53 grain vamx effectiveness?

[Muzzy100]

Does anybody have any extended ballistic perfomance experience with the .224 53 grain vmaxs? Reason i ask is i have recently started loading them in .223/556 they have a way higher BC than any thing in that weight range. I am getting great accuracy out of them even at 400-500 yards. Shot about 350 on prarie dogs and was very pleased. However, i hunt a lot of varmit tournaments and wondering if they will get the job done on bigger critters. So far i have shot two yotes and 1 pig all inside 100 with them and it put them down. But all were perfect heart/lung shots. What concerned me is nothing passed through even at close range and there was little to no blood. Any body killed a lot of yotes with them if so distances? How do they do on marginal shots ext.. worried they may be to explosive. But dang they fly straight

[okrattler]

I've shot coyotes with 50 grain v-max and I had good luck with them except on marginal hits. I've shot coyotes with 40,50,52,53 and 55 grain bullets of different types and brands in .223 and it's pretty much the same story for them all. My brother shoots 60 grain Sierra Varminter HP's and they're lethal. My favorite bullet is a Hornady 52gr. BTHP.

Those bullets will work fine but with anything .223 if they're running and you hit them,put another one in them. They'll stop long enough to do that. I've made the mistake of assuming a coyote was dead or dying only to have it get up and run after shooting them with a .223. I shoot until they're not moving. I've been down that road too many times.

[Muzzy100]

Yea i was kinda worried about an unintentional marginal shot

[bowhunter2989]

Can’t give you terminal info but I finally found a good .5-.75 moa load for my 22-250 using them. I haven’t had a chance to shoot anything with them yet though.

[Muzzy100]

Yea i am getting .5 moa as well thats why i really like them so far

[westtexducks]

Sounds to me like they are doing exactly what a varmint bullet is supposed to do. Go in a couple inches and explode. I have been shooting a vmax out of my .204 for a few years now and haven’t had any issues on coyotes or smaller sizes game with them. Mostly bang flops or only run a little before dying. If you want a pass through which I hate for a coyote gun will need to get a bullet designed for medium sizes game not varmints.


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[Muzzy100]

Yea, I agree i am getting common varmit ammo results. Just wanna know how a bone or marginal shot may play out on a yote.

[okrattler]

Out of any bullet I've shot a coyote with running straight away from me using a .223, I can't say I've ever had but maybe two or three that died without needing a follow up shot. That's not including coyotes I hit in the back of the head. Two I can think of were shot with 55gr. Sierra Blitzking and were hit in the middle of the back (spine) and the other was a coyote I hit with a Hornady 52gr. BTHP. Which also hit it in the back. When you're making shots like that there's a lot of intestines,stomach and whatnot to get through to hit anything vital. It's hard to get a one shot kill even with a 22-250 shooting them running straight away because you're most likely gonna hit guts or break a hip bone. Unless you hit them right in the back of the head.

A lot of times they'll drop then they'll get up and start turning around in circles when that happens if you don't get a headshot. That's normally enough time to get a better shot on them. I hit one with a 55gr. Softpoint last Winter and dropped him. He got on his feet and took off and fell just as I was about to squeeze the trigger. He fell on the other side of a small hill and I never saw him get up but apparently he did because all I ended up finding was a blood spot and a patch of fur where he was standing when I hit him. I hit him right in the shoulder and got a surface splash. If you can stay off the shoulder and make quick follow up shots if need be you'll do ok. Those V-Max have been known to do that too. I hit one in the head one time with a 50gr. V-Max and it blew up on its teeth. They're pretty thin jacketed bullets so bone ain't the best thing for them. I've hit coyotes in the shoulder with Hornady 52 and 53 grain BTHP's and knocked a dime sized hole on the other side so if you shoot some coyotes and end up not liking the performance you're getting out of the V-Max you might try some of those.

[Muzzy100]

Update: i have since killed 3 more coyotes with the 53vmaxs. One exited at 150 broadside behind the shoulder with a dime size exit, no big holes bang flop. The other was behind the shoulder same distance no exit or severe hide damage bang flop. Last one was facing me chest shot not quite centered, it was a bang flop but ended up requiring a follow up. No exit or real hide damage. Nothing has bleed externally a lot at all. However, all have dropped on impact. Its looking like they will work just fine.

[djs303]

Vmax bullets are designed for hunting predators and I would be more worried about bullet failure at very close than at a distance. According to info I have read on them, they will have explosive expansion even at velocities around 1600 fps.

[BLACKFINTURKEY]

That’s just about all I load for 233 they fly great and knock um down. I’ve shot hogs and deer with them usually it’s just a bang flop. I push them really hard with a full case of varget. I’m at about 3000fps out of a 16” barrel

[texag93]

I have killed hundreds of coyotes with 53 and 55gr Vmax out of my 223 and 22-250. If you hit them in the vitals, they will go down. Most of my shots were 25-100yds.

[Raypo]

I shot an axis with one a few years back and the bullet hit perfectly on the mark. I had a tough time finding the deer and went several hundred yards. After recovering the animal the bullet did as designed, as it intended for small game. After examining the cavity and superficial wound, I noticed the only reason the deer died was the bone shrapnel tore up the vitals. The bullet never went more than 2-3 inches.

[DirtyDave]

Doesn't get much better than a V-max on coyotes.

A marginal shot is a marginal shot though. Don't care what bullet you use.

[MLAH]

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