53gr Vmax in AR

R

Rock Knocker

Active member
I've been wanting to try the 53gr Vmaxs for quite some time now and I just got around to buying my first box.

I'm not too impressed with the accuracy I'm getting. This is in my 16" hunting upper with 1-4x scope, just the scope alone isn't the best scope for load testing but with very little work I've got 52gr Bergers shooting groups better than half the size of the Vmaxs. I haven't done a lot of load testing yet and I'm sure I can get them shooting better I was just wondering what other peoples experiences were before buying another box of them. I suspect the tangent ogive on the Vmax want less of a jump to the rifleing than I can fit into my Pmags.
 
Sorry, it's a 1-8" twist 16" black hole weaponry barrel. First time I have played around with a polygonal twist barrel.

All my stuff are reloads, I don't buy factory ammo anymore. I did have a 1-9" 24" barrel before that shot Fiochi 50r Vmax into a ragged hole.

I've got around 7lbs of H335 around so that's the powder I use.

If I could cut the vertical stringing in half with these 53gr Vmaxs I would be very happy. About 1 in 4 shots will be 1.5-2moa higher than the rest of the group.
 
Last edited:
Vertical usually asks for more speed. Bump the charge a bit. Black Hole barrels routinely prefer to run on the top end on speed.

Greg
 
That bullet is too explosive to be any good on coyotes. Had way better luck with 50 grain blitzking 27 grains of 8208 works well with lots of bullets in that weight range
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: steve garrettThat bullet is too explosive to be any good on coyotes. Had way better luck with 50 grain blitzking 27 grains of 8208 works well with lots of bullets in that weight range

I've heard that before and it's one of the reasons I haven't tried them up until now. The 52gr Bergers are quite explosive also but we were having good results on coyotes loading them light and they are super accurate. I wanted to see what these little boat tails would do, and I started out loading them weak also. I will bump up the charge to look for accuracy, I may take them out hunting, I may not. I've still got some of my trusted 52gr ammo loaded up and I have a pile of ammo I loaded up with 50gr Hornady SP mostly for cheap plinking ammo but I think they would be great for coyotes if I get them shooting a little more accurately also, but I have put almost no time into testing them.
 
this bullet is actually designed to work better in a faster twist barrel. My colt is a 1-7 twist & the factory Superformance ammo is just as accurate as my handloads using Hornady 68 gr BTHP Match bullets.

I've messed around with hand loading them and was able to get good accuracy with them.

I'm only shot coyotes with the factory loads & my limited experience with them is impressive, but others have reported spotty performance. It seems that they don't do so well if you hit heavier bone.
 
They shoot great in my 24" Stag with a 8 twist. I'm loading with N133. Usually puts 4 in .500 with a 5th opening the group to .6-.7. I am able to get 3300+ out of my 24".
 
I haven't used the match style bullets with an AR on coyotes. they might just works great. the sierras have ALOT thicker jackets than that pretty much anything else out there. IMO they have you covered for anything in .22 caliber. use the 50 grain softs for 22-250 speeds. use the match bullets for lesser speeds and use the blitz kings for shorter barreled AR15's the other thing is getting enough speed, IMO the data and factor loads for 223 are on the anemic side. there is kinda some experimentation finding speed and accuracy in 223. 8208 is the best powder I have used from 50-60 grain bullets. I haven't found anything else that has the speed and accuracy. 3300 fps from a 20" ar 15 is not the easiest thing to achieve with a 50 grain bullet. 8208 gets it done.

another reason I like a plastic tip for the Ar 15 is, you may do quite a bit of loading and unloading getting in and out of the truck. the soft points get banged up doing that. the 53 grain superformance has shot really well in other guns I have tried it in. its just way too explosive for coyotes. I am talking splashes on chest shots. too many finishing shots needed.
 
I loaded 53gr vmax in nosler brass, Fed AR Match primer, CFE223 and got some good groups with them out of my 20" 8 Twist ARP barrel. Think 5 was roughly 7/8" at 200yards.
 
I have worked hard to get 53gr Vmax to work in my RRA with a 18" 1 in 8" twist barrel to no avail. I have tried 748, benchmark, and CFE, at all loadings, and have just not been able to get under about .9". What has worked is flat based bullets, as in Hornady 60gr Vmax, and bulk 55gr Hornady sp soft points that both group in the .4" range, and that's about half of what I was getting with boat tail bullets. Other people seem to get the 53grn's to work though, so I am going to keep trying. Best groupings have been near max loads. One thing nice about the Hornady bulk bullets, is that they're less than 10 cents each.
 
The 68 gr BTHP Match is not a hunting bullet, it was designed for paper. I now have a hunting load for the Colt 1-7 using 55 BT's, but I did have to slow them down a bit to get decent groups. Nothing drastic but pretty much every powder I tired I found they shot best closer the the starting charge rather than the max, where the 68's generally shot best at or near the max charge when I worked up the load.

So for that rifle I have an accurate load for paper, and accurate hunting loads with both the 53gr VMax and 55gr BT now.

and keep in mind that barrels can be picky about what they like. a load that works great in my rifle may not work at all in yours, even if the twist rate matches & everything in the load is the same. you simply have to spend some range time to find out for sure.
 
Originally Posted By: muskyI have worked hard to get 53gr Vmax to work in my RRA with a 18" 1 in 8" twist barrel to no avail. I have tried 748, benchmark, and CFE, at all loadings, and have just not been able to get under about .9". What has worked is flat based bullets, as in Hornady 60gr Vmax, and bulk 55gr Hornady sp soft points that both group in the .4" range, and that's about half of what I was getting with boat tail bullets. Other people seem to get the 53grn's to work though, so I am going to keep trying. Best groupings have been near max loads. One thing nice about the Hornady bulk bullets, is that they're less than 10 cents each. Originally Posted By: muskyI have worked hard to get 53gr Vmax to work in my RRA with a 18" 1 in 8" twist barrel to no avail. I have tried 748, benchmark, and CFE, at all loadings, and have just not been able to get under about .9". What has worked is flat based bullets, as in Hornady 60gr Vmax, and bulk 55gr Hornady sp soft points that both group in the .4" range, and that's about half of what I was getting with boat tail bullets. Other people seem to get the 53grn's to work though, so I am going to keep trying. Best groupings have been near max loads. One thing nice about the Hornady bulk bullets, is that they're less than 10 cents each.

In my post. That gun is just the opposite of yours. The Hornady SP's shoot around 3/4 to 1", the 53's shoot 1/2". I was hoping it was going to shoot the SP's good for the price.
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterVertical usually asks for more speed. Bump the charge a bit. Black Hole barrels routinely prefer to run on the top end on speed.

Greg

Good info there! Might try a little hotter primer, like a CCI450 or Rem 7 1/2.
 
My 1-8 twist barrel didn't like them either. I just rebarreled to a 1-12 twist WOA barrel and I'm gonna try them again.
 
The 53 vmax has preformed best in two AR and my bolt for bulk hunting ammo I load. All three shoot inch or less with 8208 xbr. One is 1/7 twist other two are 1/8 best little bullet ever used in fast twist barrels.
 
Tried them in an 18" 1 in 8 twist Armalite Competion Rifle with 8208-XBR and CFE 223. Spews them all over the place like a shotgun pattern. The 50 grain V-Max shoots one MOA or less with the same powders. Go figure.
 
Back
Top