Hornady DGX Bonded

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Anyone of you guys that have used the Hornady DGX Bonded Bullett, and can tell how they works?

 

[Ridgewalker]

Hallgeir, haven’t touched them myself. After all the issues with the previous iteration, I’ve moved on to Swift A-frames, NorthFork and Barnes. They all work without risk of losing a trophy IMO (assuming I do my part).
That being said, I do still use the DGS for smaller antelope/game. It has worked in my situations.

Hopefully someone here has risked trying them. I know CAustin even had good luck with the old DGX non-bonded.

 

[siutis]

I"ll concur with Ridgewalker. My top top five (5) in this order are:
1. A-frame
2. Federal trophy bonded
3. TSX
4. Northfolk bonded
4. Nosler partition

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

I"ll concur with Ridgewalker. My top top five (5) in this order are:
1. A-frame
2. Federal trophy bonded
3. TSX
4. Northfolk bonded
4. Nosler partition

I also have the A-Frame as number 1, next on my list are Woodleigh Trophy Bonded Bear claw and TSX

 

[ChrisG]

I can't imagine that they are any worse than woodleigh weldcores, which are very good bullets. They should theorectically be better if they have figured out the ratio of expansion to velocity for the given bullet to get optimal performance. The steel jacket should hold the bullet together and the bonding should as well. I have heard that their Steel they were using wasn't terribly ductile either nad tended to fracture rather than fold back. Honestly, I haven't tried them as I have hundreds of Weldcores with no fear of running out anytime soon. The downside is, for the price, you aren't that far from just getting A-Frames or Weldcores. I would think a bonded DGS could be fantastic for Ele hunters though. Flat nose, lead core and steel jacket should penetrate straight and not take up too much room in the case. Here is a video testing them in what appears to be a .416 Rigby. Dr. Kevin Robertson is commenting on them and seems to at least believe that they work sufficiently.. Although I wouldn't presume to speak for him.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Thanks ChrisG! I hadn’t seen this.

 

[IvW]

Old school technology and unfortunately not consistent enough for DG hunting(from a PH perspective anyway). Many much better options available.

DGX although bonded, Jacket is still very thin to the front. Having a steel jacket does not help the bonding. No further control of expansion. Copper,steel,copper and then lead core, they would have been better off with a complete thick copper jacket only.

DGS no evidence of being bonded, crimped at the back to try and keep it together. Will rivet and mushroom at higher velocities when hitting heavy bone.

A meplat brass solid is a much better bullet to use, especially for elephant.

 

[CAustin]

Dead ELEPHANT, recovered Hornady DGS ( not mushroomed), passed through elephant skull from right side to just under skin on left side of head....bottom picture. That exit hole is bigger than an old silver dollar.
So at what speed should one expect that this bullet would fail to perform?
Dead Right There, Grave Yard dead, Buzzard Meat, The Fat Lady Sang......the bullet did as advertised.
I’m happy with them.

 

[Ridgewalker]

View attachment 233039 View attachment 233040 View attachment 233041 Dead ELEPHANT, recovered Hornady DGS ( not mushroomed), passed through elephant skull from right side to just under skin on left side of head....bottom picture. That exit hole is bigger than an old silver dollar.
So at what speed should one expect that this bullet would fail to perform?
Dead Right There, Grave Yard dead, Buzzard Meat, The Fat Lady Sang......the bullet did as advertised.
I’m happy with them.

Charlie, would you send that bullet to me so I can reload it?
Sorry. Couldn’t resist being a smart butt!

 

[norfolk shooter]

I have some on order for the 416 rigby twin pipe. After seeing the video with the Dr I felt that Hornady have got it sorted

 

[CAustin]

Charlie, would you send that bullet to me so I can reload it?
Sorry. Couldn’t resist being a smart butt!

You are not the first person to look at the picture and suggest that it could be reloaded! Lol

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

View attachment 233039 View attachment 233040 View attachment 233041 Dead ELEPHANT, recovered Hornady DGS ( not mushroomed), passed through elephant skull from right side to just under skin on left side of head....bottom picture. That exit hole is bigger than an old silver dollar.
So at what speed should one expect that this bullet would fail to perform?
Dead Right There, Grave Yard dead, Buzzard Meat, The Fat Lady Sang......the bullet did as advertised.
I’m happy with them.

Charlie,

It's hard to quite get oriented with the ele skull from that pic so I'm a little confused. The exit hole, where is that in relation to the brain?

 

[IvW]

View attachment 233039 View attachment 233040 View attachment 233041 Dead ELEPHANT, recovered Hornady DGS ( not mushroomed), passed through elephant skull from right side to just under skin on left side of head....bottom picture. That exit hole is bigger than an old silver dollar.
So at what speed should one expect that this bullet would fail to perform?
Dead Right There, Grave Yard dead, Buzzard Meat, The Fat Lady Sang......the bullet did as advertised.
I’m happy with them.

Great and a nice elephant too.

One shot and one bullet recovered don't really say much except that this time it worked. Had that been a solid brass bullet with a meplat you would not have recovered the bullet.

To be quite honest the recovered bullet does not look symmetrical, maybe it is just the way the photo has been taken.

Either way does not make a difference, you found a bullet you like that's great, they don't work for me or the calibers I use and I cannot recommend them, especially for back up on DG, there are many better bullets for that.

 

[IvW]

Monometal(brass) solids(Rhino, Barnes etc.), have higher sectional density than conventional leadcore(Woodleigh, Hornady) jacketed solids. This results in better straight line penetration.

The solid brass bullets, if designed with a meplat or even a cup point, they penetrate and smash through bone in a straight line much more reliably than a conventional round nosed bullet, which is more prone to deflection.

They also have two cutting edges that further aid in smashing through bone in a straight line, one at the tip and one at the first ring.

Mushrooming and riveting are almost non existent with solid brass designs.

Brass makes a better solid than copper.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/why-avoid-hornady-dg-bullets-and-ammunition.39124/page-11

 

[IvW]

As for the DGX design, they tend to sheer off at the crimping cannelure. Thus reducing the weight of the remaining bullet which seriously affects the performance of the bullet. The higher the velocity the bigger the issue(eg. 375 H&H).

An expanding bullet designed for DG hunting , should retain maximum bullet weight(stay together), expand to 2 or 2.5 times caliber diameter and penetrate in a straight line. Sadly the DGX fails to do this.

 

[CAustin]

Charlie,

It's hard to quite get oriented with the ele skull from that pic so I'm a little confused. The exit hole, where is that in relation to the brain?

Right behind the eyes And in front of the ear hole!

And yes @IvW the recovered bullet is slightly distorted. It’s nit perfect. As I don’t shoot elephants every day I just have the one that was recovered.

 

[rafaellinne]

I shot 8 elephant (7 tuskless) with dgs bullets (500NE) and cannot complain about that bullet.

 

[CAustin]

I shot 8 elephant (7 tuskless) with dgs bullets (500NE) and cannot complain about that bullet.

Let me get this straight sir. You are saying that you used Hornady DGS ammo, like I did, eight times and in each case the elephant DIED!
Amazing.
And did you give a rip what the round looked like upon recovery or were you just concerned with the animal taking it’s last breath?
Maybe you didn’t recover the bullets or maybe they passed through the animal.

 

[IvW]

I shot 8 elephant (7 tuskless) with dgs bullets (500NE) and cannot complain about that bullet.

@ 500 NE velocities anything would be ok, try the same bullet in a 500 Jeff @ 2350 or in 375 H&H @ 2530 fps or in a 416 Rigby @ 2400 and see if you get the same results.

Tuskless cows have much smaller heads than bulls. Side brain shots are easier on bullets than full frontals.

In a double rifle Woodleighs are probably the best compromise, 1. not to damage the rifle, 2. to give acceptable performance.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Anyone of you guys that have used the Hornady DGX Bonded Bullett, and can tell how they works?

Oops! I guess no one has tried the bonded version yet. They’re still really new and I personally haven’t seen any for sale.
Sorry. I guess this thread got a little miss guided on my part.