Thread: Recovered projectile 60gr vmax

Im sure there was a thread somewhere for recovered projectiles and terminal performance but buggered if I can find it so here is another.

.224 diameter 60gr hornady vmax.
Launch velocity 3075fps

Fallow doe
216y impact at calculated 2328fps
energy 722.5 fp

Presentation quartering away ,shot one rib back from crease.

Collected two ribs on the way in, large lemon sized hole threw both lungs went threw off side scapular and was resting under the skin.

Substantial shock damage on entry side despite not hitting the shoulder at all.

Entry and exit(almost exit) at knife tip.

holy FAAAARK...... yip a 50 grn ttsx looks really good......but as often said if its making a mess it kills good.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

holy FAAAARK...... yip a 50 grn ttsx looks really good......but as often said if its making a mess it kills good.

Deliberately chosen to have a quicker kill at range for my boy on a rib/brisket shot...went a couple of drunken steps and tits up....wouldnt reccomend for body shots unless picking the shot as above.

plurry good choice for that task.....it will still go in the mince bucket lol.
all the good bits werent hit.
the lad did good.

Worked well for a V Max would have thought it wouldn't have penetrated that well. I shot a billy years back with a 50 V Max out of a 222Rem at about 3100 fps. Perfect shoulder shot and it took of but piled up about a 100 odd yards away. The bullet had exploded on the shoulder and only fragments got into the chest cavity. Great on small game though.

Pretty good performance for a vmax!

Here's a .270 145gr ELD-x recovered from a Sika stag.

Shot at 476yds, retained velocity 2185fps, retained energy 1537 ft-lbs. Animal ran 20yds and collapsed. Jacket found on offside shoulder, core exited.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Worked well for a V Max would have thought it wouldn't have penetrated that well. I shot a billy years back with a 50 V Max out of a 222Rem at about 3100 fps. Perfect shoulder shot and it took of but piled up about a 100 odd yards away. The bullet had exploded on the shoulder and only fragments got into the chest cavity. Great on small game though.

Yes I dont think a shoulder shot would be wise with it at less than 200y but that is what neck shots are for

The V-Max is an interesting bullet. The reason @vietnamcam ‘s bullet hasn’t exploded on entry is the reduced impact velocity. If the deer was standing at 100m, maybe a slightly different story. Maybe not, but that’s my gut feel.

I shoot a lot of pest goats and deer with the 50gr .223 yellow tip version, the Z-Max. Identical construction. Last two weeks I shot maybe 80 or 90 goats and seven red deer. All were head or upper neck shot from 80-280m. There’s no bullet I’d rather use for this job.

Straight up, I wouldn’t use the 50gr bullet for chest shots, the few I’ve tried on goats haven’t died quickly enough for my liking. Can’t speak for the 60gr in .223, but the 75gr and 87gr in 6mm are entirely capable of wrecking a red deer’s internals, but the bloodshot meat was unacceptable...

So all up... Fantastic bullets but best employed for CNS shots. Your mileage might vary!

Originally Posted by Flyblown

The V-Max is an interesting bullet. The reason @vietnamcam ‘s bullet hasn’t exploded on entry is the reduced impact velocity. If the deer was standing at 100m, maybe a slightly different story. Maybe not, but that’s my gut feel.

I shoot a lot of pest goats and deer with the 50gr .223 yellow tip version, the Z-Max. Identical construction. Last two weeks I shot maybe 80 or 90 goats and seven red deer. All were head or upper neck shot from 80-280m. There’s no bullet I’d rather use for this job.

Straight up, I wouldn’t use the 50gr bullet for chest shots, the few I’ve tried on goats haven’t died quickly enough for my liking. Can’t speak for the 60gr in .223, but the 75gr and 87gr in 6mm are entirely capable of wrecking a red deer’s internals, but the bloodshot meat was unacceptable...

So all up... Fantastic bullets but best employed for CNS shots. Your mileage might vary!

yes this. Il get flamed for this no doubt but for extending the range of the 223 I think they are ideal.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Attachment 133740

Attachment 133741

Attachment 133742

Try the 60 grain HP much tougher than the Vmax shot lots of goats with it works great

Originally Posted by shooternz

Try the 60 grain HP much tougher than the Vmax shot lots of goats with it works great

I dont want tougher....have been using 55gr hornady sp and smk and have been a little underwhelmed with terminal performance on body shots, the Idea of the vmax is to increase wound channel at longer(for a 223) ranges....it works good.

Here is a smk at 100y on a smaller animal.... required a second shot.



Ideally Id run 75 or heavier amax but my twist rate wont allow that.

Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk

Well done on using v-max’s on deer as I’ve used them before also.

I shot a handful of Sika with 55gr v-max all under 60 mtrs with shoulder shots either on the shoulder or just behind.

I never recovered a projectile or parts of but the internal chest cavity was just mush with a lot of meat damage on the shoulder itself.

55gn or 62gn gold dot 224 speers are a bonded pill might work better for body shots possibly 🤔