V-Max issues?

reloadmike78

reloadmike78

New member
Having some issues with the V-max 50gr in my 22-250. Shot a yote this morning about 150 quartering to me. Put it just inside of the point of the shoulder. Shot, thump, and then begins the death spin. Fell off behind a hill so no follow up shot. Heard him howling so left him lay and kept the caller going. 5 min later, shut off call and went to retrieve him. All I found was an area that looked like a pig had just been slaughterd. Followed blood trail but to no avail.

Another dog about same distance a few weeks ago, in a calling contest same deal, but no blood. Did the back flip, death spin and then ran off.

I don't know what the deal is. I am stumped. Too fast? Too close?

Any ideas or similar issues? Please advise.

Thanks,

Reload
 
Sounds like its not penetrating deep enough. Swap to the nosler balistic tip in 50gr. I usually get quarter sized exit holes but at least I know Im getting penetration too.
I run them as fast as I can from my 22-243's with great luck.
 
It sounds to me like you're not getting any penetration, just making large surface wounds. I would switch to a lead tipped bullet. My favorite big critter bullet is the Sierra 63 grain semi point. I use the plastic tip bullets on whistle pigs and crows.
 
I would try a some bergers or another hollow point or move up to a little heavier bullet. Sounds like you are getting what people call splashes makes a nice sized crater in the yote but does not drop them in there tracks. RP
 
That 50 grain V-Max will splash if pushed at 22-250 velocities from my experience.

The Ballistic Tip Noslers are a more sturdy bullet, like Outlaw said.
If you need speed, you may have to go to a stronger bullet.

Barry
 
sounds like ya need to break out the rubber gloves & go inside to see whats happening (or not)...another bullet to consider is the speer 50grn TNT...
 
I had the same problem with the 32 gr V-max. Great for prairie dogs, poor choice for coyotes. Try a Berger 35-40gr, or a 40gr Nosler, they are my favorite, so far.
 
just my 2 cents but why do people need to try to push extremely
frangible projectiles at shworts speed! and then complain when they make less then perfect shot with them or hit bone and the bullets don't magically turn into a Fmj or a copper solid
I am not trying to start anything ...I am just offering my2 Cents I am willing to wait for a broadside or to take a center
mass chest shot or a head shot! .....I have used 55gr V-Max
for many different things some a lot smaller and some very much larger then a coyote,I also push them between 3000-3600
fps and have not had any trouble with them!

I would say that if you slow them down or keep them off the bone or...use a heaver bullet like a 55gr or 60gr v-max
or switch to a heaver bullet construction you would be a lot happier with them ....thanks for listening to me vent
 
Originally Posted By: reloadmike78Having some issues with the V-max 50gr in my 22-250. Shot a yote this morning about 150 quartering to me. Put it just inside of the point of the shoulder. Shot, thump, and then begins the death spin. Fell off behind a hill so no follow up shot. Heard him howling so left him lay and kept the caller going. 5 min later, shut off call and went to retrieve him. All I found was an area that looked like a pig had just been slaughterd. Followed blood trail but to no avail.

Another dog about same distance a few weeks ago, in a calling contest same deal, but no blood. Did the back flip, death spin and then ran off.

I don't know what the deal is. I am stumped. Too fast? Too close?

Any ideas or similar issues? Please advise.

Thanks,

Reload

Here is my take on it. You state you have shot two coyotes with (fill in the blank) bullets but unfortunatly you didn't recover either one. If you were not able to find either one of the coyotes to actually observe them up close, how do you know for certain that it was nothing more than a bad hit? Hey it happens. A gut shot coyote will spin. It will bleed like your slaughtered pig description. It will run off.


Just something else to think about.
 
Originally Posted By: Jonathanjust my 2 cents but why do people need to try to push extremely
frangible projectiles at shworts speed! and then complain when they make less then perfect shot with them or hit bone and the bullets don't magically turn into a Fmj or a copper solid
I am not trying to start anything ...I am just offering my2 Cents I am willing to wait for a broadside or to take a center
mass chest shot or a head shot! .....I have used 55gr V-Max
for many different things some a lot smaller and some very much larger then a coyote,I also push them between 3000-3600
fps and have not had any trouble with them!

I would say that if you slow them down or keep them off the bone or...use a heaver bullet like a 55gr or 60gr v-max
or switch to a heaver bullet construction you would be a lot happier with them ....thanks for listening to me vent

I like speed/fast bullets because coyotes are always on the move. the faster the bullet gets there, the less time the coyote has to move and not very far if they do. In most instances, I can see the bullet strike the coyote before the recoil from the rifle knocks my eye out of the scope. The higher speed reduces bullet drop so a 50gr nosler going 4200fps and a rifle sighted in at 300yds is good to go for everything from 10feet to 350yds without having to use kentucky windage or elivation adjustments.
A bullet going 4200fps hitting a coyote in the belly still drops the coyote like they were hit by a hammer, that cant be said about the same bullet going slower. Mr Weatherby agrees that velocity kills too.
Now, Why do you use V-Max bullets? Have you ever noticed the difference in copper between V-Max and any other quality bullet? One experiment Ive tried and I chalenge you to do the same is...... Shoot 30 "Hornaday" bullets through your rifle and then clean it. Save the patches that you used to clean the barrel until its spotless and no more copper. Now shoot 30 noslers, or speers or sierra bullets through the same rifle and clean again. Now compare the amout of patches it takes to clean the rifle again. Obviously Hornaday is using a different copper mix. Their copper is too soft for coyote hunting in my opinion..... unless you go to a larger slower bullet in the same caliber. Hence the reason you prefer the 55-60gr bullets at slower velocities. The other brand bullets (depending on design) seem to hold together better even at higher velocities.
 
My son had the same issues with the 50grn V-Max out of his .22-250. Last season he had 3 Coyotes that had the side of the them tore open when bullets hitting on an angle just blew apart and "splashed" with out penetrating. I liked them out of my .219 Zipper at 3000-3200fps but not at 3700fps+ out of the .22-250. I've had much better luck all around with 55grn bullets from various makers. I know plenty of guys out there shoot lighter bullets faster and do well but I'm just stating from my own experiences that in 25yrs of hunting I've never had one critter get away because of what I thought was the bullets fault when shooting the heavier 55grn bullets. Currently I'm shooting 55grn Sierra BlitzKings and have had no performance problems with them. I used to always shooting the Sierra 55grn PSP but figured I'd try some "new" style bullets for something different.

Good shootin'
Tim
 
Out of the 30 or so coyotes I've shot with my .22-250 and 50gr V-maxs I've never had an issue. That being said, most are at extended range (over 200 yards, sometimes way over) and I also start mine pretty slow for a .22-250 at around 3600fps.

CB
 
Originally Posted By: Outlawkyote

I like speed/fast bullets because coyotes are always on the move. the faster the bullet gets there, the less time the coyote has to move and not very far if they do. In most instances, I can see the bullet strike the coyote before the recoil from the rifle knocks my eye out of the scope. The higher speed reduces bullet drop so a 50gr nosler going 4200fps and a rifle sighted in at 300yds is good to go for everything from 10feet to 350yds without having to use kentucky windage or elivation adjustments.
A bullet going 4200fps hitting a coyote in the belly still drops the coyote like they were hit by a hammer, that cant be said about the same bullet going slower. Mr Weatherby agrees that velocity kills too.
Now, Why do you use V-Max bullets? Have you ever noticed the difference in copper between V-Max and any other quality bullet? One experiment Ive tried and I chalenge you to do the same is...... Shoot 30 "Hornaday" bullets through your rifle and then clean it. Save the patches that you used to clean the barrel until its spotless and no more copper. Now shoot 30 noslers, or speers or sierra bullets through the same rifle and clean again. Now compare the amout of patches it takes to clean the rifle again. Obviously Hornaday is using a different copper mix. Their copper is too soft for coyote hunting in my opinion..... unless you go to a larger slower bullet in the same caliber. Hence the reason you prefer the 55-60gr bullets at slower velocities. The other brand bullets (depending on design) seem to hold together better even at higher velocities.

Hmmm here is some data to mull:

First 4200fps for 50gr pill out of 22-250 is pretty "optomistic" in all aspects.. The highest velocity for a 50gr pill at the Hodgdon Website will give you around 3700fps, so lets be agressive and go with 3800fps for our test and use a BC of .242 and a sight in distance of 250 yards with a scope height of 1.8". This gives us the following trajectory:

50gr starting out at 3800fps
Distance 100 200 300 400
========================================================================
Drop (inches) +1.2 +1.3 -2.4 -10.6
Velocity (fps) 3416 3065 2741 2439
Time of Flight (s) .084 .177 .281 .398



55gr starting out at 3650fps (Hodgdon Website)
Distance 100 200 300 400
========================================================================
Drop (inches) +1.4 +1.4 -2.6 (.2" diff) -11.4 (1" diff)
Velocity (fps) 3293 2965 2660 2375
Time of Flight (s) .091 .192 (+.015s) .305 (+.024s) .431 ( +.033s)


So based on some of your reasoning, your only gaining .033s in terms of TOF to the target at 400 yards....


And your statement: "A bullet going 4200fps hitting a coyote in the belly still drops the coyote like they were hit by a hammer, that cant be said about the same bullet going slower."

Well, I believe the auther has proven that completely wrong..
smile.gif

 
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Thats why I said Im using a 22-243middlested, not a 22-250rem. Heres my data

100yds = +1.35" TOF= .076
200yds= +2.23" TOF= .160
300yds= 0 TOF= .255
350yds= -2.51
400yds= -6.15 TOF= .362

Ive hit a few running coyotes in the belly and they did nose dives. They do cirrcles bitting at themselves when I belly shoot them with the 223.
 
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I've had the same problem with the 50 gr. v-Max blowing up at the entry. I shot a coyote with my 222 at 60 yards in the head and it took all the skin off that side of the head and just knocked him cold but not dead. I've stuck with them because the gun loves them and for the most part they work great. You just can't shoot them in the shoulder of head.
 
Thanks gang for all of the replies. Most of what I am reading is exactly whatI thought had happened, just wanted to see what others experiences were on the matter.

dogging yotes, While that is certainly possible as it is in any situation in the wild, I know both shots were placed exactly where I wanted them to go. That is why I asked about the bullet failure and not a failure on my part as a shooter.

Once again, thank you all very much for your input and I wish you all good hunting and a Very Merry Christmas.

Reload
 
Coyotes are the toughest critters I've ever shot... they can absorb a serious beating and keep right on running. I know this is blasphemous... but the plastic tipped .22 centerfire rounds have always left me a little underwhelmed. I've seen well over 100 coyotes shot with the .22-250 and the Swift running 50 & 55 grains Vmax, NBT, and Blitzkings... about 10% end up running a significant distance. We stepped up to the 6mms (.243 & 6 Rem)... and in the couple hundred dogs since, I can count on one hand the number of runners we've had after taking a 55 or 87.

I'm convinced that runners are just a fact of life when shooting coyotes with the .22 centerfires... any of them.
 
We hunted Mexico for years, shot 22/250's often. A runner was somehthing that happened once every three years or so.

We used the Sierra 55g flat base lead tip spt.

The trend these days is that if you are not using a poly tip bullet, you are missing out on the latest and greatest.

Truth is that the 50g Sierra Sp, the 55g Sierra Spt, and the Sierra 55g BTHP are three of the very best yote bullets in a 22 caliber, penetration is the key.
 
I shot the 50 v-max out of my 22-250AI at a little over 3900 and have only had one dog not die where I hit it and I hit it in the shoulder when it was runnig in but it didnt get up. Had to shoot it one more time to finish it but form what I have seen on the last 10 dogs that I have killed with it they do great. The last two dogs that I shot was a neck shot at 100yds fell over died. The other was a running shot hit it behind the ribs in the back bone and it almost cut it in half. Not what I want to skin but not the bullets fault. I use the 22-250AI to save the pelt and the 243 when I dont want to save them.
 
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