MidwayUSA Dogtown Bullets, Hollow Point or Soft Point

[Baryngyl]

EDITED TO ADD: As soon as I hit submit I realized this should probably have been in one of the reloading forums.
MODs, move it if that is the better place for it.
END EDIT.


Looking at getting some MidwayUSA Dogtown Bullets, these will be used in 223 and 22-250, I have the 223 barrel right now the 22-250 will come later.

They are available in Hollow Point or Soft Point, both look good, both have good reviews, so which would be best for use on long range prairie dogs/ground hogs?

I have never loaded for anything as small as the 223, everything I reload for up till now was 243 or larger, so any pointers would be appreciated.

Below is links to both bullets.

MidwayUSA Dogtown Bullets 22 Caliber (224 Diameter) 55 Grain Soft Point
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/655...int-box-of-500

MidwayUSA Dogtown Bullets 22 Caliber (224 Diameter) 55 Grain Hollow Point
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/655...int-box-of-500


Thanks
Michael Grace

[capreppy]

For the price, I might suggest you take a look at the Midshouth Shooters Varmint Nightmare. I've shot well over a thousand of these and are definitely great for plinking and depending on your setup, can get 1.5 MOA groups.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.co...00422455SP2000.

[5spd]

I have shot a few thousand of the midways and midsouth lines and had a handfull of tumbled bullets from each line when shooting, so expect that and you will be good to go.

[justin1098]

In my experience, Hollow points are better. As I understand it, having the cavity in the front moves the cg back helping accuracy and expansion. Soft points give more penetration. I have shot a few hundred rounds of the dog town 55hp and had good results. Not near as good as Sierra 60 varmenters but usually around 1 moa out of my ar15

[laportecharlie]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Midway Dogtown and the Midsouth Varmint Nightmare were the same bullet. We have shot many thousands of the 55 gr Varmint Nightmare SP's at Prairie Dogs with very good results. They aren't as good as V-Max or Ballistic Tips but they get the job done. I use the 34 gr Varmint Nightmare Xtreme HP in my 221 Fireball and they are very accurate (under 1/2")
Charlie

[Trent]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Midway Dogtown and the Midsouth Varmint Nightmare were the same bullet.

Bingo.

[darkker]

Be aware that the Dogtown's have a relatively low RPM ceiling. They aren't happy in a 9 twist when run hard.

[CJ in WY]

For about the same price as Midway is chargeing for thier hollowpoints Midsouth has the poly tiped bullets on sale.
Have found the holowpoints work good but they tend to skip accross the prairie more than I like, the lead tips do a great job of killing but the poly tiped bullets fly better,farther and make for better video ;D

[243LPR]

For the price I can't do better than 40 gr Vmaxes in my 223 at around 3,750 fps. Put them in a 22-250 and they'll be over 4,000 fps! Sub moa at 200 yds. Devastating on groundhogs,rarely exit but DRT.

[darkker]

Due to similar questions I have answered on other boards, here is the calculations.
MV * 720 / twist = RPM
So: 3000fps * 720 / 9 = 240,000RPM

IIRC, the dogtowns (barrel smoothness dependant) can only take something like 240-260,000rpm.

[thomae]

For about the same price as Midway is chargeing for thier hollowpoints Midsouth has the poly tiped bullets on sale.

Searched the Midsouth site and couldn't find it. Would you please post the link? Thanks.

[CJ in WY]

I see they are out of stock now but here is a link in case they backorder them?



https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...52%49%46%4C%45

[earl39]

Yep the Z-MAX from 55gr down in the 500 box are 11.60 per hundred. Plus they will kill those zombie dogs that keep popping up when you hit them with regular bullets ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D ;D ;D

[calib]

i ended up getting some of the dogtowns last night 55 grn spt i hope they save pelts better then my hollow point speers im shooting now

[henry1]

I ended up getting a box of the 55 gr midsouth bullets yest. hard to pass up a 47 dollar deal. I did see that the Z maxs where only a "few" dollars more! ;D but they where out of stock....o well i said and clicked the button

[efw]

Not really answering your question here Michael, but had to give you an "fyi" shootersproshop.com had (last time I checked) Nosler "blems" (I've yet to figure out what makes these blemished) 55 gr SPs for $8.95/100. They have ballistic tips in the same weight for $13.95 too, IIRC.

Needless to say I already got mine on the way, as I was shoppping the same as you.

[Jbotto]

I love the idea of these bullets shooting well, but for me I've had them tumble more often than they shoot well. Using the 55 gr HP's, I haven't done a full out testing of them, but everything from a starting load to a midrange load of H335 does not fly right. I have them seated pretty shallow, so I'm going to try going a bit deeper and start over. For the price, I really want these bullets to fly well!

[Trent]

I love the idea of these bullets shooting well, but for me I've had them tumble more often than they shoot well. Using the 55 gr HP's, I haven't done a full out testing of them, but everything from a starting load to a midrange load of H335 does not fly right. I have them seated pretty shallow, so I'm going to try going a bit deeper and start over. For the price, I really want these bullets to fly well!

Strange that sooooo many people have such good reviews of these bullets (including me) but they are tumbling out of your rifle. Maybe you have a rough bore or something?

[Scott Evans]

The Midsouth 20 cal 34g VNE's are a true bargain. Go thru about 2K a year.

[Baryngyl]

They are available in Hollow Point or Soft Point, both look good, both have good reviews, so which would be best for use on long range prairie dogs/ground hogs?

Ok, so which is better for long range accuracy and explosive effect, the hollow point or soft point?


Michael Grace

[rcinit]

I've shot the 55gr SP dogtown and the MSS VE bullets with the same effect. In my mod 12 vlp(.223) w/1-9 twist I have to keep them below 3200fps. Around 3150 to 3200fps they'll actually leave a vapor trail and a grey swirl mark on the target. Above 3200-3225 they'll simply disapear before hitting a 25 yard target. They're about MOA at 100 and 200 yards for me, so no complaints there. Now I also reloaded them for my brothers mod 10(.223) with a 1-9 twist and I had to keep them below 2900FPS or the same thing happened to them. I have a friend who I loaded some for his Colt AR-15 with a 1-7 match grade barrel and I was able to get about 300FPS before the same type of effects started happening. So maybe the barrel roughness has something to do with it. I do know the there is an RPM limit which is about 3200 FPS for a 1-9 .223 barrel. I think it's around 240,000 to 260,000. I did a search on here awhile back and found simular results to mine.

As far as saving pelts with these bullets forget about it. While they don't have the explosive performance as V-Max or Sierra Varmit bullets they still make big exit holes.