need info on Hornady V-Max Bullets

GrizleyHunter

GrizleyHunter

New member
OK Guys
I have never used a V-Max bullet for predator hunting but may order some to give them a try.
I want to try them in my 240 WBY Mag,22-250,or my 243wssm are they holding together good in flight.
Do you get enough penetration with them or are they to explosive.
Berger has stopped making my 60gr varmint bulets for the 243 so when I run out I have to make a change.
 
I have both the Nosler 55 Gr, and the Hornady 58 gr. I have not had fur friendly results all of the time, but the Coyotes haven't run off either. If you would like to try a few send Me a PM, and I can mail you some to try. I have also been pleased with the 60's in .223. Not sure how they will work in a 22-250 however.
 
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vmax makes a 58 for the 243 and last I looked they had a few choices in the heavier bullets. my buddy liked 70 or 75s not sure which but they only offer one of those..
I will say that blowouts were a issue with the hides until they primed up. Then he didn't have another one in 30 coyotes.

I use 50 and 53 gr in my 22-250 They get good penetration and as long as i do my part on where to put it, i don't have big holes.
I get .33 moa with my thompson and that is 36.48gr Varget with a 50 vmax. for $40 you should get the box of 250.


I also found that when i didn't load for speed, blow outs were less of an issue. I got better accuracy, and a saved pelts.
Good luck and try them. Also, it's a lot of fun to test the loads on PD's or squirrels..
 
I used hornadys factory 22-250 loads for a season with good results. Little hole in and no exit with good shot placement. These where the 50gr v-max superperformance. Loading some 87s in a 6mm ai but no field work with that rifle yet.
 
I run the 58g & 65g vmax in my 6x45, 6x6.8 & .243. They both do the job 100% of the time, yes they will leave a good exit hole depending on angle of hit. The only non exits I have had were straight on or quartering typs shots, broadside shots usually had an exit hole from a quarter to half dollar size hole or worse.
The 55g NBT is pretty much gives the same results. Never had one escape after being shot.
 
There likely isn't a bullet that's killed more coyotes in the last 10 years than vmax, and for good reason.

Depending on caliber, you'll get mixed results on hide damage. From 22-250 and 220 swift (for this purpose they're one in the same) the 50 gr is dirty dirty dirty on pelts. For whatever reason, the 55 isn't near as bad. They hardly ever exit, but the do splash once in a while. The 40s are good, but sometimes splash. The 60s are great if your barrel can spin em.

In 6mm, I have shot 65, 75 and 87 at 243 velocities. I have never had a 65 exit, EVER- nor have they damaged a pelt. The others leave a bullet hole on the entrance and the exit is a coin toss. If it happens, it ain't good.
I LOVE the 65 vmax.

In 204, I probably lost 3 or 4 center punched yotes with 32 grainers. I switched to 40s, and no more issues.

In 25-06, well..... Lol
 
I guess I should add (since you asked). That I have never ever been able to blow one up in flight. If your whizzum is a fast twist, it might bust those 58s apart. Who knows for sure until it's tried.
 
My favorite bullet for the 223 is the 50 grain VMax. I use it for coyotes and bobcats, and have found it to be a very fur friendly bullet. I've also used the 40 grain in a 22-250, and a 110 in a 6.8 SPC, to take coyotes with to a lesser extent, so I don't have enough experience with them to say much one way or the other. I have started using the 58 gain VMax's in a 243 lately and from what I've seen, they are anything but fur friendly, as they leave a pretty big exit hole.
 
Seems like results really vary with the vmax bullets.

CZ527 sounds like he gets along super with the 6mm 65 out of a 243. The biggest, nastiest holes I have had on coyotes have been with same combination. Not a lot of them, but enough to be memorable. Other times they have not exited and performed great.
 
i cant say i've shot anything large with them, but vmax are terribly effective on smaller sized targets. my ar loves the 55's. with a pet handload and the guy behind the trigger doing his job right, its a sub ½ moa bullet for me.

this is what 55gr vmax did to a groundhog at about 170 yds out of my 223. this was factory ammo.

i shot him twice, cuz he was still floppin a bit....




here's a pigeon i got in the soybeans. shot him right in the chest. i expected a bigger puff of feathers. just not enough stuff to expand on i guess. this was just shy of 200 yds.



little more expansion on the crow though. in the back, out the chest. as you can see, wasnt much left inside. satisfying puff of feathers on this one. he was sitting on a little autumn olive looking at something across the swamp.

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I use mainly the 50 and 53 gr vmax in my 223 and 22-250 and I can show you pictures where you can't tell the coyote was even shot and I can show you pictures where it looks like someone threw a softball through them (typically due to my shot placement). They are good bullets but I am starting to venture into the Berger and Nosler lines.

Shelton
 
The v max is a great bullet. The first bullet I loaded for my 280 rem 120 gr v max . I killed 3 deer easy with them. I went to the 139 gr SST because of hogs.
 
In my opinion many better bullets exist for predator hunting than the vmax. Hornady has done a masterful job of marketing the vmax as a predator bullet but it is much better suited as a varmint bullet. Too many splashes for me! Stick with a soft point, match, or hollow point design for predators.
 
I use both the 58 and 75g Vmax in my 243wssm with a 12 twist. I'm shooting the 75 at 3650 and the 58 at 3900fps. The 58g generally leaves a nasty mess on anything under 100 yds but I've never had any splashes. The 75 is better if your actually attempting to save fur. I think in this caliber it would be better to slow the 75 way down if saving fur is your thing, say under 3000fps. I eventually went to a 20 cal with 35g Bergers and my WSSM is my deer and target gun.
 
I like the 22 cal 60 gr v max on coyotes . I don't use them in my 204 I use 39 gr bking. I have friends that use 40 gr on a 204 and kills them dead.
 
I personally think the vmax is great bullet on yotes. I have shot em for close to 20yrs and have never made a mess on a coyote. It sure seems like alot of guys on here are getting opposite results. I know shot placement plays a role.
 
I switched from nosler to hornady several years ago for all of my plastic tip bullets. Way back when ballistic tips were starting to show up in factory ammo and the bullets went to 50 round boxes and the price didnt change.

I use 32 and 40 grain v maxes in the 204
55 grain in 223
105 a max in 243
130 sst in 270
139 sst in 280ai
154 sst in 7 mag
165 sst in 300 win mag
The 300 weatherby is the only cartridge still using lead tips. For some reason both of mine like a speer grand slam.
 
With all your hyper velocity calibers choices you’re gonna get big holes and blowups all the time. It’s just gonna happen. None of those caliber you have are going to be for a friendly unless you’re shooting solids at 1500 ft./s with trail boss and even then.??? Just find an accurate load and shoot. I like 70 grain and 55 grain Nosler ballistic tips for my 243’s. About half the time I didn’t get big holes. That’s when I miss a bone going in and out. If I hit bone I can clap in the holes. If you are Try to save fur and own a 223 load up some 60 grain vmax around 2950 fps. I have tried them in 2 rifles. A POF at 2800 fps. They exit every time with fifty cent sized holes. At 2975 fps out of my bolt guns cant see entry holes like the 2800 fps load but I also usually don’t get exits and if I do i can’t see them. or you can try and download your 22-250 to those velocities. If you don’t care about fur just load up some vmax and shoot away. I’d tell you noslers order vmax but they are hard to find and almost double the price lately. They use to be the same money up till a few years ago. I’ve been slowly converting to vmax because of cost and always available when I need them locally. Nosler has always been my goto but have been pissing me off for the last few years with zero availability and double the price when I find them. They use to be gander mountains premiere bullet with the shelves packed along with Scheels and Cabelas, nothing but Hornadys now.
 
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