Hornady 53. gr v-max, anybody tried?

[strombeckj]

.223 necked down to .20 is a .223 Practical. 6mmBR has 2 great articles on this, one in an AR the other in a bolt which my smith built. Shooting a .20 cal, 55 gr Berger match varmint is deadly, the BC is .381. Take your favorite .22 cal and neck it down to a .20 cal (BR, 223, 222, 22-250) shoot the same weight bullet in both Cal's and the .20 will hands down outperform…plus they are mild on the barrels. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Nomosendero]

22-204 ? Isn't a 204 a 223 necked down to 204 ?

Sorry if stated in a confusing way. I meant as for example 6.5-06 would be a 30-06 case & necked down to 6.5 cal. So, I am saying the 204 case, but necked up to .22 cal. The case is the
old 222 Rem. Mag blown out, so a little more cap. than a 223AI & would not need fire forming.

Yes, the same wt. 20. cal. flyes better, the same could be said comparing many calibers of course, but I can go up to 75A-Max in 224, which will have a higher BC(435) & smack Coyotes much harder with the 20 gr. more wt. & further using this case. A std. 204 can't handle the 55 Berger, so in either case a non-std barrel would be in order. I mention this case when thinking of this 53 gr. V-max thinking how it would be a nice closer range Varmit load. With the 22 cal, you also have 75 OTM, 77SMK & so many others, many more choices.

I was very enthused about the 204 in the past, not so much now.

 

[strombeckj]

Sorry if stated in a confusing way. I meant as for example 6.5-06 would be a 30-06 case & necked down to 6.5 cal. So, I am saying the 204 case, but necked up to .22 cal. The case is the
old 222 Rem. Mag blown out, so a little more cap. than a 223AI & would not need fire forming.

Yes, the same wt. 20. cal. flyes better, the same could be said comparing many calibers of course, but I can go up to 75A-Max in 224, which will have a higher BC(435) & smack Coyotes much harder with the 20 gr. more wt. & further using this case. A std. 204 can't handle the 55 Berger, so in either case a non-std barrel would be in order. I mention this case when thinking of this 53 gr. V-max thinking how it would be a nice closer range Varmit load. With the 22 cal, you also have 75 OTM, 77SMK & so many others, many more choices.

I was very enthused about the 204 in the past, not so much now.

Here some information on the .223 AI since I love mine. Shove a .223 case in and fire, out comes a .223 AI case that never needs to be trimmed and produces minimal head space problems if any at all. Factory ammo can be shot in a pinch and brass is dirt cheap. I suspect I will be able to push the new 53gr v-max (bc.290) at 3550, but will have confirmed this by month's end. If I compare that to a 22-250 shooting a 55gr v-max (bc.255) using the fastest load form Hodgdon @ 3786 the .223 AI stands right beside it.


300 yard zero.
223 AI, 24.7 drop w/ 458 FT lbs @ 500 yards
22-250, 23.6 drop w/465 FT lbs @ 500 yards


I'm not sure what you mean by .222 Rem Mag blown out? But a standard .223 produces faster FPS then a .222 Rem Mag this can be confirmed in any reloading manual. Again only my 2 cents worth and I sure hope I can make these 53 gr's File well enough to make this my new bullet of choice.

 

[Iron Worker]

Why not get a 22-250 AI ? With a 1-12 or faster bbl.

 

[strombeckj]

Why not get a 22-250 AI ? With a 1-12 or faster bbl.

Sure could, always go bigger and better. With the High BC bullets now a day's small cal's are doing what their larger brothers use to do. When I was at weaver rifles yesterday he was showing me his new round which is a 22x47 he had some test loads made up with the 90gr vld's it has a BC of like .556 looks like a needle which is sick, some 30 cal bullets don't even get that high. To his knowledge and the tool company that made the reamer there are no other 22x47's out there. It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Nomosendero]

Here some information on the .223 AI since I love mine. Shove a .223 case in and fire, out comes a .223 AI case that never needs to be trimmed and produces minimal head space problems if any at all. Factory ammo can be shot in a pinch and brass is dirt cheap. I suspect I will be able to push the new 53gr v-max (bc.290) at 3550, but will have confirmed this by month's end. If I compare that to a 22-250 shooting a 55gr v-max (bc.255) using the fastest load form Hodgdon @ 3786 the .223 AI stands right beside it.


300 yard zero.
223 AI, 24.7 drop w/ 458 FT lbs @ 500 yards
22-250, 23.6 drop w/465 FT lbs @ 500 yards


I'm not sure what you mean by .222 Rem Mag blown out? But a standard .223 produces faster FPS then a .222 Rem Mag this can be confirmed in any reloading manual. Again only my 2 cents worth and I sure hope I can make these 53 gr's File well enough to make this my new bullet of choice.

Nothing wrong with 223AI & I may still do that. The 223 case cap. is more than the 222, but less than the 222 mag, most manuals have loads for a 222 Rem, but in the newer manual I have only my new Speer manual had loads for the 222 Rem Mag.

Here is what Speer says about the 222Mag & Cartridges of the World say the same basic thing:
"Case capacity is 20% greater than the 222 Remington & about 5% greater than the 223." But the older 222 Magnum version was loaded to lower pressures, as was the case with several older rounds.

Here is what the Nosler Manual says about the 204 case; "The 204 was developed from the 222 Remington Magnum,
which has the LARGEST CASE CAPACITY in the 222 family".

Bottom line is the 222Magnum was the biggest case of the 222 family, due to case length.
Plus when Ruger/Hornady chose the slightly bigger 222 R. Mag case, the "blew it out" /took the taper out, so now a wee bit more than 5% & will be of course a bit more than 223AI.

NOTE: The 223 info in 6mmbr does give about a 7-8% increas in cap, therfore it appears that the 204 case is not maximized the same extent as the 223AI was, so an AI version of that would have to be fireformed too, so
no gain there in steps involved, but it is a bigger case, so you would have to end up with more.

 

[strombeckj]

Hodgdon, Nosler, Hornady IMR, all have load data for a 222 Rem Mag. I don't see that big of a difference between a .223 & .222 Rem Mag, as a matter of fact Hodgdon is giving the edge to the .223 while nosler gives a small edge to the .222 RM. But we could go all day long about which is better, every gun nut is bias to their favorite call, smith, barrel etc… All are fine rounds and are capable of 500 yard kills as long as you know your rifle and load.
I have a friend who shoots a .204 ruger using 55gr Berger's. It is an impressive load to say the least, I have seen him bang flop a yote an over 430 yards. Right through the chest, no exit… yote shat himself! Makes me wish I would have gone with a .20 practical when I did my rebarrel instead of a .223AI. Just leaves room in the safe for a AR in that Cal. Instead!

 

[Nomosendero]

Hodgdon, Nosler, Hornady IMR, all have load data for a 222 Rem Mag. I don't see that big of a difference between a .223 & .222 Rem Mag, as a matter of fact Hodgdon is giving the edge to the .223 while nosler gives a small edge to the .222 RM. But we could go all day long about which is better, every gun nut is bias to their favorite call, smith, barrel etc… All are fine rounds and are capable of 500 yard kills as long as you know your rifle and load.
I have a friend who shoots a .204 ruger using 55gr Berger's. It is an impressive load to say the least, I have seen him bang flop a yote an over 430 yards. Right through the chest, no exit… yote shat himself! Makes me wish I would have gone with a .20 practical when I did my rebarrel instead of a .223AI. Just leaves room in the safe for a AR in that Cal. Instead!

Yes, no need to discuss further, the 222mag case is bigger than 223, just a fact. But it is true that the diff. is not much & may not be worth the difference. I will find out before I have one built, I don't care which way it falls, I have no favorite cartridge between these 2 & no emotional involvement as I currently use neither, just using a 223 at this point for my smallest varmiter, just looking at numbers at this point.

 

[Iron Worker]

Yes, no need to discuss further, the 222mag case is bigger than 223, just a fact. But it is true that the diff. is not much & may not be worth ther difference. I will find out before I have one built, I don't care which way it falls, I have no favorite cartridge between these 2 & no emotional involvement as I currntly use neither, just using a 223 at this point for my smallest varmiter, just looking at numbers at this point.

Who's making brass for a 222 Mag ? Its a dinosaur that should remain in the bone yard.

 

[Nomosendero]

Who's making brass for a 222 Mag ? Its a dinosaur that should remain in the bone yard.

I never said anything about using the round, doesn't matter if anyone makes the brass. You may want to read previous posts, we were talking about the 204 case, which comes from the 222Mag.

Back to the bullet, I am looking forward to trying them in my RRA soon! I may have to totally rethink my fav. varmit
loadfor that rifle, which has been the 60v-max.

 

[bowhunt/fish]

Has anyone found this bullet to purchase recently?
I have seen it back ordered or not even in stock yet where I have looked online.
I did find and buy some of the 53gr Vmax superformance varmint ammo, but have yet to shoot it in my AR-15.

 

[strombeckj]

I ran a few of these through my .223AI this weekend using Varget, Benchmark & XBR. I had problems shooting any type of decent groups until I pushed the limits of safe pressure. I did not chrono these as it was just see if they would shoot.

28.7c grs Varget @ .40
28.0 grs Benchmark @ .46
28.0 grs XBR @ .32

OAL @ 2.33

The rifle is a weaver built model 70 with a 1:14 Krieger @ 24" with break. I will re-visit these bullets again but feel I might have to drive these at unsafe pressures to get them down the tube of my 1:14

Jon

 

[Trickymissfit]

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.

folks on Bench Rest Centeral figured it out tobe needing at least a 1:13 twist barrel, and I got the same numbers before multiplying in the factor number. A 1:12 twist was what I got in the end. Maybe they know something nobody else does, as the 52 grain barely works in my 1:14 barrels for me
gary

 

[bowhunt/fish]

well i have a 1-9 twist AR-15 and im hoping to live happily ever after with this bullet to get .22-250 performance out of it. Lol.
thats what the superformance varmint round claims anyway.
with a claimed BC of .290, i would think it needs 1-12 twist thru 1-9 twist.
i emailed hornady about my 52gr Amaxs in my AR-15, they said they should work fine and they do, 3/4 to 1/2" groups all day long with 26grs of varget. but I'm hoping this 53gr Vmax cuts thru the wind even better than the 52gr Amax. Just on the reported BCs of .247 compared to .290, i thinkin it will?