87 Vmax vs. 85 Gameking

easy_money

easy_money

New member
What are your general feelings about these two bullets in regards to:

Accuracy? short and long range:

Performance? on coyotes:

Anything else you can think of?

I've noticed the 87 Vmax's have two distinct lenghts. One is .007" longer than the other. Do I need to sort these apart to get the best accuracy results. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

I'm trying to work up a coyote,steel plate,400-500 yard load in a .243 Tikka T3 Stainless. Your experience and insight is greatly appreciated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
IMO the Vmax is better, especially at the longer ranges. I've shot the 87 on a few coyotes and none have them even wagged their tails. They are very accurate in my rifle. I noticed mine are different lengths too, but never sorted and haven't noticed.
 
I really like the 87 vmax... it hits hard, even at extended ranges. I've also noticed what Verminator pointed out... stuff goes down... and stays there. I wouldn't go looking for a deer with one... but I wouldn't be shy if I needed to shoot a buck and that's what I had on-hand. If deer are on the menu, and you don't want to shoot different loads, I'd just step up and shoot the 90 or 95 grain Ballistic Tip... or the 85 TSX.
 
The V-Max is a better long range bullet for coyotes and targets. The V-Max is considerably more fragile than the GK bullet. I've shot coyotes with it and it knocks them dead, but it can be a mess because of the fragility of its construction if bone is hit.

The .243 85 gr. HPBT GameKing is a honey of a do it all bullet for predators, antelope, deer, ect. The HPBT GK is a tougher bullet than you might think. This fall I have taken two whitetails, two coyotes, and a bobcat with the 85 gr. HPBT GK from a handloaded .243 rifle. This bullet is consistently accurate in a variety of rifles and very terminal on all sorts of critters.
 
I just got a .243 this last summer and have used it this calling season. I'm currently loading the 85 grain Sierra game king over 38.5gr of varget. The load is very accurate, flat shooting and hits coyotes very hard. I've killed over a dozen this calling season and have mixed results. The farthest I've shot was 347 via the nikon range finder, and the closest was this last weekend at 17 steps. In fact the last three that I've shot have been inside 50 yards, and it made a mess of all three of them. All very dead at the shot, but if your interested in pics let alone the fur, it takes some creativity to make them presentable. Those that I shot out past 100 yards had much less damage, with exit ranging from the size of a quarter to golf ball size.
 
It's actually a 85 grain bullet called and Interbond. I have asked here if anyone has experience with that bullet but it just doesn't seem to be very popular or that well known.
 
Thanks guys, That's great information!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Lot's of positive reasons for both bullets. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Later, Easy

P.S. I opened up a new box of 87 Vmax's last night. I checked about 30 of them for lenght and they were all very close to the same lenght. The first box I had must have been an oddball.
 
The reason that they have different lengths is that there are different presses set up running the bullets. Each set of dies will be slightly different than the other one.

They could be set up in two different lots, but that takes more handling, which drives up cost.
 
Getting ready to load some 87gr v-maxes for the 6-06. So far it is the most accurate bullet I've shot through it.

I switch to 85gr XLC's for deer.

As someone said ealier, the 85gr Sierra HPBT would be a good all-arounder........
 
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