Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Has anyone used the 50 grain Vmax in a 221 Fireball?

I went groundhog hunting this am and I had some erratic results with the 50 grain Remington factory ammo I was using. I shot three groundhogs and only anchored one. The other two made it to their holes. The first was about 100 yards and I hit him in the head neck junction. He went down and by the time I got the hole he was down in the ground looking back at me. I was 12 feet away. He was looking at me with blood around his face. I shot 3 more times as he slowly moved or was pushed back by the impact. It looked like it wasn’t doing much too him.

The second one was along a fence row maybe 20 feet way. He was sitting up and I put it right on his shoulder. He jumped in his hole and I saw nothing to indicate a hit. I know I hit him, but I thought he should have been done that close.

The third was about 100 yards and I hit him quartering away through the shoulder. It went down and stayed right there. The bullet made a dime sized entrance and never exited.

What are your experiences and what do you think?

Here is a pic of the one we recovered:

The 50 gr Vmax will solve some of those problems.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the 50 grain Vmax is the bullet used in this factory loading, right?

Gold polymer tip?

Yes, gold polymer tip. The Remington box calls it an Accutip.

Yes it is a V-Max.

I have used the 50 grainer in 223, 22-250 & 220 Swift but never had any issues killing stuff, mainly coyotes.

Shot through quite a few of em too.

Learn something new every day...

Do you handload for the 221?

No reason those V-Max shouldn't work fine but if you wanna try something different get some 40 grain Ballistic Tips.

I second the motion!

I tried 40 grain Acutips in a 22.250 and while they are supposedly a V-Max I never found them to be as frangible or destructive on crows and groundhogs as the red tipped V-Max. The 40 grain V-max at those ranges should have blown those groundhogs to doll rags.

I have dies and some brass. I picked up some factory loads to try in it. After this disappointment I will definitely load some 40 grain bullets to try.

The Poobah has spoken and it will be done

I am glad you mentioned your experience too. In my gut I know there is something "off" with these bullets.

I pulled some of the 50 grain Accutips in the factory ammo to compare with some 50 grain Vmaxes. I don't think they are the same bullet, what say you?

Is length pretty close to the same?

I measured several and they vary a bit in length. The Vmax measures about .007 longer.

They sure don't look like the same bullet...

Would need to know if those bullets were made at approximately the same time.

If the Accutips are actually Hornady they could have changed shapes of bullet over time.

I have no idea when they were made, but you are right. If Hornady made them, they are different. Whether it was a design change or maybe a different specification for Remington.