120g V-Max in 7mm08 for deer?

Has anyone used the 120g V Max for deer in a 7mm08? If so how was it's performace? I have some 120g Nosler BT's that my gun shoots well but am scared of the vmax's due to them generally being a varmint bullet. My gun WON'T shoot 140g's in anything. The Noslers shoot good but I was just curious about the vmax's on deer, am afraid they might explode and not exit and leave a good blood trail IF the deer isn't DRT, since they are varmint bullets!!!! What has been ya'lls experience with it if any? Thanks!

vmax is like the nosler ballistic tip - very frangible. i know that barnes and sierra make a 120 grain .284 - those 2 are very reliable for hunting.

I agree with bob, why limit yourself to two varmit bullets if you are shooting deer. There are many other bullets out there that I feel would do a much better job on deer than either of the ones you discused.

That said if you neck or head shoot you wont have a problem. I wouldnt shoot at the body with them, because you wont get an exit, or blood trail if the deer runs. Barnes has a 120 grain tsx, and speer makes a 130 gr you could try. I would also sugest playin around a little more with the 140's I bet the right powder and seating depth will make them shoot.

matt

The V-max made for varmints. The 120gr BTip is a much better deer bullet.

Matt, I have tried 3 different bullets in 140's, 3 different powders, and 3 different factory loads in 140's without any luck. I might try some 150g, if i can find a small lot of them to try out, but I don't know how that will be since it doesn't like 140's... Is it possible that the 150's will shoot better than the 140's?

I am probably going to try some Sierra 120's as well since I know the gun likes 120's and it looks like the v-maxs are like I thought they might be (for varmint only). I just want to get through deer season before I start tinkering with the loads... Any other thoughts?

I have killed most of my deer with a 55gr. vmax. More than 30 animals

Like you, I've had a lot of trouble getting 140 gr bullets by any maker to group inside of 1.5 MOA. But my 7-08 loves Speer 130gr boattails. My rig is a Rem Model 7 with a synthetic stock and this bullet will always group inside of 1 MOA and will occasionally do half of that if I do my part.

I usually shoot a near-max load of Re19, but IMR4320 is often just as good. The chonographed velocity is around 3010 fps with good case life. This rifle and load has become my standard Texas whitetail/hog/coyote outfit now going on two decades. And last October, I shot two California blacktails (one is B&C eligible) with one shot at 280 yds and two shots at 140 yrds, respectively.

Since FMJ bullets are scarce in .284 calibre, I've loaded for many years Speer 130 gr boattails backwards with IMR 3031 or 4895 at around 2300fps to use as a pest rifle to discourage pigs from lingering around my corn feeders. Like me, the deer prefer pig-free feeders.

For several years back in the 70s and 80s, I shot a lot of Nosler solid base 120 gr and Hornady sp 120 gr bullets out of my tang-safety Ruger 7x57. This old cartridge is ballistically similar to the 7-08. I shot a lot of deer with the 120s and had my fair share of DRT kills. But often, maybe half the time, these bullets failed to exit even with broadside shots (common with varmint bullets, I suppose). So, I adopted the heavier/stouter Speer 130.

I recommend you do the same. See if your rig likes this bullet and try it on your next hunt. If you are planning on shooting any game larger than mulies or caribou, (say, elk), then I think your should consider a heavier bullet and a heavier cartridge. Dave

I load Ballistic tips in 140 in front of RL19 for my wifes Browning and they shoot under 3/4 inch no problem.

The V-max is a much thinner walled bullet than a b-tip. V-max is meant for small varmints, not bigger animal like deer. The B-tip is. With that said, a neck shot in the spine with anything will kill a deer.

I agree with the consensus. The V-max would not be my first choice in deer hunting bullets. That said, I have hunted for several years using Sierra's 100gr HP. It never exited a deer's body, and thus I was limited to only neck shots. So this year I switched to Sierra 140gr Gamekings. They don't shoot quite as good as the HP's did. I went from shooting .625" groups to shooting .750" groups. Not enough to really make a difference, but it sure made a difference on the game.

Another note. A few years back I had tried the 120gr Sierra Pro Hunter bullets. I shot one deer with them, and it didn't exit either. The bullet lodged just under the skin on the leaving side (a perfect heart and lung shot). But that deer looked like a truck fell on him when the bullet hit.

My advice, for deer hunting with the 7-08 is to stay with a 130 or larger bullet.

The only thing about stepping up to say a 150 would be the velocity. It will drop a good bit in the 7-08, and you might not see the expansion that you want from certain bullets. If that were the direction I was looking to go, I'd stick with quality bullets that boast uniform expansion over a wide range of velocities. But also something that will retain the weight necessary to faithfully exit the size game you plan to hunt.


Just my thoughts on the matter.

Jay

I don't quite understand why you would need an exit wound as long as the animal dies. The ballistic tip does expand at many different velocities, although I don't see need for the 150 grain bullet. The 140 performs great and when moving at 2800 fps it does a number on deer.

The need for an exit wound comes in when the animal doesn't fall right there where it was shot. It's hard, in a lot of Texas, to track a deer or pig, or whatever, for much distance before the terrain leaves you no tracks at all. But it's not real hard to blood trail an animal if there's a big honkin' exit wound leaking life fluid all over the ground.

I agree with you 100% about the 140gr bullet. But he can't find a load that shoots well from his gun using them. That's why he's asking here.


Jay

Oh I gotcha. I don't hunt in very thick stuff so I haven't had that problem. They usually don't run more than 100 yds so they never make it to the brush.

I understand about his problem, I was just voicing my opinion. It's weird that it won't shoot 140's.

Stro'sFan, what rifle is it? What brass are you using? Have you shot any other size bullets out of it? How good were the groups on those? It may not necessarily be a problem with bullet weight.
What kind of scope and rings do you have on there?

CK,
It is a Howa 1500, rings and bases are Leupold, scope is Nikon Prostaff 3-9X40, I have tried Hornady 139 SST's, Sierra GK 140's and Nosler BT 140's. Brass has been Remington, Federal, Winchester. Groups have been from 6-12" at 100 yds! The 120's are about 1 MOA occasionally smaller. I hunt in Angelina County (Pineywoods) and deer can be in a thicket after about 10-30 yards. That is why I am wondering if a heavier bullet might shoot better than the 140's......?? But I just don't know if the 140's have enough time to stabilize in the 20" barrel or not, if that is the problem then I would not think that a heavier bullet would be very accurate either....? I would just like to have the blood trail if deer isn't DRT.

20 inches is fine. I just think its weird that that particular has so much trouble. Maybe the twist is too slow?

If your making shots less than 50 yds you should be fine with that smaller bullet, but I would try the B-tips instead of V-max.

My 7mmm-08 loves Sierra GameKings 140gr with H4350. Federal Gold Match Primers and Rem case.

I wonder if Howa is using a strange twist rate. I shoot 139's from a Ruger 16.5" barrel and get good groups.

I think the Howa 1500 in 7-08 is a 1 in 9 ½ twist, shouldn’t have any problems with 139’s and up.
Measure it yourself or contact Howa to get the exact twist rate.

If you reload use the Greenhill formula to help chose a bullet length / weight that suits the rifle best.
No matter what weight bullet you use I’d go to an old stand by bullet such as Rem corelokts or Nosler partitions for your hunting style.

I’d clean the bore spotless then give the 139 g’s and heavier one more try.
If all else fails take it to visit a good gunsmith, sounds like something aint right.