125 BTs for hunting medium game???

[cr500]

Now that my 300/221 is not far from coming to life, I better start getting some pills to feed it. I,m no worries for heavy subsonic bullets, but now I want some lighter hunting bullets. Which ones out there have you tried? I,m thinking 125gn Nosler Balistic tips should be OK for medium game (pigs, goats etc) at whisper velocities. Has anyone tried the lighter barnes X bullets or how about the 110gn V max? Did the V max blow up too early?

[kurtz]

I have used a few of the bullets listed in your post....

they were shot from a CZ527 300-221 with a 24" 1:11 twist...

a few of the range results are listed...

Hornady 110 V-MAX 19gr H110 2,540 fps
Hornady 110 V-MAX 20gr H110 2,630 fps

Nosler 125BT 19gr H110 2,375 fps
Nosler 125BT 20gr H110 2,455 fps
Nosler 125BT 19gr Lil'Gun 2,475 fps
Nosler 125BT 20gr Lil'Gun 2,520 fps

Barnes 130 XXX 19.5gr A1680 2,125 fps

The Hornady 110 with 20gr H110 and Nosler with 20gr Lil'Gun produced 1/2 inch groups at a 100 yds....The Barnes didn't group that well (1.5") but I have only shot a couple....

Hope this helps,

kurtz

[Brian T]

I load the 125 BT @ 2300 FPS. I have killed two medium sized feral hogs with them. Both were one shot stops, through and through the rib cage.

Not sure if I would use them on a 200+ pound hog. Should be good for most white tail deer.

[cav_scout_tj]

I did some testing, shooting .308 bullets into water jugs from my 9.5" 1/8twist barrel whisper. Penetration was similar, 3 to 4 jugs of water, for all.


From left to right:
Hornady 110V max at 2270fps
Nosler 125g BT at 2180 fps
Hornady 150g SST at 1950fps
Barnes 150TSX 30-30HP at 1950fps

For those of you with longer barrels, these speeds could be 100yards or whatever.

I was was most impressed with the Vmax, I thought it would come apart, but it shed its jacket, and made a perfect flat slug, .61" 65grains retained weight, jacket gone. The others expanded less, like 125BT was .50" and 82g retained, jacked separeted. and 150SST was .55" and 110g retained, jacket separeted. The Barnes is a 30-30 bullet with a BIG hollow point. It expanded to .56" and retained 149.4g. You can see it has a lot of shank left. I did not shoot the 130TTSX barnes, maybe next time. I shot one of the 130s at .308 velocity of 3000 fps and it was impressive.

I think they would all work very well on most game. Lighter the game, lighter the bullet and vice versa.

I think the 110Vmax is gonna become my home defense round. Twice the weight of a m193 round, good expansion, no over penetration, more energy. I am very happy with the results from less than 10" of barrel.

More better pics later.

Edit to add:
I did also shoot the 110g Sierra HP into water jugs, and they did explode on impact, left a few little pieces that thats it. They also did not feed very well. That was not a surprise, they just happened to be some 30 cal bullets I had on hand, and I had an excess of jugs.

[Pitt300]

Good info
Thanks

[abyssdncr]

I've used both Nosler 125 BT and Hornady 155 AMax with success. The 125's were clocking 2150 fps and the 155's clocked 1950 fps. Using chopped LC 223 Brass and H110 for both from a 16" M1S barrel.

The 155 load was my preference for KS Whitetails. Got some pics of the last deer that fell to my Whisper. Shot was 217 yds, entrance from left side. Made it about from 30 steps after being hit.



For what it's worth, this shot shows entrance and exit on the lungs. Velocity at this distance was around 1615-1620 fps.

[320pf]

Originally Posted by cav_scout_tj

Hornady 110V max at 2270fps
Nosler 125g BT at 2180 fps
Hornady 150g SST at 1950fps
Barnes 150TSX 30-30HP at 1950fps

cav_scout_tj,

I am curious, what powders of charges are you using for these loads.

============================

abyssdncr,

I have a question. What is the diameter of the entrance and exit holes of the deer lungs?
Do you have any additional photos of other 300-221 fireball successes?


320pf