Midway had Hornady 25 cal 75 gr Vmax's yesterday

**Slowpoke Slim** · 03-19-2024, 08:56 AM

Don't know if anyone else is as crazy as I am, but Midway had Hornady .257 cal 75 gr Vmax's in stock yesterday. First time I've seen them for sale in at least 2 years.

I bought 2 boxes in a heartbeat, even with their rather stinging shipping rate.

Hopefully can get back to load development on my little 256 Win mag now.

**Mjshell** · 03-19-2024, 09:49 AM

Thanks, I ordered 2 boxes for my 256 win

**Kylongrifle** · 03-19-2024, 09:20 PM

Strange how things are these days. My local Sporting goods store sees to have them on the shelf every time I go there. I had a good shooting 12 inch Bullberry barrel that loved them. Times got hard and I had to let it go but I was able to pick up one of the Van Horn clearance barrels and can't wait to get back to loading for the 256 win mag.

**BobT** · 03-20-2024, 04:09 PM

Wonder how my .25-20 would like them?

**Iowa Fox** · 03-23-2024, 06:41 PM

Slim, If you get a chance to try them in your barrel I hope you will share your results with us. About 20 years ago I ordered a !4" 256 barrel from the custom shop and a set of RCBS dies along with 200 pieces of brass. Yep! You guessed it. I got so busy with life I have never even pulled that nylon filament tape open on the box. I think Midway received a lot of new inventory on Thursday and Friday. I had had a SSK barrel on my wish list for months which I checked 3 or 4 times a day. Thursday I was up extra early and noticed the barrel came into stock on my notifications so I snagged one. 300 Blackie for the Encore should be here Monday or Tuesday.

**Slowpoke Slim** · 03-24-2024, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by Iowa Fox

Slim, If you get a chance to try them in your barrel I hope you will share your results with us. About 20 years ago I ordered a !4" 256 barrel from the custom shop and a set of RCBS dies along with 200 pieces of brass. Yep! You guessed it. I got so busy with life I have never even pulled that nylon filament tape open on the box. I think Midway received a lot of new inventory on Thursday and Friday. I had had a SSK barrel on my wish list for months which I checked 3 or 4 times a day. Thursday I was up extra early and noticed the barrel came into stock on my notifications so I snagged one. 300 Blackie for the Encore should be here Monday or Tuesday.

So far I've had pretty good results with IMR 4227 and these 75 gr Vmax bullets. I'm still not done working up the load, but in this picture:

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The bottom left group is 4 out of 5 shots into the same hole. Bottom right group was I think a half grain less. Have to get back into my notes again. I stopped development when I ran out of bullets. We're in the middle of a winter blizzard now (through Tuesday morning), so not sure when the weather will start cooperating and I can get back to the range.

I'll let you know.

**FyrepowrX** · 03-25-2024, 01:58 PM

Bob...I tried the V-Max in my SSK 25/20 carbine barrel, and they shot decently, and still expanded even at the mild speeds in that barrel.

The V-max has been my go-to bullet for the .256max barrel (also a carbine)...all my 25's are 1-10" twist, but when they kind of dried up for a while i switched to the 70gr Blitzking for a time, and it shot about as well, and maybe slightly better than the v-max in my 25/20, but now the blitzkings have also dried up...so back to the V-Max.

Have you tried the speer .257 TNT's ? been happy with those in several smaller .25's too.

**HotRodAl** · 03-25-2024, 10:05 PM

I've taken several deer with 75 V-maxes from my 10" 25/20. everyone where one shot kills the first one was right at 70-75 yards through the neck with a 1" exit and the deer dropped. Those V-maxes really open up even at 25-20 velocities they make a mess out of spine hits, broad side shots do a lot of internal damage when the heart is hit. All shots were taken at no more than 70-75 yards and as short as 35 yards. They also perform well in my 12" 256 Win mag.

**BobT** · 03-26-2024, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by FyrepowrX

Bob...I tried the V-Max in my SSK 25/20 carbine barrel, and they shot decently, and still expanded even at the mild speeds in that barrel.

The V-max has been my go-to bullet for the .256max barrel (also a carbine)...all my 25's are 1-10" twist, but when they kind of dried up for a while i switched to the 70gr Blitzking for a time, and it shot about as well, and maybe slightly better than the v-max in my 25/20, but now the blitzkings have also dried up...so back to the V-Max.

Have you tried the speer .257 TNT's ? been happy with those in several smaller .25's too.

I have yet to try any of those 3 bullets. I still have a few of the Speer flat points left and they shoot pretty well for me. I will see what I can round up in the near future and try some new ones out since you guys convinced me to hang on to the .25/20