Im currently using a 270 win hornady v-max 110 gr bullet over 55 grains of imr 4350.this is the most accurate load i got would this be alright for deer??
thanks

NO! It will NOT be alright. Try Ballistic tips instead, or SSTs. Vmax's are for varmints.

Coot

Why don't you describe to me the kind of deer you are shooting and the ranges you intend to use it at.

Also would you take a running shot or not?

Thanks

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

its eastern whitetails and my shots would be within 200
however i do alot of stalking during a hunt so there would more than likely be a running shot. i see that vmax expand alot faster than regular bullets wouldn't this increase my chances of a kill?

thanks

I've got some experience with some of the v-maxes on game. I do not with the 270, but that said I will respond anyway.

First off, the shooting my wife and I have done with the 75 v-max out of a 6/06 at about 3700 I'd guess (can't remember the speed for sure and too lazy to go the garage and look it up) has been under very controlled circumstances and in open country. The shots taken have provided quite quick one shot kills. On some of the critters (lopes and deer) the bullets exited and some they stayed inside.

From where I stand, I would have to say that if all went right then there would be no worry's. I would also have to say that I'd carry that bullet in my 270 if it was all I had. But, it would in no way be my choice for what you are doing and how you are hunting.

In the country you are hunting I would want a bullet that would penetrate thru and thru and give 2 holes and hence a better blood trail. And when you throw in the idea of running shots (which I personally am not a proponet of), I would have to say it is time to look for another bullet.

I am a big time fan of the 270 and have taken a lot of game with it, and I know it will do you well if you give it a better bullet.

There are a lot of bullets to look at. If you are a fan of the Hornday then the first one I would try for what you are doing is the 150 spire point. That with some R22 or IMR 4350 or H4831 and I would say that load developement would be quickly over and you would have a dandy whitetail load.

Just my thoughts, but I'd say it is time to look a bit farther for a different bullet.

Good luck Amigo

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

IF You want massive bloodshot meat, bits and pieces of copper/lead in amoung your meat, and the possibility of a wounded deer, then by all means use the v-max bullet. If not then pick a bullet built for hunting. It's just that simple.

grizz-what cal's and bullet weights have you used on deer?

Thx

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

What you are proposing to use is simply not a hunting bullet. While it might get the job done there are a host of much better choices - choices that will increase the chance of you getting your deer.

I loaded some 178 grain A-maxes for a friends 30-06. I didn't intend on him hunting with them but I found out later he took 2 deer with them. On one, the bullet didn't exit and he made no remarks on the damage to the internals. On the next deer he got a fist sized exit wound.

Take the advice above--get the right bullet for the job. Hornady Interlock spire points and deer go together like apple pie and ice cream--and are usually great shooters at a bargain price.

Mark, I tend to go with medium weight for caliber for whitetails. When the ballistic tip first came out, I loaded them in my Ruger .280. The 140 seemed to do a real nice job of dropping deer instantly. That rifle never lived up to it's velocity potential, so they were only around 2650 fps.

At that speed it was a perfect fit. My nephew got a 7400 in 280, the same load went out at 2900. In his at close range there was a lot of bits and pieces of bullet with some exiting, some not. Only found an empty jacket once.

165 BT in 30-06, another nephews rifle. Again shards of lead and copper with massive blood shot meat. But he insists I load them for him, they drop real quick and he gives them away so he don't get to see what those bullets do.

Don't mean to re-ignite the BT controversy, just a few observations. I had nearly the same results with the SST's, that's why I've gone with the interbond now.

The v-max is plain and simply an explosive varmint bullet. Seeing what it does to a woodchuck is amazing. In a WSHTF scenario, if I were starving and the v-max was the only bullet I had, only then would I use one for deer. If you could fit it between 2 ribs it would probably do okay.

Hey Grizz, in comment to your last post, I agree. I used the Hornaday SST for 2yrs in a .308win with fantastic results. Last year I used them in a .270Win (loaded hot) and it was a disaster. I took one deer with them but it took 3 shots to bring him down. 2 bullets fragminted making an awful mess of things, the 3rd one did it's job and brought the poor animal down. On the way out of the woods a couple of cottontails ran out on the trail. I wanted to see it for myself so I lowered the boom on one of them at about 15yds. When I walked over where the bunny was sitting, nothing but 2 feet and a little fur These bullets just aren't made for deer. If you do feel the need to use them, SLOW THEM DOWN WITH REDUCED LOADS.

Terry

Unfreakingbelievable!!!!

I just got thru responding in a thread where the gist of the conversation is "do you think a 180 grain accubond from a 300 WM will penetrate enough for a deer load, or should I use a triple shock" and now THIS!!!



UUUUUUUUUUUURRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

DUDE! ITS A FREAKING VARMINT BULLET!

Grizz-I've generally gravitated to a hard bullet for everything that moves out here. I just am not a fan of using more than one bullet, just too much messing around.

I've pretty much went to the Barnes TS bullet for all,and in most all of my game rifles. I've found excellent accuracy and excellent killing power.

Now here is something to think about. That TS is about as hard of a bullet as your gonna get (I think that is something we can all agree on) for a hunting bullet.

Well, we (my wife and I)took a elk at 488 with the 130 TS out of a 270 my wife took her elk at 110 yards with the 270/130 TS, a whitetail out of my 6/06 with the 85 TS at about 60 yards, and then 4 lopes between 130 yards and 270 yards with the 270/130 TS.

We also took a lope with at 100 yards with the 6/06 with a 75 V-Max and a whitetail doe at about 40 yards with the same bullet out of the 6/06.

Now here is the interesting part. Of the 7 critters taken with the 270/130 TS combo all of the critters were pretty much clean when it comes to issue of shock tissue and messed up meat except the elk that my wife shot. It was a mess in the shoulder area (she clipped a part of the shoulder on the way out), and we lost most all of the far shoulder dues to tissue and bullet damage.

With the 6/06 and the 75 v-maxes going at about 3700 (if I remember right). Her lope was a quarter away and it went in behind the front left and went thru in stayed in the opposite if I remember right. That far shoulder was a mess too. You should of seen the spray of blood that bullet left as that goat tried to depart the country! If I remember right we lost that far shoulder. Which isn't much on a goat.

Now the w-tail doe that I took was at close range and I used that same 6/06 75 v-max combo and the shot went right on thru the ribs missed the shoulders and was a very clean (no meat damage) kill.

I guess my point to this big long disertation is that if you hit a shoulder, or a part of the hind end (that you obviously should not of hit), or the spine that you are gonna have meat damage and loose meat. I've found that to be true irregardless of what bullet you're using. Where I've found it nice to be using a hard bullet is that you don't have all the hydrostatic shock tissue that you would with a softer bullet. And yet, I've experienced that jelly tissue with a lot of the non preme bullets, and not neccessarily just the "varmint bullets". And the great majority of that jelly is in non meat areas anyway.

My point being is keep your bullet away from what you want to eat and you'll be fine. My main problem with this fella using a v-max is the fact that the shots are not gonna be in a controlled situation (you know running etc).

Now would I choose a v-max again, yeah I would especially if I was shooting deer under a controlled situation like a stand and also if there was a fair number of houses around. Where my wife and I shot our deer last year there is a very good stand and a very solid rest and there is a few houses in the area. The shots are gonna be under 75 yards. We are gonna pass up anything but a perfect standing still deer , and only broadside or slight angles (although I do dislike those angles because you're gonna have a hard time not clipping a shoulder). In short under circumstance like that I feel and know (from experience) that the v-max will work just fine.

Now I would suggest that a deer and a lope is not a very conclusive test about how a bullet will or will not perform on a critter but it is also a better test than not ever trying it and just claiming that a bullet will not work or that you'll get all this massive meat damage.

Just my oh so rambling thoughts.

I guess we'll jsut have to shoot a few more critters this fall and see what we see. I do believe if we clip shoulders we will loose meat (same as with any other bullet) and I do believe that if we miss the shouder and zip in thru the ribs and into the lungs then there will be a minimal of muss and fuss just like any other bullet out there.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz