What's The Most Explosive Gopher Bullet For .223 Velocities?
- Thread starter Yoteboy
- Start date
Varmint Grenades woudl get my vote for "maximum destruction" ... those things fully explode just hitting grapes and cherries ... hit youttube and check them out ...
This is the same Varmint Grenade, but in a 243 ... skip to the 1:25 mark for a nice demonstration on a good sized rabbit, and 3:40 for a close up of it
[youtube]e6yBsczuX9s[/youtube]
And on prairie dogs ...
[youtube]T3S4Fl3180g[/youtube]
This is the same Varmint Grenade, but in a 243 ... skip to the 1:25 mark for a nice demonstration on a good sized rabbit, and 3:40 for a close up of it
[youtube]e6yBsczuX9s[/youtube]
And on prairie dogs ...
[youtube]T3S4Fl3180g[/youtube]
- Location
- victoria bc
I load a 40 grain vmax to 3550 fps, very destructive on small game
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
36gr Varmint Grenade works pretty well
kenneth carlson
Regular
- Location
- thunder bay on
i use 50 gr speer tnt and they blow up anything they touch.from squirrells,rabbits, to sparrows, you name it.just disinegrates them all.
I've shot a lot of Hornady 50 gr SPSX bullets through my .222 over the years, and I can attest that they don't call them "Super Explosive" for nothing. They do to gophers what my friend's 22-250 did, but at a much lower velocity.
The most explosive thing about Varmint Grenades and TNT's is the branding. In actual use they're only so-so, especially on targets as small as gophers. The Varmint Grenade is the better of the two, but both are nothing compared to light VMAX or hornady SPSX bullets. Up to 55 grainers work well, but the 35 grain VMAX are utterly devastating at anything above 2500fps impacts. Nosler Ballistic tips are good too, but not quite as splatterific as the VMAX. I've never used any .224" Sierra Blitz kings or blitz, but in .204 they're very effective.
Nosler, Hornady and Barnes are starting to produce cheap varmint bullets too - the Varmageddon, Z-Max, etc. They should all work exceptionally well - the cheaper price comes from flat bases and un-profiled jackets (compared to the usual noslers, which have thick bases)
Nosler, Hornady and Barnes are starting to produce cheap varmint bullets too - the Varmageddon, Z-Max, etc. They should all work exceptionally well - the cheaper price comes from flat bases and un-profiled jackets (compared to the usual noslers, which have thick bases)
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Yes, used these for years in my .222 Remington also.
Two other varmint bullets I'm impressed with are the Calhoon 46 grain double hollow point with it's silver-greyish colored zinc alloy jacket. Most destructive bullet by far, that I've personally used myself.
Another great one is the Winchester 46 grain hollow point made specifically for the Hornet, and handloaded into the 222 cartridge. On directly striking gophers, it's hollow point has a very distinctive noise unlike any other bullet. Best described as an unusual "popping" sound. I don't know how else to describe it more clearly.
My favorite varmint bullets are:
From my point of vue, Nolser Ballistc Tip's superior accuracy makes it a better varmint bullet but the Hornay V-Max is something to see.
Sierra BlitzKing are almost as accurate as the MatchKing... (1/4 MOA in a match rifle)
You should try both Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-Max with a bullet weight appropriate for your rifle's twist and then decide which is best based on 200 yard accuracy test.
You can't blow up what you can't hit and a gopher is tiny at 200-250 yards!
Alex
- Nolser Ballistic Tip (A accuracy, A explosiveness)
- Hornady V-Max (A- accuracy, A++ explosiveness)
- Sierra BlitzKing (A+ accuracy, B- explosiveness)
From my point of vue, Nolser Ballistc Tip's superior accuracy makes it a better varmint bullet but the Hornay V-Max is something to see.
Sierra BlitzKing are almost as accurate as the MatchKing... (1/4 MOA in a match rifle)
You should try both Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-Max with a bullet weight appropriate for your rifle's twist and then decide which is best based on 200 yard accuracy test.
You can't blow up what you can't hit and a gopher is tiny at 200-250 yards!
Alex
50 grain TNT's in my 223 for me too, they make gophers go pop and separate into two or more pieces.
As for prosper's quote
I think he needs more or at least some research as I have shot tons of gophers over the last 16 years with Speer TNT's out of my Ruger 77 VBZ 223 and there is no doubt in my mind that they give explosive results, when you consistantly find the gopher in two pieces what else can you say.
Varmint Grenades woudl get my vote for "maximum destruction" ... those things fully explode just hitting grapes and cherries ... hit youttube and check them out ...
This is the same Varmint Grenade, but in a 243 ... skip to the 1:25 mark for a nice demonstration on a good sized rabbit, and 3:40 for a close up of it
[youtube]e6yBsczuX9s[/youtube]
And on prairie dogs ...
[youtube]T3S4Fl3180g[/youtube]
Do not confuse gophers and prairie dogs, the are not the same though they have the same profile the size is very different. To make an easy comparison a full size gopher is about as big around as a pop can, a full size prairie dog is about a big around as a 2 litre pop bottle.
50 grain TNT's in my 223 for me too, they make gophers go pop and separate into two or more pieces.
As for prosper's quote I think he needs more or at least some research as I have shot tons of gophers over the last 16 years with Speer TNT's out of my Ruger 77 VBZ 223 and there is no doubt in my mind that they give explosive results, when you consistantly find the gopher in two pieces what else can you say.
Finding a gopher in 2 pieces isn't really what you would call exploded. Most any center fire 22 will cut a gopher in 1/2. FS
Exactly ^^^ My 22 mag will cut a gopher in half. For really blowing them up you need to get the speed up. 50 grain v-maxs out of the 223 wssm or 220 swift and you have trouble finding chunks that you can identify as to what part they came from. I havn't had a fast 22 to try the varmit grenades in but have run the 26 grain 204s through a few and results are impressive. The Calhoon 46 grain double hollow points were very explosive at 22-250 velocities but havn't tried them in my 223. I have a bunch of 35 grain v-maxs coming for the Hornet so I will have to load up a few in the 223 and see how they shoot. If they are accurate enough they should be getting up around 3800 fps and be very explosive.
Some of the most impressive yet costly gopher bombs over the years that I have played with were the 120 Hornady v-max at 7mm mag velocities and 168 grain vld's out of my 300 rum. These would result in a red spray pattern from point of impact back for about 6 feet with no peices easily identified.
