223 Performance with 40 & 50 Grain V-Max

[Bob Roach]

I have some varmint hunting to do. I need an accurate 223 load that also blows up on smaller varmints.

Rifle: Savage Axis II Pro in 223 Rem.

Looking at 40 V-Max and 50 V-Max Bullets. I believe that I may have some 50 V-Max on my shelf. I will need to track down lighter weight bullets. I could try other bullets as well.

My shooting will be from 100 thru 200 yards on the long end. Mainly due to needing 100% Hits on small targets.

I realize that what your rifle shoots well may not shoot in mine. However we might be able to rule out some bullets as not wanting to shoot in the 223 Axis II due to Twist Rate.

I have a very accurate 204 Ruger, but it is in an AR15 Platform. The M-Loc Handguard chews up my Gun Rack in my Jeep. That makes it less than idea for a packing around in the Jeep Rifle. The Axis II works much better, with no gun rack damage.

Bob R

[sharpshooter]

Was there a question in there?

[charlie b]

You need to try some and see. Mine has a 1:9 twist and prefers 69 and 77gn SMK's. Some 55's shoot ok but not near as well. Have not tried lighter.

[Bob Roach]

My Question is will the Axis II in 223 shoot 40 or 50 grain V-Max bullets accurately.
I have been shooting 60 Grain V-Max Bullets out of it so far.
I do have some 50 Grain V-Max bullets on hand. I would need to locate and buy 40 Grain V-Max. If however they will not shoot well, no since loading any light bullets in the first place.

My White Oak Barreled 204 shoots very well, and I am sure the bullets will blow up. The issue with it is the M-Loc Handguard eating up my gun rack.

Right now I am trying to clean up a valley for a new Tower Stand before the trees leaf out. Which will be any day now. That is eating up my spare time, not load development.

Bob R

[jpx2rk]

I shoot 50g vmax with varget but a 12T, and shoot 55g Varmageddon's in a 9T with Varget. Pdogs and sage rats don't like either load out to 400 yds or so.

The 17HMR will work good out to 125 yds IMO, some shoot it further and have clean kills on larger animals.

[sharpshooter]

There is no reason they won't shoot accurately. Just because the twist is faster, doesn't mean it won't shoot lighter bullets. I've shot about everything from 50 to 70 gr. bullets in < .5 moa.

[Bob Roach]

That is what I was wanting to know. First chance that I get, I will load some 50 V-Max and see what they will do.
If I am happy I may see if anyone locally has some even lighter weight bullets.

Bob R

[prdatr]

With a 20" barrel I would start with H322 for the 40's at 23gr's and go from there. Something like the Nosler 40gr Ballistic Tip is where I would start. Even though it is a boat tail I like it because of the plastic tip and a bit more bearing surface than some of the other 40's.
The boat tail will help in accuracy when streatching it out past 150 yards.
If you plan on shooting PD's with 40's they won't know the difference than shooting something longer like 53's which "should" be more accurate with that twist.

[Bob Roach]

I had a rainy day. I loaded 50 rounds with 50 grain V-Max Bullets and a second 50 rounds with 40 grain V-Max Bullets.
I loaded 10 rounds with 5 different powders for each bullet weight. I have a bright sun shiny day, with only about a 15-20 mph wind.
With luck the wind will lay this afternoon late. It did a little.
I used new Starline 223 Rem Brass for all loads to be tested.
I also used Remington 7-1/2BR Primers.

Temperature 62 Deg
Wind out of the North West
Shooting South on the Upper Range

Rifle: Savage Axis II Pro in 223 Remington
Scope: Nikon 4-12X With Circle BDC Reticle

Shooting off a Harris Short, Bench Rest Bipod with a Rear Sand Bag under the butt.

50 Grain V-Max
NOTE: This was a load for my Super 14 Contender that I just happened to have with me, and decided to test. Loaded the same only using New Starline 5.56 Brass.
AA2200 "Data Powder" 23.5 Grains
Velocity: 3225.28 SD: 39.8
Group Size: .611 Horizontal .292 Vertical

50 Grain V-Max
AA2015 24.5 Grains
Velocity: 3314.4 SD: 43.5
Group Size: 1.162 Horizontal .446 Vertical

50 Grain V-Max
SW Tactical 26.5 Grains
Velocity: 3393.44 SD: 43.5
Group Size: 1.924 Vertical .996 Horizontal (Worst Group Fired)

50 Grain V-Max
WW748 26.0 Grains
Velocity: 3069.04 SD: 76.8
This was under maximum by a couple grains. The Full 28.3 Grain Hornady Load filled the case Level Full.
I probably should add a little more powder, and bring the FPS up a little more.
Group Size: .624

50 Grain V-Max
TAC 25.9 Grains
Velocity: 3212.48 SD: 41.6
Group Size: .566 Vertical .171Horizontal

50 Grain V-Max
RL10X 24.2
Velocity: 3332.66 SD: 105.8
Group Size: .722

40 Grain V-Max
AA2015 25.4 Grains
Velocity: 3487.68 SD: 31.4
Group Size: .916 Horizontal .191 Vertical

40 Grain V-Max
RL10X 25.2 Grains
Velocity: 3604.88 SD: 51.1
Group Size: .898

40 Grain V-Max
TAC 27.5 Grains
Velocity: 3552.44 SD: 82.4
Group Size: .727

40 Grain V-Max
SW Tactical Rifle 26.0
Velocity: 3427.36 SD: 43
Group Size: .596 Horizontal .48 Vertical

40 Grain V-Max
AA2520 27.4 Grains
Velocity: 3297.6 SD: 83
Group Size: .75

Of the 40 Grain V-Max Loads I like the AA2015 Load best. Velocity was 3487.68. This group put Three in a cloverleaf in the center and strung a couple Horizontal opening the group up.

Of the 50 Grain V-Max Loads I had several acceptable loads. AA2200 Data did very well, as did TAC, and AA2015. WW748 also produced a good group, but the speed was around 150 FPS slower than TAC and AA2200 Data. Of the 50 V-Max loads all could use more evaluation on a day with less wind. I may also need to get a little more glass on the Axis II Pro than the 12X Nikon.

More work to do, but a good start. It looks like the Axis II Pro 223 Remington will shoot 40 and 50 Grain V-Max Bullets just fine.

Bob R

[sharpshooter]

Some more good powders to try: VV133, Varget, 8208. I found that the AA2015 is very temperature sensitive. At least in the batch I have. In small cases a temp rise of only 10 degrees can put pressures over max.

[Bob Roach]

I am trying to stay with powders that I have on hand. I still have several powders that I did not try. H335, H322, IMR4895, H4895, AA2495, RL15, and BLC-2 come to mind. I would rather work with powders that I have on hand, instead of adding new powders at $50-$60 a pound.
I have groups in the .5-.6 range, with the wind blowing. I believe that the Axis will group even better if we ever get a day the wind is not blowing around here. The Weather Man just commented that March was the second windiest month in the history of weather data here. April is not doing much better so far. The Axis will not shoot groups with my Brux Barreled 600 F Class Rifle, but I am very happy with how it shoots for a Jeep Gun.

Bob R

[Bob Roach]

I have been enlightened a little. So far my Super 14 Contender, my Savage Axis II Pro, as well as my 20" DCM, Krieger Barreled 1/7.7 Twist AR15 all shoot my 50 Grain Hornady V-Max Loading using Starline Brass, Remington 7.5 BR Primers, and 23.5 Grains of AA2200 Powder very well. I had only shot 69 SMK and 77 SMK loads in the AR15 until the last few days. I had no clue that it would shoot 50 grain V-Max bullets so well.
I have a Short Course Match this weekend. I loaded up 100 Rounds with New Starline 223 Rem Brass, Rem 7.5 Primers, and 23.5 grains of AA2200 Powder under 50 each Hornady 52 Grain A-Max Bullets, and the second 50 loaded with Hornady 52 Grain BTHP Match Bullets for the Match. I checked Zero at 100 yards this evening after the wind laid. The first and third shots were touching in the 10 Ring of an IBS 100 Yard Hunter Rifle Target, and I put shot number two a little high. My guess would be loading the Harris Bipod on the Concrete Bench. I will be careful and not load up the bipod shooting the Match.
I would have never believed that this one load would shoot well out of Three completely different guns. A Break Action Contender, a Bolt Action Savage Axis II Pro, and an AR15 Match Rifle set up to shoot 69 & 77 grain Match Bullets.
My new load will be:
50 V-Max for General use
52 or 53 grain Hornady Match Bullets for Match shooting, unless I determine that the 50 V-Max will shoot with the Bench Rest Bullets.
Brass will be Starline
Primers will be Remington 7.5 BR
Powder will be 23.5 grains of AA2200

Having ONE Load that shoots very well in three different guns will sure make loading for them much easier.

Bob R

[CFJunkie]

With light bullets in the 40-50 gr range, I have found the faster powders like N133 and H335 seem to work best for me.
Even with my 1:9 twist barrels, the 50 gr Berger Varmint #22406 bullets shoot under .400 at 100 yards at 3100 fps mv.
I have shot 40 grain Nosler BTs and they shoot pretty well also. At around 3,300 - 3,500 fps MV they also shot under 0.400 at 100 yards.
On a good day, two loads of N133 got close to 0.3 at 3,450 to 3,500 fps, but that was probably on a good day with me doing everything right.
The 35 Nosler BTs also shot well with H335 (under 0.45 at 100 yards) at 3,800 fps MV.

Those results were a while ago when I was shooting my CZ 527 .223 with a 1:9 twist 24-in. barrel.
I stopped shooting light bullets when I started shooting my Savage 12 FV with a 26-in. barrel, mostly because it shot the 69 to 77 grain bullets terrific with slower powders like Varget, H4895, N540, IMR 4166, and N140. I am a nut for accurate results and it was a target rifle - heavy and stable.

For hunting , the 40 grain Nosler BTs were like grenades on prairie dogs out of my .22-250 24-in barrel, but I was shooting them at a MV just over 4,000 fps with powders I now use for heavier .223 bullets. They were actually a bit more accurate around 3,850 to 3,900 fps mv.

The V-Max should perform about the same but a .223 doesn't deliver the kinetic-energy of a .22-250 at 300 yards.
At 100 yards, the Nosler BTs at 4,000+ fps would drive a paint ball through our target cardboard and leave a big hole in the cardboard and the paint on the rear of the cardboard.
The guys who volunteered to repair our target frames did not appreciate that at all.