deer with 5.56 Hornady 55 gr VMAX

[500grains]

larger deer: 175 yards

smaller deer: 250 yards.

[nineteenkilo]

Well done!

[twadsw01]

How far did they run after being shot? Was this factory-loaded ammunition? Where was each one hit (heart/lungs, neck, gut)? Were there exit wounds?

A little more information would be appreciated, and very helpful. Good job, regardless - exciting stuff.

[BCmJUnKie]

Thats gotta be Colorado.

God job buddy. Good shooting!

[ST911]

Did you recover what was left of the bullet? Photos?

The 55 and 60 VMAXs are superbly accurate when competently loaded, and devastating in varmints. Shallow penetrators though, with high fragmentation. I'm curious what they did inside your venison.

[500grains]

How far did they run after being shot? Was this factory-loaded ammunition? Where was each one hit (heart/lungs, neck, gut)? Were there exit wounds?

A little more information would be appreciated, and very helpful. Good job, regardless - exciting stuff.

The bigger kid shot the bigger deer at 175 yards. The deer was on a dead run and he hit it square in the hind quarter. The deer did a forward roll and stopped. When we got over to it, it had bled out and died. No exit wound. I have never seen a deer bleed to death from a butt shot before, but this one did.

The smaller kid shot the smaller deer at 250 yards. The deer was walking at the time. Again, an ass shot. The deer ran about 100 yards and laid down in some weeds. The little guy walked up to about 10 yards and finished the deer off with a neck shot. No exit on the opposite side from the hind end shot. The neck shot had an exit wound about 3" or so in diameter.

Both hind quarter shots showed lots of meat damage. Maybe not as much as a .270, but more than I would have expected from a 5.56 at intermediate range.

The ammo was Hornady factory loads 55 grain VMAX bullet. Although not an optimal choice, it seems to be doing the job.

I fired some handgun bullets in the chest of the larger deer and my friend is supposed to give them to me when he finished the butchering. I hope to have some expanded handgun bullets to show.

[500grains]

The 55 and 60 VMAXs are superbly accurate when competently loaded, and devastating in varmints. Shallow penetrators though, with high fragmentation. I'm curious what they did inside your venison.

Two years ago my son used the 55 VMAX on a chest shot on a deer and as I recall, it got close to a foot of penetration with a fragment. But the bullet fragmented early on so the wound channel was not as significant as one would hope.

[twadsw01]

Comments in red.

The bigger kid shot the bigger deer at 175 yards. The deer was on a dead run and he hit it square in the hind quarter. The deer did a forward roll and stopped. When we got over to it, it had bled out and died. No exit wound. I have never seen a deer bleed to death from a butt shot before, but this one did. Wow, impressive!

The smaller kid shot the smaller deer at 250 yards. The deer was walking at the time. Again, an ass shot. The deer ran about 100 yards and laid down in some weeds. The little guy walked up to about 10 yards and finished the deer off with a neck shot. No exit on the opposite side from the hind end shot. The neck shot had an exit wound about 3" or so in diameter. Man, these little guys can shoot

Both hind quarter shots showed lots of meat damage. Maybe not as much as a .270, but more than I would have expected from a 5.56 at intermediate range.

The ammo was Hornady factory loads 55 grain VMAX bullet. Although not an optimal choice, it seems to be doing the job.

I fired some handgun bullets in the chest of the larger deer and my friend is supposed to give them to me when he finished the butchering. I hope to have some expanded handgun bullets to show. Will be neat to see what kind of effect the target had on the bullets. Keep us posted.

[500grains]

My older son started shooting at age 4.5, has about 20,000 rounds down range, and has shot 2 antelope, 3 deer, rabbits, and prairie dogs. My younger son started shooting at age 3.5 and has about 3000 rds down range. He has shot rabbits and prairie dogs, but this was his first big game animal. Neither of them really understood how to use sights properly until they were closing in on age 6.

[Snake Plissken]

Those are 55 gr VARMINT bullets that on a great day might do 7"-8" of penetration. That is an incredibly irresponsible choice in ammunition for hunting deer, and even more so at 175 yards plus. You should know better.