I had posted this on another forum but didn't get but a couple guess.Can anyone here tell me why this is happening?
I tried some 52 gr a-maxes this week and dang their keyholeing also.

herman
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Posts: 843
Joined: 2/12/2003
From: Hickory NC USA
Status: online I think I had posted before about the same thing but don't think I ever got any thoughts.
Would like to hear what others think is happening,I sure am stumped.
First off I have 2 rifles,both 22/250,a savage with 26 in barrel and a remington with 24 in barrel.
OK loaded up some 40 grain v-max and 40 gr BT useing 10 X powder (34.5 grs.)and wrl primers.
Shot both today and in the savage I got small groups and a speed of 4200 fps with the BT and 4146 with the v-max.
Next shot the remington with same bullets and load I got good group and fps was 4009 with the BT.
Next shot the v-max ( fps varried from 3200 to 3600 fps)couldn't hardly find where they hit on the target board but the ones I found were key holed,tried shooting them at 25 yards and they sprayed all over the target and was key holed.
Thought maybe one was bigger in dia than the other but measure the same 224" thought maybe the reason was because one was shorter than the other (.683-v-max vs .687 -BT).
I can shoot the BT when I want to shoot a 40 gr bullet in the remington but would like to know the reason why the v-max won't shoot.Does anyone know or anyone want to take a good guess???I just cannot understand the speed drop from one bullet to the other.

My guess is that the A-max is trying to come apart before it reaches the target on maybe before it leaves the barrel. Every bullet has a limit on what speed it will tolerate before it starts to unravel. You could very probably have a small rough spot in the barrel of the remington that is affecting the performance of the A-Max and the Savage is able to get them out without the bullet trying to upset. Maybe the Ballistic Tip is shightly tougher. That is just my guess , but we know the A-max is a good quality bullet so something is going on here. If this is correct, they you will need to shoot a slightly heaver bullet in the A-max or slow it down a bit.

My guess would be your not pushing them fast enough. I have had similar results with V max's in my 223. Try matching your velocities and then decide

Something is going on for it to drop 400 to 800 fps with the same load. I would call Hornady first thing.

Thanks fellows both bullets shoot great in the savage with the 1;12 twist at 4200fps+ with the 40 gr v-max and shoots the 52 a-max great.
I loaded uo 6 bullets(40gr v-max with mim.load of 2460 which should have given me 3663out of the 24 in rem,i got 3332fps,they didn't shoot a group at 25yds but didn't keyhole,but the cases where covered in shut,so i figure i wasn't getting enough pressure with the mim load.Then I tried the 52 a-max with a good load of 40.3 grs of 380 and they keyholed out of the rem.
Shot the same load that I had tried before with the 40 v-max but used 40 gr BT at 100 yds that shot a .3 in group.
My buddie and I think that something in the barrel is starting the jacket on the v and a max bullets to tear.But it isn't doing it with other bullets,like the 40 gr BT,and the 52 gr hornady match.
I had cleaned the barrel before going to the range with 200 strokes of jb bore cleaner and cannot see anything in the barre with my necked eye.
I have other bullets and loads that I can use in the rem but think this is so strange.Just cannot figure what happens to the speed out of the rem barrel with the v-maxes.Its not the chronograph we have tried 2 different ones.
I don't have a pic of the .3 in group I shot with the 40 gr BT tuesday but here is a group I shot with them back in Nov when I first got the rifle and it was about the same as the one below.

Owensby, I think you are on the right track with the barrel of the Remington not being compatible with the light A-max and V-max bullets. It may not be a rough spot , but could just be a tight spot somewhere in the barrel which starts the bullet to upset. This would also account for the velocity drops and inconsistencies. If the bullet jackets start to tear, this could allow the gas to pass the bullet and give you a drop in velocity. I would think it is very common that most rifle barrels are not compatible with some bullets. We usually just move on and find thoes bullets that it really loves. I do not know what use Hornady reccommends for these bullets. Maybe they were designed for use with the 22 hornet, 222 , 223 and etc. Speed of 4200fps would have to put a tereffic strain on any bullet. Good luck .