55gr Vmax not dropping coyotes???

I use 40gr Vmax exclusively on 223 and it flat out hammers them! extremely effective on our western coyotes. Pin prick entry, turns the insides to mush, no exit, DRT almost every time. Often it's hard to find the entry until I hang them upside down and blood dribbles out.

I have never experienced "splash" wounds or runners. I pride myself in shot placement regardless of caliber or game. A little practice goes a long ways.
 
Originally Posted By: Fling-a-arrow



The bottom line is that if its not in the boiler plate , you can lose coyotes using Vmax!

If you hit bone first, its not a good thing.

Just my opinion..



Pretty common on most any bullet.
 
Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOGI use 40gr Vmax exclusively on 223 and it flat out hammers them! extremely effective on our western coyotes. Pin prick entry, turns the insides to mush, no exit, DRT almost every time. Often it's hard to find the entry until I hang them upside down and blood dribbles out.

I have never experienced "splash" wounds or runners. I pride myself in shot placement regardless of caliber or game. A little practice goes a long ways.



I agree and have experienced the same results with 50 gr. VMax in .223. I have only had one shoulder splash, and the coyote only ran off app. 30-40 yds. and died. Messy wound but still did the job. My experience is that Vmax's are very accurate in my AR's, which makes bullet placement much easier and more consistent, and when placed in the right spot they hit coyotes like the hammer of Thor. Most that I shoot are drt, or at worst might spin or struggle for a second or two before they die, but don't leave the vicinity of the point of impact.

wily
 


[/quote]

I agree and have experienced the same results with 50 gr. VMax in .223. I have only had one shoulder splash, and the coyote only ran off app. 30-40 yds. and died. Messy wound but still did the job. My experience is that Vmax's are very accurate in my AR's, which makes bullet placement much easier and more consistent, and when placed in the right spot they hit coyotes like the hammer of Thor. Most that I shoot are drt, or at worst might spin or struggle for a second or two before they die, but don't leave the vicinity of the point of impact.

wily [/quote]
That's pretty much my experience to.I did have one 50 gr vmax pencil threw on a coyote shot real close it ran 50 yards and into a ditch.I kept telling myself in no way I missed that easy shot.Well I didn't found him in the ditch.Just one of those weird bullet failures.I am on the fence about using them for coyotes but I will still use what I have loaded.They are very accurate for long range shooting like a member mentioned they shoot like a laser.
This young coyote was way out there like 300 yards so I figured the round will drop so I aimed at the head wrong that's where I hit it.
ECA0E1D7-C951-4DBD-9391-EADAD8E0DA5A-9722-000010295CB85F29_zps8e3a3aa2.jpg
 
I don't have a huge experience with the Vmax projectiles, but I've killed probably 20-25 coyotes with them, mostly 55gr and 53gr's. Early on I had an instance where I shot a small female 3 times with the 55gr Vmax, knocking her down on all 3 shots. On the 3rd shot she stayed down. All 3 shots penciled through with caliber sized exits. Every other instance has resulted in a bang flop.

Chupa
 
Originally Posted By: 5spdForget a head shot, to small & to much of a bigger chance of missing. Put your laser on the front shoulder & it will drop pretty much on the spot. This
 
All my coyotes except the ones shot with my air rifles are taken with 55 grain v max, I have had one or two run off over the years and years of use but that was my fault making bad hits, I still recovered the cripples but they didn't drop right on the spot like the others. Biggest thing is putting them in the right spot.
 
Originally Posted By: BangPopOriginally Posted By: 5spdForget a head shot, to small & to much of a bigger chance of missing. Put your laser on the front shoulder & it will drop pretty much on the spot. This

This

I don't use vmax much either, I mainly use Barnes ttsx factory loads because I got a killer deal on a ton of it, but if you put it where it needs to go it'll kill just fine, and if you don't it'll perform like other bullets...........poorly
 
i killed 29 coyotes last year, over 25 of them were with a 55gr v-max out of a 223. i had 9 in a row drop in their tracks. only had one run further than 50 feet.


it is the only bullet i use on coyotes in a 223, and i have tried many others over the years.

even a poorly placed shot does a tremendous amount of damage and leaves a huge red trail in the snow. i cannot recall that i have ever lost a coyote shot in the body with a 55gr v-max.
 
Originally Posted By: 6724i killed 29 coyotes last year, over 25 of them were with a 55gr v-max out of a 223. i had 9 in a row drop in their tracks. only had one run further than 50 feet.


it is the only bullet i use on coyotes in a 223, and i have tried many others over the years.

even a poorly placed shot does a tremendous amount of damage and leaves a huge red trail in the snow. i cannot recall that i have ever lost a coyote shot in the body with a 55gr v-max.

Tell me more about this ....."Snow?" you speak of.


Chupa
 
Chupa...
It's that soft, semi-frozen, white stuff you Texicans probably rarely see. Hahaha


As to the Vmax...
Way back when, in '05-'06, I shot exclusively Hornady Vmax in both my .223 & .243.
When I did my part w/shot placement (heart/lungs), they did their job.
I had a few coyotes that would run or stagger off a short distance, but never more than 100 yards.
Overall, I took 108 coyotes that Fall/Winter, but couldn't tell you any kind of percentage of how many were DRT.

The following year, I found a great deal on 55gr .223 remanufactured Black Hills "soft points", & never have bought any more Vmax.
But only because I bought so many Black Hills, that I didn't need to buy more ammo. (I still have nearly 200 of those rounds left.)
I never bought any more for the .243, because I sold the gun that year.

Back in July, I bought 100 rounds of American Eagle .223 50gr "varmint tip" ammo.
Can't wait to see how they perform.
 
My experience is similar to Bosco- I have killed a good many coyotes with a 'mid body' hit using 50g TNTs out of a .223. It is not the shot placement I desire but with a moving coyote and coyote fever all my bullets don't impact in the ideal place. They usually do some spins, some yips, and bite at their flanks but they crash and die fast. Maybe the 55g Vmax is a bit tougher but the 50g TNTs remind me of a Exocet missile.
 
Originally Posted By: canislatrans54Chupa...
It's that soft, semi-frozen, white stuff you Texicans probably rarely see. Hahaha


As to the Vmax...
Way back when, in '05-'06, I shot exclusively Hornady Vmax in both my .223 & .243.
When I did my part w/shot placement (heart/lungs), they did their job.
I had a few coyotes that would run or stagger off a short distance, but never more than 100 yards.
Overall, I took 108 coyotes that Fall/Winter, but couldn't tell you any kind of percentage of how many were DRT.

The following year, I found a great deal on 55gr .223 remanufactured Black Hills "soft points", & never have bought any more Vmax.
But only because I bought so many Black Hills, that I didn't need to buy more ammo. (I still have nearly 200 of those rounds left.)
I never bought any more for the .243, because I sold the gun that year.

Back in July, I bought 100 rounds of American Eagle .223 50gr "varmint tip" ammo.
Can't wait to see how they perform.
I found a bunch of the cheap AE varmint tips as well. Pretty accurate of cheap stuff. They're great for a little "red mist" on gophers, but the only time I've shot em at yote was more of an artillery strike than a rifle shot, resulting in a dirt covered yote moving at high speed over the ridge...
 
These two were shot with 40 gr VMax these are entrance wounds and of course there were no exits.



This bobcat was shot with same bullet but impact was a little too far back and the bullet went thru and the Bobcat ran about 100 yards. 1/12 twist at 3400fps.

Exit hole


Entrance

 
I read the topic to this and my first reactions was "take it easy on him he is new" DEAR GOD BOY, and you added the .17 comment to the mix to boot! HAHAHA! Welcome to PM bud, sounds like you got a few gizmos on there.

I have had the same problem, it wasn't the bullet, it was me being a terrible shot. When I hunt at night I almost always use a shotgun. Dont worry about an IR lazer, I have never used one before but from the sounds of it you are having trouble mounting it to your shotgun? Duct Tape?

good luck, your posts need more pictures, especially of your gear. get with it bud!
 
Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOGI was not being humorous. Many "new" coyote hunters aim where I drew that red target, then wonder why the coyote spun in circles, yipped, then got up and ran away. It's called a poor shot.

Head shots are pretty tough unless conditions are just perfect, which they usually are not. Train for it just in case, sure, but don't plan on using it very often (ever).

I prefer neck shots or right in the arm pit for INSTANT kills.



Good illustration

Hitting and killing are not the same and as the new hunter is learning, coyotes are tough.
I have used that thermals and lasers as well as NV, and despite how hard you try it's not the same, they are good, but you are still getting 2-3 MOA and it really just doesn't take that much to graze or flat miss. Not to mention the old Coyote Fever.. Add all that together and it can add up to no coyote laying where you think it should be. Try tracking them down and find the dead ones.. You will then know where you actually hit them. Bleeding wounds don't lie.

Good luck.. And if nothing else, be happy, you are at least seeing coyotes. There are a lot of people that hunt really hard all year to see what you have already seen just standing there.
 
the 55gr Nosler in my old .223 drt on every shot in the head, neck and chest. One ran 30 some yards dead, one I hit a half inch from bottom of chest she died 50yds after hit. Those 2 were the only ones that didnt drt, out of more than a hundred coyotes shot with that bullet by me. I tried the 40 gr Nosler in my T.20, at first they seemed good, then I started getting massive exit holes under 200yds. One was a 12" long slit cut on side of a big male coyote.
35gr Berger is the best one I found for the T.20, it should be good for the .223, too
 
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