Hornady Vmax?

[Twanger]

Just ordered some Hornady Vmax 40gr for the 222.
They quote 3600 fps from a 26" barrel. Of course my barrel is 22".

Any idea what MV I might get?

Anybody used this ammo?

I'm looking for something to splat groundhogs this summer.

I've been shooting Remington 50gr PSP's, but I'm not all that happy about the accuracy.

[dave-t.]

I'd be surprised if you got less than 3400fps. The .223 has a reputation for not losing much steam with a 20" barrel as opposed to a 22" or 24".

.222rem made it's reputation for accuracy with 50-55grn bullets. If the v-max's don't make you smile, see if you can find a ballitic tip type bullet factory loaded in that weight class. Good luck Twanger.

[Bushman]

Twanger, I just checked out that load data on the Hornady web site and they say that load is 3600 fps out of a 24" test barrel. A 460 fps increase over your psp 50 grain Remington's with only a 10 grain decrease in weight should give you pretty good splats no matter what the velocity drop that you get from a 22" barrel. I was not real pleased about the Remington accuracy with the 50 grain AccuTip out of my .221 Fireball either so I tried the 40 grain Nosler BT Customs and those are better and that same BT is available for your .222 through Midway too. I think that you should be pretty pleased with that hot Hornady load as every Hornady ammo that I've ever shot has been better than any locally available ammo. I just ordered two boxes of .308 & .30-06 Hornady ammo today myself from Midway as their prices are still normal. I wish that I could get Hornady loaded ammo for the Fireball too.

[Twanger]

Bushman - I saw those Nosler loads. Thanks.

My Encore likes Hornady's hot Light magnum .308 load. I figure it's worth a try.

I ordered 2 boxes of the Hornady 40gr Vmax from Midsouth Shooter's Supply. Midway didn't have them.

Maybe I'll get 3500 fps. That's smokin' fast. I may have to pull my zero down from 2" at 100 yds to 1".
It shoots so flat that 1.1" high at 100 yards puts you dead on at 200 yards. (In theory).

Man, I sucked at the range yesterday. It was 98 degrees (measured it) and the gun was so hot after 3 shots that I couldn't hold the barrel.
The barrel is floated, but I was shooting for shxt, and it may well have been me and not the heat. I don't feel like I was as steady as normal.
Usually I can hold inside the 0.5" circle, but it was more like 1" circle Sunday. Being out in the heat all day and then shooting was probably a bad plan.