Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Hornaday 75 gr. AMax

No fluke. Shot at 100-150 yards. Surface splash and still breathing when I walked up to. Similarities to yours likely being the 3500 launch speed.


I like them on crows and woodchucks though.


I've no qualms launching them at speed at coyotes but as a deer bullet in the faster offerings it's not on my list.

Much to my delight my 223 1-9 R700 xcr shoots the Amax surprisingly well. I'm going to give a shot on a Ga whitetail this fall.

If you take shoulder shots, then the v-maxes, when pushed at high velocity are apt to explode on the surface. I haven't seen any explode on the surface when taking them in the vitals through the rib cage or front on chest/throat shots.

Maybe Seafire will chime in here, but in some of his work on reduced loads using Bluedot, he mentioned that penetration was much greater with v-maxes when kept under 3,000 fps. He can explain it better than I can.

Others on this thread have a different opinion from me, but I will give you mine and you can sort it out.
I love the 75gr A Max but the bigger the case capacity the less I like it. In a 223, 22 BR etc it is hard to beat. in my 22-250AI's I have found the 80gr VLD Berger a far better bullet.
In a 22-243 you will have bullet blow-up issues if you choose a 3 groove barrel, I would recommend a 5 groove R or C for this chambering and be open to the possibility you will find a better bullet for this high capacity round than the 75gr A-Max (Berger or Sierra).

Bullets blowing up is a relatively easy thing to understand..
they are designed to have X amount of resistance in overcoming the media that they are going to hit...

more fragile bullets like varmint bullets, are designed to open up more dramatically, but still have a core that is more solid than the tip...

the faster the bullet, the more likely it is to come apart when hitting something, and that increases when what it is hitting is harder...

by slowing the bullet down, the tip does not open as dramatically...and the heavier core allows it to penetrate much deeper and act much more like a regular hunting bullet...

seems to me that the 'standard' that is used is the MV of about 2700 fps... I think it is coincidence that 2700 fps just happens to be the MV of a 180 grain bullet out of an 06....

that is why in Blue Dot testing along with other lower MV loads, I have found that fragile bullets will end up penetrating thru media that we usually don't expect them too...

I run a fast twist 22.250, and can run 75 grain A Maxes at about 3400 fps MV...for smaller animals such as ground hogs or a coyote, you can expect to see damage like they were hit by an RPG....

on the other end, throttle the 75 grain AMax down and it will penetrate better... if missing shoulder, that will also help out..remember the 22 TTH was designed with the 75 gr A Max in mind...

for a 22.250, I have found that the 75 grain HP Match from Hornady will not cause as much damage as the A Max... same as the 80 grain A Max is a better choice..

I believe the 75 grain A Max was designed to operate at 223 speeds, instead of higher 22.250 speeds...2800 fps vs 3300 fps MV...

of course that will defeat the purpose of going with the 22.250..

with that in mind, I personally think for my own use, that I am better served with the 75 grain HP or the 80 grain A Max...

If busting shoulders, I think a regular match bullet is a better choice... if hitting soft tissue, then the plastic tip bullets are the better choice...

I really wonder why the market doesn't have varmint bullets in these heavier grains in 22 caliber.. the market certainly exists for it..

I've shot the 80 gr. A-max quite a bit and it performs same as the 75. It is not like the jacket is thicker or anything.

It's only saving grace is it's extra 5 grains which slow it down a bit and perhaps take it back from edge of blowing up in flight in the bigger offering- particularly as they get up in round count.

That is about the only reason I can see for it's being made. The 80 only has a moderate BC jump hardly making up for it's extra weight. Fine bullet non the less.