had wondered how it would do on deer (with a well placed shot, obviously) and I am glad to say it sounds like it did great. My buddy was VERY impressed by it. I told him next year we will load up some of the 40 gr Vmax and try some long shots /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I would not try that 40 grain V-Max on a deer and there are better bullets than the 60 grain V-Max as well. Shot placement is all important with the 223 on deer size game. I use a lot of 60 grain V-Maxs on coyotes and jackrabbits and they work great but a less explosive bullet of 60 grains or more for deer would be better.
 
higbean - I suspect your results would have been much different at say 60 yards. If that Vmax had not scrubbed so much speed, the penetration would have been lost to overexpansion. Might have dumped the deer up close, maybe not.

Let us know how the deer hunting goes for the rest of the year with the 60 grain Vmaxes, and keep track of the ranges.

Good hunting, Sleddogg /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I'm guessing sleddog is right. A couple of weeks ago I was shooting at 2 liter soda bottles filled with water with my little 17 hmr. At 50 yards the little vmax explodes inside the bottle. At 175 yards I thought I was missing the bottle because there was no sign of a hit. When I inspected it, I discovered that the little bullets were blowing right through. Pin hole in and out. Now I know that's not a 60 grain bullet but I'd think the same principle would apply. Glad he got the deer though. Have a great hunting season.
 
Nosler makes a 60 gr. Partition that would (in my opinion) be a much better choice. I doubt you would have the violent explosion problem at close range you could get with a V-Max.
 
I would agree with looking at another style of bullet.

I've found the 64gr Winchester PSP is very accurate and should provide much more kinetic energy and weight retention than the V-Max. It shoots well in the 1/7-1/9 twist rates barrels.

The 40gr V-Max is a great PD round, but a lot light for deer.
 
I'd stay away from any of the plastic tipped bullets for deer. Besides the Nosler Partition, Sierra makes a 62g soft point that should work in the .223 if ranges are kept under 200yds.
 
The 64 gr Win PP has a proven track record on deer. I am not against small calibers on deer, on the contrary, I am a small caliber guy myself. I won't be caught using a varmint bullet on deer though. I have shot a few with the 75 Amax, just to see how they did. I've no doubt an Amax through the lungs will do the job, but they are too fragile on bone, and bone is the shots I like to take on deer. The 62TSX is getting the nod this November. THere are numerous "deer" bullets made in .224". Swift make the 75gr. Scirocco, I know a few guys who used them on deer with great results. Barnes make's the 53, 62, and 70gr TSX, also a proven bullet. Nosler makes a TBBC in .224". I am a big fan of fretting the design of the bullet and where it is inserted, before I worry about what numbers are stamped on the casehead. A 40gr vmax would be way down on my list of bullets to poke into a w'tail. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Relax fellas, I was only kidding about the 40 grainers. Didn't you see the smiley?

I agree there are better bullets out there for deer, but my friend didn't have the money or time. I had these already loaded at moderate speeds nowhere near max and figured it would be better than the Winny White box stuff he had. Our blacktail deer out here are considerably smaller than an average white tail too, so take that into consideration also.
 
I wasn't knocking your choice in the 60gr. V'max. Like I said I tried the Amax last season, they just won't do what I want them to do. I apologize if my post came out wrong, I didn't mean any offense. Tell your son, "great shooting"... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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