53 V Max in 12tw. 223, Anybody?

[SporterII]

I might like to try the 53 V Max in a 25" 12 tw. 223.
The 50 has been a good accurate bullet in the past, great out of a 12, but to try the 'new' 53 - anybody got feedback?
I have H4895 and 52 match kings are not shooting tiny groups consistently for me.

 

[SporterII]

Mabie I should have titled this 'What's Your favorite Prairie Dog Load In a 12 tw. 223 ' ?

 

[supercorndogs]

l shoot the 55 v max out of my p dog guns when they run out i will be switching to the 53 v max. the heavey 22 cal bullets are great for steel but they do not have the extra whammy if you know what i mean. they are both way better than the 55 sierra hpbt i run its bc is .144. it is a devastating bullet though but then so is the v max. go to your calculator and put that 53 at 22-250 velocity. wow my 1 in 14 22-250 that is the bc bullet i can run

 

[Clark]

With a 22 rimfire barrel [1 in 16" twist] reamed out to .223, the 52 gr bullets seemed to stabilize, but no 55 gr did.
Obviously some 52 gr bullets are longer than others, but this means a 1 in 12" barrel 223 should be able to stabilize some 53 gr bullets.

 

[Kiba]

I've been running the 53gr Vmax for a few years now. They work great in my ground squirrel .223 bolt gun which is 1/12 twist, I use N133 powder and 7.5 primers. Velocity is right about 3320fps. No stability issues with the 53s in my particular 1/12 twist barrel.

I've shot several thousand of the 53s now out of my 1/12 .223 bolt gun and my 1/8 .223 AR that both get used for ground squirrels and my experience has been the published .290 G1 BC is very close and the 53gr Vmax is much better at longer ranges than the 50, 55, or 60gr Vmax.

After trying the 53s I didn't wait until I ran out of my 50gr Vmaxes-- I sold all the 50s and bought a pile of the 53s.

 

[29aholic]

52's and 53's ought to shoot interchangeably, but H4895 is not really a favorable powder for it. It will work, but there are better powders out there. H322, BL-C(2), W748, even though I have no experience with it, CFE223.
I had a theory that the longer extruded powders stacked in a small case and it is hard to get a uniform burn. Probably not the case, but it's my theory and I'm sticking to it .
Anyway try one of the faster powders I mentioned. If you live close to me I'll trade you H322 for your H4895.

 

[SporterII]

I figured it is fast, it kicks! Shot superbly in a 9tw w/ 69's. Will stick with it for a bit longer and try 53's.

 

[Milo 2.5]

l shoot the 55 v max out of my p dog guns when they run out i will be switching to the 53 v max. the heavey 22 cal bullets are great for steel but they do not have the extra whammy if you know what i mean. they are both way better than the 55 sierra hpbt i run its bc is .144. it is a devastating bullet though but then so is the v max. go to your calculator and put that 53 at 22-250 velocity. wow my 1 in 14 22-250 that is the bc bullet i can run

Heads up, Hornady states the 53gr vmax wont stabilize in a 14 twist barrel like the 50's and 55's, longer bullet. I can't vouch if it's true, just maybe look into it?

 

[supercorndogs]

Heads up, Hornady states the 53gr vmax wont stabilize in a 14 twist barrel like the 50's and 55's, longer bullet. I can't vouch if it's true, just maybe look into it?

i cant find where hornady said that. a lot of 1 in 14 22-250s will not stabilize a 55g bullet. so it would not surprise me. but mine will so it would not surprise me if it did fine. i also live at 4000ft. kind of like 77 in a 1 in 9 223 some do some dont.

 

[Milo 2.5]

i cant find where hornady said that. a lot of 1 in 14 22-250s will not stabilize a 55g bullet. so it would not surprise me. but mine will so it would not surprise me if it did fine. i also live at 4000ft. kind of like 77 in a 1 in 9 223 some do some dont.

It's stated in their manual, right under 52-53 gr bullets. This bullet really wasn't affected by this last crunch and was available everywhere, I was going to buy and then read the disclaimer. Try them I guess, for some reason it has to do with length, not weight.
Probably explains the bc jump also?

 

[supercorndogs]

It's stated in their manual, right under 52-53 gr bullets. This bullet really wasn't affected by this last crunch and was available everywhere, I was going to buy and then read the disclaimer. Try them I guess, for some reason it has to do with length, not weight.
Probably explains the bc jump also?

i did not even look in their manuel and i have one. i just went to their sight. i have read a lot of places that the twist rate to stabilize a bullet is dependent on bullet length not weight. it is just slightly longer than the 55 v max. i am not afraid to try them because i will be using them in 223s for 20 to 600 yard shooting[praire doggn] my 22-250 was an after though. i just resurrected it from the back of the safe worked up a good 50 vmax load. measured the throte and found out it is almost shot out. no use reaching for the lands the bullet would fall out of the case.

 

[bruddah]

Tag for later.

 

[7GRT]

I have recently switched to the 53g v-max in my 220 swift from the 52g a-max , same load gives the same velocity within 10 ft/sec around the 4,050 ft/sec . This takes on 3 inches less wind at 400 yards than the a-max .

 

[SporterII]

I just ordered some. Wile ordering I see that Hornady offers a lot of these, loaded.
Not too expensive either I guess.
As much as I shoot this one the loaded ammo had me distracted, for a minute. I gotta load test and mess around anyway so I will be loading these. 4895 for now and mabie ball or flake in the future.
eta; I have 414 but that is probably too slow.

 

[remaction]

I loaded some 53's (V-max) for my nephew last fall. His 14 twist would not stabilize them and they were key holing at 100 yards. The barrel shot the 55's fine. The 53's are slightly longer than the 55's but I don't remember the length difference.

 

[djskit]

I shoot a 9 twist 223 and use the the 53 grainers with BLC2.

As for factory loads, I was able to get a box of Hornady Superformance with 53 VMX. Sometimes I buy box of factory loads and if they shoot well, I'll duplicate the OAL and velocity. The Superformance shot like crap in my rifle, so much for that.

 

[SporterII]

Bought some;

52 Sierra, 53 and a 162 for scale.
Hope these work or I'll need to build a wildcat from something-

eta; just loaded 5. mid to warm. See if these are going to show promise.

 

[SporterII]

Shot some groups, warm loads with H4895 at the local busy public range. Not ideal conditions, not great results.
Will be pushing them in the next week or so. Also going to try weekday solitude and see if that helps.

 

[Stpilot12]

Use benchmark w/ 53's... Around 26gr (work up of course) sub moa and very consistent. I've been shooting this load for years. Getting around 3327 in my tikka.. The 53 is the best of the 223 vmax's. Thousands of squirrels would agree

 

[Milo 2.5]

The 53 is the best of the 223 vmax's. Thousands of squirrels would agree

The way you state this, sounds like they're still around to vote?

 

[Stpilot12]

Lol! The witnesses.....