Your current experience with Hornady DGX & DGS .510 caliber reloading component bullets?

[Schüler Jumbo]

Hello,

I would appreciate reading your current opinion regarding Hornady DGX and DGS reloading component bullets. In particular for .510 caliber.

Good Hunting

 

[analog_peninsula]

Marked

 

[Hunting Hitman]

DGX bullet is the worst soft for dangerous game. Use almost anything else but I prefer:
Swift A-Frame
Northfork
Woodleigh
TBBC(difficult to find)

HH

 

[SStomcat]

IMO the new DGX are as good as any, . Haven’t used DGS.
Crumples buffalo

 

[Hunter-Habib]

The new DGX Bonded is good for lion and OKAY for most shots on Cape buffalo (except end-on-end shots where they sometimes still distort badly). But I personally would not touch it for hippopotamus.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hello,

I would appreciate reading your current opinion regarding Hornady DGX and DGS reloading component bullets. In particular for .510 caliber.

Good Hunting

Never had any problems with them. Have taken two buff with their bonded DGX. From what I have researched the only problems were with their before non bonded DGX version. No problems since then

 

[SStomcat]

IMO the new DGX are as good as any, . Haven’t used DGS.
Crumples buffalo

And best part is regulates to 1 MOA at 50 yards in my Krieghoff just like North Fork, Woodleigh and Swift A Frames. It is plentiful in the US

 

[SStomcat]

The new DGX Bonded is good for lion and OKAY for most shots on Cape buffalo (except end-on-end shots where they sometimes still distort badly). But I personally would not touch it for hippopotamus.

Golam sahib, for hippo you mean DGS I guess? And for Cape buffalo end to end shots I would like to know why you will use a soft and not something like a North fork solid or CPS?

 

[SStomcat]

DGX bullet is the worst soft for dangerous game. Use almost anything else but I prefer:
Swift A-Frame
Northfork
Woodleigh
TBBC(difficult to find)

HH

TBBC is now available in loaded ammo as well as reloading bullets for some dg calibers fyi

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Golam sahib, for hippo you mean DGS I guess? And for Cape buffalo end to end shots I would like to know why you will use a soft and not something like a North fork solid or CPS?

Hi, @SStomcat
I used to prefer solid bullets for hippopotamus. But in the last 5 years, I see that certain expanding bullets will hold a straight course (such as Barnes TSX or Rhino Solid Shank Or Trophy Bonded Bear Claw) and penetrate into the vital organs... even for body shots on hippopotamus. But the Hornady DGX Bonded is not one of those bullets which I would trust for hippopotamus. They are still documented as occasionally distorting when fired at Cape buffalo during shots taken at certain angles. The hide of a hippopotamus is much stronger than a Cape buffalo (being more than 2.5" thick).

For end-on-end shots on Cape buffalo, I prefer a premium grade expanding bullet (since 1993) because it produces a larger wound cavity than a solid bullet (or a North Fork Cup Point Solid which is neither a true solid nor a true expanding bullet but rather one which is designed to rivet)... which in turn accelerates blood loss and causes the animal to hemorrhage quicker. Also most Cape buffalo are hunted in herds. And a solid bullet runs a significant risk of a complete pass through the body of the target animal... thereby risking a possibility of accidentally hitting another Cape buffalo in the herd (this mishap actually occurred with me in Kenya in 1974 on my life's first African Safari).

 

[Hunting Hitman]

The new Hornady…2 DGX and 1 DGS recovered from a cape that my Swift AFrame in 500 Jeffery had to stop the charge and end its life. Use what you want but DGX bullets will never be used in my rifles.

HH

 

[Rafiki]

I took two buffalo in 2022, one with Woodleigh (Weldcore) and one with Hornady (Bonded DGX); all were .510cal, 570gr. As you can see the DGX's lost significant weight, basically the front blew off. Killed the buffalo though.

 

[SStomcat]

The new Hornady…2 DGX and 1 DGS recovered from a cape that my Swift AFrame in 500 Jeffery had to stop the charge and end its life. Use what you want but DGX bullets will never be used in my rifles.

HH

No debate here, same or different gun for DGX ?

 

[Hunting Hitman]

No debate here, same or different gun for DGX ?

Those 3 are out of the same gun a 404 Jeff.

HH

 

[SStomcat]

Deng Xiaoping who used it to promote his pragmatic approach to economic reform in China. Famously said "It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice

 

[SStomcat]

For me, it all comes down to an efficient, quick kill inside 30 yards. I don’t take hero shots — my PH knows that, and he’s never tried to convince me otherwise. We keep it simple: get close, place the shot, end it clean.

At that distance, I’m not losing sleep over weight retention charts or marketing fairy tales. As long as the bullet does its job, the rest is academic. Bullets deform based on what they meet — that’s their nature. Even Raptors are built to shed petals and drop weight on impact; it’s not a flaw, it’s the design.

And for what it’s worth, my .470 NE, even with factory-loaded DGX or my handloads, has been nothing short of devastating. The animals certainly aren’t filing complaints.