from experience, which bullet have you found to be more accurate? I'm loading for my 22-250 and I'm trying to decide between pursuing a load for the 52 gr. a-max or the 50-55 gr. V-max. I hear so much about the wonderful v-maxes, but i never hear anything about the A-maxes, although the A-maxes are supposed to be built for higher accuracy.
You'll PROBABLY get better accuracy with the A-Max, but each rifle is different so there are no guarantees. The A-Max's are designed for short throated "match" barrels, but should work OK in any rifle. The V-Max's are VERY accurate thenselves, easier to find in all weights, and are a bit cheaper. The best thing to do is try a box of both bullets and see if you see better accuracy with either.
I've found that my 22-250 likes Nosler 50gr Ballistic Tip BT's the best. Shoots them .5MOA or better over 35.7gr of Varget, W-W brass and CCI BR-2 primers.
The AMax was designed to be used as a target bullet...not for hunting purposes. Though I am sure that game cuold be harvested with it the Vmax is a better choice as that is what it was desgined for.
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I'd go with the Nosler BT's as my first choice. I've compared them to the V-Max for dimensional consistancy, and the Nosler bullet is MUCH more consistant, perticulary in terms of bullet lenght. The Nosler BT's measure within 0.003" of each other, while the Hornady bullets were as different as 0.009" in lenght from bullet to bullet. The V-Max's, IN MY RIFLE, give me about 0.75 to 1 MOA consistantly. The Noslers shoot 0.5MOA or better consistantly. But each rifle is its own animal.
My rifle is a Ruger M77VT MkII, and it shoots the heck out of the 50gr Nos. BT-BT's, but not as well with the 50gr V-Max BT's. But someone else might have the exact same rifle as mine and find just the opposite is true.
Between the A-Max and the Nos. BT, I'd go with the BT's first and see if I was satisfied with the accuracy, and if not I'd try the A-Max or V-Max. I'd also look at the Sierra Matchking's (for paper) or Blitzkings (for varmints/predators) as well. The Matchking bullets are very good bullets, while still reasonably priced (in my area, at least).
I think the best advice I can give you is to experiment with different bullets until you find one you like and will suit your needs. Part of the fun of handloading is that you don't have to settle for someone elses load, and can play around with any bullet load combination you want.
Different bullets are for different purposes, as I'm sure you know.
To give you some merits and flaws of the various varmint/predator/target bullets:
V-Max: Known to be very accurate in most rifles. Inexpensive. VERY EXPLOSIVE; they'll splatter a prairie dog from Pierre to Rapid City, but are very hard on pelts if you shoot predators for the pelts. Great BC for a .224cal bullet.
Nosler BT: Very accurate and consistant, more expensive, moderately explosive; will still give great performance on varmints but stay together a little better in small to med. predators. Great BC for a .224cal bullet.
A-Max: Designed for accuracy above all else. NOT designed for use on game, but should perform adequately on very small varmints like prairie dogs if you hit them good. I would not personally use a .224cal A-Max for anything but paper punching. But in the larger calibers the A-Max should do fine with light varmints.
Wow, thanks for all the help and info! I'm going to give the 50 gr. noslers a try as well as the A-maxes. I've already found sierra's 52 gr. match bullets to have one-hole accuracy at 100 yds. I'm just looking for something accurate as that, but that will blow a woodchuck into pieces. I've tried 55 grain V-maxes with moly coating, with not good enough accuracy, but i'm still experimenting with different powders and seating depths. THanks for all the help!
Hornady A-max or V-max?
