Anybody ever used a 110 grain V-max for Deer duty?

[Screwtop.243]

I loaded up some .30 cal 110 grain V-maxes on top of 53 grains of IMR 4064for the .06. This should give me 3,100 fps (minimum load) and I'll work my way up from this point. Anyway, assuming good shot placement, I'm wondering if it would be OK to use these for white-tail. I've seen some of the videos of these V-maxes shot into gelatin and the expansion, as one would expect, is pretty dramatic. I can see where it would be risky to try to take a white-tail with a varmint bullet in the .22 to 6 mm range, but the sheer weight of a .30 cal projectile of the same construction ought to count for some added lethality. I'm just curious. I'm also planning on loading up some 125 grain Noslers, but would the 110's work in a pinch?

[JnstemIII]

I hope so. Im going to try some hornady 110gr for my 300 blackout for hunting. I guess will see. I want to get into reloading when i have the funds to perfect it.

[pop-gunner]

Those Vmax bullets at that speed are nothing I would recommend for deer.
They will explode on impact and may not penetrate well at all.
Best case scenario you will have a bunch of destroyed meat.
Worst case you will have a 3 legged deer with a hole the size of a grapefruit in it run a couple miles before it finds a place to die.
There are better tools for the job.
I'm in Crofton and have most of a box of 180gr SST bullets you are welcome to that would work much better for you.
If you can meet me somewhere not too inconvenient for me you may have them if you will use the Vmax for something else.

[Screwtop.243]

Originally Posted by pop-gunner

Those Vmax bullets at that speed are nothing I would recommend for deer.
They will explode on impact and may not penetrate well at all.
Best case scenario you will have a bunch of destroyed meat.
Worst case you will have a 3 legged deer with a hole the size of a grapefruit in it run a couple miles before it finds a place to die.
There are better tools for the job.
I'm in Crofton and have most of a box of 180gr SST bullets you are welcome to that would work much better for you.
If you can meet me somewhere not too inconvenient for me you may have them if you will use the Vmax for something else.

So, I guess I'll take that as a "No". Thanks for the offer on the 180's. I am hoping to actually get some 125 grain ballistic tips loaded and tested before the season but seeing as though I had the 110's on hand I thought I'd ask. Anyway, my original intent was to see how much the 110's reduce recoil. I'll stick to the 125s and 150s for deer duty.

[pop-gunner]

They do make a 150gr SST that should work well for you. The Vmax bullet is designed to explode on impact so I would avoid them and look at a different bullet.
If you want to go light on the bullet weight I would look at the Sierra Prohunter or Gameking depending on the distance you are shooting at.
Inside 300 yards I would go with the Prohunter.

[Deep Creek Rock]

I would say no to the Vmax for deer. The Vmax has been my go to varmint bullet in my .223 for years -they do a number on groundhogs. The young groundhogs explode like prarie dogs.

For deer I think thats asking a bit much. The Vmax is a destructive bullet - its intent really is for explosive impact, for use on Varmints. I would imagine it lack the penetration to ethically harvest a deer.

Nosler Ballistic tip is a great bullet too - I shoot those in my 22-250. Nosler Ballistic Tip is marketed as either "Varmint" in which the bullet literally fragments on impact or is tagged "Hunting" it just expands -and mushrooms at low velocities, and up. Its intent is to disrupt at lower velocities to enable a long shot with reliable expansion and penetration,as velocities drop at long range. The Ballistic Tip "Hunting" bullet is an excellent deer bullet - has been my go to deer round. Also the Combined Technolgies bullets - are actually Noslers. The Ballistic Silveretip is just a Noser BT, with Winchesters Lubalox coating.

The Varmint Nosler Ballistic tip has a thinner jacket than the hunting version, which causes the bullet to fragment/explode on impact.

[Screwtop.243]

Well, a trip to the Isaac Walton league today proved the 110 V-maxes to be pretty good shooters, as I scored 2 sub-MOA groups and they were a bit more pleasant to shoot than my usual 150 grain loads. I can undserstand that these won't be appropriate for deer, so I'll use them for practice loads.

I am waiting on some 125 grain Nosler (Hunting) ballistic tips for the .06 and these will be fun to work up.

Also shot the falling block .243 today. The 95 grain Nosler Hunting Ballistic tips performed very well on top of 41.5 grains of IMR 4350, so after dialing them in (only took 2 groups) I saved 9 of those for opening day.

[Russ D]

I'n not certain, but I think the 110- Vmaxs have a thicker jacket than the smaller ones. Maybe, I am in no way sure of this or if it would make much of a difference.

[Edward78]

Originally Posted by JnstemIII

I hope so. I'm going to try some hornady 110gr for my 300 blackout for hunting. I guess will see. I want to get into reloading when i have the funds to perfect it.

The Vmax supposed to work good with the blackout along with most other Varmint bullets because of the slower velocity's from a 300 Blackout but like other have said they will not work moving at 30-06 velocity's will make big hole going in and most likely not come out and give you a better chance of busting guts and not a ethical kill. I plan to use the 110 Vmax for deer hunting as well in my Blackout but am also trying some 125 Pro Hunters now but need to do a water test to see if it will expand at 100 yards.

[Jerry M]

I vote no also.

[jhalcott]

I used those short jacket 30 caliber 110's in a 30-06 on ground hogs one year(A LONG time ago!). Some times they would blow up BEFORE they got to the critters! When they DID connect, they would blow the hog apart. If you must use a lighter than 150 grain slug ,SLOW IT DOWN! You do not need 3000 fps to kill a deer with a 125 grain bullet in the 30-06. Take some phone books or news paper stacks to test your loads at 100 yards to see how it reacts on impact. Another method is to use the Test Tubehttp://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=22956/Product/THE_BULLET_TEST_TUBE