58 grain VMax on Roe

My mate uses them on foxes personaly i dont think they are up to much. Prob better with a 90grain soft point.im in scotland so it depends on the laws where u are.
 
i think your question is open to interpretation especially the word suitable.. Ive used VMax on roe and it kills them very well. Some people would always choose to shoot a heavier bullet with a soft point for 'controlled' expansion. Its horses for courses on this one and im sure theres a lot of guys north of the border who have shot numerous deer with VMax's and swear by them..

My own experience with them shows they have devastating terminal effects but be prepared to either lose £'s at the game dealers or meat if you butcher them yourself.
 
I use 78 grain v max bullet for foxes mate in my 243.fast and efficient.:) Never use anything other than the right deer round for roe.v max for fox .the 78 grain is only an inch high when i change from the 90 grain that i use for roe to shoot a fox
 
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I agree Ian, although I always thought that varmint bullets are made to fragment on impact - not expand!:stir:

Light cased varmint bullets can kill deer well but over the years having seen a few splash hits with very poor penetration resulting in runners, mostly through misplaced shots I admit - with the result of deer suffering unnecessarily & I cannot condone that.

Give the deer the respect of being killed quickly.

243 shoots any bullet weight up to 105 grain fast enough to kill any vermin at any sensible range - so there is no point in using varmint bullets when deer may be the quary.

(Tin hat on for incoming "flat shooting & bullet drop" b******x comments).

Ian
 
Hi Yorric,
I prefer to use the phrase expand rather then fragment because in my experience the bullet does indeed fragment on occaision but most of the time they dont, they just expand.

Ian.
 
I use 58 grain v max in my 243 for fox work and having seen what they do to them I would not use them on deer.Awsome round but far to much expansion and damage for deer,unless head or neck shooting at sensible ranges.
Nik...
 
I only ever used V-max on roe, 55 grain with a 22-250 and 75 grain with the 243, can't say I've had a problem with them :confused: Also used for fox.
 
58gn has all the properties you don't want. You want a slower, heavier round that has more time to expand and therefore not 'destroy' meat as with a varmit round but instead 'kill' the animal humanely. Leave the 58gn for Charlie....

The only advantage you will have with the 58gn is a higher muzzle velocity which will give you a flatter trajectory. Probably not worth the damage you will do to the meat.

All the best
 
V-max for deer is a touchy subject but there are areas where such performance is necessary for safety reasons. 58gr for roe in a head or neck shot with a proficient hunter is fine and then you get into ethical territory.

I'll be honest, when out on the mooch for rabbits and the odd fox with my .223 and match hp's in 50gr I've stalked into roe and cleanly taken them with appropriate shot for the bullet loaded.

There are far better bullets than v-max for deer in most situations
 
Head and neck shooting I would say yes, good round to use. They go off like a grenade when they impact. Great for foxes too! However I wouldnt advise them for chest shots, it wont penetrate.

Just to throw a spanner in the works I use 75 grain (usually Norma) for both foxes and deer and interesting, it does in fact hold together better than many think. I have shot foxes and deer with it through both shoulders without the round causing a huge exit wound which is evident with the 58 or 55 grain rounds. In fact, it seems as if bone comes into contact with the bullet after entering the animal, not much of an exit wound can been seen, especially on chest shots. After grollocing a muntjac I found that the round had indeed gone off like a grenade in the chest cavity, destroying heart and lungs, but no ruining the furtherest shoulder of the deer or piercing the diaphram.

75s for everything
 
I think you need to try it. All rifles shoot differently and what happens in one won't in another. I use 60 V max in .223 and 87's in .243 and not had issues with either. Never had issues with surface wounds and quite deadly with appropriately placed shots.

D
 
This has been done to death time after time, but in fairness, if someone is new to the forum, they won't have read the previous threads and replies. Anyway, one thing that has not been pointed out is the different regulations between England / Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The following is from "Deer Law and Liabilities" and it is the latest edition. (hopefully it is still up to date, otherwise I'll be making a complete arse of myself)


England / Wales

For any deer:- Min Cal .240, min muzzle energy 1700 ft/lb

Chinese Water Deer / Muntjac:- min cal .220, min energy 1000 ft/lb, bullet must be soft nosed or hollow nosed weighing not less than 3.24 grammes (50grs)

.22 center fires are Not legal for Roe in Eng/Wales



Scotland

All deer:- Bullets of not less than 100grains. min muzzle velocity 2450 fps, min muzzle energy 1750 ft/lb, expanding bullets "designed to deform in a predictable manner"

Roe Deer :- Bullets of not less than 50 grains, muzzle velocity of not less than 2450 fps and min muzzle energy of 1000 fty/lb

Northern Ireland

Min caliber .236 (6mm), min muzzle energy 1700ft/lb, min weight 100 grains (6.48g), bullets "designed to deform in a predictable manner"


As you can see, There are differences between where the shooting takes place people shoot. Personally I only use V-Max in my .243 for foxes (87gr) and they do the job nicely. For deer I either use 130gr or 150gr SP's in my 270wsm, depending on the species. If I am ever short of .243 v-max I'll use some 90gr Speer SP's over 39grains of Varget (very hot load specifically designed for my rifle and not reccomended for any other rifle) and get similar results to the v-max .


At the end of the day Be legal, be safe and respect your quarry

Tin hat on

Ade
 
England / Wales

For any deer:- Min Cal .240, min muzzle energy 1700 ft/lb

Chinese Water Deer / Muntjac:- min cal .220, min energy 1000 ft/lb, bullet must be soft nosed or hollow nosed weighing not less than 3.24 grammes (50grs)

.22 center fires are Not legal for Roe in Eng/Wales




So from that, in England I could use a 75 grain v-max for larger deer, but cannot use them on small deer :confused:

Neil. :)
 
So from that, in England I could use a 75 grain v-max for larger deer, but cannot use them on small deer :confused:

Neil. :)

Neil,

Sorry if I've confused anyone with the way my post was written, I literally copied it from the book. The details given are for minimum calibers allowed for particular species

Legally, if your .243 75 grain v-max are producing 1700 ft/lb at the muzzle, then you can use them on all 6 species, not that I would agree with you doing so, but thats a personal opinion.

.22 centerfire rifles can only be used for Muntjac and CWD in England /Wales
 
Neil,

Sorry if I've confused anyone with the way my post was written, I literally copied it from the book. The details given are for minimum calibers allowed for particular species

Legally, if your .243 75 grain v-max are producing 1700 ft/lb at the muzzle, then you can use them on all 6 species, not that I would agree with you doing so, but thats a personal opinion.

.22 centerfire rifles can only be used for Muntjac and CWD in England /Wales

Maybe I misunderstood, it was this..
Chinese Water Deer / Muntjac:- min cal .220, min energy 1000 ft/lb, bullet must be soft nosed or hollow nosed weighing not less than 3.24 grammes (50grs)

That promted the question, no such specific requirement for large deer, just that an expanding bullet is used.

Neil. :)
 
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