22 Cal 60 grain V-MAX

[brdrgrd]

Recently I received some Hornady .22 caliber V-MAX bullets in trade and was told they do not shoot well from a standard AR due to them tailing off. They do not have a cannelure or boat tail. Has anyone used these or know of anyone who has and experienced this problem? I have only found a little information online about them and they are mostly being used for longer range varmint hunting with longer (around 20") barrels. Will they not perform well in my carbine AR?

[Jeff213]

you could always use a lee factory crimp die. If set right it will crimp well without a cannelure.

[MIAMIbaseballer]

Those bullets are incredible.... I can't tell if they will work well in your gun or not, but my buddies and I have never had a problem. They shoot very well and are a great varmint rd. Try them and find out.

Also, it doesn't matter there's no cannelure or bt. Do not roll crimp them, but you can light taper crimp them. You should not need to, but if it makes you feel better, put a light crimp on it. Good luck

[smalltime]

They shot well in my AR with 23.3gr IMR 8208, no crimp necessary provided neck tension is adequate.

[ExtremeX]

You wont know if they shoot well until you do a load workup... its different for everyone.

That said...

Flat base bullets will shoot fine and you don't need a cannelure for a semi auto.

I shoot the 55gr Vmax and its a great bullet for varmint or target use. Very accurate.

No need to crimp, my neck tension is about -0.0035" - -0.004" for all my autoloaders which is more than sufficient to hold the bullet.

[farnorcal]

Send them to me they're garbage

[Kappy]

Send them to me they're garbage

Beat me to it.

I've used them. They shoot well.

[sunborder]

I like the 55 grain version a lot. Like others have said, if you feel the need to crimp, the Lee Factory Crimp Die will do the job just fine without a cannelure. I use a medium FCD crimp for my match loads (different bullet), because my chronograph testing has showed less velocity deviation when I crimp, and it has shrunk my groups' vertical size to sub-MOA. I also crimp my V-Max (Z-Max actually, but it's just a different color plastic) loads because they are my primary defensive carbine load, and I want the added velocity and accuracy, not to mention that the rounds often get chambered multiple times before firing due to drills and normal loading and unloading. Others feel that crimping isn't necessary, or that it hurts accuracy. Your mileage may vary, so try both. Try it with a chronograph handy if you can.

Those bullets, though, are good to go.

[brdrgrd]

Ok great, thanks for all the response. I figured they were fine for an AR, Hornady makes good products. I think I will go with a light crimp and test them out. Price was good so can't complain.