.30 caliber 180 grain Hornady SP @ 3200 FPS. How do they hold up?

That is within Hornady's design window for that bullet. (They state 2400 fps - 3400 fps.)

I used to load them in my 300 Winchester at just over 3000 fps and took a few moose and mountain caribou with them without any problem. As is typical with Hornady bullets the accuracy was great.

What are you planning on launching them from? A 300 RUM or a 30-378?
 
I shot them in my 300 RUM (3275 fsp)and great accuracy, but poor performance on the bullet test (wet newspaper, plywood and phone books). They just did not hold together and penatration was ???. I am a Hornady fan and have shot them in my 270 for 25 years, so no complaints about Hornady.

I switched to Accubonds and they are great, so are the Partitions. The Barnes X would not shoot well, which was too bad.

If I was going to use the big 300's, I would shoot the better bullets. The Hornady's are a great bullet, but just not what I would want when shooting moose or elk.

Cheers

SS
 
Not wanting to start a :nest: here!

But I personally don't feel shooting a bullet into wet newspaper, plywood and phone books is a fair test of a bullet. I've never seen an animal built as solid as 15" of wet phone books. Yes you may hit a bone but for the most part an animal's internal organs is much softer.

Here's a test of my theory...
punch your buddy as hard as you can in the belly
now punch 15" of wet phone book & see which one hurts your hand :D
 
I think those velocities are where the new bullets really shine, I've killed a whole pile of things of various sizes up to and including a very big moose with the 168 gr TSX launched at 3200 fps.

The only poor experience I've ever had with a Hornady bullet was a 130 gr interlock out of a 270. It killed the deer quite quickly, but basically blew up inside the chest similar to a ballistic tip.
 
I am sure they will work fine, but if you are going to shoot higher speeds, you may want to look at one of the super cool new bullets:)

Esepcially if you expect some heavy bone...

n526315515_1368540_8380.jpg


rom left to right we have:

180gr TSX
16" penetration
179.7gr retained

180gr FS
16.25" penetration
173.2gr retained (Although a petal broke off and was with the bullet, but I lost it before I weighed it)

130gr TTSX
15.75" penetration
129.6gr retained

180gr NP
15.5" penetration
121.6gr retained

180gr Hornady Interlock
14.25" penetration
124.9 gr retained

So, we see the FS penetrated the most, with less expansion.

The Hornady proved that heavy bullets at moderate weight will still penetrate well, although the Hornady was mangled in the end, and may not have stood up at higher speeds.

The NP did what they often do when stressed- shed the front and leave the rear to penetrate deeply.

The 2 TSX bullets penetrated about the same, although the 130gr expanded larger due to higher velocity.


Here is a link to the rest of the thread, it's less abou tthe Hornady and more about TTSX bullets
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=251524
 
You know I have shot literally over a hundred big game animals over the 40 years I have been hunting. I have used everything from a .22 rimfire up to a .340 Weatherby.

I have used standard cup & core bullets from all the big name manufactures as well as Partitions, Accubonds, Interbonds, X-Bullets, TSX as well as the Jack Carter's original TBBC. With the sole exception of a moose about 25 years ago - took a stupid shot and made a bad hit - every one of them died and were recovered quickly regardless of the price tag on the bullet box.

Shooting into sand and/or telephone books may tell you how well a bullet performs on sand piles and telephone books but it doesn't translate into actual field performance on actual animals.
 
Last edited:
Dogleg said:
Hornady bullets have been offered in Weatherby factory ammo since forever. Someone must be shooting them.
Click to expand...

Weatherby reccomends thier "SP" ammo for medium game like deer, sheep, antelope, and I am sure they perform just fine on them, and probably on larger critters if you don't try to bust shoulders at close range.:)
 
'Boo said:
Shooting into sand and/or telephone books may tell you how well a bullet performs on sand piles and telephone books but it doesn't translate into actual field performance on actual animals.
Click to expand...

Very true. If you click on the link from the original thread, you will see I said the same thing in my post.:)
 
I have used hornady bullets at that speed, they kill ok as long as no bone was struck.Expect them to come unglued though.I move to a premium with any cartridge over 3000fps, personal choice,it's cheap insurance and doesn't really add a lot of cost to a box of handloaded ammo_On deer size game it won't matter much other than more blood shot meat.
 
I've killed a few Deer with the 180 Hor. out of 06, 300 Win. and 300 WBY. Great bullet in the o6. Got instant kills in the bigger ones. This was many years ago when the only real premium bullets were Partitions. What finally put me off them was when I shot a Coyote at about 50-75 yds with one loaded to 3300 in a 300 WBY. It blew the off side off. No kidding the far side was gone. Great accuracy bullet for testing new guns but I'd leave it at that for a 300 WBY. As Gate says TSX and never look back.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom