Nosler Ballistic Tips -vs- Hornady V-Max

[wildcat]

After a long day at the range, I finally made up my mind regarding what bullet I think is best between these two. And the winner is: NOSLER BALLISTIC TIPS, hands down!! I love V-max bullets, but so far the Nosler BT's have proven to be more accurate for me. My 223 and 220 Swift seem to favor the Ballistic tip over the V-max. How do you guys feel about this subject?

Wildcat

 

[johnnyk]

Wildcat,
I'm relieved to finally hear someone express the same results that I have been seeing since the V-Max arrived on the scene. I have tried to "make" these bullets shoot as good as Ballistic Tips have ALWAYS shot for me, but it's been very frustating. I only have factory rifles, but they are all capable of sub .5" MOA with handloads they like. They never produce their top accuracy with Hornady bullets. Accuracy usually runs (for me) between .5-.75" @ 100yds. That's acceptable for some but not here. I'm too picky for that kinda accuracy. Johnny K.

 

[Aussie]

Same goes for me . Have tried 75 and 87 gn V Max and 105 gn A Max in my .243 Ackley and haven't been able to find a load that will consistently do better than .75 MOA . Berger 80's will shoot in the 3's .
Tried the Hornady 139 gn SST in my model 70 7mm WSM and wouldn't shoot 2 MOA . 140 gn Nosler BT's and Accubonds shoot under MOA .
It's a shame because Hornadys have good BC's and are explosive varmint killers .

 

[wildcat]

As far as the explosivness of the Ballistic Tip -vs- V-Max is concerned, the Ballistic Tip seems to be just as explosive as the V-Max. I hit a squirrel at 400 yards with the 40grn Ballistic Tip out of my 220 Swift. That squirrel exploded into many parts, even at that range. Well, I am glad to see others agree.

Wildcat

 

[Desert Fox]

Both works for me. My 222 Remington Magnum 40X loves 40 grain V-Max but I could easily substituted it with Nosler BT. My Clackamas 223 Kimber likes both 55 grain Nosler BT and Hornady's V-Max of the same weight. My 6MM Remington works well with both 95 grain Nosler and 87 grain V-Max. I'll hoard either bullet if I found them on sale from either Midway, Midsouth or Natchez. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

The vmax shoots just as well or sometimes better, as the btips in my .222 rem, 40g's to be exact. As far as my .220 swift, it preferred the btips both 40g and 55g, compared to the vmax's. As far as the sst's though vs. btips, jeeez theres not even a comparison. I've had no luck with any hornday bullet except the vmax, the sst's and there btsp's have not fared better then about 1 moa, btips I can get at least .75" with a thrown together load, with a well tuned load btips will get .5" in my rifles. btips rule!

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Fired in custom rifles with hand lapped barrels, the .224 & .243 Noslers shoot measurably smaller groups than the V-Max bullets. I'm not sure its enough to make a difference in the field but you can measure it on paper.

In the larger diameters, I have had excellent results with the Hornady 6.5/140gr and 7mm/162gr A-Max bullets. They have both shot better than some match bullets that I tried.

 

[Desert Fox]

Here's some groups made by both Nosler BT and V-Maxes

 

[lovdasnow]

those are some great groups, thanks for the pics of the targets! I'd throw an opinion out there, but I'm still working on some loads with both, and havn't decided yet..

 

[wildcat]

DesertFox, thanks for the pics!!! I love to see groups like that, it makes me want to go out and shoot right now.

Wildcat

 

[Desert Fox]

You're more than welcome guys. It's really satisfying, considering that those groups were from sporter weight wood stocked rifle with the exception of the 222 Remington Magnum 40XB that has a target style wooden stock. The Kimber and the 40X are straight factory rifles. The 280 and the 6MM were rebarelled 1909 Argentine Mauser. As far as reloading technics goes, I just uniformed the primer pocket and that's about it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif