Interesting thoughts on target medium playing a role in bullet performance; good points made. I have had a few splashes with the vmax bullets and seen enough marginal performance with them on coyotes to think that there are better bullets to use for my purposes. However, it is interesting to me that DD has had different experiences, so I wonder if it is the medium (the size, and body composition of the coyotes being shot) that is the difference, possibly? The ones I have shot with the 50 vmax outta of a 223 AR that I was disappointed with were a couple of mature males, about 30-33 lbs, I would guess. One was full broadside with bullet placement just slightly ahead of the #4 in the above picture. He dropped at the shot, then got up and ran about 100-125 and tipped over. Skinning revealed a dime sized entry with a crater underneath about the size of a tennis ball. No damage at all on the off side. Looked like the bullet completely fragmented on the ribs, and didn't penetrate much further. The second coyote was quartered away and the bullet was placed at the last rib and did basically the same thing. This coyote never went down but spun once and took off running hard. A semi-lucky follow up shot on the run hit him about the withers and that was that. Pretty well tore up a prime December coyote with 2 rounds. They were both heavy furred and relatively large coyotes for this area. I wonder if the heavy fur and body mass didn't have something to do with the bullet performance of the vmax compared to smaller, lesser furred coyotes?
The only coyote I have seen shot with the 40 vmax was a smaller female with an extreme case of mange. She took a full frontal shot centered just above her breast bone at about 40-50 yards from my partner's AR. She dropped, got up and ran about 75 yards and then just collapsed with out even kicking. There was a trail of blood drops spaced out about 2-3 inches apart the whole distance she ran. Kinda of interesting to see in the snow.
I have learned that just cause I ain't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't been seen by someone else.
The only coyote I have seen shot with the 40 vmax was a smaller female with an extreme case of mange. She took a full frontal shot centered just above her breast bone at about 40-50 yards from my partner's AR. She dropped, got up and ran about 75 yards and then just collapsed with out even kicking. There was a trail of blood drops spaced out about 2-3 inches apart the whole distance she ran. Kinda of interesting to see in the snow.
I have learned that just cause I ain't seen it doesn't mean it hasn't been seen by someone else.
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