Gmx failure(dead bear pics)

My bench could be on a hornady poster, I like their stuff. Nothing is perfect tho, a few years back I had ftx in a 30-30 ice pick on more than one deer at ranges from 10 ft to 200 yds. That same bullet in my 308 mx performed flawlessly on a large buck last fall.
 
From hornady.
Mr. Smith,
We don’t like to see the bullet fragment like that and there are few scenarios in which you will see a GMX do so it still looks like you had a very successful hunt. We appreciate the feedback on your business.
Thank you
 
While it is a bit concerning that it came apart, I'd be a bit hard pressed to call a "bang, flop" scenario a failure. Looking at the drawing it seems you had a complete pass through that reentered the rear leg, seems like pretty good penetration.
Also, as a curiosity, how big is the bear? There's a pretty big difference in the size of a shoulder joint between a two year old and a mature boar.
 
Five and a half feet long. 300+ lbs. not a huge bear by any means but a mature boar. There were three that came in that night and he drove them all off.
What if I didn't do my part and that bullet hit solid forearm bone? Would it penetrate or come apart and deflect merely wounding it? Bears are not bullet proof but anyone who's sawed through one of their legs can attest to how solid they are.
 
I wouldn't call it a total failure the bear did die

40 years tears ago all I shot was interlocks, I thought they were supposed to blow up all I ever found was fragments all the animals were dead by the way.
 
My dad shot a buck through the front leg once as it jumped a gully, it landed and broke its neck and died. Success?
Hornady even concedes the bullet didn't perform the way it should have.

Cummings says there is not a problem with isx camshaft failure. I know multiple fleets who have rebuilt every single isx they own because of camshaft failure. We're talking 100% of 25 engines. Nothing to see here folks. Move on.
 
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So the petals broke off, I wouldn't call that a failure. It happens with Barnes as well. It's not like the main part of the bullet broke in pieces. I'm actually surprised that the petals had enough energy to go through that rear leg.

Here's two Barnes recovered from moose. He first is a 225gr TSX from my .35Whelen. He second a 175gr LRX from my .300 WSM.



 
A theory I have heard is that the use of environmentally friendly oils during the manufacturing process is causing evcessive heat during manufacturing is hardening the bullets, to the point of being brittle. I don't think hornady is alone in this either. Accustomed not staying together. Partitions separating. Etc.
 
So the petals broke off, I wouldn't call that a failure. It happens with Barnes as well. It's not like the main part of the bullet broke in pieces. I'm actually surprised that the petals had enough energy to go through that rear leg.

For the OPs bullet it looks like more than just the petals came off to me... But a little hard to tell in the pics... Appears to be a fair bit of shrapnel on the hind end and the chunk in his hand doesn't look like 1 solid shank...
 
I have a hard time believing that a solid slug of copper (technically gilding metal) would break apart after an impact with a bear especially without impacting bones. If this is what happened then it's really a failure.
 
Five and a half feet long. 300+ lbs. not a huge bear by any means but a mature boar. There were three that came in that night and he drove them all off.
What if I didn't do my part and that bullet hit solid forearm bone? Would it penetrate or come apart and deflect merely wounding it? Bears are not bullet proof but anyone who's sawed through one of their legs can attest to how solid they are.

I seriously doubt a GMX would explode like that. I dug a .30 cal 150 gr GMX bullet out of a gravel pit that still retained 144 grains that probably hit in the neighbourhood of 2500 fps and had a near perfect mushroom. I hit a black bear this spring with 2 x 168 TSX bullets from a 30-06. First one struck rib at entrance, hit more ribs and the off side shoulder bone while exiting. Bear still ran, short distance but tumbled into a small gulley. Second shot, to make sure, hit brisket, exited out back hip bone or complete lengthwise pass through. Bear done. No bullet recovered.
 
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i shoot nosler e-tips in 7mm wsm and during load development(100+ shots) I put all kinds of stuff behind the target to catch the bullets. water jugs, pails of dirt, frozen dirt, and blocks of wood, some being from a certain unknown tree that was so dam hard that 3 guys trying with a splitting axe couldn't split it to retrieve the bullets. so I burnt it to get my bullets and all of them expanded flawlessly and never shed a petal. I used them for bear, moose, and deer, don't overly like them for deer as I lung shoot deer. I will shoot them on bigger stuff than deer. ive gotten nice holes from them on bear shoulders, but through a deers lungs they leave a much smaller hole, seems they want more resistance than lungs to blow a big hole.
 
I seriously doubt a GMX would explode like that. I dug a .30 cal 150 gr GMX bullet out of a gravel pit that still retained 144 grains that probably hit in the neighbourhood of 2500 fps and had a near perfect mushroom. I hit a black bear this spring with 2 x 168 TSX bullets from a 30-06. First one struck rib at entrance, hit more ribs and the off side shoulder bone while exiting. Bear still ran, short distance but tumbled into a small gulley. Second shot, to make sure, hit brisket, exited out back hip bone or complete lengthwise pass through. Bear done. No bullet recovered.
So your calling me a liar?
 
Five and a half feet long. 300+ lbs. not a huge bear by any means but a mature boar. There were three that came in that night and he drove them all off.
What if I didn't do my part and that bullet hit solid forearm bone? Would it penetrate or come apart and deflect merely wounding it? Bears are not bullet proof but anyone who's sawed through one of their legs can attest to how solid they are.

I'd like like to think that if you hit the forearm on the way in that the bullet (or at least a large piece of the shank) would continue to drive through. But unfortunately there's no way to know for sure what's going to happen when we pull the trigger. That's why you use premium bullets (as you do)to lessen the chances of catastrophic failure.
 
375 Ruger for black bear?
I wouldn't hunt blackies with less than a 505 Gibbs.:rolleyes:

Sarcasm aside.
Too much gun.
Try a 270 Win or a 308 Win or a 30-06 Sprng and experience bear meat that isn't bloodshot or full of shrapnel.
 
nothing scientific but in the first part of the 9.3 test we did there is some bullets that erratically left the water milk jugs. and we found some bullets on the ground. i will test soon the 250 grains gmx in 9.3 and will report.

but you got a dead bear ....

can you share your load too?

If you have a 375 to load could I send you a few from this batch of bullets. I have about 10 left from this particular box.
 
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