Hornady Varmint Express .22-250 Rem 55 gr V-Max bullet designed for predator and varmint hunting.

I recently made my first video reviewing Hornady’s .223 Remington 55gr V-Max bullets. All in all, I was happy with their performance: the bullets were accurate, consistent, clean burning, and reliable and I would recommend them to predator hunters.

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For the test I used a Sig Sauer M400 FDE enhanced rifle. The rifle has an 16″ barrel with a 1:7″ rifling twist and is topped with a Leupold Mark AR 1-4x20mm scope.

Several months after I completed the test, I bought a chronograph and was able to measure the velocity of some of the Hornady V-Max bullets I had left. I obtained an a mean velocity of 2843fps, a standard deviation of 10, a high velocity of 2861fps, a low velocity of 2830fps, and an extreme spread of 31fps. Of all types of 55gr .223 Remington ammunition I’ve tested in my rifle, the V-Max has the highest average velocity with the smallest standard deviation. Hornady advertises a velocity of 3240fps for the V- Max, but I obtained velocities about 400fps slower, most likely due to the fact that I was using a shorter barreled rifle with a faster rifling twist than their test rifle.

I fired three, three shot groups off of a bench rest for accuracy. My smallest group size was 1.1″ and the average size of the groups was 1.3″. Including the shots I fired to test the velocity of the rounds, I shot 35 rounds of V-Max ammunition and I did not experience a single malfunction. I was especially impressed at how clean burning the bullets were.  Hornady Varmint Express .22-250 Rem 55 gr V-Max

I was impressed with the results I obtained out of this test, but the 55gr V-Max bullets will likely perform even better in rifles with a slower rifling twist and a longer barrel than my Sig Sauer M400. That being said, the V-Max bullets are accurate enough to use for predator hunting at ranges out to 300 yards, or even further with a bolt action rifle with a slower rifling twist. Hornady Varmint Express .22-250 Rem 55 gr V-Max

You can compare the performance of the V-Max to Winchester’s Varmint X bullet here.

To purchase Hornady 55gr V-MAX ammo, visit one of the following affiliate links to buy from Brownells or Palmetto State Armory.

To learn about some of the many cartridges designed to improve upon the .223 Remington and 5.56x45mm NATO and still function in an AR platform, as well as how the cartridge stacks up next to some other high velocity cartridges that are popular for varmint hunting, check out the articles below:

.300 Blackout vs 7.62×39: Everything You Need To Know

223/5.56 vs 300 Blackout vs 308 Winchester: Which Is Best?

6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor: Which 6.5 Is Right For You?

450 Bushmaster vs 458 SOCOM vs 50 Beowulf: Battle of the Big Bore AR Cartridges

22-250 vs 223 vs 204 Ruger vs 220 Swift: Clash Of The Speed Demons

224 Valkyrie: Should You Buy One?