53gr Vmax in AR

I was doin some testing of the 50gr NBT and 53 Gr Vmax to see which shot best to do some drop data for longer shots.
20" 8 twist ARP barrel


Almost a tie. Just need something to test it on.

 
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I am going to load some more up and hopefully do some testing before the full moon, I would like to try out these 50gr SP and the 53s on some coyotes this month. The 53 vmax are shooting just fine for full moon coyote hunting, I've never gotten a shot over 100 yards anyways. I want to test them on a coyote before I buy another box, I don't want to push them as fast as possible looking for accuracy just to have them blast a baseball size hole through the other side of the coyote.


How would you guys compare the expansion of the 53gr Vmax and Bergers 52gr Varmint bullet? The Bergers have a big open hollow point and are very soft bullets but I was still getting nasty pass throughs at mediocre loads, once I loaded them down low enough to not pass through they worked great.
 
Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerI've been wanting to try the 53gr Vmaxs for quite some time now and I just got around to buying my first box.

I'm not too impressed with the accuracy I'm getting. This is in my 16" hunting upper with 1-4x scope, just the scope alone isn't the best scope for load testing but with very little work I've got 52gr Bergers shooting groups better than half the size of the Vmaxs. I haven't done a lot of load testing yet and I'm sure I can get them shooting better I was just wondering what other peoples experiences were before buying another box of them. I suspect the tangent ogive on the Vmax want less of a jump to the rifleing than I can fit into my Pmags. I've reload some 55 with cfe 223 powder...put alot of range time in and my AR 556 hits out to 300yards pretty good....won't shoot any farther till,I get up the mountains.Ive tried a few coals...but 2.26 is my most accurate without feeding them singley.
 
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I have shot the 50s for years, and wanted to try the 53s for their increased BC. I couldnt get them to shoot as well, and went back to the 50s.
 
For coyotes try the Hornady 52gr bthp match, load them with 23.3 grs of aa 2015, this bullet is made for coyotes, it just don't say it on the box.
 
On a whim (and because it was on sale), I just tried some loaded Superformance 53 V-Max ammo through a Mossberg MMR Hunter (20 in., 9-twist barrel) I had given up on because I was convinced this "low-end" AR would never group, despite reviews that claimed it was capable of decent accuracy. Was surprised to watch bullets go into a 5/8" area then follow the scope clicks exactly; a little vertical stringing as the barrel warmed, but hey, I'll take it! I'll try again in another session to be sure (a lighter/better trigger would help the odds), but if it's close I'm definitely keeping this gun after all. I should be able to get near duplicating the factory rounds (?!) with available components.
 
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I worked up a load for a buddy in his 24 inch 1&9 twist dpms barrel with 27.4 gr of Blc2 and they shot quTer inch five shoot groups. And Xbr 8208 26.2 gr shot about half inch five shot groups
 
Thanks for the tips, at least I know others are getting the groups I am looking for.

I plan on sticking to H335, just because I have 7lbs of it around, I've got about 3/4lb of varget laying around too but I don't think that would get me what I am looking for with a 53gr bullet and 16" barrel. My next test batch I will load as long as I possibly can to fit in my magazines.

A buddy of mine just picked up his first reloading set up, a Hornady progressive, I hope to sell him several pounds of this H335 then I want to try out a pound of CFE223. I can almost always find the Hodgdon powders I am looking for but anything else around here is a real hit or miss. How is that Blc-2 with temperature sensitivity?
 
Hey, I was wondering too, what would you guys guess my top velocity would be close to with H335, 53 Vmax and a 16" BHW barrel? Just curious... Running the drops I am getting on a ballistics calculator is saying I should be around 3175-3200fps, that's with 25.5grs 335 and zero pressure signs.
 
Well, I missed my chance. I just got back from hunting and I called in two at two different stands. First coyote busted me and I took two shots at the second coyote, both shots were low.

I think this cold had a big effect on those missed shots. This H335 I've always heard is very temp sensitive. Most my shots are well under 100 yards and I never had a problem on coyotes. The coyote (after measuring on google earth) was about 250 yards away, my furthest shot yet on a coyote but where I was aiming I should have hit according to my range time a couple weeks ago shooting to 300 yards but it's 2 degrees tonight and was around 45 degrees when I was testing this ammo.

First night hunt of the year and I had a coyote come in on my first two stands.
 
It was a little strange, the two shots weren't even loud enough to make my ears ring.

I know a miss is a miss, but I was dead steady resting on a back pack. The fist shot went under the belly and made the coyote run further into the open, the second shot was perfect and I took my time and that went just under the belly too.

I'm going to check to make sure my scope didn't get bonked off zero tonight. Around here 250 is a long hunting shot but I regularly target shoot to 950 and beyond, something was weird with those two shots.
 
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