.224 Swift ground hog bullets.

[2506]

220 Swift, man that brings back memories. I had a Ruger 77 Varmint that I used to shoot loooooooooog range crows out of peanut fields in east NC back in the 1980s. I was using IMR 4064 and the Speer 52 gr Match HP. With a hit it looked like you set off a hand-grenade in them. POOF or feathers. I have killed a lot of ground hogs over the years and I can tell you that sometimes I does not matter how much damage is done to them they will still crawl into their hole. Once shot one in the head with a 60 gr Sierra HP out of a 243 Win and blew its head clean off and it still made it, on muscle memory I guess, about 6 feet back just inside it's hole. On the other extreme my buddy shot at one with the same 60 gr HP out of his 243 had hit the ground just under the hog and it killed it in it's tracks. Upon autopsy, because we could not find a mark on the outside of the hog, we found that the bullet had not touched it. We assume that it had to be concussion because the rib cage was bruised and the heart and lungs showed trauma.
Strange things can happen.

 

[scope eye]

You literally scared it to death.

Dean

 

[oldhoward]

Hi, you might want to try a lighter bullet for the ranges you are shooting. A nosler 40 bt or a 36 grain Barnes varmint grenade in the 4200 to 4400 fps range. Should make a mess out of your chucks. They shoot very flat to 300 yards. I dont think you need a high bc bullet for 300 yard shots when shooting a swift. If you want to shoot further out then a high bc bullet would be a big asset. Try it and let me know how it goes.

 

[scope eye]

That is also my take on things.

Dean

 

[snert]

More than once I have seen low hits turn to shrapnel and take em out, but never a concussion shot. That is very cool.

Once hit a fencepost under one that was sitting atop it...he shot straight up in the air, but appeared uninjured. Bet his butt stung though. (I have a thing with missing woodchucks that are on fenceposts...I think I choke cause more often than not I miss)

 

[TRG300WM]

I use these in my 22-250 AI and my 220swift AI
224 55gr hornady SPSX
Sierra 55 Grain Varminter Flat Base Soft Point. both are devastating on small targets, large holes and large smiles.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I shoot the 53 VMax in my .220 AI. They are superb on the sage rats that we have here.

I shot the 53 in a 223 a little against sage rats when the 53 first came out. At 100-150, the results were less graphic than other v-maxes I've shot. I even had one buzz out into never-never land on a ricochet. Due to the sensitive nature of the ranch I hunt, I went back to the 50 v-max.

 

[johnmyers]

Worked up load for a friends Swift and 50 Blitz King in a 14 twist work great

 

[drags]

A local farmer has asked me to give him some help in clearing out some GH's from his fields. I'll be using a .220 swift with Sierra 52gr HPBT . I've been using this bullet for years and it is very accurate, however it doesn't always give great kills. Its a match bullet and wasn't actually designed for blowing up GH's!

I did some research and found that Hornady has a "53gr V-Max bullet" with a high BC for .224 bullets. So, I was wondering if any of you guys had experience with it's accuracy and devastation ability’s in the 38 to 4000+ fps range?
Shots will be from 100 to 350yds mostly with the occasional ones out to 500yds or so.
I want to see if something else will help expand my horizons in .224 projectiles and lower the GH population for the farmer with an excellent varmint bullet.

Hi Changeling, are you getting clean kills with the 52 gr smk (no crawlers) but no blow ups? Also is the reason you want to use another bullet is you want more expansion on woodchucks.
Joe

 

[WyleWD]

Hi Changeling, are you getting clean kills with the 52 gr smk (no crawlers) but no blow ups? Also is the reason you want to use another bullet is you want more expansion on woodchucks.
Joe

What exactly is a "blow up"?? WD

 

[scope eye]

For your viewing pleasure. "Blow ups"

Dean

 

[AckleymanII]

For your viewing pleasure. "Blow ups"

Dean

Looks like gut rugs to me!

 

[Changeling]

Hi Changeling, are you getting clean kills with the 52 gr smk (no crawlers) but no blow ups? Also is the reason you want to use another bullet is you want more expansion on woodchucks.
Joe

Hello drags, the smk's will kill instantly on head/spine shots (of course) but you will have crawlers once in a while, especially on the "long" shots with body type hits. I want to eliminate as much of this as I can. I don't get any pleasure in seeing anything suffer. Sometimes they will blow up on impact but that is not often enough whatsoever (rarely).
The smk's are basically the only varmint bullets I've used (a few others), they are very accurate if your rifle likes them and personally I really like them.
However they are NOT varmint bullets ! They lack the explosive nature that good varmint bullets have. So after listening to what some of the guys have said I'm going to give the Nosler 55gr BT, and Hornady 55gn VMAX a go to see what the Swift likes.

 

[AckleymanII]

A local farmer has asked me to give him some help in clearing out some GH's from his fields. I'll be using a .220 swift with Sierra 52gr HPBT . I've been using this bullet for years and it is very accurate, however it doesn't always give great kills. Its a match bullet and wasn't actually designed for blowing up GH's!

I did some research and found that Hornady has a "53gr V-Max bullet" with a high BC for .224 bullets. So, I was wondering if any of you guys had experience with it's accuracy and devastation ability’s in the 38 to 4000+ fps range?
Shots will be from 100 to 350yds mostly with the occasional ones out to 500yds or so.
I want to see if something else will help expand my horizons in .224 projectiles and lower the GH population for the farmer with an excellent varmint bullet.

I have shot a lot of chucks. 55g Nosler and 50g Nosler Ballistic tips are great on expansion. 55g Sierra Blitz king would be the best but they are sometimes unstable in SOME 14 twists. 55g V max is a fantastic bullet for killing quickly along with the 50g V max.

53g V max takes a 12 twist, which is what they say.

After shooting the above bullets, you will think that the Sierra 52 and 53g bullets really stink in their killing ability, we found the same thing on P. dog towns.

I have had fantastic out of the Nosler Ballistic tips, tiny bug holes in custom rifle, and they like to be touching the lands in every caliber I have shot them in.

 

[Changeling]

Hi AckleymanII, I have 55gr Ballistic Tips on the way here. It seems my Swift agrees with you, Frank and a lot of others. I've shot them before (still do) in 6mm and they do very well in that caliber/rifle.

 

[snert]

buy some TNT's....cheap, accurate and fun

 

[AckleymanII]

53's are a fickle bullet. I prefer the Sierra 55 Blitz king that is a very explosive. The Blitz kings cost a tad more due to how they use a "Match" grade jacket on the bullet which is sorted for concentricity. Also, lot to lot quality is great with this bullet...

A 55 seems to have a lot more punch at distances over 350 than a 50g.

 

[shoot4fun]

I have sent thousands of 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips down range on Prairie dogs and other critter pests. It is very accurate, great for longer distances, shoots flat and blows stuff up. They make 3980 FPS in my 22-250 and will "Waffle House" (scattered and smothered) smaller vermin!

 

[drover]

I have sent thousands of 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips down range on Prairie dogs and other critter pests. It is very accurate, great for longer distances, shoots flat and blows stuff up. They make 3980 FPS in my 22-250 and will "Waffle House" (scattered and smothered) smaller vermin!

I fully concur with this. The 22 caliber 50 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is my go-go bullet for rock chucks, usually one shot is all it takes and they do not generally move after being hit (well, except for various parts in different directions). However I do not drive them quite as fast as shoot4fun, I am only going 3850 fps.

In my experience the NBT seems to be a slightly "heavier" built bullet than the Hornady V-Max. When using V-Max's I have had some surface blow-ups on heavy muscled animals such as badgers which resulted in about an inch of penetration and an surface opening of about 1-1/2 inches. That has caused me to relegate V-Max's to lighter built animals like ground squirrels and PD's.

Just my experience - your mileage may vary.

drover

 

[Changeling]

I fully concur with this. The 22 caliber 50 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is my go-go bullet for rock chucks, usually one shot is all it takes and they do not generally move after being hit (well, except for various parts in different directions). However I do not drive them quite as fast as shoot4fun, I am only going 3850 fps.

In my experience the NBT seems to be a slightly "heavier" built bullet than the Hornady V-Max. When using V-Max's I have had some surface blow-ups on heavy muscled animals such as badgers which resulted in about an inch of penetration and an surface opening of about 1-1/2 inches. That has caused me to relegate V-Max's to lighter built animals like ground squirrels and PD's.

Just my experience - your mileage may vary.

drover

Thank you drover, that confirms what the others have said. I know my Swift likes them a lot, I'm sure glad I posted the question now, kept me from having to buy a lot of different bullets.
They seem to be perfect for ground hogs and should be just as great for the occasional fox and and coyote. That is if I ever get the chance to shoot a coyote (never have). They are somewhat rare in my area and I would like to keep it that way.