Hornady 53. gr v-max, anybody tried?

[Iron Worker]

I just looked them up on their web page. But their lighter ? How is that going to translate into higher BC ? Look Nosler has a 55gr Boat tail bullet with plastic tipped bullet and its BC is lower ? Besides how much difference is .40 BC going to make ? A while back I connected with a coyote at nearly 300yds with 55gr V-Max out of a AR-15. I hardly had to apply much hold over in High desert thin air.I'm not going to lose any sleep over this.

 

[strombeckj]

I just looked them up on their web page. But their lighter ? How is that going to translate into higher BC ? Look Nosler has a 55gr Boat tail bullet with plastic tipped bullet and its BC is lower ? Besides how much difference is .40 BC going to make ? A while back I connected with a coyote at nearly 300yds with 55gr V-Max out of a AR-15. I hardly had to apply much hold over in High desert thin air.I'm not going to lose any sleep over this.

Higher BC translate into more down range energy and less drift. I try and be as efficient with my loads as possible… run it through a ballistics calculator, it's pretty impressive. In the mean time I will shoot my 50gr loads and try them when I can get my hands on some, who knows my rifle may not even like them.

BC examples:
.20 cal 40gr v-max = .275 Sole reason why a .20cal out performs most .22cal rifles with same parent cartridge shooting the same gr of bullet. same goes for the 6mm bullets, most have high BC's compared to there weight
.22cal 50gr v-max = .242
.22cal 55gr v-max = .255
I try and always use the highest BC bullet my rifle will shoot well. These new bullet shapes translate into higher BC's on lighter bullets now. Berger VLD's are a great example.

Have a happy thanksgiving

 

[whitely]

We'll it looks like we might be able to buy these from Able Ammo. I found them last night, a little spendy, but I'm going to pick some up for testing.

Hornady V-Max Bullets .22 Cal 53 Grain 100 Per Box (22265), Not Loaded

 

[Iron Worker]

I don't see how it gets its high BC rating ? Its not a VLD bullet . Is its BT design the alleged reason ? Nosler 55gr BT doesn't have that high of a rating and its a BT design and weights 2grs more .

 

[Thomas B.]

I contacted their tech support about the 53 gr. and asked if they would stabilize in a 1 in 14 twist and they response was quote: Yes, this will easily stabilize in a 1-14".

Just wanted to share that if anyone had concerns like I did.

 

[strombeckj]

I contacted their tech support about the 53 gr. and asked if they would stabilize in a 1 in 14 twist and they response was quote: Yes, this will easily stabilize in a 1-14".

Just wanted to share that if anyone had concerns like I did.

Great t know. I hope the shoot better then the 50gr v-max. My barrel does not care much for them

 

[whitely]

It looks like Grafs.com also has these in stock for around $16/100.

Graf & Sons - HRN 22c (.224) 53gr V-MAX BULLET 100/BX

 

[WYcoyote]

In this months American Rifleman there is a feature on the new Hornady Super Performance Varmint loads and they describe the premise behind the new 53gr Vmax.
It seems that in the 55gr Vmax (and most varmint bullets) they had to design the ogive taper of the bullet to fit the short neck of the 22-250 and that did not maximize the BC.
The new 53gr is specific to the .223 (and .222 etc) and they did not have to compromise the ogive and thus bumped up the BC. An added boattail base also helped.
For this reason I'm not sure how good they would work in the 22-250.
Because of the new BC rating the .223s long range terminal ballistics are said to approach the 22-250.

 

[strombeckj]

Well I just ordered 200 from graf's. I will load them up in LC brass, Rem 7 ½' primers and will try the following powders, 322, 335, Varget, 8208 XBR, and X-terminator. I am crossing my fingers they shoot well, I can't seem to find a good load with the 50gr v-max's. The barrels a 1:14 Krieger, Winchester heavy varmint contour @ 24" I can bug hole 50gr Blitz's with 28.5gr's of XBR but the extra BC of the 53 gr's would be nice!



Will let you know how they shoot by then end of the month… weather provided.

 

[Iron Worker]

Don't forget about Bench Mark powder ?

 

[Trickymissfit]

what's the overall length of the 53 grain bullet compaired to te 55 grain Vmax?
gary

 

[Iron Worker]

.829 55gr V-Max is .812

 

[Trickymissfit]

There new. it's part of their super varmint ammo line up. It's BC is crazy .290 which smokes the 55gr v-max which is around .250. Just waiting for them to ship just the bullets.

if it has a higher B/C than a 55 grain Vmax you can forget the 1:14 twist barrels. They will just do a 55 grain Vmax. A 1:12 should also be ragged, but might work OK. But a 1:9 would easilly do it. Also remember the B/C decreases as velocity also decreases, but the S/G factor stays the same (I'm seeing a 1.30 number). Looks like a 1:9 twist would be best. (I like working with a .80 ratio to the factor to figure what barrel twist rate is needed)
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

.829 55gr V-Max is .812

I'd think that a 1:12 twist would work. But on the otherhand it will just do a 55 gr. Nosler BT (longer than a Vmax), and a 14 twist will not do a BT but will do a Vmax. My figures keep saying a 1:9 with a .80 guide number.

I see the same problems that I had with Berger 88's in my 6mm's. They should work, but needed a 1:8.5 twist instead of a 1:9. I kept trying to go faster thinking the increased spin would fix it. (even at over 185K rpm)

I'll be following this thread!
gary