I don't dislike the V-Max bullets myself, I killed my buck last week with a 55gr 223 V-Max I just prefer the heavier construction of the Nosler if I can get them, sofar Hornady is more plentifulI did some testing of the 87 V-Max before I ever used it on a live deer.
I have shot a few deer with it since then and all were dead right there or only a couple jumps and then end.
Read here.
.243 87 gr. V-Max penetration test impressive and 165 GK HPBT!!!!
So i have this varmit bullet and will be shooting deer with it. Got some naysayers stating it will blow up on impact..HHHMMM Had shot 4 layers of cardboard box and was rewarded with 4 tiny holes.. This lead to more testing.. I shot a 55 gallon steel barrel In one side out the other no...www.okshooters.com
They are nice but not a necessity to come up with a good accurate load. I use a labradar. They are expensive but nice. Magnetospeeds are really nice as well. I dont want to sound like a comercial for either but they are miles ahead of all the other brands.
If youre not shooting long range though and dont really care about sd and es a chronograph is just a luxury item. A target at 300 and in will tell you how good your load is.
If you are shooting long range a chronograph can be a very useful tool because sd and es do play a big part. If you arent already a member of a gun club you should join one. Red Castle isnt very far from you and is a great place to shoot and learn
My buddy/gunsmith has a 1000 yard range but my old eyes & optics limit me to around 600 yards. I've shot at red castle back in the late 80's and early 90's as a young man, nice facility as I remember.
On the match kings I've always been a fan, they are probably my favorite bullet for paper punching in years past. When I worked for Thunder Ammo years ago and loaded up a ton of the Hornady match bullets for my 223 ( 68gr ) & though accurate as you could ask for the thin jackets on those match bullets left me disappointed in performance on coyotes even with the heavier weight. The killed them but sometimes not as quickly as I preferred & I assume the match kings probably use a similar construction with a j4 type jacket and soft lead core, since I'm looking for a dual purpose bullet to use the same load for deer as well as coyote I'd be afraid of it's ability to give quick humane kills on deer. I could be wrong, some say I was once but it's probably just rumor
I was very hesitant to use the V-Max this year considering it's light construction but it's all I had & I'd seen some good results from others using within boundaries so I rolled the dice & kept the range limited and the deer only went 15-20 feet though he acted like he wasn't hit until he dropped over dead
With the components being so hard to find I may not be able to be as selective as I would like however & I won't have the rifle back until mid December
Oh yeah now that's a bullet I've actually wanted to try, I'll definitely take a trip by there asap
Love the 243!
Lapua brass, varget, br primers, and berger hybrid 105gn (also like the vld and vdl same weight).
Lapua brass, varget, br primers, and berger hybrid 105gn (also like the vld and vdl same weight).
For an all around bullet (coyotes and deer), I really like the plain 87 gr Hornady spirepoint...seen several deer and coyotes killed with them, they do good work...that being said, those 90 gr NBT or 87 gr Vmax should do good too, I've used the 70 gr NBT for my 243 coyote loads too
100 grain Sierra GameKing
I haven't used one in decades but a .243 was the first high power rifle I ever owned. My fav back in the day was 105gr. They came in a yellow box is all I remember. I think they were Speer. Those were some coyote slammers
I guess from reading that post an experienced .243 man can figure out which direction I moved caliber wise. I was out of growing room so to speak and never went back.
I guess from reading that post an experienced .243 man can figure out which direction I moved caliber wise. I was out of growing room so to speak and never went back.
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