what woodchuck ammo-223?

I would stick with 55 and learn the trajectory

How good the accuracy is and your skill will determine how far you can shoot.
A 55 grain V-Max in Hornady factory ammo(3240 fps MV) sighted in 1.4" high at 100 will drop 7" at 300, like a brick past that to 21.4" at 400. So if your load is running around that 3240 fps(a low to mid range load with a lot of powders), learn to judge distances(or buy a range finder) and have fun.
With a 1 in 9 twist I'd think heavier not lighter. Mind you, no ground hog will care one way or the other.

I select best accuracy, and adjust for trajectory and drift.

I'd stick with the 55 or even the 60 grain V-max in a rifle with a 1:9 twist. I use the 60 in my own 1:9 and get good results. Having said all that, every rifle is a law unto itself. I suggest you experiment with them at ranges you expect to shoot.

Barnes 50gr Varmint Grenade.

Fast, flat, and impressive terminal results.

Geno said:

I select best accuracy, and adust for trajectory and drift.

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.......That also what I do...............Once you find your accuracy "pet load" keep using it and get used to shooting it at different ranges and conditions you'll find yourself hitting your target more often. I now have one load for each varmint rifle and they're both dialed in the way I'm used to. These aren't super high velocity deals or loads with exotic bullets. Pretty much regular loads but they are the most accurate for each rifle. I can hit woodchucks more often, and further out, and even though they involve standard varmint bullets at less than maximum velocity I've discovered that the 'chucks can't tell the difference.

I'd go with best accuracy as well. If you want to reach out to the 300 yd distance area consistently, I might consider a new caliber addition to your available rifle selection... something along the lines of a 243 win.

The best thing to do is get a friend with a pair of binoculars and let him spot for you, so you can correct for misses. Among other things, that will teach you to estimate range and wind -- because you will know the effect of each shot.

I've used 55-grain flat-base Sierras on prairie dogs at 300. Zeroed at 200 yards. About five inches of holdover for 300 yards (lasered distances).

I'm with Geno. Whatever bullet does best for tight groups. I like any of the Sierras from 50 to 55 grains, flat base or boat tail. In my 77 Mk II, all generally group around a half-inch for five shots. At worst, 3/4".

Use what you already have. Good combination. It's what I use for deer, should have no problem getting head shots on chucks at 100. If you aren't, it's probably not the gun.......
Why would you need 300 yards for woodchucks? Last one I shot was 10 yards away, I shot it with a .22.

I'd go with the accuracy thing as well. There isn't gonna be a ton of difference in drop. Side to side accuracy would be more mportant IMO.

Stick with the 55 V-Max and zero at longer distances. I start at 200 yd zero and go from there. Plus you get more trigger time when you zero at multiple distances

Hornady V-MAX

kudu said:

When I was younger and really hunted them it was not uncommon to have to shoot them at 400 yards. The first sign of movement and they were gone. The stupid ones that hadn't been taught caution you could very well sneak up on.
Whatever is the most accurate and is pretty frangible is what I would use. I learned my lesson younger, 30 years ago, when I was using bulk 80gr soft points in my .243, they were very accurate with my rifle, but after I popped a woodchuck center at about 250 yards and the bullet proceeded to keep going through the center web of a railroad iron fence post, 5/8" thick, I decided to buy lighter more delicate bullets to reload with. I use mostly V-max bullets of one flavor or another.

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Groundhog hunting was quite a sport in my area back in the 70s. A den of groundhogs would easily wipe out an acre of soybeans.
We would go for a drive with the 700 Remington. 243.

kudu said:

As that was the first rifle that I bought when I turned 18, and it never till this day has had a factory round through it. We farmed about 900 acres at that time, corn soybeans and wheat. The first year I hunted heavily, got about 350 groundhogs in a10 mile radius, neighboring farmers loved to have me settle in and take out a family of groundhogs that were mowing off a soybean field.

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I still have the 700.
We had many tails in the freezer.

I grew up on a dairy farm. As Kudu said, they could clean off acres of soybeans

My first rifle was a .22-250 with a 10x scope. Got groundhogs out to 450

I'm surrounded by woods in all directions. My longest shot would be l00 yards or less. I have groundhogs under outbuildings out to 70 yards. The rifle I use is a Ruger Mini 14. I ordered some cheap varmint loads from Academy (less than $10 box). I decided a .22 LR is not enough gun for groundhogs. I killed 4 since switching to the Mini. The varmint loads are brutal on groundhogs, absolutely tearing them apart.

300 yard woodchucks? Whatever is cheap and shoots well in your rifle. The difference in trajectory at 300 yards is minimal, and bullet construction is a non-issue.

ohihunter2014 said:

we have bean fields 60-200 acres around here and sit on a hillside and whack them across the field. some are close and some are 300yards.

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For 300 yds, 55 gr is just fine, put the trajectory numbers side by side with the 50&53 gr, I'm pushing the 50 gr spsx at 3200 with h322 over the chronograph sighted in at 300 with a MIL dot scope, the first dot above the cross hairs covers everything I aim at at 100&200 yds, the 55 starts a little slower but carries that velocity a little longer. If I had a faster twist I'd definitely push longer bullets but I'm 1:12 on a 20" bbl and these group so gorgeous that I can't make myself stop loading them. If you don't like the results with your 223 do what I do for real long range (knocking yotes at 400-800 yds) skip the .22-250, and jump up to the .243 or maybe something like Loonwulf's .250ai. I have both .22 cartridges at my disposal and they're both great in their own way, but the .243 just edges the .-250 out enough that for now it stays home more often. The new fast twist barrels even the odds a little, but never been there so I can't say.

I've killed 1,000s of prairie dogs with my Remington 700 VSF .223 using 40, 50 and 55gr bullets, but have settled on Sierra 50gr Blitz Kings because they are the most accurate. Even though I have killed to occasional 300 yard dog, any .223 bullet is going to drop a fair amount at 300; how much depends on bullet size. For consistent accuracy at that distance I use my Remington VFS .243 with 57gr Hornady V-Max. I sight it in one inch high at 100 yards then place the cross hair right across the back of a prone dog at 300 and it hits them dead center.

With 1:9 twist, I'd stick with 55 grain.

It's already going pretty quick, and the extra weight may help with wind as opposed to a faster but lighter 50 grain. I don't think you'll see much real world performance changes going from 55 to 50 or so.