I was cruising Hornady's web site the other day and ran across a bullet called Super Explosive. I like to shoot prairie dogs and was wondering if these bullets are more frangible than the V-Max. Does anyone have any experience with these?

I've used both of these bullets. The sxsp in my 222 rem. and the vmax in my ar. On praire dogs I couldn't tell a difference. They both produced spectacular kills. I use the 50 gr. sxsp in the 222 here in Pa to cut down on ricochets and the 60gr. vmax for long range performance on p.d. in South Dakota.

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Originally posted by taylorce1:
I was cruising Hornady's web site the other day and ran across a bullet called Super Explosive. I like to shoot prairie dogs and was wondering if these bullets are more frangible than the V-Max. Does anyone have any experience with these?

I've been killing critters with the 55 SX since the mid '70s out of 1-12 and 1-14" twist .222s and .223s. I've always considered it to be "the bullet of choice" for ground squirrel, prairie dogs, rock chucks, foxes and coyotes with the .223. However it doesn't alwys hold together with the fast twist .223s these days and the bullet breaks up from the RPM. I have shot out two .223 barrels with this bullet and the 3rd is good for about one more "shoot". It will then get a new barrel with a 1-14" twist just for this bullet. With 26 gr of H335 it most often shoots sub MOA and down into the .2"s and .3"s with varmint rifles. Velocity is 3200 to 3300+ in 24 to 26" barrels.

I sometimes got bored shooting the small Columbian ground squirrels in Oregon. In the afternoon when the squirrels would sit next to each other in a row atop their diggin's I would work around until I had them lined up to see how many I could get with one shot. Never killed more than two of the little buggers as the bullet would be completely blown up before reaching the third. The third one got thumped pretty good by a bloody mess though! Damn few exits on coyotes or large rock chucks, proves crows and magpies are not wrapped to tight and turns rabbits into "'bits"!

None of the newer bullets that cost almost twice as much have shown me anything over the SX.

Larry Gibson

I used the sx's when they first came out in a 222 and a 223. Larry hit it right on the head. I would caution about using them in anything over 3500fps tho. We tried them in a buddy's 22-250 loaded right at what we believed to be 3500 fps and we watched many come apart in the air. Kinda looked like something was flying out there and leaving contrails!

Using 75gr V-Max's in my 243 and they barely make it thru 2" of styrofoam. Was using it for a target backing and finding the jackets in pieces behind the target,,,,,,,,,at 200 yds!

It's a great bullet but it has different parameters than the V-Max. The V-Max has a higher BC and is going to carry for long distance shots better. The SX is also designed for lower velocities and could quite possibly "air burst" on ya at much above intended speeds. It's designed for maximum performance from rounds that aren't capable of the hyper velocities.
I shoot the 70 grain SX in a 6BR and it clocks only about 3,340ish but still shreds rats in a very dramatic way, it's quite accurate also. If you loaded it in a .243AI at the speeds it's capable of with a 70 grainer it'd never reach the target.

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Originally posted by Don Fischer:
I would caution about using them in anything over 3500fps tho. loaded right at what we believed to be 3500 fps and we watched many come apart in the air. Kinda looked like something was flying out there and leaving contrails!

I would add that if the contrail isn't seen, sometimes a grayish puff about 30 yards out from the muzzle was the only telltale.

Stay below 3500 ft/secs in a 1 in 14 twist!

They are great in a 223 or 222.. very very accurate also...


and yes they are fragile....so they are explosive...

however, don't bother using them in a Savage or Stevens as those have a one in 9 twist, and will vaporized them right out of the barrel at 223 velocities....

if you throttle them down to about 2500 fps out of the one in 9 twist, then they work well... and are still very accurate...

The VMaxes are a better choice for hard velocity out of faster twist barrels and calibers...

but the SPSXs are also very cheap in ratio to the other bullets.. and are really accurate for their price tag...

not all of us think we need plastic tip, trendy bullets to go varmint shooting...

Thanks, guys you answered more than my question. I guess I won't be buying this bullet anytime soon as my two .223 rifles are an AR-15 1:7, and my H&R Ultra Varmint which I think is a 1:9(remember reading that somewhere). I guess I'll just stick to the 55 grain Hornady and Sierra SP for my cheap varmint bullets.

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I guess I won't be buying this bullet anytime soon as my two .223 rifles are an AR-15 1:7, and my H&R Ultra Varmint which I think is a 1:9

The Speer TNT is super explosive also.

Like others have said,great bullet but watch the velocity. One test of 5 only landed 3 on the target but had two grey streaks about 20 feet long.

I don't have as much experiance as the rest of these guys, but I've shot at least 200 mabey 300 55spsx. I have a Ruger 22-250 with a 1-14" 22 inch barrel. I loaded these right to book maxium with several different powders. Never had any blow ups and the bullet is plenty accurate for me. Works wonders on yotes too.