anyone have problems with Hornady 375 Ruger bullet performance?

[Tom Opre]

As luck would have it I had a last minute change of guns before a cape buff hunt last October. didn't have much time to find ammo for 375 Ruger and bought 300 gr RN Hornady ammo. smacked a good buff broadside at 70 yds. hit him two more times in the chest as he ran out (PH said they were solid hits and I use an Aimpoint red dot so staying on target is easy). he went about 200 yrds.....when we dug out the bullets there was not much left..measured one at 142 gr! I know these are not the best expanding bullets but to hold less than half of original weight...something went wrong. any other experiences with these bullets?

heading back to Zim in May for buff. Already testing Barnes TSX and Hornady DGX bullets.

 

[Pacontender]

I bought my wife a 375 Ruger before our first hunt. I couldn't get better than a 6" group with the Hornady 300 Grain DGX. That is the ammo that was designed for that gun. I loaded 300 grain Barnes TSX for it, and on the first load took it below an inch. She has taken numerous animals including eland, buffalo, kudu, roan, lion, leopard and hippo. The Barnes is what I would use for that rifle.

On the other hand, I have had great luck with my 470 and 450/400 using Hornady DGX and DGS ammo. I have taken 8 buffalo, a giraffe and an eland with them and never had a problem.

Mike

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

I agree with both of the above.,,,,I think in many cases velocity vs bullet construction is the major culprit, they are most definitely not as hard as Barnes hence the latter performs better under slightly higher velocities, I must also be honest in saying that I have experienced the same on especially buff, with 416 rigby, and the 375's on the 470's and 458 win they seems to be fine... As far as retention goes...

I usually recommend Barnes for Buff as one does not always have the luxury of picking a broadside shot... The A frames have also performed well IMO or better than the Hornady at least.

I tend to use the 500gr DGX and 550gr woodleigh for back up on cats only as wound channel is the major thing I would be looking for on these...

Just my opinion, from what I have experienced

My best always

 

[James.Grage]

Tom

375 Ruger - 300 gr DGX Superformance

• 300 gr RN Expanding bullet that transfers energy quickly, and creates a large wound cavity while delivery excellent penetration. A perfect choice for dangerous game that requires devastating energy to incapacitate.

• Test Barrel (24") Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
  Muzzle	100	200	300	400	500
  2660/4713	2344/3660	2050/2800	1780/2110	1536/1572	1328/1174

I noticed you were shooting through some dense conditions and i have found that if you were to have nicked a limb or branch the DGX bullet will fragment prior to entry. And therefore you will have less weight retention. The bulk of the bullet will hit your target, just with reduced impact. appears what occurred with your bullet.

Bullet Fragments will blow all over the place and if the branch you impacted was close to the buffalo, and if this was the case, you would have seen some small bullet fragments in the hide. Further away and the fragments will fly where-ever, and your fragmented bullet will have even less impact on your animal.

The DGS Are very good and punch holes both sides even if you clip a branch or limb.

I have a 375 H & H and shoot Hornady DGS & DGX 300 gr bullets.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

James true IMO the Hornady's are softer than the Aframes and bear claw's and fired from slightly higher velocities such as the 375 ruger on heavier game they tend to over expand and loose penetration exactly because of this I have experienced the same as Tom with DGX ON 416 rigby, 460 and the Ruger.

I as mentioned Keep it simple as in my experience nothing out penetrates a Barnes on Buff with a good wound channel, on cats I like the Hornady's for pre mentioned reasons...

Each round has it application I have just sifted to find what works for myself as well as my clients.

My best always

 

[Norwegianwoods]

Short time after I bought my 375Ruger, I tested the 300 grain RN Hornady ammo in a stack of wet phone books, and quickly saw that the bullets were rather soft.
I was a bit surprised they didn't do better than some cheap 300 grain RN bullets from Partizan I bought to use on paper as they are the cheapest .375 bullets I can get my hands on.

Now I use the 250 grain Barnes TTSX bullet in my 375Ruger. I have never hunted buff, but I am confident that the bullet will do a good job on them.
It will do a much better job than the Hornady bullet for sure.

 

[lwaters]

Hornady makes a 300 grain RN and the 300 grain DGX. The round nose is not as hard a bullet as the DGX and would not use on dangerous.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Lwaters true I am however referring to the DGX.. Maybe I am being over critical.... But then again I am just IN LOOOOOOVE WITH THE TSX, and the TRIPLE SHOCK and they have stood out head and shoulders as far as performance goes on what I have shot..



My best always.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

As luck would have it I had a last minute change of guns before a cape buff hunt last October. didn't have much time to find ammo for 375 Ruger and bought 300 gr RN Hornady ammo. smacked a good buff broadside at 70 yds. hit him two more times in the chest as he ran out (PH said they were solid hits and I use an Aimpoint red dot so staying on target is easy). he went about 200 yrds.....when we dug out the bullets there was not much left..measured one at 142 gr! I know these are not the best expanding bullets but to hold less than half of original weight...something went wrong. any other experiences with these bullets?

heading back to Zim in May for buff. Already testing Barnes TSX and Hornady DGX bullets.

Tom do you by any chance have a son named Bill?

M best always

 

[joester]

I just tried the 300 gr roundnose on javelina and it drilled nice round holes. I want to use these on honey badger, etc. this summer. I will also use them on buffalo, but I wish Hornady made a true monolithic bullet in .375 as opposed to copper-clad lead. I don't reload so my options are minimal. My rebarelled BLR shoots all 3 Hornady .375 Ruger loads quite accurately.

 

[LouisB]

We had some pretty disappointing results last year on an eland bull with Hornady ammunition.

Personally on Cape Buffalo I would not use anything but TSX!

Best Regards
Louis van Bergen

 

[Bobpuckett]

I use Hornady for deer here at home but for Africa I only use Etip or TSX but if you insist on using hornady then I would recommend the GMX for Africa.

 

[gillettehunter]

Hi Joester. From my reading on this thread I would suggest finding someone to reload for you. A friend? Just buy the dies/ powder/ TSX's/ primers and let them have at it. The dies are a one time expense. If your looking at the big five use the best you can. Good hunting Bruce

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Good advice here, if you insist on a soft I would find some SWIFT-A-FRAME and rock that buffs world!!!

As stated earlier the Hornady's have their place but IMHO buffalo is not that place I have had disappointing results with the on tough heavy boned animals..

TSX or trip shock are Stone cold killers and have never failed me..

My best always.

 

[Poucher]

I have a similar experience like James Grage, not recommend DGX on tough game, I will switch to A-Frame

 

[joester]

I used Hornady 300 grain DGS solids, as my PH suggested, to take a nice cape buffalo in Zim last summer. The solids performed flawlessly. I used the DGX expanding bullets on plainsgame and my wife used them on a big stallion zebra, no problems, all 1-shot kills.Cannot comment on DGX on DG , though.