V max expansion

[sobo4303]

The 40 and 50 gr vmax do not need much to open them up explosively. This past summer, there were quite a few "ribboned" gophers to attest to that.

As suggested earlier, the vmax likely opened up explosively inside the 'yote. That is what they are designed to do. The hole was likely the fragmented base of the bullet, which remains quite solid.

If you could, you should try the 70 gr noslers (243) on a yote and see the hole it makes out the side of him at 150 yards.

 

[brybenn]

I use 75gr vmax in 257 at 3500fps. They VIOLENTLY expand. Crows turn to feathers. Groundhogs turn to red mist and coyotes. Well let's just say it looks like they swallowed a hand grenade! I've had one exit a coyote at 200 yards. Behind the shoulder broadside. The hole was about 1" diameter. The internals were pouring out the hole. They are thin jacketed and the polymer tip aids in expansion. My 22mag with 30gr vmax failed to expand in a jack rabbit at 225 yards. The red tip was not found but the bullet killed the rabbit. Looked like a hollowpoint with a dent in the side. Inside 125 yards they blowup nice
I once shot thru a 3" fluffy snow drift tip with a 257 vmax 75gr and found it in the field on the snow. The tip had torn apart and shredded the jacketed. The lead core remained in the jacket base. Weighs 49gr now

 

[Suputin]

id guess it hit too fast, and not enough to go through, with the vmax tip you need plenty of dense material to hit before it expands, you would have needed a hollow point for fast expansion.

FAIL!

WTF are you talking about? We shoot gophers with VMAXs and they blow the 2" thick critters to bits. A coyote is about 2000 times heavier than a gopher. FWIW a VMAX bullet IS a hollow point. It just has the plastic tip inserted in the cavity to initiate more violent expansion.

In the OP case I suspect only a small portion of the bullet exited. I have used 30 cal VMAX on coyotes and the terminal performance is nothing short of gruesome.