Discussion Forums

Nathan Foster

From an email:

Good Afternoon,

I just recently found your site researching the 6BR. After finding a fantastic amount of data on the site, I found myself looking at the rest of the calibers I own. I'm from Pennsylvania and it happens to be our whitetail deer season. I use a few calibers but tend to stick with my favorite .270 WSM. The reason I'm emailing is I wondered if you guys have ever tested the Hornady 110gr Vmax out of the 270wsm.


Thank you for the great site.

Kind Regards,


Hi ...., it works OK (much like .25-06 light bullet performance) but you have to be a bit careful on heavy animals or with raking shots at closer ranges due to the risk of shallow penetration. Another problem that can happen in magnums is that the animal can overcome any potential hydrostatic shock. Hard to explain but its like hitting water at 1mph versus hitting it at 100mph. At ultra velocities using light for caliber bullets, the water in the deer becomes very 'hard' (sorry this is not the appropriate technical explanation) which causes the bullet to not only suffer potentially shallow penetration, but can also cause a lack of nervous trauma. This can seem confusing at times when we shoot a deer with an ultra velocity load but the deer runs off a long way. We recover the deer and find what is otherwise a very wide and thorough wound through the actual vitals, yet the deer still ran. In the case of the V-Max, you will find that this gradually comes into its own under 3150fps, gaining ever more consistency as the bullet loses velocity until performance tapers off at the opposite extreme.

Many people still have the false impression that a light bullet is always the most spectacular killing but if you can find the right heavy bullet for the job, you will have both spectacular killing plus consistent performance including reliable penetration.

Please try the 150gr SST if you get a chance (not the 130gr bullet). This will give you the best of both worlds. See also my annealing articles / youtube vids.

The 130gr Sierra BTSP is also a good bullet for light bodied deer if you want to go light, giving the same explosive performance as the V-Max but with somewhat better penetration.

Keep your camera handy for autopsy pics please.