Hornady 50gr SP for varmints

They don't open as fast as the amax of other similar bullets.

Used a lot of Hornady SP bullets back when groundhogs were plentiful. In .222 l really liked the Frontier factory loading with the SPSX. In 22-250 I hand loaded the 55 grain SP and the 50 grain SPSX. Any solid body hit with either bullet and either caliber usually turned Mr. Whistle pig inside out.

They work just fine. Even on real hogs. If your rifle shoots them well, the bullet will do it’s job. If you’re trying to explode the chuck, keep your shots pretty close. If you’re just wanting a good kill, you can stretch it a few hundred yards. The V-Max are great. But they do a lot of damage.

For coyotes, I have had very mixed results using plastic-tipped bullets. Save those for the ground squirrels and rodents. For fur bearing like fox and coyote, I prefer a good hollow point like the Speer 52 gr HP or Sierra HP. Soft points will be fine too....just IMO plastic tips are not reliable.

ANATION said:

Just got a bunch of 50 gr Hornady SPs and worked up an accurate load for my 223s. I've always used VMAX but with VMAX harder to find than hen's teeth, I was going to use this bullet for chucks and coyotes. Does anybody have any experience with this rounds performance on game? Thanks.

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Spsx are the prevmax the sp will be slightly harder but if used properly, still a viable option. Look for 40 gr vmax, I can still find a few locally, bc is decent enough and combined with the added velocity, I found they out shot the 50 sp outta my .223.

They were exceptionally accurate in a 222 varmint I had back in the 70s. They would make a puffball out of a crow and they put down several called coyotes within 200 yards. I still keep several hundred for rifles that like a flat base bullet.

IDK I am going to have to disagree with some of the guys above. My buddy and I hunt groundhogs all spring and summer and he used to shoot a 50gr SP factory round and anything past 200yards they would either crawl off wounded and need shot again or just haul rear end to the hole and yes, he hit them because there would be blood. This was with a 22-250 too. Since switching to V max those farther shots put them down quick. BTW Nosler Varmegeddon shoot same POI and better than V max in my 223rem rifles with Benchmark. Coyotes I would hit with a SP or HP. Just seemed like the SP zipped through the woodchucks so fast it didnt kill them fast.