OK guys, whats your experience ..mainly on Coyotes...In a .223 or .223AI Whick would you like better...OR whick do you think is the better choice?? The 50 gr. V-max or the 50gr. Nosler BAllistic Tip....I know the BT has a solic base and may penetrate a little more....I have had very good experience with the 50gr. V-Max but I haven't tried the BT.....

It is which ever your gun prefers, in my eyes. My 22-250 shoots 55 Noslers at .5 MOA and throws 55 Hornady's all over the place. Try both and see wich one gives you the best groups and go from there.

Judging by your post you have no need to change if you like the results. My hunting partner used the 50 grain Noslers BT's and for the most part they did OK a couple of hides got wrecked from close range follow-ups, or shoulder bone hits

One of the supposed knocks against all plastic tip bullets is that they expand too fast and can cause large entrance wounds. Have you had any of those types of result from the hornady heads?

Aulrich,
I have used the 50gr. V-Max for several years in one of of my .223 AI's and the only blowup I've had was on a shoulder shot at about 65 yds....At 3740 fps I rarely get a "passthru"...I have been led to believe that you will get a little more penetration with the BT but I haven't used it yet...I know that the 50gr. V-Max is very accurate in all of my rifles AND the 50 gr. BT is also very accurate....I'm just trying to get the benefit of the experience of others with the BT....

George, I can't give you any help on the difference of the two in performance on coyotes but I wouldn't turn my hand over for the difference on performance on small varmints!! SORRY FOR NOT MEETING UP WITH YOU LAST WEEK!!!! I'm supposed to get a new vehicle every 150,000 miles and if every week was like last week, it wouldn't take many months!!!!!! Maybe next time!!! How close are you to Farmville, NC???? GHD

Charlie,
Thanks for the comments.....Actually with the weather looking so bad, I left Saturday afternoon and came home...I did get a 19lb.7oz. Gobbler with a 10 1/2" beard Friday morning...Farmville,..I'm about 75 miles away..I'm going up to my hunting club in Halifax county until May 5th to finish out the Turkey Season..When are you coming down???

As much as I'd like to, I've never used either of these on coyote (there aren't too many in central MD + Baltimore City!) I have, however, used both in my Savage 12 VLP in .22-250, and had good but different results.

I had previously used the BT's in my 7 Rem. Mag. with excellent accuracy, so I tried the 55 grain Win. Silvertip BT's and the 55 grain Hornady moly V-max bullets. Both had nearly identical point of aim, but while the BT's gave consistant .75 to 1 inch groups, the V-max's gave consistant .5" groups... But that's just my rifle. Both seem to be highly explosive on groundhogs, though.

I've nailed quite a few coyotes from a .223 with the 50 grain Vmax and performance has been excellent.

My 223 AI likes the 50 gr TNT's better but like has been said you have to shoot them to see which your gun likes.

I've very rarely had accuracy from Hornady's as good as most other brands. My belief (guess) is that the secant ogive Hornady uses is just a bit less conducive to accuracy than a tangent ogive. As a consequence, I don't try Hornady's all that often any more. I did use some 58 grain 6mm's in a .244 Remington sporter with good result, but I only relegated them to the sporter because they didn't do as well as Ballistic Tips in my .243 HB.

BUT -- each rifle is an individual and some may do exceedingly well with the Hornady.

I use the Nosler Bal. Tips for 7 different calibers and find them terrific in .224 and .243 calibers, less so in the larger calibers. The 50 and 55gr. Bal. Tips are very accurate bullets. In fact, for the most part they are the only non hollow point bullets I use, and they're just as accurate as the Sierra and Berger HPs. I only use the VMAX in my .17 Rem. where it's an excellent performer. There are just so many bullets out there, and too little time to use them all.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I agree with most of the advice above. Pick the bullet that your gun shoots the best. That is the best part of reloading. I enjoy the task of trying new loads to see what will group the best. I am lucky in that my 22-250's shoot both about equal so it is less an issue.

I've used both the 55 gr.Vmax and 55 gr.Nos.B.Tip in my .220 Swift and both shot very tight groups.As far as hunting they both perform good.

I have found Hornady bullets to be quite accurate, esp their SST bullets, but even their SP bullet is pretty accurate.

These days, I use Hornady and Nosler just about exclusively, the .416 Swift A Frame being the exception.

I was on a PD shoot a few weeks ago and shot a ton of PDs and ground squirrels with 50 gr BTs and V Max's. These days most of my coyotes are shot with white box WalMart Winchester 45 grn bullets in my Mini14.

I shoot 50 gr BT in a 222 and it has exited every coyote I have shot. Pelt damage is significant but since I don't sell pelts I haven't cared. I now have some VMax and will try out this fall, as long as they shoot well, as I read on another website that they rarely pass thru and are extremely lethal. Doesn't seem to exactly match everything I am reading here but will find out for myself.

Old rule of thumb.....Sierras = accuracy! Hornadys = "blood and guts". Speers a good mixture of both an Noslers.......accurracy and and a hodgepodge of terminal results!!
All the current bullets from any of the 4 "biggies" do pretty well in the accurracy department! Terminal resulys can vary greatly

My guns really like the Vmax. CHEERS