Noslers new 90gr Varmageddon??

[35 Whelen]

Anyone have any experence with this bullet?
I am huntin for a good coyote bullet. Did not find
The 123CC to be the answer. Ditto of the wonderful
129gr SST........(go to deer loading) To many run off's, with both of them.
I had excellent luck with 70gr Varmageddon in my 243! So just wondered if anyone has tryed this new
90gr in their 6.5 ?????

 

[35 Whelen]

Well since no one ever replied to this post. I finally
found these at Graff n Son. And they are on the way
So will have a report on how they shoot out of a Tikka barrel and how they perform on " Brush Wolves" here in Maine. I have had great luck with the
70gr Armageddons in my .243 so assume these should work similar.

 

[C.Smith]

Awesome. Look forward to the report

Corey

 

[35 Whelen]

Finally laid one down with the new bullets, they are exiting the barrel of the Tikka at nearly 3400 fps. That produces an amazing report back off their side; instantaneous kill at 300yds. So far so good.The rifle

The victim

 

[SJB358]

Sounds like they work.. Any sorta report on damage done? Did they blow through E?

 

[35 Whelen]

Scotty;
Bout the same as Blitz Kings. No exit and Massive
Damage inside. When you pick them up and shake em
Tons of blood sloshing around in the huge cavity created.
The bullet works exactly like it's supposed to on a 35lb medium. I would guess it wouldn't be worth squart on a 300 lb animal........
Impressive humaine bullet on a coyote.......hard to best it.
I had Lousy luck with 123/129/139gr bullets. With holes blow out thru the backside and animals dragging themselves off wounded; but this 90gr Varmagetton doesn't do any of that crap! Slaps em HARD and kills em instantly..........I know one animal is NOT a fair accesment:
But it sure worked great on this first one.!!!
See the 3x18 ???
E

 

[SJB358]

Well, it sounds like you got everything you were looking for with them. Sounds like it plants them!

I see you got some serious eyes on that rifle.

 

[35 Whelen]

Lol.
Yes I do. I like your terminology!
Maine Guides call a fish finder in the boat,
"Loon Eyes".

 

[JD338]

Earle,
Looks like the 90 gr Varmageddon did the job perfectly.
Nice looking rig. What reticle do you have in that VX-6HD 3-18x50mm? Love the glass in that scope, it's crystal clear!

JD338

 

[1Shot]

I have been looking for some of these bullets to try in my 6.5 Grendel. Over on the Grendel web site a fellow that kills a BUNCH of hogs in TX using the 6.5 Grendel tries different "factory" ammo to see how they work. He does a good job which is all on video on YouTube of exploring in the hogs to show the results. As of late he has been using some ammo from a custom loader using the 90 Varmageddon. I think he has an 18" barrel and the bullet is running in the ball park of 2800 fps if memory serves me. This bullet has been VERY explosive with not much penetration. So it sounds just like your results on the coyote which is perfect for saving hides as well as not having to trail them up. By the way he has had great success using the Speer 90 gr TNT at the Grendel velocities on Hogs. Bullet is quite a bit tougher.

 

[35 Whelen]

Yep that sounds about right to me. And although the new Nosler works perfectly on a coyote. I really think one would have problems with a hog......
Hard to have any bullet do everything. I really only have 2
Loads for my 25/06:
90gr for coyotes.
120 gr Speers for everything else.

 

[35 Whelen]

Jim it's just the standard duplex with the Firedot.
Dimed down all the way works out perfect for us on foggy
Or snowy nites.

 

[lanman]

Jim it's just the standard duplex with the Firedot.

I have an identical scope on my 35 Whelen.

 

[35 Whelen]

Was messing around with tracking on a new Athlon scope
Here is the last three shot at 300yds. Is this going to be acceptable???

 

[DrMike]

Oh, yeah, that'll do.

 

[35 Whelen]

Thanks Mike.
I am very surprised how well this Tikka will handle these little pills????
This bullet weight doesn't look good for the twist of the barrel on this gun.
It is capable of bragging sized groups with 130/140 gr bullets, but 50 grs off what the
twist calculator says is optiminal.......... Sure seams like a streach?????
Not sure how it can stabilize a 90 gr bullet to shoot a 1.5" group at 300 yds???
But I will take it. I also did some tracking testing with this new Athlon scope to confirm
Sterloks numbers. I found the elevation numbers spot on. But the horizontal numbers were off Abit. I wanted to validate the correct holds for 15 kts a d 20 kt Xwinds.
In both cases Strelok called for 3 clicks more correction then it actually took , so I need to update that K factor in the program. The scope returned to absolute zero ever time the same as
a $2000 Niteforce........
I set a frozen milk jug out on the ledges that is 426 yds. Sterloks says 8 clicks up, so dialed it in
and Bingo those numbers were GooD!!!!
So the 90gr Varmagetton certainly looks like a keeper, as far as we have been with it.

 

[SJB358]

The twist doesn’t hurt a darned thing. If anything it stabilizes that bullet quicker in order to eek ever single bit of BC the bullet has by getting it straight right now. My opinion is the only time twist will really hurt bullets is if it starts tearing them apart.

Were shooting 1-6.5 and 1-7 twist in just about everything these days and so far I haven’t seen a negative to it and I believe it helps open them up violently. Give the target a little extra “lift” at impact! :lol:

Great shooting. Looks like a nice combo.

 

[35 Whelen]

Thanks Scotty.
That's interesting information, thanks for sharing the that!

 

[Hornet]

Great shooting. Looks like the bullet is going to prove very effective for the application. I may have to give them a try. What load did you settle on?

 

[35 Whelen]

Hornet,
I am running 52.5grs of 414 but that may be way over
any published load for a 6.5x55. That showes handy 3400 fps thru my Chronograph. Or about 200fps less than the 25/06 with the same weight bullet, however I am pushing those out with 63grs of RL 26 so that one is really hauling the mail....!!!
Anyone reading these posts of max loads in MY guns need to use extreme caution trying to duplicate them in your guns. Firearms vary wildly in pressures, not to Mention powder lots.
I would hate for someone to get hurt , because I published a max load in my gun: that may blow the bolt right out of yours ?..?? :!: :shock: