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Midway Blemished VMax 110g Problems / Details...report here

8614 Views 70 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  joshuades, 
owenslee
OK...There are several members on the forum who bought Midway Blemished 110g VMax bullets when they were on sale.

At least three members have reported loading and shooting these bullets.
Two reports ... with terrible results of 4-12" groups and one report with "OK" groups of under 2".

In an effort to get a handle on which of the bullet configurations are the culprit and to what degree the problem exists, I would ask that those who have shot these bullets or will be shooting these bullets... report their data here.

First, there are two part numbers involved...but at least three if not four different configurations.

Configuration 1 is Midway's part number 972987 WITH cannelure.
The boxes also have the manufacturer's number of 22720(C) and a third number on the box of 102308.
The examples I received all have a red polymer tip.

Configuration 2 is Midways' part number 295995 WITHOUT cannelure.
The boxes have a manufacturer's number of 22720(B) and the third number of 102308.
The examples I have received also have a red polymer tip.

Because both configuration boxes are marked with the same 102308 number...I suspect this is a vendor number that perhaps identifies Hornady...but that is speculation on my part. It may be an internal purchase order number being referenced.

The reason I refer to more than two configurations is due to the reports of some receiving green tip polymer bullets. If you have such green tipped bullet...please provide the box ID numbers to see how or if they differ from those above with red tips.

Finally, for those who have shot any configuration of these bullets... please provide the box numbers and accuracy you observed.

Hopefully, we can determine if the poor accuracy issue is limited to a specific bullet / tip color or presence of / lack of a cannelure.

Thanks.

Kerry
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owenslee
ron169 said:
Configuration 4 is Midways' part number 295995 WITHOUT cannelure.
The boxes have a manufacturer's number of 22720(B) and the third number of 112808.
The examples I have received also have a red polymer tip.

Ive got three boxes of the above. Only difference in the 112808, which I am starting to guess is a batch date. Im also assuming the without cannelure since there is no line around the bullet
Click to expand...
Ron, I think you actually have a configuration 2 with simply a different mfg. date. Yours appear to be from the same batch or at least same configuration and date as those tested by Bushdog.

Kerry
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owenslee
Bushdog45 said:
Kerry, mine are the config. 2 except the third # is 112808. They are red tipped w/o cannelure. The boattail in not properly formed and some of them have a wrinkle in the jacket on the boattail. 5 shot groups 6" to 8" at 100 yds.
Click to expand...
OK...Steve's bad bullets were also configuration 2 with the non cannelure 22720(B) part number and red tip. Steve has not yet confirmed the mfg. date on his boxes, but your date of 11/28/08 is the first so far reported of known poor performing bullets.
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owenslee
Bushdog45 said:
AA2230C 28.0 to 29.5 grs powder, COL 2.275", Fed. 205 primer, once fired SSA brass, Lee factory crimp. Note the "wrinkle" on the boatail.:
Click to expand...
Perhaps that wrinkle is providing enough disruption of the airflow to destabilize the bullet. It would not have to be present on every round. Just on enough to generate two or three fliers out of 5 shots to open up a group.

Bushdog...can you weigh some of your suspect bullets to see how they compare to the 7.09-7.11 g weights measured by Mark21...?

Kerry
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Bushdog45
I just weighed 10 of them on my dillon scale and they all were between 110.0 and 110.1 grs. It's hard to tell from the photo but the wrinkle side has the boatail shape whereas 180 degrees from it it is almost straight-walled. They are not symmetrical.
This has to have some effect on the accuracy.
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owenslee
Bushdog45 said:
I just weighed 10 of them on my dillon scale and they all were between 110.0 and 110.1 grs. It's hard to tell from the photo but the wrinkle side has the boatail shape whereas 180 degrees from it it is almost straight-walled. They are not symmetrical.
This has to have some effect on the accuracy.
Click to expand...
It would certainly create imbalance at the rear of the bullet causing the bullet to yaw around the bullet axis.

Can you photograph both sides of the same bullet standing on its base...with a straight edge standing vertically along the bullet OD?

At least if this is the core problem...it is something that can be seen visually to reject suspect bullets. Anyone with a small lathe and collet chuck could chuck each bullet with the base exposed and look for obvious runout when spinning. Those without a lathe could accomplish the same thing with a good drill press chuck or even a hand drill...as long as the chuck jaws are true.

Kerry
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ron169
We need to get bedlamite to post his load date, then maybe Bushdog45 can duplicate the load and shoot. Should eliminate a variable
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O
Well, I already sent all 8 remaining boxes back to Midway for credit, so I can't get any information off the labels. However, of the three boxes I opened, they were all red tipped without a cannelure.

The other blemished bullets from Midway seem OK and have the following on the label.
110 Gr HPBT Box of 100
513312 on top left
103108 on top right
27200B (100) on bottom of label

These are hollow point boat tail with cannelure.

Steve
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owenslee
olemiss said:
Well, I already sent all 8 remaining boxes back to Midway for credit, so I can't get any information off the labels. However, of the three boxes I opened, they were all red tipped without a cannelure.

The other blemished bullets from Midway seem OK and have the following on the label.
110 Gr HPBT Box of 100
513312 on top left
103108 on top right
27200B (100) on bottom of label

These are hollow point boat tail with cannelure.

Steve
Click to expand...
Steve,

Of the three boxes you opened containing the red tipped bullets...do you still have access to the label with the date code?

Kerry
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O
Kerry,

Sorry, I don't have the boxes anymore. I have the bad habit of throwing things away to make up for my wife who keeps stuff forever.

Steve.
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Mark21
The picture of the wrinkle in the boattail is no longer showing up. Can someone correct that so that I can see exactly how noticeable it is?

I spent some time comparing my two types. The red-tipped w/ cannelure (Configuration 1) that I have seem to have the slightest look of distress in the jacket. Could be my eyes playing with me. But the rounds simply "look" older/dirtier. I just weighed 20 of these at random, and they measured 7.09 to 7.12 grams (sorry -- should have used grains, but wanted to keep it consistent with my other measurements).

The green tips (Configuration 3) look a lot better -- shiny and well formed. No apparent visible defects. I wonder if any others besides Louie got these as well?

That's about all the data I can provide without shooting these...
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Bushdog45
I couldn't get the damaged bullets (2 on left) to stand upright to pose for the straight edge shot due to the ridge deformation at the base seen here. About 75% of this box are so afflicted. The one on the right is relatively normal. I think I will cull through the rest and load separately, then shoot when I get the chance. Or.....I may just sell to the H man. :)
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owenslee
Bushdog45 said:
I couldn't get the damaged bullets (2 on left) to stand upright to pose for the straight edge shot due to the ridge deformation at the base seen here. About 75% of this box are so afflicted. The one on the right is relatively normal. I think I will cull through the rest and load separately, then shoot when I get the chance. Or.....I may just sell to the H man. :)
Click to expand...
The base of the bullet on the left appears much larger in diameter than that of the bullet on the right...
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RoAus
Ok, After reading through this discussion I'm not for sure which one's I have but here's my information on them.

MidwayUSA Blue Box container
First #972987 Second #110408
Blem Bullets 270 cal (277 dia) 110gr. Polu Tip Spt BT Box of 100
Third # 22720c (100)

They are the green tipped one's without cannelures and I have breifly looked through them and all look to be ok with no visible destortions, wrinkles or boattails out of wack. I have not weight them either and I have not shot any yet.
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owenslee
RoAus said:
Ok, After reading through this discussion I'm not for sure which one's I have but here's my information on them.

MidwayUSA Blue Box container
First #972987 Second #110408
Blem Bullets 270 cal (277 dia) 110gr. Polu Tip Spt BT Box of 100
Third # 22720c (100)

They are the green tipped one's without cannelures and I have breifly looked through them and all look to be ok with no visible destortions, wrinkles or boattails out of wack. I have not weight them either and I have not shot any yet.
Click to expand...
Thanks...
Yours are about the third example reported of green tip NON cannelure bullets being shipped with a red tip CANNELURE part number.

Midway just keeps us guessing.... The 22720(C) and the 972987 part numbers are clearly described on the Midway web site as bullets WITH cannelure.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=972987
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HTR
I just fired ONE group of my reloads ( 5 rounds) with Blem bullets from Midway. They shot a 5 inch group. This is out of the same gun that produces one-hole groups with many other reloads.

The ones I have, were the red tip, no cannelure. I did not want to chance a baffle strike with my suppressor. They are all going back to Midway.
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ron169
Ok this is a question for the reloading gurus. I think it is fairly apparent that I have the batch that is extremely messed up. now I havent even started reloading yet, and was planning on using these bullets to cut my teeth, but am I going to risk messing the barrel of my Xtreme up firing these rounds? I understand the caution with a supressor, but I dont have one of those. So should I practice my reloading with these or trade/sell them to Constructor for his pressure loads
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HTR
I would say it is extremely (hehe pardon pun) unlikely that you could mess up your barrel with them. but, expect them to shoot 5-6 inch groups. What we are seeing is that the bullets that are uniform will group near each other, then there are 2-3 in the group which might go 4-5 inches from the center of the rest of the group.

the worst thing about this is that you will not know whether your reloading practices are allowing for good accuracy, because you have bullets whcih are inherently inaccurate.
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M
well I am glad I didnt buy any of these......
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Bushdog45
ron169 said:
We need to get bedlamite to post his load date, then maybe Bushdog45 can duplicate the load and shoot. Should eliminate a variable
Click to expand...
I don't think any load is gonna fix this broke! :lol:
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bedlamite
If someone is willing to send me a sample of their bad bullets, I'll load them and post results along with a control group of my good bullets.

Ron169, if you look at the first page, I posted this:

I loaded them with 29 grains of H322 in Remington brass using the old Winchester large rifle primers in the white boxes.
Click to expand...
The only info I didn't include was that they were loaded to 2.26" and crimped with the Lee FCD.
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