Hornady varmint bullet comparison

[357Mag]

You sir are on a whole other level. Impressive & Interesting read about your experiences and findings. Did you happen to ever capture any footage of your escapades? Would love to see what those 55sx bullets actually do in the real world!

Mike -

Howdy, again !

No…. I never have shot any video of my groundhog hits. Sorry ‘bout that.

I shoot groundhog w/ 17lb+ varmint rifles, from a fixed position. I utilize the rifle’s weight for recoil mitigation, with nothing added to the barrel’s muzzle end. When shooting, I try my best not to put undue pressure on the “ stock “, either via my cheek or from my shooting hand. My shots are pretty close to “ free recoil “…if even only a short distance backwards towards my shoulder….

As a result, I have not seen a whole bunch of 55SX impacts on groundhog. All is not lost, as they are usually found dead… when I re-acquire them in the scope. My point:
I have not seen a whole bunch of “ red mist “. Sometimes, I’ve seen a grey haze or even dust blown off the carcass by the bullet impact forces.

A lot of the carcasses show one entrance hole. Sometimes, the dead animal’s carcass was opened up by the energy dump that took place inside. The 55SX ( for me ) usually
drops the groundhog on-the-spot. And as mentioned before… I don’t get any crawlers
when shooting the 55SX, and I really like that. A center-chest hit is my aim point of preference.

Proven, known bullet/cartridge performance, and consistently making well-placed shots;
go a long ways towards building & maintaining confidence in the field.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Mike402]

Mike -

Howdy, again !

No…. I never have shot any video of my groundhog hits. Sorry ‘bout that.

I shoot groundhog w/ 17lb+ varmint rifles, from a fixed position. I utilize the rifle’s weight for recoil mitigation, with nothing added to the barrel’s muzzle end. When shooting, I try my best not to put undue pressure on the “ stock “, either via my cheek or from my shooting hand. My shots are pretty close to “ free recoil “…if even only a short distance backwards towards my shoulder….

As a result, I have not seen a whole bunch of 55SX impacts on groundhog. All is not lost, as they are usually found dead… when I re-acquire them in the scope. My point:
I have not seen a whole bunch of “ red mist “. Sometimes, I’ve seen a grey haze or even dust blown off the carcass by the bullet impact forces.

A lot of the carcasses show one entrance hole. Sometimes, the dead animal’s carcass was opened up by the energy dump that took place inside. The 55SX ( for me ) usually
drops the groundhog on-the-spot. And as mentioned before… I don’t get any crawlers
when shooting the 55SX, and I really like that. A center-chest hit is my aim point of preference.

Proven, known bullet/cartridge performance, and consistently making well-placed shots;
go a long ways towards building & maintaining confidence in the field.


With regards,
357Mag

You had me curious so I went looking at groundhog videos. Looks like they are 2-3x the size of prairie dogs, so makes sense you would need larger bullets/heavier calibers. I saw one video where a guy was shooting groundhogs with a 204 ruger using 24gr bullets @ 4,440 fps. Barely moved them at all. I think the 87 vmax's would work wonders on those things.

 

[357Mag]

You had me curious so I went looking at groundhog videos. Looks like they are 2-3x the size of prairie dogs, so makes sense you would need larger bullets/heavier calibers. I saw one video where a guy was shooting groundhogs with a 204 ruger using 24gr bullets @ 4,440 fps. Barely moved them at all. I think the 87 vmax's would work wonders on those things.

Mike -

Howdy !

Midwest “ Soybeanus Digestus “ are robust, burrowing marmots; with prodigious appetites. Stories abound about groundhog toughness. Groundhogs have been shot clean in-two… w/ the smarter half making it back to the hole ! For many groundhoggers,
It only counts as a “ kill “ when/if you can produce the carcas for proper validation.
I much prefer groundhog to be terminated cleanly, with no drama. This especially means ( for me )… no crawlers. This is where the 55SX really excels !!

There are 5 ways to get into trouble when shooting groundhog, and the first 3 are….
“ don’t use enough energy “.

I use 450ft lb as the minimum threshold for deliverable kinetic energy I want to put on a groundhog @ any distance. Yes, they can be killed using less KE ; but…. I have never found myself short on delivered energy when adhering to my guideline. And of course,
let’s deliver that energy via use of a properly designed & constructed varmint bullet !
In this parts, cash grain “ Super Farmers “ with millions of dollars in equipment and thousands of acres owned…. just want to see the ‘ bean eaters terminates. These farmers won’t be hangin’ around, expecting to see any groundhog ariel antics.


With regards,
357Mag