Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Most explosive 50 grain varmint bullet in the 223?

Hi guys,

I'm getting ready for the whistle pig season, so doing some reloading. We have two kinds here, one about the size of those little juice cans and one about the size of a regular pop can. I've been shooting 50 grain Vmax bullets out of my 1 in 14 twist 223, and not quite getting the performance I'd like on the bigger pigs. I've tried more speed with 40 grain Vmax with about the same performance. Is there something more explosive than the Vmax? Thinking about the SPSX or Blitz, but would like recommendations based on experience where you compared to Vmax bullets.

The most explosive .224 bullets I've seen are the varmint grenades. You can hear the "pop" sound when they hit a sage rat.

I have not yet shot anything but paper with the Varmint Grenades, but Speer TNTs seem to give some good hang time and multiple pieces. Mt brother loves the Hornady Super Explosives. I usually shoot 40 gr Ballistic Tips or V-Maxs, though, for the extra velocity.

if you dont mind going down to 45 grains, the hornady 45grain spite point hornet is quite explosive at .223remmy speeds. they shoot great in my remmy LVSF.

as for 50's, the speer TNT "pops" nicely. never tried the VG 50's yet to compare the two, but the lighter VG's splatter well.

for both my 223s and 222, I'm partial to the Sierra 50 Varminter Blitz #1340.

Calhoon 42 gr double hollow point!

I have shot many a whistle pig , and nothing comes un-done like the V-Max. for some reason the 60gr V-Max is the most explosive of the 22cal's. if you shoot it out of a 1-8" twist it will come apart on a blade of grass at 200yds.
The 50gr TNT also works quite well.
RC828

Kcnboise: You definitely should try the 50 grain Sierra Blitz bullets - I use them in several of my 223's!
They are a splendid and splendidly accurate Varminting bullet - cheaper than many as well.
Now to the "whistle pigs" being the size of pop cans!
You can call the Ground Squirrels anything you want - but MORE often (always?) the term Whistle Pig refers to Rock Chucks, Wood Chucks and Hoary Marmots.
NOT the much smaller sage rats, gophers, picket pins, furrbies, 13 lined squirrels, peeps, Richardsons Ground Squirrels, etc etc etc!
I normally do not use centerfire Rifles on the hoardes of Ground Squirrels I Hunt (to expensive and many of the private lands I Hunt them on do not allow centerfires!) but I have shot many Ground Squirrels with this bullet from my 223's.
They are "explosive" - or juicy - if you will, on the diminutive Gophers!
If you are interested in EXPLOSIVE bullets on Ground Squirrels the 17 Remington Fireball with 20 grain Hornady V-Max bullets is the most awesome centerfire bullet I have seen!
Best of luck to you this "whistle pig" season and be sure to try the Sierra 50 grain Blitz (not the BlitzKings!) on both the Ground Squirrels and the Rock Chucks down Boise way.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My vote is for the Speer TNT...

Over the years I have used almost every brand and style of 40 and 50 gr. bullets to shoot the small ground squirrels of south west Id. Due to the volume of shooting I have migrated to the less expensive bulk bullets available from various sources. The 50gr soft points I ordered from Midway and Midsouth shoot very well in 3 223's and 1 22-250 and 1 220 Swift. With solid hits they are very destructive, fringe hit not so much. But if I had to rate the brand name bullets from most explosive to least explosive on these small low resitant targets I rate them as follows. The TnT,Horn SX, Sierra Blitz,Sierra 45 hornet as a group, followed closely by the V-Max & Balistic tips, the 52 Speer hp, 45 Hornady Generally the soft points and plastic tips seemed more explosive than the hollow points. It has been years since I used the 45 Hornady but in those days found it to be a pretty tough bullet and have pushed it to over 4000 fps in the Swift with no problems. Good luck with your search.

quarterboredave - thanks, that was exactly the type of answer I was looking for!

VarmintGuy - must be a regional thing; all types of ground squirrels are called whistle pigs or sage rats here. Rock Chucks are called chucks. At least that's what everyone I know around here calls them...

The little ones are Beldings Ground Squirrels - http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=354 . Like you say, a centerfire is a bit much on these. A 22 with Aguila Super Maximum Hollow Points works great and is a lot cheaper than a 17 HMR.

The bigger ones are Columbian Ground Squirrels - http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=354 . These are about 2/3rds to 3/4trs the size of a prairie dog. With the 50 grain Vmax they just kind of hump up and fall over.

Now to find some bullets; Cabelas and Sportsmans are both out of the Hornady SPSX. Might have to order them...

I don't have any experience with the gernade but the TNT and SX bullets will usually open a Ghog or Pdog up. you're not supposed to run them over 3000fps IIRC.

I have never had louder WOP!!!s than with the old reliable Speer 52 gr Hollow point. Not the best bc for real long range, but when it hits, something is going to come undone.

Calhoun 42g Double HP gets my vote, very often you shoot the ground squirrel and he is just GONE! I shot a of the 50g Blitz, tnt, Speer 52, and all poly tips of which the Sierra Blitz king is the most destructive in the 50g Weight.

That large HP plus the extra speed on the 42g bullet really gets those little squirrels fly'en when the bullet is going 3650-3800 fps+ out of a 223.

I guess I should have asked the question differently - what 40 to 50 grain bullet (prefer 50 because of wind conditions) will really get a prairie dog to pop?

I'll ask that way because, again, the little ground squirrels aren't a problem, it's the big ones.

I'll take a look at the Calhoun 42 grain too; they sound good, thanks!

I was using 50 gr vmaxs, then tryed 36 gr varmint grenades. 150-200 yrs just explodes on impact. I'm staying with the barnes little ones for the effect. jmoa

If you want to stick with the 50's, then the Sierra Blitz king beats the V Max, Nosler Ballistic tip, Sierra Blitz, V max is second most explosive in my opinion.

The large HP's in the Calhoun and the Speer blow quite a bit in the wind.

You really should load some of the Sierra 55g Blitz kings also.

If you want to stick with the 50's, then the Sierra Blitz king beats the V Max, Nosler Ballistic tip, Sierra Blitz, V max is second most explosive in my opinion.

The large HP's in the Calhoun and the Speer blow quite a bit in the wind.

You really should load some of the Sierra 55g Blitz kings also.

Just got off the phone with the Hornady tech. He said to try the SPSX as it has a thinner jacket than the Vmax. Now I just have to find a source, everbody is out here and on the web...

Yep, 'cause they whistle to each other!

My preference is for the TNTs as well, especially out of a 223.