A-Max for coyotes?

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N Wolf

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I just loaded up a bunch of 52gr a max bullets for my .223. I was wondering if anybody knows how they do as far as terminal performance. They shoot great but I would rather not put baseball sized holes in them if I can help it.
 
They will perform like the 50gr Vmax. Some shots they will not exit and some shots they will leave a mess. Keep off the edges and heavy bone and you should have good results.
 
52g Sierra BTHP, 53g Sierra HP, 50g Sierra Sp, ALL sierra 55g bullet weights work especially well on coyotes including shooting through shoulders and hip joints, they also do not blow up on the spine.

If you are stuck on a 55g poly tip bullet, the 55g Nosler ballistic tip is a whale of a bullet on coyotes.

I did a lot of bullet testing on Mexican Coyotes in a 22/250, only bullet I had trouble with was a 52g Speer hp at 3800, they blew up on the shoulders an ribs. Even the Sierra 45g High Velocity Sp worked extremely well on coyotes out of a 22/250.

I personally choose a bullet of tougher construction due to the fact that quartering shots demand a bullet of tougher construction. The 55g Hornady Sp with the cannalure is a very accurate bullet and much tougher than it's poly tip counter parts.

Bottom line, stuff is not hard to kill, you just have to hit them in the right place.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleyman52g Sierra BTHP, 53g Sierra HP, 50g Sierra Sp, ALL sierra 55g bullet weights work especially well on coyotes including shooting through shoulders and hip joints, they also do not blow up on the spine.

If you are stuck on a 55g poly tip bullet, the 55g Nosler ballistic tip is a whale of a bullet on coyotes.

I did a lot of bullet testing on Mexican Coyotes in a 22/250, only bullet I had trouble with was a 52g Speer hp at 3800, they blew up on the shoulders an ribs. Even the Sierra 45g High Velocity Sp worked extremely well on coyotes out of a 22/250.

I personally choose a bullet of tougher construction due to the fact that quartering shots demand a bullet of tougher construction. The 55g Hornady Sp with the cannalure is a very accurate bullet and much tougher than it's poly tip counter parts.

Bottom line, stuff is not hard to kill, you just have to hit them in the right place.

Although I may not have the bullet testing experience as ackleyman I agree with what he is saying. My experience with those bullets mirror what he described.
 
Sierra makes several bthp bullets. Wich one? I have some game kings. I have no match kings for the .223 becouse I found them to be to unpredictable out of my .300 win mag. Most passed clean through, some made coyote goo. I want something reliable.
 
I would go with the 55gr GameKing, myself. It is not a BTHP, but a boat tail spitzer.

My box says number 1365......
 
Originally Posted By: N WolfSierra makes several bthp bullets. Wich one? I have some game kings. I have no match kings for the .223 becouse I found them to be to unpredictable out of my .300 win mag. Most passed clean through, some made coyote goo. I want something reliable.


Hey N Wolf, don't read anything into what I'm about to say.....I don't know how to word it any differently and it may sound "Prickish", but I'm not trying to be brother.

But wouldn't that be true of just about any projectile fired from a .300WM on a coyote? I don't have the experience of the larger coyotes you have in your AO, but here in Texas when I shoot our coyotes with my .308 (regardless of projectile) it can make a mess depending on whether I hit bone or not. Hit bone=Explosion, No Bone=Virtual pass through. My .308 would be doing REAL good to acheive 90% of the velocity your producing in your WM. I've tried a lot of different projectiles in my .308 and all were more or less the same except the 110gr V-Max, and that went "CRITICAL" regardless of bone or not.

I used 52gr SMK's in my .223's almost exclusively for about 3 years and was absolutely amazed at what that projectile did. Averaged probably 10 coyotes a year and can't for the life of me remember a single exit, and this is on shots ranging from 40yds to 275yds.

I'm like you though, I've got some 52gr A-Max's already screwed together for next year and can't wait to see what happens.


Hope ya ain't too mad at me
Chupa
 
Originally Posted By: N WolfSierra makes several bthp bullets. Wich one? I have some game kings. I have no match kings for the .223 becouse I found them to be to unpredictable out of my .300 win mag. Most passed clean through, some made coyote goo. I want something reliable.

Sierra makes several Gamekings in .224. The 55gr BTHP #1390 and 55gr SBT #1365 are both great performers. I have been shooting the 65gr SBT Gameking #1395 out of my 223AI the past two years and am really enjoying the predictable results. I have shot just over two dozen(it has been a slow couple of years) and all of them have been bang flop with a quarter sized exit. Ranges from 20 to 400+ yards with most of them being in the sub 100 range. Your rifle will tell you what it likes. I have a lot of experience with the 52gr matchking and usually the bullet did not exit. If you hit on the edges or encounter heavy bone they can make a mess but that is true of all bullets I have tried.
 
I have only used the 52 A-Max one time on a coyote, hit her straight on, right by the shoulder, the bullet exited out the rib's. She went about 30 yds and was still alive, need the second shot.

This was with the 22-250 at 125-130 yards.

Don't know if I will ever get back to using them again or not, for I have been having such good success with the 55 V-Max.
 
IMO the Amax act exactly like the berger bullets. they both explode when they hit. i love the amax and can get better accuracy with it. its all i shoot out of my 7mag the BC are close but the amax is .625 and the berger is .618, ive shot the amax in my 223 at coyotes and not noticed a difference with it or the vmax. the dog in my avatar was shot with a 52amax at 250-260yds
 
The Sierra 55g BTHP is the toughest of the Sierra line of 55g Sp, 55g BTSP, and 55g Semi point.

All of these bullets will shoot holes through both shoulder blades on broadside shots, and will kill reliably on straight away shots were you happen to hit a hip joint on impact.

You never hear of anyone talking of this bullet, but the Sierra 45g High velocity sp out of a 223 at 3600 fps and the 22/250 over 4000 fps really gets great penetration with extremely flat shooting trajectory. The 45g Sierra Sp will give complete penetration on broadside shots, every time.

If you really like hearing very LOUD "plop" sounds when the bullet hits, try the 55g Sierra Semi point which is as accurate as Berger 52's in the rifles I have shot them in.
 
Chupathingy, any results on the 52gr A-MAX ?
Know its been a while.
I'll be loading some in a week or so..
 
People probably get really tired of reading my posts on this subject as I frequently rave about this bullet. I run the 52 gr AMAX exclusively out of my 22-250 for coyotes and get great results. They expand violently, yet retain at least part of their weight as there is almost always an exit hole. Generally speaking they are not fur friendly but they are lethal.

Quite a thread resurrection almost 4 years!
 
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Not me, went back and read some, tks.
I've got these 52gr A-Max 223 pills, IMR 8208, and some cases to load up.
Also have a 20" AR for 2nd yote gun, a work in progress, 1st is an A-bolt 243.
Won't keep the fur here..
 
Load them babies up and give them a try. I think you will be happy with them they are accurate and hit with authority. I haven't shot them in my 223 bolt gun or ar because I've been hoarding them for my 22-250. A lot of people compare them to a Vmax but I believe that is inaccurate they perform very similar to a Nosler balistic tip, I have not had one splash like a vmax will at times.
 
I have done test of my own in wet newsprint, the a-max blows a bigger hole in wet paper than the v-max every time, not just a little bigger either, almost twice as big. I e-mailed Hornady and asked them about using the a-max for yotes since they say "not for hunting" on there website, they responded that it was an exellent coyote bullet.
 
V-Max was made for hunting while the A-Max was made for long range target shooting. Too thick of a jacket for hunting IMO and you have a better chance of getting a pass through and your animal taking off on you as if you shot it with a FMJ.
 
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