Hornady bullets

[Flbt]

I keep seeing don’t use hornday bullets especially on dangerous game.
What has happened to hornady quality?
They were conciseried some of the better options. Locally. Maybe it was because you did not see them used as much as silver tip, cor-lock or federal.
I know I like the interlock on the 6mm load.

I have had a few guns that did not like sst
So has a few more people.

Has the quility gotten worse or were they never really that good?

 

[375Fox]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with Hornady quality today but they don’t focus on bonded bullets. Aside from DGX they offer no bonded bullets and nearly every competitor does. The DGX is bonded but has some design features that aren’t as strong as some preferred options like Swift A Frame or trophy bonded bear claw for dangerous game. Shooting a whitetail deer behind the shoulder is very different than shooting a wildebeest or gemsbok on the shoulder and that’s very different than shooting a Cape buffalo on the shoulder. Bonded bullets designed to retain mass and penetrate make a difference on larger game. The bullet performance on game matters more than paper target accuracy.

However Hornady’s CX bullet should be comparable to Barnes and other monolithic bullets on the market.

 

[Flbt]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with Hornady quality today but they don’t focus on bonded bullets. Aside from DGX they offer no bonded bullets and nearly every competitor does. The DGX is bonded but has some design features that aren’t as strong as some preferred options like Swift A Frame or trophy bonded bear claw for dangerous game. Shooting a whitetail deer behind the shoulder is very different than shooting a wildebeest or gemsbok on the shoulder and that’s very different than shooting a Cape buffalo on the shoulder. Bonded bullets designed to retain mass and penetrate make a difference on larger game. The bullet performance on game matters more than paper target accuracy.

However Hornady’s CX bullet should be comparable to Barnes and other monolithic bullets on the market.

Ok so there just not making really big animal bullets.
The deer/ hog / bear should be fine if the rifle likes them.
I don’t hand load. So a few complaint I have heard about shot cases never came to my notice.
I saw a cupple of videos saying they did not like the leaver evelitoon because the cases were shot.

Seeing them and the not use on dg.
I was just wondering.

 

[Flbt]

Ok so there just not making really big animal bullets.
The deer/ hog / bear should be fine if the rifle likes them.
I don’t hand load. So a few complaint I have heard about shot cases never came to my notice.
I saw a cupple of videos saying they did not like the leaver evelitoon because the cases were shot.

Seeing them and the not use on dg.
I was just wondering.

That was supposed to be short cases
Not shot

 

[Safari Dave]

I know for a fact that a DGX will slay a buffalo with one shot.

 

[Surgeon1]

For some African calibers their cases may be all you can get at the time. The 470 cases I've used
have held up better than Federal and almost as good as Norma. During covid it was the only new brass
I could find in 416 Rigby, 470NE, and 450-400. For those who don't hand load it maybe their only choice to use Hornady DG ammo! The new CX doesn't fowl like Barmes in the 2 calibers I've loaded so the jury is out.

 

[mdwest]

However Hornady’s CX bullet should be comparable to Barnes and other monolithic bullets on the market.

I am a die hard barnes guy... but... last year when I was getting my 300 PRC up and running I shot A LOT of Hornady CX (maybe 300 rounds?).. I found that they shot superbly straight.. and the one animal I took with the CX died right in its tracks.. while thats not a whole lot of field use, I feel confident it is on par with the TTSX, or at least very close to it..

 

[mdwest]

I keep seeing don’t use hornday bullets especially on dangerous game.
What has happened to hornady quality?
They were conciseried some of the better options. Locally. Maybe it was because you did not see them used as much as silver tip, cor-lock or federal.
I know I like the interlock on the 6mm load.

I have had a few guns that did not like sst
So has a few more people.

Has the quility gotten worse or were they never really that good?

I know the original DGX and DGS bullets got quite a bad reputation.. as I understand it, deservedly so..

that said, they redesigned their dangerous game bullets a few years back.. since then I havent heard much complaining (although I've never used them)..

I do know that many of the double rifle manufacturers use DGX to regulate their guns at the factory and that as a result a lot of hunters use them in their doubles, not wanting to re-regulate or have to screw around with handloads..

Ive got a new Chapuis Iphisi that should be at my FFL in a couple of weeks when I get back from South Africa (sitting in the lounge in Newark now getting ready to head over in a few hours).. my plan in to buy a couple of boxes of DGX for the gun just to see how it performs.. In time I'll probably get around to building a TSX load for it, assuming that it likes the TSX and will regulate with that bullet... but based on what Ive seen and been told over the last couple of years, I'd be fine taking the rifle after a buff with DGX...

 

[steve white]

It is probably impossible to design a do it all, in all cases, bullet. Nathan Foster likes the killing properties of several Hornady bullets, but he is an alpine, long range guy, who also thinks that bullets shedding weight are better killers. At long range/slower velocity a bullet has to open up well. But that is NOT the bullet for either close up or dangerous game!
Pity Hornady trying to please everybody. However, I am biased against Hornady because I blame them for a lost Gemsbok.

 

[M70375!]

I keep seeing don’t use hornday bullets especially on dangerous game.
What has happened to hornady quality?
They were conciseried some of the better options. Locally. Maybe it was because you did not see them used as much as silver tip, cor-lock or federal.
I know I like the interlock on the 6mm load.

I have had a few guns that did not like sst
So has a few more people.

Has the quility gotten worse or were they never really that good?

If you are going to Africa, forget Hornandy and just use Barnes TSX, they nearly never fail.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

I’ve had good luck with the eld-x on the smaller plains game sized animals.

 

[Lance Hopper]

I killed my one and only buffalo with the original DGX. 500 nitro, 570gr. At 2150. My hand loads. Double lung at 70yds. Ran 25yds. And fell over dead. Not even a death bellow. So, I guess I could complain that the bullet was so good that I got cheated out of the death bellow, but I’m not going to be greedy!

 

[mdwest]

I killed my one and only buffalo with the original DGX. 500 nitro, 570gr. At 2150. My hand loads. Double lung at 70yds. Ran 25yds. And fell over dead. Not even a death bellow. So, I guess I could complain that the bullet was so good that I got cheated out of the death bellow, but I’m not going to be greedy!

Out of a 500 NE I think you could hit them with a sta-puff marshmallow and likely kill them… that’s a big gun

 

[375Fox]

I killed my one and only buffalo with the original DGX. 500 nitro, 570gr. At 2150. My hand loads. Double lung at 70yds. Ran 25yds. And fell over dead. Not even a death bellow. So, I guess I could complain that the bullet was so good that I got cheated out of the death bellow, but I’m not going to be greedy!

Judging bullets on one success doesn’t mean very much. Big bullets moving slow have a lot less chance of failure than a 375 bullet moving fast. A lot of buffalo were killed with cup and core soft points before bonded bullets came out, but it’s also why standard practice to be to back up with solids. Hornady did themselves no favors with the old non-bonded DGX but I still don’t think the DGX bonded is in the same tier as Swift or Trophy bonded bear claw. Even a slightly higher failure rate has the potential to put people in danger on a hunt.

 

[Lance Hopper]

I was just relaying my one experience. Personally, if you handload, I wouldn’t consider any other bullet than a Cutting Edge raptor and Safari solid. Raptor being considered the soft. I have hand loaded for my buddies 450 nitro express using 295 grain Raptors and 325 grain Safari solids at 2150. I did not miss speak on those grain weights. He has killed four Buffalo and an elephant with them to this point. I think the elephant probably traveled the farthest at around 50 yards. And that was on an initial heart shot and a follow up in the lungs.

 

[375Fox]

I was just relaying my one experience. Personally, if you handload, I wouldn’t consider any other bullet than a Cutting Edge raptor and Safari solid. Raptor being considered the soft. I have hand loaded for my buddies 450 nitro express using 295 grain Raptors and 325 grain Safari solids at 2150. I did not miss speak on those grain weights. He has killed four Buffalo and an elephant with them to this point. I think the elephant probably traveled the farthest at around 50 yards. And that was on an initial heart shot and a follow up in the lungs.

I was surprised to hear my last PH in Zimbabwe is a huge fan of the raptors. It’s his personal favorite bullet but said they will always pass through so not always best choice for buffalo. I’d like to try some but I have too many other bullets to use up.

 

[grand veneur]

I know the original DGX and DGS bullets got quite a bad reputation.. as I understand it, deservedly so..

that said, they redesigned their dangerous game bullets a few years back.. since then I havent heard much complaining (although I've never used them)..

I do know that many of the double rifle manufacturers use DGX to regulate their guns at the factory and that as a result a lot of hunters use them in their doubles, not wanting to re-regulate or have to screw around with handloads..

Ive got a new Chapuis Iphisi that should be at my FFL in a couple of weeks when I get back from South Africa (sitting in the lounge in Newark now getting ready to head over in a few hours).. my plan in to buy a couple of boxes of DGX for the gun just to see how it performs.. In time I'll probably get around to building a TSX load for it, assuming that it likes the TSX and will regulate with that bullet... but based on what Ive seen and been told over the last couple of years, I'd be fine taking the rifle after a buff with DGX...

There are no original DGX and DGS bullets. These bullets were formerly called Interlock or Interbond and their design has nothing in common with the current DGX and DGS bullets from Hornady.

It is well known that the Interlock and later the Interbond bullets from Hornady did not always work as intended, but unfortunately, they are often confused with the new DGX and DGS bullets.

 

[Philip Glass]

Ok so there just not making really big animal bullets.
The deer/ hog / bear should be fine if the rifle likes them.
I don’t hand load. So a few complaint I have heard about shot cases never came to my notice.
I saw a cupple of videos saying they did not like the leaver evelitoon because the cases were shot.

Seeing them and the not use on dg.
I was just wondering.

They are fine if you like your bullet to perform like a grenade.

 

[Luvthunt]

There are times I prefer the grenade effect.

 

[grand veneur]