Just wondering if anyone has used 55 grain ballistic tips or vmaxes on deer and what kind of results did you get? Also what about sierras 55 grain boattail hollowpoints?

Do your self and the deer a favor and use Nosler Partitions or Barnes TSX. Sure the deer can be killed with the bullets you listed but they are far from the best for the task.

Those are VARMINT bullets and chances are they will not perform well......unless you are hunting a WT deer that still has its spots.

You would need to neck shoot for the best chance.

22-250 does fine, right it's not the best choice as far as an exit wound would go but the bullet does frag when it enters the cavity and reaks havock on every organ in there. only problem is there is not a lot of blood to track. My wife uses one and never had one run more than 40 yrds.

the v-maxes are very explosive and deadly....however you HAVE to shoot them in the neck.

the sierra gamekings hold together a little better and if i was to lung shoot one thats what I would use.

To answer your question I personally have used the Federal Premium 55gr BTHP with great success for 25 plus years. My first deer killed, my kids and wife's also with that round. Shot everything from squirrels to bucks with it. I currently do hunt with a bigger caliber but the trusty 22-250 is my truck gun. Nosler or Barnes TSX also are great choices.

If yoy neck shoot they will work fine

Thats what I do. A well placed bullet and a deer will not walk off. As mentioned above there is not a very good blood trail to follow but theres no need to follow a trail if you place a good shot on the animal and he is laying where it was standing.

So many way better choices out their.

I can kill a deer with a 17 rem, but its not what I take to go deer hunting.

Is this a trolling post? Seems like I remember your username from a couple years ago preaching on using v-max and 22250 for deer hunting...

To the OP.. there are posts all over of you preaching about how great a 22250 or 223 can be with premium bullets, so why now the turn to the worst ones you could pic for deer?

Yeah cuz they are hollow points and immediate anergy trastfer to the neck means some blown veins adn/or spine.

why not just use products for which they are designed? Deer bullets for deer, varmint bullets for varmints...seems logical.

agree with JJH

I guess the good news is that as bad a choice as the 55 gr BT or VMax are, they are better than the 40 grainers. And that isn't much in the way of good news.

Years ago I shot a few deer with 55 grain Nosler SBBT bullets from my 220 Swift. That was a bad idea, based on the results. If you are going to hunt deer with a 22 caliber centerfire rifle, at least have the good sense and good sportsmanship to get a bullet that's up to the job. If you don't reload, the Winchester 64 gr PSP ought to do pretty well.

That combination is just a wounded deer waiting to happen.

yes and no, ive seen them do weird things , seen a 55 gr at 4k fps in a 243 poke straight through a small buck but also seen it mist a jackrabbit. personally i would want something a bit tougher specially at the speed of the 22-250

Both are neck only bullets in a 22-250. IMO..

Now the 53gr ttsx is a different story

Thanks for the info. I actually use the tsx but have heard some great things about the ballistic tip is used properly. Just wanted the info to pass along

Vmax worked great for me, but it was 110gr and out of a 6.8spc
Exploded heart and right lung, had a significantly larger entrance wound than exit

Well the next time my wife shoots one I'll post a pic of the heart kind of looks like chunky tomato soup.

If you hit shoulder bone up close the bullet has a high likelyhood of exploding and not penetrating through to the vitals.

My dad's main rifle since 1966 was a 22-250, despite having quite a number of larger caliber rifles on hand.

His bullet of choice was a 63g Sierra SP.
Deer simply did not escape.
This was hunting in deep south Texas, not Hill Country.

He was also an excellent marksman who would pass if he did not have a clean shot.

That Sierra 63 gr SMP in my 220 Swift did some good work for me on pigs, though I didn't use it on deer. And it was a really accurate bullet. That was some years ago, and these days there are better bullet choices for deer (Partition, TSX, etc). And I keep saying that I'm going to try the 65 gr Sierra GK in that 220, but I still haven't done it. A guy I spoke with at Sierra said that it had "the same bearing surface as the 63 gr SMP", so powder charges would be similar. But the bullet is longer and I don't know if it would stabilize - but I'm an optimist and think that it might.

The 65 keyholed in my dads 1-14 twist barrel.
The 63s shoot .5 at 200 yards over a max load of Varget.