• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

First hand experience with 75 bthp on chucks

FrogFire7

Hi, anybody have experience with the hornady .224 cal 75 bthp on woodchucks?

I typically use a 75 eld-m in my bolt gun, but am diving into the wonderful world of the AR-15 (need a bullet I can seat to mag length).

The 75 bthp is alluring due to low cost, but if they don't have violent expansion I am not interested, and will likely use the 73 eld-m.

Experience appreciated, particularly want to know if the 75 bthp pencils through, or tears chucks up.

Thanks!
 
What is the twist in your rifle?

How far do you plan on shooting?

I assume you're talking about a 223 Rem cartridge. I been hunting eastern ground hogs for close to 50 years now but I never used a bullet over 55 grains in the 224 caliber cartridges so I can't help you with info on the 75 BTHP in that class of cartridges but I can offer some advice related to ground hog hunting.

If you're rifle has an 8" or 9" twist you might be better served with a 55 grain bullet that can be driven fast enough for more humane kills and to minimize the chance of ricochet.
 
Shooting as far as I can see them... ideally out to 800 yards or so.

I have a pile of field grizzlies with the 75 eld-m... great expansion and wind bucking capability. I use to use the 55 grain bullets before I got into longer range shooting, but they fall off pretty quickly past 400 yards or so.
 
Not used the 75 bthp, however if you have enough twist you could try sierras' 77 gr. TMK. It's done the job for me out to 900 yds. on groundhogs.

Chris
 
I have not used the 75 Hornady but have used the 69 Sierra MK in my AR 223/5.56 20" barrel for ground hogs but mostly inside 250 yards. It blows golf ball size exits.
 
Darwin said:
I recall a youtube video with that bullet going 2600 into ballistic gel. Didn’t open till after 4 inches.
Click to expand...

That wouldn't be great for woodchucks. Looking like the 73 eld-m may be the better choice. I believe they were designed to fit in a magazine as well.
 
I would go with a lighter weight plastic tip bullet. I have shot many western rock-chucks with the 68 grain BTHP from a .22-250 at higher velocities than .223 and wish it had more expansion - erratic performance. New bullets are being made. Possibly the 60 grain Vmax might work. Whatever, it needs to feed inside the AR, from magazine to chamber; 53 Vmax's would not in my AR.

The attached document gives some idea of how some these bullets perform - 75 HPBT included.

https://press.hornady.com/assets/pcthumbs/tmp/1410995795-2018-TAP-Application-Guide.pdf
 
They are not explosive. Last week I shot a coyote with a hornady 75g BTHP at 110 yd's out of a 224 Valkyrie going 2850 fps. Factory hornady black, 18.5" barrel.
It dropped on the spot and the exit hole was dime size. It would probably be similar on a ground hog.
More speed may give a different result though.
 
grovey said:
Groundhogs at 800 with an AR . If you get that to work out Hornady should put you on the payroll.
Click to expand...

Haha. We will see!

Realistically I'll be using a 6mm AR for groundhog hunting that far. Farthest 223 chuck so far is probably only about 550. But like to be prepared for farther. Also, they're not all first round hits at that distance, lol
 
Last edited:
Not the 75bthp but I have shot Ghogs with 75 Amax in a 223 bolt gun with mixed results. At 223 velocity they aren't going to work well at long range in my opinion. I shot a whitetail @ 375 yds with the 75 Amax in my 223AI and got a pass thru, it never opened up. The deer only went 70-80 yds with very little blood trail so it would most likely pass thru a Ghog as well leaving you with a crawler. Like many other match bullets they don't always work well on game. The 53 Vmax would be a better choice for Ghogs as it has a better BC than the 55 Vmax and the higher velocity would get the ballistics close to the 75 gr bullets with better results on game. My longest Ghog kill with the 53 is 650 yds in a bolt gun and 480 in my AR
 
The 75 BTHP is a poor choice for varmints. It works fine on deer and hogs, but has zipped through most every varmint I ever tried it on.
 
varmintshooter said:
Not the 75bthp but I have shot Ghogs with 75 Amax in a 223 bolt gun with mixed results. At 223 velocity they aren't going to work well at long range in my opinion. I shot a whitetail @ 375 yds with the 75 Amax in my 223AI and got a pass thru, it never opened up. The deer only went 70-80 yds with very little blood trail so it would most likely pass thru a Ghog as well leaving you with a crawler. Like many other match bullets they don't always work well on game. The 53 Vmax would be a better choice for Ghogs as it has a better BC than the 55 Vmax and the higher velocity would get the ballistics close to the 75 gr bullets with better results on game. My longest Ghog kill with the 53 is 650 yds in a bolt gun and 480 in my AR
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've used the 75 a-max and eld-m for a while in my bolt gun. I have had pretty good results on groundhogs with them
 
Clancy said:
The 75 BTHP is a poor choice for varmints. It works fine on deer and hogs, but has zipped through most every varmint I ever tried it on.
Click to expand...
That seems to be the general consensus... Thanks for all the experience, people. I guess I'll try the 75 eld-m instead, at least for varmints :)
 
Don't look to the 69 BTHP SMK's for groundhogs either ; ) I have an extremely accurate load that I was very disappointed to learn did nothing to stop hogs in their tracks. Instead they would run off with little to no blood and die in their hole. I like to see them DOA. The SMK's (not the tipped ones, I have no experience with the newer tipped SMK's) barely left a dime size exit hole. I'm not hot rodding them in any way. My velocity is 2850 fps from an AR. However, 55 grain Midway Dogtown FBHP bullets are awesome! They stop groundhogs instantly!! Even with a mild velocity @3075 with is a super accurate load (1/2 moa at 200 yds). The drawback for me is the wind drift. It's more of an issue compared to that of the heavier match bullets. You'll have to watch your wind calls a lot closer as the distance grows. The flatbase bullets also die out much faster. All things to consider.
Dan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,800
Messages
2,203,709
Members
79,130
Latest member
Jsawyer09

Share This Page

Back
Top