50 Vmax VS 52 Amax 22 cal

[500YardHog]

I'm trying to settle on a bullet for my ground hog gun .My 220 swift launches the 50 and 52 grain Hornady pills at about 4050 fps .The 52 Amax groups tighter but I'm wondering about terminal performance on big PA groundhogs.Anybody shoot hogs with the 52 A max ?

 

[mikeinct]

use the bullet that shoots best ....That said I've grown tired of 22 caliber for distance [over 400 yds] & big Pa groundhogs,I'm lovin the 243 & 6 mm..My shooting style is to set up as far away as possible ...& blaze away..john calls it stalking in reverse..Drives farmers crazy..I hear "Just shoot the dam things" More often than u would think...This is my third year going down to SW Pa..The area is just terrific..But I found out pretty quickly the 22-250 & the semi-pointed 55 gr spitzer I was using was not a great combo for extended distances..If you are shooting over say 350 yds I'm thinking you need the extra punch the 6mm offers...I'm playing with a 60 gr 22 cal.V-max bullet right now..but some issues with the scope mount kept me from testing it out..Use a ballistic program to plot out the trajectories & the retained energy at your shooting distances...The sierra program can be a real eye opener...The little 39gr Sierra .204 bullet really outperforms the 55 gr 22 cal.V-max..But to really step up the energy & wind cheating ability Something up around the level of the 243 win. loaded with a 75 to 90 gr bullet is needed...Just what I have observed...mike in ct

 

[500YardHog]

Thanks Mike i have a new 243,its my first and I'm still playing with a load to get the 75 grn V max to shoot well at 3400 - 3500 fps . I just wanted to get the 220 swift shooting around 4000 fps to see how i do .My uncle and cousin both have 22-250 and the record is held by my cousin shooting a hog at 580 yds with his $400 Savage combo that he never cleans .We regularly make hits out to 450 yrds but 500 plus starts getting tricky for sure.

 

[sunbuilder]

Hi

I use the 52gr AMaxs in my 223 AI for big Pa Groundhogs, @3750 fps

Good terminal performance out to 400+ yards. I think the v maxs expand better, but my gun liked the AMs

Mike is right on the money with the 6mm. I have made confirmed kills on woodchucks out to 600yds w 223AI, but bullet performance was marginal at best!

So I built a "6mm Long Dasher" shooting 100+ gr bullets for a truly long range rig. Confirmed kills out to 800+ yds,first week)

If your going to hunt long range, then try to practice as much as possible at those same distances. experience is a great teacher.

Lots of extra gear too. Portable benches, range finders, binoculars, spotting scopes, ballistic PDAs, log book, etc,etc.

Very additive too!