# 53 gr Hornady V max



## jk3hunter

Does anybody have any experience with this bullet and the 223 rem? From what I've read it really performs well and the BC is really high!! They say it outperforms the 50 and 55 gr v max.


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## barebackjack

For?

Prairie dogs? Coyotes?

The v-max's dont always work so hot on coyotes until you start getting into the larger sizes and weights (like some of the 6mm offerings).

The .22 cal v-maxs are largely designed to vaporize prairie dog sized critters (which they do well), but a trait thats not terribly desirable for coyote sized critters. They have no base and are extremely thin jacketed, which usually means complete breakup upon impact and makes for lots of small pieces that dont penetrate well into the good stuff on something coyote sized. Commonly called "surface splash".

The Nosler ballistic tips (my go-to bullet for coyotes in a .22-250) is a much more substantial bullet with an honest copper base and a thicker jacket. Less explosive on prairie dogs, better penetration on coyotes.


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## Plainsman

BBJ I completely agree and have had the same experiences.

I don't see the 223 as a long range coyote rifle so for lower costs I have gone back to the old 55 gr soft point. If you look around and are willing to purchase in lots of 4000 or more you can get the price to around $8 per 100. When shooting them out of my 16 inch AR15 the trajectory is about the same to 300 yards, four or five inches low at 400 yards and about a foot lower at 500 yards. Because my velocity is reduced to 3000 fps with the short barrel I normally restrict my shots to 300 yards. I did dump a coyote in the Badlands this fall at 446 yards, but nine times out of ten I would have passed on that shot.

I call with a 223, but I don't pass up coyotes while driving from one place to another either. I normally have a heavy barrel 308 or something along when I head out for a day.


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## jk3hunter

Thanks for the info guys but it doesnt answer my question. I have used the 50 gr v max for years with good luck on everything from coyotes to p dogs, but with the higher BC of the 53 can only help. I guess I should have specified my question to say how is the accuracy of this bullet, also how is the accuracy at say 300 yards. Looking for anybody who has used this exact bullet. Hornady claims performance close to a conventional 22-250. I take this with a grain of salt but still.


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## Plainsman

Sounds like I need to look into it also. It would be nice if it had a little stronger construction.


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## xdeano

53g vmax bc .290
50g vmax bc .242
50g nbt bc .238
55g nbt bc .267

All that aside, they all weigh basically the same so your muzzle velocity is going to be roughly the same. So I punched it into a program quick with the 53g vmax and the 50g NBT at 3000fps muzzle velocity and they came up with 13.5" at 300 with the 53g and 14.37" with the 50g NBT. So you're looking at an inch difference at 300, and about 3.5" at 400yds. Not that big of a savings if you ask me. Now if you're looking at a foot then yeah it'll help. It sounds like a gimmick to sell more bullets if you ask me. People like looking at numbers it makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but once the numbers shake out it rests solely on the rifle and weather it shoots, your actual drop table may be totally different then what those fuzzy little numbers will give you. I say give them a whirl, if they shot they shoot. if you've got a load already worked up for the 50 vmax, just load them on top of your existing powder charge, they'll be pretty close, but i wouldn't expect much better results.

xdeano


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## barebackjack

Not to mention too, most of the "big box" bullet companies advertised BC's are more like "rough approximations". :wink:

Clever marketing indeed.


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## jk3hunter

When i typed it into a ballistics calculator it looked like it improved wind drift a decent amount though and especially with the size of a coyotes vitals 2 inches could make a difference


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## Fallguy

I am really happy with the results of my 50 Grain V Max load with my 223. I haven't lost a coyote yet. Of course I have had to listen to one of the forum members here say that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes, but whatever. It does the job for my calling purposes. If you do try out the 53 V Max and have some luck I would like to hear how it works.

What is your rifle in the 223? I shoot a Weatherby Vanguard, which I think is a fine rifle. I suppose that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes though either. oke:


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## jk3hunter

Fallguy, I shoot the exact same load you do, a 50 gr V max, and I get wonderful performance with it I started this thread as mainly a curiousity thing, because that bullet is specifically made to maximize the 223s potential. Its worth a shot I guess, no pun intended. My rifle is a DPMS bull 20 ar15. Love the thing.


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## Plainsman

jk3hunter, I had very good accuracy and the 50 gr V Max was good out of my 20 inch DPMS. I think I lost about 200 fps going to the 16 inch. Like always they mushroom like crazy, but the lower speed doesn't drive a deep enough wound channel. You can have a wide wound channel, or a long wound channel, but with lowered velocity you can't drive that wide wound channel very deep. It's a trade off with width or depth of wound channel. It's a different story with the 22-250. Often when it isn't deep with the 22-250 it's still so devastating they go down.

I tried to increase my velocity by changing from H335 to Hodgdon Benchrest. The book told me I would gain 100 ft. I thought I had, but when temperatures when down it looked the same. So I had to chronograph both again. Not much difference in 30015 and 2996 fps. The 55 gr are doing 2985 fps, and at the price of those soft nose I think I will be shooting them for a while. I wish I had a 1 in 8 twist so it would like the heavy bullets more. You loose less of a percentage of your velocity in short barrels when using heavy bullets.

The old 20 bull was very accurate although the 16 will group 1/2 inch at 100.

Here is a couple of pics of each.


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## barebackjack

Fallguy said:


> I am really happy with the results of my 50 Grain V Max load with my 223. I haven't lost a coyote yet. Of course I have had to listen to one of the forum members here say that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes, but whatever. It does the job for my calling purposes. If you do try out the 53 V Max and have some luck I would like to hear how it works.
> 
> What is your rifle in the 223? I shoot a Weatherby Vanguard, which I think is a fine rifle. I suppose that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes though either. oke:


Make that two forum members that say its because you dont shoot enough coyotes. :wink:


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## bearhunter

three (3) oke: way to much :run: and not enough :sniper: .


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## barebackjack

Plainsman said:


> Not much difference in 30015 and 2996 fps.


Just caught this. Id say theres quite a big difference between 30015 and 2996 fps. :lol:


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## bearhunter

good catch :thumb:


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## jk3hunter

Plainsman, thank you for the information on what you have found. I use Varget powder because your velocity doesnt change with the temperature as you already know, but I may consider switching to XBR because it uses less powder with more velocity and is also insensitive to temperature. The two yotes I shot with my 50 Gr went down in their tracks at a hundred but i'm thinking they would be effective to at least three but I'll have to do further testing to find out


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## Decoyin Drake

Try loading the 53 gr with hodgens new superformance powder. Shoots very well to 300 as we dont have much opportunities beyond that. The new bullet is not a ploy to sell more bullets as its "in the right gun" a niche that can perforn exceptionally well. Reloaded to 3465 fps. A 200 yd zero yields about 5" in @ 300 yds and over 700 ft/lbs of energy. It kills coyotes well to those ranges as i just returned from a Nebraska hunt.


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## Sask hunter

One more thing to remember is you want a good reliable bullet that will reach the vitals because coyotes are tuff. Today my brother shot one with a 30-06 using 150 gr hornady interlok (sorry don't know the speed) and gut shot a coyote at about 300 yrds. He shot the coyote standing on trail from the main gravel road. So after he shot the coyote he dropped and I ran out there to get it. Now with all the snow we got dad drove to the start of the trail to see if he could make it down. While it turns out the coyote was up and running away even after being hit with a 30-06. Thankfully they were able to hit him again and he was done for that time. Now the weird thing was is he turned out to have mange and looked to weigh about 10 lbs but some how even in his weakened conditions he could still survive that shot.


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## JonnyVance

I started shooting the 50 grain V-max with Hodgdon H335 26 gr. out of my DPMS AR-15 5.56 with a 16" barrel and although I don't get out much for coyotes the first time I saw this bullet perform on a coyote I never needed to wonder. I think it did to well because it literally blew up the coyote. But I don't really care about pelts so I would shoot coyotes with a .50 cal if I had one. The V-max bullets work very well for coyotes and smaller critters. Also, there was no "surface splash" on this coyote and you cant really even compare a .223 to a 22-250 but that is a whole different debate.



barebackjack said:


> For?
> 
> Prairie dogs? Coyotes?
> 
> The v-max's dont always work so hot on coyotes until you start getting into the larger sizes and weights (like some of the 6mm offerings).
> 
> The .22 cal v-maxs are largely designed to vaporize prairie dog sized critters (which they do well), but a trait thats not terribly desirable for coyote sized critters. They have no base and are extremely thin jacketed, which usually means complete breakup upon impact and makes for lots of small pieces that dont penetrate well into the good stuff on something coyote sized. Commonly called "surface splash".
> 
> The Nosler ballistic tips (my go-to bullet for coyotes in a .22-250) is a much more substantial bullet with an honest copper base and a thicker jacket. Less explosive on prairie dogs, better penetration on coyotes.


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## Plainsman

barebackjack said:


> Plainsman said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not much difference in 30015 and 2996 fps.
> 
> 
> 
> Just caught this. Id say theres quite a big difference between 30015 and 2996 fps. :lol:
Click to expand...

I guess I'm not a very good proof reader. I read that twice before I noticed what you were talking about. You wouldn't have to lead much at 30015 fps would you? I'll have to watch that finger ssssss stutttter.



> FROM THE MOUTH OF A CHILD...YOU NEVER KNOW.
> 
> A teacher is explaining biology to her 3rd grade students. She says, "Human
> beings are the only animals that stutter." A little girl raises her hand saying,
> "I had a kitty-cat who stuttered."
> 
> The teacher, knowing how precious some of these stories could become,
> asked the girl to describe the incident. "Well,'' she began, "I was in the back
> yard with my kitty and the Rottweiler that lives next door got a running start
> and before we knew it, he jumped over the fence into our yard!"
> 
> The teacher exclaimed, "That must've been scary,"
> The little girl said, "It sure was. My kitty raised her back, went
> 'Sssss, Sssss, Sssss' and before she could say '$hit,' the Rottweiler ate her!"
> The teacher had to leave the room.


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## Fallguy

barebackjack said:


> Fallguy said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am really happy with the results of my 50 Grain V Max load with my 223. I haven't lost a coyote yet. Of course I have had to listen to one of the forum members here say that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes, but whatever. It does the job for my calling purposes. If you do try out the 53 V Max and have some luck I would like to hear how it works.
> 
> What is your rifle in the 223? I shoot a Weatherby Vanguard, which I think is a fine rifle. I suppose that is because I don't shoot enough coyotes though either. oke:
> 
> 
> 
> Make that two forum members that say its because you dont shoot enough coyotes. :wink:
Click to expand...

Birds of a feather flock together!


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## barebackjack

JonnyVance said:


> I started shooting the 50 grain V-max with Hodgdon H335 26 gr. out of my DPMS AR-15 5.56 with a 16" barrel and although I don't get out much for coyotes the first time I saw this bullet perform on a coyote I never needed to wonder. I think it did to well because it literally blew up the coyote. But I don't really care about pelts so I would shoot coyotes with a .50 cal if I had one. The V-max bullets work very well for coyotes and smaller critters. Also, there was no "surface splash" on this coyote and you cant really even compare a .223 to a 22-250 but that is a whole different debate.
> 
> 
> 
> barebackjack said:
> 
> 
> 
> For?
> 
> Prairie dogs? Coyotes?
> 
> The v-max's dont always work so hot on coyotes until you start getting into the larger sizes and weights (like some of the 6mm offerings).
> 
> The .22 cal v-maxs are largely designed to vaporize prairie dog sized critters (which they do well), but a trait thats not terribly desirable for coyote sized critters. They have no base and are extremely thin jacketed, which usually means complete breakup upon impact and makes for lots of small pieces that dont penetrate well into the good stuff on something coyote sized. Commonly called "surface splash".
> 
> The Nosler ballistic tips (my go-to bullet for coyotes in a .22-250) is a much more substantial bullet with an honest copper base and a thicker jacket. Less explosive on prairie dogs, better penetration on coyotes.
Click to expand...

Congrats, but one coyote is hardly a good barometer.

Shoot a few dozen, than come back with an honest reply on the v-max performance on coyotes.

Ive shot a few with both, and there are much better choices out there for coyotes when it comes to 50ish grain .22 cal bullets. Nothing against v-max, they're a great varmint bullet (coyotes arent varmints, p-dogs, ground squirrels, and woodchucks are varmints), just not a great coyote bullet.

Now the 6mm 87 grain v-max lays coyotes out, but quite a bit more material there than in the 50's.


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## airforcehobit

had real issues with the v-max round in 243 (58gr) and 223(52gr) I am still shooting the 223 round because like you said you need a couple dozen dogs to make a good judgement so far I shot 6 with the 52 gr superformanace and they exited big as hell and the dogs still ran 20 yards or so before rolling. all were shot from 20 ft to 255 yrds big holes in everyone but one


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## barebackjack

airforcehobit said:


> had real issues with the v-max round in 243 (58gr) and 223(52gr) I am still shooting the 223 round because like you said you need a couple dozen dogs to make a good judgement so far I shot 6 with the 52 gr superformanace and they exited big as hell and the dogs still ran 20 yards or so before rolling. all were shot from 20 ft to 255 yrds big holes in everyone but one


Look out man, you cant be questioning the supremacy of vmax bullets!

Yeah, I firmly believe v-maxes are as popular as they are simply because of a high amount of advertising and marketing (rarely see Sierra bullet ads, Nosler commercials/ads, and never see Berger advertising).

And, most guys shoot a coyote or two a year and call it good. And the few they shoot, they dont pay much attention to what the bullet does or didnt do, likely because they still have "coyote fever" and are just jacked to have shot one.

After blowing every coyote killed with the 87 grain v-maxs in the .243 to holy hell (which admittedly isnt many), im ready to try something new. 90 grain Bergers here I come.


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## airforcehobit

UI had shot of luck with the nosler v 55 in 243. I did blow to bits but more often then not I would find the heavy base section barried in the far sholder or a quarter size exit. Plus hornady is full of craps with their bc and speed reading. I graphed that new super crap I got 3644 from a 22 barrel. Federal55 smoked in at a nice even 3850. Plus they seat the rounds out for a shorter jump to the lands. :x :x


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