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Posted: 5/3/2016 10:20:43 PM EDT
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For those who bought these projectiles without knowing the characteristics of them, there are a few ways to repurpose them to great effect. I am without one of the vital tools to begin developing some rounds but I'm hoping that with some combined effort, we can get some better use for these projectiles.
For those unaware, the 75gr AMax is a very long bullet, with a narrow profile and polymer tip that makes it unsuitable to load to a standard AR mag. Trimming cases to 1.730 can effectively make it work but there isn't sufficient neck tension to hold the bullet in place, causing the projectile to fall in the case. Pulling the polymer tips is shockingly simple and the meplat cavity makes me believe that it could serve as a very effective defense round. I have loaded a few of these but without ballistic media, it's just a guess. What I'm really looking for is another ARFCOM member that has a Whidden bullet pointer in order to reprofile the meplat and do some basic accuracy testing. I can donate projectiles to anyone willing to help test the concept as well. In the end, I think everyone will benefit with the information and give new life to an overlooked projectile. |
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It may work as a defensive round but my experience with them would indicate to me that at .223 velocity they probably won't expand much.
I shoot the 75gr A-Max 3600 fps. On groundhog and deer (the deer was taken at 230 yards) the un-altered bullet behaved very much like a big game bullet. On groundhog the exit side is typically 1 to 2" in diameter. My 6pm Remington with a 75gr V-Max is much more explosive. So much so that I would never hunt deer with them. Motor |
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Quoted:
It may work as a defensive round but my experience with them would indicate to me that at .223 velocity they probably won't expand much. I shoot the 75gr A-Max 3600 fps. On groundhog and deer (the deer was taken at 230 yards) the un-altered bullet behaved very much like a big game bullet. On groundhog the exit side is typically 1 to 2" in diameter. My 6pm Remington with a 75gr V-Max is much more explosive. So much so that I would never hunt deer with them. Motor Either you're talking about a 26" barrel or a different caliber entirely  . The meplat cavity of the AMax is pretty substantial, more so than any other bullet in production, so if it's anything like the 75gr TAP, it should fragment rather quickly in that configuration. I'd really like to do further terminal ballistic testing on it but I'm only capable of doing accuracy testing, and do far it's nothing impressive.
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Another forum member showed up to one of my DM Courses several years ago.
Told me he's shooting 75gr AMAX in his .223 Wylde 16" AR15. I said, "You mean 75gr BTHP from Hornady, right?" "No, the 75gr AMAX." I had done the same thing before, saw a good deal on them from Midway, ordered some for load development, then quit as soon as I saw the deal before even trying to make a dummy cartridge. I was ready to head to my vehicle and break out my spare ammo for him, but he went ahead and proceeded to out-shoot everyone, impacting steel with a higher hit probability than anyone else, including the .308 LMT from another guy who shoots regularly, runs Appleseed clinics, and is a solid shooter. Conditions were often sideways blowing snow on Day 1 of that course, to the point we had to pack up and go inside to the classroom a few times to warm up guy's fingers who didn't have hunters mittens like me. Anyway, his loads were seated to mag length COL for PMAGs, with the mouth crimped to get rid of the gap between the ogive and neck. Loaded on top of 22.8gr of 8208XBR. He was shooting suppressed with a Surefire can, and I didn't see a single issue with him throughout the course. He said the best groups he could get were 1.5", which is all you need to connect with 18" plates out to 600yds anyway. I wish the .223 case was a bit shorter to accommodate longer ogives like this, like 5.45x39 does. With a projectile profile like the 75gr AMAX, hit probability and retained energy would be really good compared to even 77gr SMK. Imagine this but with taper crimp: 
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A .222 Rem wildcat with a 30 degree shoulder with this bullet would be fun in the AR15 at mag length.
Trim back the neck some for optimal ogive accommodation, and also be able to mag-feed the VLDs. I'm kinda burnt out on .224" projectiles now though. They just don't do it for me. |
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Quoted:
For those that are wondering, this is the problem with the 75gr AMAX: http://www.phossil.com/thom/SIG%20556/80%20grain%20Hornady%20A-Max.jpg I trimmed my cases to 1.73" to alleviate this but couldn't get sufficient tension to keep it in place. I'll have to try crimping it in place. |
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You can polish your expander ball down and get more neck tension radially that way.
I personally would not rely on the crimp to do anything but close the gap, but that will probably lead to early splits as well. It's a great bullet for .224", but the case length in .223 Rem just doesn't play well with it in the AR15, unfortunately. The mag well is only 2.390-2.395". |
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I've got 30 of those exact loads sitting on my bench right now.
I consider it a lesson..my Hornady book said amax's had better flight patterns, so best is best. I was gonna pull them because they look so weird sitting down so far in the ogive...you know what, I'm gonna run them through and see what happens. 22.5 grains XBR behind them, 16" barrel, CCiI BR4 primer. |
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I love 'em, and I'm not against shooting them loaded singly in an AR.
But they really shine in my 9 twist .22-250. I received a great surprise when I chambered that barrel, the 75 grain AMAX can be seated to normal magazine length without monkeying around with anything. |
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I'm a bit confused on what some people are talking about here. I was interested in the experiment of removing the plastic tip. Doesn't Hornady say they will melt anyway?
So how's the accuracy in your .223 when the plastic tip is removed? I bought some but also bought Sierra 80's and was just going to single load the Hornady 75's as is when my 80's are shot up. They won't shoot in a 1-12" twist 22-250? |
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Quoted:
I'm a bit confused on what some people are talking about here. I was interested in the experiment of removing the plastic tip. Doesn't Hornady say they will melt anyway? So how's the accuracy in your .223 when the plastic tip is removed? I bought some but also bought Sierra 80's and was just going to single load the Hornady 75's as is when my 80's are shot up. They won't shoot in a 1-12" twist 22-250? The accuracy without the polymer tips is fair and could do MOA groups or better at 100 but I image accuracy will degrade at further distances, which is where the Whidden bullet pointer comes into play. I checked my 2 go to sites to score a good deal but they are out of stock. Once I find one for a better price, I'll be making the investment and trying it out. I have over 1800 projectiles, so it'll be worth it to me to get it anyway. |
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Best I can do without burying the ogive is 2.357" COL.
It will not clear the internal length of the AR15 magazine well, even if you clip the mags, at that COL. It's a beautiful bullet though, and would be an excellent match for the AR15 if the magazine well and mags had been designed with open architecture for secant ogive projectiles of this length. 
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