Hornady 87-grain V-Max 6MM

Originally Posted By: pahntr760I have in a 243 win. Excellently accurate. Good 6mm bullets. They're a bit tough on fur, though.

same results here in .243 Win. Brother-in-Law took a fox with some I loaded for his old lever action (Mod.99?)and...two halves of a fox were the result.
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Originally Posted By: az13mousegunis anyone currently using this bullet .. if so, what kind of luck are you having with it



Great bullet out of my 6mm Rem, and 243. Accurate and fast. Not fur friendly, but then again, I don't always want to be friendly.
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The 87 is a good bullet. It has a very decent BC & is a good wieght for farther shots with enough energy/weight to bring the smack. However, I have found it to be one of the most inconsistant bullets in the vmax line. If you took the time to sort a box you would see what I mean. The inconsistancey may give you a little problem if your on the edge of a good load.

However, If you do find a load that will shoot these bullets everything turns good. I had one 6BR that would not shoot the 87's at all (well not like it would other bullets). Although in another BR & my BRX I got them to shoot very, very well. Their explosive on varmints but enough lead there to push deep. I even killed a few deer with them, with good results. This bulelt almost always exits unless shooting lengthways or heavy bone.
 
Never bothered to sort them.... just load them and shoot them. They've always been very accurate, and kill fur with aplomb.
 
Originally Posted By: pahntr760I have in a 243 win. Excellently accurate. Good 6mm bullets. They're a bit tough on fur, though.

Me too... and the lighter 75 gr. V-Max is even more so.
 
Originally Posted By: pahntr760Nice woodchuck round...
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That's what I do with mine. Much more stable at distance than the 70NBT's I use to run. Less drift, more drop though. I only shoot what I want to destroy with my 243 and the 87 V-max. If you are looking for something better on fur or meat, pick something else. I did have very few exits on chucks running my 70NBT's between 3450-3470fps though
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. I've only shot one predator with my 243, red fox at 30yds with a 100gr. Core-Lokt. Zero pelt damage, which surprised me
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. I'm running the 87 V-max around 3280fps with great accuracy and some well shredded chucks.
 
I used the 87 grain V-max in my fire forming load for my .243AI. It was very accurate and worked well on rockchucks out to 700+ yards. I've seen it lift 'chucks several feet in the air at 400 yards. Fur friendly? Haven't used it but I have no doubt it will kill coyotes with authority. Good luck!
 
I have had good luck with them in the accuracy department in my Rem. SPS in .243 Win. Haven't used them on a yote yet as I am still trying to use up all the 80 Gr Nosler Ballistic tip 6mm bullets I have loaded. I know the 80 Gr. Nosler is not fur friendly by a long shot and would think the 87 V-Max would do about the same damage.

DAB
 
243 87 grain v-max and fur friendly probably don't go together all that much when talking about using them on coyote...

effective for apply a beat down.... most certainly....
 
I just starting using the 87 grain v-max on woodchucks and haven't noticed anything close to the damage done by 70 grain Nosler BT Varmint. The last critter had the bullet pass through it lengthwise and the exit hole wasn't much bigger than the enterance hole. We haven't used a chrony on it, but the load data says the muzzle velocity should be 3100+fps.
True, dead is dead; just wondering why I'm not seeing the same terminal ballistics as everyone else.
 
The 87 is definitely a tougher bullet IMO. I prefer it HIGHLY over the 75gr version. However, if making things go SPLAT is your main goal, the 75gr would work better.....
 
Yellowpit, I'm running mine just below 3300fps according to JBM from my 1-9" twist 243. I ran my 70NBT's at 3450fps and almost never got exits on chucks. I still get a few that don't exit with the 87 V-max, but when they do it is usually ugly if it hit a big bone first. The 87 does give me better accuracy on out past 350yds, which was my weak point before with the 70's. I had one the other week at 502yds. Hit was between chin and shoulder quartered to and his entrails covered the area where he was sitting. Spread him out good, but he was dead at the impact. I need to get it out and take some more chucks with this load, but I want to say the 100-200yd hits tend to be the passthroughs when I miss solid bones. Here's a clip where I whack 6 in a morning with the 87 V-maxes at distances from 72yds out to 280yds. Most are head and shoulder shots, which I prefer to get them anchored and get that tougher bullet expanding. All pretty much were bang flops except the first one, he was tough and struggled a bit before he raised the flag. All were able to be photographed without excessive gore or gaping wounds as most had little to no exit and all of them were like a bag of jello inside. The 280yd headshot one had a golf ball sized exit, that was probably the worst.
 
Good video... if you ever need a camera man.. give me a call... love to watch you shoot those critters...

I'm getting sold on those 87 vmaxes more and more... haven't tried them yet... but I will
 
ARCOREY, excellent video. Thanks for sharing. AND some [beeep] fine shooting sir. What are you using for a boomstick?

I just bought a boatload of these 87gr V-Max bullets as blems from Midway. I've always had good success with them out of multiple .243s.
 
Thanks guys. Not to hijack az13mousegun's thread, here is a link to the build and specs. After running the 87 V-max so far this summer on steel and water jugs out to 500yds and on a few chucks around the 500-600yd mark, I'm impressed with their accuracy.
 
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