Varmint bullet didnt open

Perhaps the V Max expands at a lower impact energy.

maybe switch to a basic sp, there cheaper to.

ohihunter2014 said:

I tried two powders with them and cant get them to shoot well for nothing.

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there pricey but have you ever used the varmint grenades, do they still make them. they where the only bullet that would turn a chuck inside out. hrd to beat the vmax tho.

I've used the same bullet at about that MV on; muskrats, beavers and coyotes, without an issue. It's positively my favorite varmint bullit in my bolt gun and ARs.

I've shot a lot of muskrats at the 100 yard mark (Just happens to be the distance across my pond) and the effects have been dramatic. So....beats me why you're seeing pencil through and throughs.

A couple of things, both really just guesses.

Assuming you did have 3100 fps at the muzzle, impact velocity at 220 yards would have been less than 2500 fps. And there is a very good chance your muzzle velocity was actually LESS than 3000 fps which would have meant impact speeds closer to 2000 fps. Until you actually measure MV you are simply guessing at 3100 fps. I'm not sure what impact speeds that particular bullet needs to expand, but 1800-2000 is pretty common. Some need more than 2000 fps, and only a handful designed for 30-30 class cartridges expand below 1800 fps.

And even if you are within the impact velocity parameters the bullet needs resistance and time to expand. Many bullets penetrate several inches before expansion starts. On a small animal with a hit to the body the bullet may not have had either the time nor resistance to expand. The head shot had more resistance.

Perhaps the V Max expands at a lower impact energy.

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If it is capable of expanding at slower speeds, it would have way over expanded at faster speeds.

jmr40 said:

If it is capable of expanding at slower speeds, it would have way over expanded at faster speeds.

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That’s the whole point of a varmint bullet. They are supposed to explode on impact to provide quick kills and won’t ricochet. If you shoot a V-max into a potato with a piece of cardboard a couple feet behind it the only thing that will make it to the cardboard is fragments.

ohihunter2014 said:

That is what I have read but 3100fps is pretty fast for 223rem. Another thought I had was I was pushing them too fast and they aren't opening but that didn't make sense.

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Nope, nosler uses a solid base now, slightly heavier jacket, vmax is softer, I'd hedge a heavy bet that especially on the closer impact, the base alone created the exit and left the jacket in the surrounding tissue, nosler sploders are varmageddons. Before the hunting b tips came out, nosler caught flack for underperformaning bullets on larger animals so they made a hunting bullet and toughened up the varmint line too just to be safe. I'll also suggest that those b tips should be used on heavier tissue, try one quartering away and then examine the wounding. Even my spsx which would absolutely scatter a prairie dog 30 yds on a body shot would be much less dramatic in the neck with most fragments in the dirt just past the skin.

jmr40 said:

A couple of things, both really just guesses.

Assuming you did have 3100 fps at the muzzle, impact velocity at 220 yards would have been less than 2500 fps. And there is a very good chance your muzzle velocity was actually LESS than 3000 fps which would have meant impact speeds closer to 2000 fps. Until you actually measure MV you are simply guessing at 3100 fps. I'm not sure what impact speeds that particular bullet needs to expand, but 1800-2000 is pretty common. Some need more than 2000 fps, and only a handful designed for 30-30 class cartridges expand below 1800 fps.

And even if you are within the impact velocity parameters the bullet needs resistance and time to expand. Many bullets penetrate several inches before expansion starts. On a small animal with a hit to the body the bullet may not have had either the time nor resistance to expand. The head shot had more resistance.

If it is capable of expanding at slower speeds, it would have way over expanded at faster speeds.

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He was shooting nosler varmagedon plastic tip. Had been previously using v max.

Per the Nosler webpage FAQ the ballistic tip bullets are intentionally harder for higher speed cartridges vesus the non-tipped bullet. The tipped 22 bullets are made for the 22-250 and 220 swift. The 223 is clocking 500 fps or more slower so you may be just at the bottom of the intended impact velocity resulting in varied performance. Go to the more fragile non-tipped version for the slower cartridge.

ohihunter2014 said:

I first started using these about 2yrs ago. I hit a woodchuck in the chest as it was facing me and it literally gutted it out the back. Next one had pencil hole. Last night the one had its head almost taken clean off and the other two had small holes. I had a big one stand up at 100yards and I put it right in the neck and pencil hole.

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My go-to is light bullets.
223 doesn't push 55s hard enough for my liking.
Try 40 or 45 grain bullets. You can get them to about 3500 with IMR3031.

Have you tried the Hornady fifty grain SPSX?
They are perfect for a slower twist varmint rifle as they have a thinner jacket than others.

I would sell them. That could be half a box of V-maxs that do the job.
Unless they shoot well and you have paper in need of holes, of course.

ohihunter2014 said:

They do shoot well. I am trying to get the 50gr v max to shoot well but right now can’t. I don’t think my 1-9 twist likes 50gr.

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Are you chasing the lands with them, or seating them at least .224 into the case?
I found better accuracy using the second method. I run 40s in an 8 twist with a tremendous amount of jump. Just be sure to use a fast enough powder for the job.

The OP is using Nosler Varmageddon bullets. They do NOT have a solid base like normal BTips do. They are the correct bullet to use on varmints. Hornady says this about them:

“Ultrathin jacket mouth assures violent expansion at either end of the velocity scale.”

If they are not expanding at 100 yards (equivalent to < 300 yards out of a .22-250) then they are defective. It happens, machinery not set up correctly at the beginning of a run, bad batch of jacket material, you name it. Were these purchased discounted on sale?


.

ohihunter2014 said:

I have Benchmark, H335 and H322 on hand. I cant remember but I think I am 15-20k from the lands.

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Benchmark gave me about 3150 fps with 45 and 55 grain bullets.
I learned to seat at least the caliber into the case when I was trying to get 90 gr bullets to shoot from a 270.

ohihunter2014 said:

Why is his head not mangled?

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Did you make the appropriate sacrifices of chickens? If the blood is not fresh it won't work. How many feathers did you burn in the fire of pine logs? This isn't cooking. It needs to be the proper amount...

While I would like to think a Nosler BT Varm. bullet would expand dramatically on impact... not all bullets do.
Some bullets expand virtually immediately on impact... some need a few inches to start to violently expand / fragment...
Honestly, if the prefect bullet design was available ... someone would be filthy rich selling it.

The comment about additional velocity is important as well, and velocity can dramatically alter expansion / fragmentation results... not to mention how "yaw" dependent a bullet may be.

Also, bear in mind... very early .224 varmint bullets that were designed for the slower 1n12 or 1n14 twist rates... and when they were first used in more modern 1n9 or 1n7 twist rates.. the Super Explosive bullets would / could literally spin apart after leaving a brand new barrel with its new crisp rifling .

So a lot of varmint bullets need to vaporize critters... but be tough enough to withstand the fast twist rates in modern firearms.

I like the Speer tnt

ohihunter2014 said:

Yes, I got them for about $65. I cant remember if it was Cabelas or Midway. What gets me is it made a ditch in this woodchucks head, but the other 4-5 I shot in the body it was pencil hole in and out. I shot one with a v max at 120yards that was facing me on all 4 legs and it gutted it. Why is his head not mangled? That looks like FMJ stuff to me.

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Looks dead !!!