[varminter]

I shoot 50grain nosler ballistic tips in my .223 for my varminting work. I use these for their explosive expansion and lack of ricochet. I choose these over hornadys v-max because of the boattail design though the terminal performance I think is the same. I am trying to connect at longer ranges. 400 yards is my next goal. My longest shot so far is 316 yards and I want to go further. I believe the ballistic coefficient for the ballistic tip is .238 and it is .243 for the sierras at 3250 fps which us what I'm shooting.

My question is will sierra bullets shoot more accurately and do they have the same terminal performance? i.e are they as likely not to ricochet as the ballistic tips? Where I shoot is a little more populated then I would like for shooting bullets that can go a long way. I know from experience that the ballistic tips destroy themselves when they hit almost anything. I truly doubt they go much farther than 50 yards once they hit some dirt. the rifle is a Ruger MKII with 22 grains of H4198. any thoughts or experience? Thanx

 

[hailstone]

Seems like very light bullet for the caliber and range intended. I've tried the BlitzKings in several 22 caliber rifles found them to be very accurate but not enough over the V-Max and Ballistic Tips too warrent the premium price. Can't help with the 6mm bullets as that's a new road too travel.

 

[broom_jm]

I think Hailstone may have seen the BC you quoted (.243) and thought you were shooting a rifle of that caliber. For the .223 you are shooting, the bullet weights you're using are just fine.

All three options, Blitzking, V-max and Nosler BT's, are highly frangible. All three companies offer both a flat-base and boat-tail design, in bullets of 50-52 grains. The main question is whether or not these are going to be accurate enough for shooting at 400 yards and in my experience, the answer is usually "no". The problem is those little bullets get pushed around by even the slightest winds and at that range, they're running out of steam. 250-300 yards is good shooting with a 223...if you want to shoot at 400 yards you can try heavier bullets (which might have a higher likelihood of ricocheting) or step up to a larger caliber, like a 243 Win.

 

[Wazz13]

I shoot the 55 gr Sierra Blitz Kings thru both of my .223 with good results. I will agree with Broom that 400 yds is my max with this bullet, it gets pushed around to much. My longest varmint kill is 360 yds, and I'm sure the balistic gods were watching down on me that day. For my longer work, or windy days I use my .308 and don't have to worry so much about wind.

 

[fritz1]

I use 40gr V-Max at 3800fps loaded to the max according to Hornady's loading manual, they shoot better in both my Ruger MarkII and my Bushmaster Varmiter Special than any other bullets that I have tried, super explosive on ground squirrels and very effective on coyotes too. Like others have mentioned though at 400 yards the wind wreaks havoc on the 22 caliber bullets, a 204 Ruger it is even worst. I have made shots on ground squirrels at over 400 yards with my Bushmaster, it can be done, just not likely to be done on a windy day.

 

[ranger335v]

"My question is will sierra bullets shoot more accurately ..."

Well, if your rifle likes them better they will. Otherwise, no. ??

 

[MontyF]

Varminter, I shoot prairie dogs often as I can get away. My main dog gun is a Savage M12 BVSS in .223. 400 yards isn't out of reason for what you are trying to do. I've shot lots of em at 350 to 400 yards with 426 as the longest verified. Where I shoot (SD) it seems the wind never stops blowing so it's just something to contend with.

Just for what it's worth my load is LC-04 Brass, WSR primer, 25 grains H-4895 and 55 grain V-max. It's not the most accurate load for this rifle but it will generally do .5 MOA. Although the 55 V-max will splatter em to get the big visual effects shoot em low.

 

[unclepaddy]

I've shot a bunch of all three of those brand and in that weight range. In my opinion, accuracy is best in the Sierra, by far, and worst in the V-max, but not bad, just not excellent. For terminal performance the V-max is easily the most explosive on varmints, with the Nosler just slightly behind the Sierra for that purpose. As a brand, I've had better results with Sierra across the whole spectrum from handgun on up to high velocity mags strictly in regard to accuracy. The Blitzking has actually opened up on the back of a coyote skull without penetrating inside of 100 yards, as well as opening up on the front of the same coyote's chest at 50 yards without penetrating. It just peeled the flesh and skin back. One of the more strange bullet perormances I've been in on. I say this because even though the V-Max is obviously more explosive on small critters, it doesn't have such an extreme lack of penetrative quality like the Sierra has shown. All in all, I consider the V-Max the only successful piece of Hornady engineering I've ever sampled.

 

[varminter]

thanks guys. Obviously the sierras won't shoot well if my gun doesn't like then. I suppose I should have asked my question a little better. But from what I gather from your answers is the blitzking has the same low recoil potential as the BT's if not less. This is what I was looking for. Thank you all very much.

Uncle paddy. How did you end up killing that coyote? Do you have any pictures of that bullet performance? That sure would be interesting to see.

 

[BKeith]

I do not shoot a 223, though I do have a Colt AR-15 I bought back when they came out with commercial version, I haven't pulled the trigger on it since 1985. Currently, my 22 caliber shooting is with a Tikka Varmint 22-250 and most of my practice shooting is at 400yds, about the max effective kill range for something the size of a coyote. This rifle has approx a 24" barrel with 1:14 twist.

I've tested the Nosler 50 grain Ballistic Tips, Sierra 52 grain Match King BTHP's, and 55 grain VMax's. The 55gr VMax's gave the worst performance of the three. Accuracy was way off and bullet drop was way more. The 52gr MK gave pretty good accuracy but still not as flat as the 50's. Not too sure how the MK's will do on a yote at any range either. Hands down, the best bullet for my rifle has been the 50gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. If I wanted, I can and have pushed them at 3,900 fps with only 18" of drop, zero'd at 100yds. They ride the wind very well, and accuracy has proven to be outstanding with Varget powder and even Reloader 17 that I have been experimenting with.

With a tighter twist than 1:14, I suspect those other, heavier bullets might do better, but that's the twist I have to work with, and with that, the 50 grain Ballistic Tips are by far the best bullet.

 

[unclepaddy]

Uncle paddy. How did you end up killing that coyote? Do you have any pictures of that bullet performance? That sure would be interesting to see.[/QUOTE]

Like I said, I hit him in the chest and I thought he'd die, but he got up and ran off and I missed him once, then hit him right in the poop-chute and he went down but tried to get off on his front legs dragging his rear quarter. It was a hideous thing, and I got back on the bi-pod and hit him right on the back of the head and he went down real hard and stayed down, but I got up to him and it was amazing to see the left-rear "orb" of his skull peeled back like a grape but still completely intact. He was stone-dead though. After that I went using Sierra #1330 50 grain softpoints for coyote work. They are very accurate from my rifle and are nearly perfect for coyote work with the .223. There is a 1340 model with a bit heavier jacket if you prefer that. This was before I had a camera-phone or the like so I didn't get any photos.

 

[barthowes]

My ballistics calculator says with 200yrd zero the BT @ 400 yrds will be -22.1" low
the BK will be -21.8" low. 0.3" difference in drop.No real difference at this yardage.
+1 for bullet weight being to light for longer ranges, wind can be ****
+1 for sticking with whatever load shoots the best
+1 for the blitzkill will fragment just fine

 

[varminter]

I'll tell ya what those coyote's don't die easy anyways. I have hit them with soft point 55grain bullets perfectly through the vitals and he acted like I hit him in the rear, turning in circles. The second shot in the head put him down but I was supprized to see the first shot was textbook vitals with an exit. Had many situations like that, almost swore off shooting them with a .223. I have a friend that thinks he can kill a coyote at 200 yards with his .17 HMR. He won't have that conversation with me any more because I get very angry and passionate about the idea of even attempting that shot with that rifle.

Thanks guys, I think I'll try the blitzkings and see how they shoot. Good to know not to use them on coyotes. Thanks

 

[MontyF]

I'll tell ya what those coyote's don't die easy anyways. I have hit them with soft point 55grain bullets perfectly through the vitals and he acted like I hit him in the rear, turning in circles. The second shot in the head put him down but I was supprized to see the first shot was textbook vitals with an exit. Had many situations like that, almost swore off shooting them with a .223. I have a friend that thinks he can kill a coyote at 200 yards with his .17 HMR. He won't have that conversation with me any more because I get very angry and passionate about the idea of even attempting that shot with that rifle.

Thanks guys, I think I'll try the blitzkings and see how they shoot. Good to know not to use them on coyotes. Thanks

Back in my young days when the only centerfire rifle I owned was a sporterized 1903 and used cheap govt. surplus full metal jackets. I shot quite a bunch of coyotes with that rifle and ammo and many was run offs. Lots of them would jump and bite the area where the bullet went in, run a circle, with the tail spinning like a windmill and take off. So it isn't just the small calibers that are at fault, sometimes they just don't know they're dead.

A buddy of mine shot a coyote about 2 months ago with a 17HMR. He guestimated the distance at 175-200 yards. The coyote ran straight down hill until he was pushing dirt with his nose, dead in his tracks with no exit hole.

 

[recoil junky]

I've shot foxes and yotes with 40 grain Vmax's. No exit on foxes, lungs/heart turn to jello. Wish I'd had them 35 years ago when pelts were worth something.

About the same experiences as fritz1. My 788's love them and my 700SPS shoots them like nobody's business. 40 grain Nosler BT's work about the same for me.

I use 58 grain Vmax's in my 700VLS in .243. 1/2" @ 100 yards

Maybe I'm just lucky. Five different rifles, three .223's (two 788's and a 700SPS), a .222 (788) and my .243 (700VLS) five shots each at 100 yards. One ragged hole. ALL Vmax's

My two cents worth.

RJ