Hornady 9.3 286gr performance

BwanaDave

BwanaDave

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Has anyone used the .366 hornady interlock on game out of their 9.3's and what type of performance did you experience?
I'm still using the 286 Partition in my x62 and it has worked flawlessly on the two bears Ive shot with it , have killed elk,bear and deer with the 9.3 Privi Partisan with good results but haven't tried the hornady on anything but paper.
It shoots tiny little groups in my cz 550 with varget / 4895 and Rl 15 , has a flat base with a BC of .400 and with a velocity of 2400 - 2450 @ the muzzle should be adequate for moose I would think as everything Ive ever shot with an interlock in other chamberings has died in short order. Im curious to hear what the experience of other nutters has been with this bullet.
 
There was a thread on here a year or so ago, where a cgn'er mentioned he had a Hornady 9.3 bullet blow up on the shoulder blade of a moose. Wish I could find it again, but the search engine on here sucks and I'm too lazy to dig through a hundred pages of threads. Based on that testimony, I haven't used the Hornady bullet for anything but targets. This particular bullet is also loaded by Remington and marketed as a "core-lokt".
 
I have read and heard a number of reports about the Interlock being a bit too soft. The professional hunters don't want anyone using them on dangerous game. Mbogo has nothing but respect from me, and if he says the bullet pancaked, blew up, or whatever, I believe him.

I have also heard the same about the 270 Speer, however it certainly leaves little to be desired on big game in my time afield. I have personal, first hand experience, on no less than four big animals, with that bullet at 2500-2600 fps. All were one shot kills, and only one bullet was recovered.




I, too would be interested in hearing more first hand accounts of performance of the Hornady.

Ted
 
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awhile back I ran across a test on another board that included hornady ...... for the life of me I can't find it now .

but what I did find might be of interest .
no hornady bullets , but many others that where testing by firing them into freshly dead elephants ,then retrieved .

also there is some first hand experience with many of the bullets in the test .

http://bigfivehq.com/softs.pdf
 
I figured with the number of guys using the .366 Wagner on the board some of you must have knocked something down with these by now.

Harold had related to me the fact that he pancaked one on a moose shoulder previously and I agree with you Ted that it happened and I'm not questioning Harold , I'm just trying to satisfy my own curiosity as to whether its a recurring problem and if they are that soft why they are being marketed by hornady as suitable for african game.
Remington is also using the same bullet in their corelockt line.

There doesnt seem to be a whole lot on the net about peoples experiences with this bullet other than like the speer and privi they are supposedly a bit soft. Well how soft is a bit soft ? Ted has used the speer 270 to good effect, myself Ive shot at least 6 animals with the privi with no complaints The one thing Ive seen on other forums about the hornady is that the jacket is supposedly copper and not gilding metal.
I'll be using the partition again in my x62 when I head out moose hunting in a week and have no doubt in my mind it will perform as advertised if I happen to connect with bullwinkle and will go on using them. I am however wondering what Im gonna do with this stack of red boxes full of .366 hornadys?
 
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I've got a bunch of them too but I bought them to be practice bullets. Still, I'd be interested to see some more results too.

Think that Ted should be sent to Africa to shoot a full bag with the "Wagner" and report back. Of course, Marg will have to go to take notes and photos. Actually, I'll take the photos, Marg can shoot some beasties too.
 
I've got a bunch of them too but I bought them to be practice bullets.
Click to expand...

Yeah. They are a relatively cheap date!.
Practice?, well that is ALL I've ever done with my Wagner so far, ... 'tis long since time to get off the fleabitten skinny wallet, 'n grab some NP's & 250gr Barnes', ... do some real practice'n for the real deal.
My 7 1/2 lb Husky's purpose is a high country wandering companion, come imminent nomadic retirement. The BRNO .375, it has spoiled me, <Power>. ... but alas ... at 11 lbs, way too heavy for this older fart to lug way up to those beautifull thin oxygen places. Last I tromped Yukon/Alaska, it was way back in the seventies. That was in the 30/06, 200gr NP carrying era. And, had me a hearty pair of good-pumping lungs to boot.

It is so good to hear considered opinion from all you experienced, serious, hunters on this thread.
 

I have a pile of these put away as well. They were fine on deer and a wolf but I'm a little leery on the bigger /nastier stuff...........Harold
 
I got some too back when they first came out. When I bought them I opened the box and immediately noticed it did not look like the normal Hornady design. These having a flatter point and 6 skivvies stamped into the bullet nose to help initiate expansion. Around that time I also got a box of 375cal 270g Hornadys and noticed they had changed them over to this new design as well. It is not a coincidence that people started complaining about BOTH the 9.3 and 375 bullets being "soft", "over expanding" or not penetrating as deep as was desired or expected when the new bullets hit the shelves. Don't know if anyone else has made the connection but I shure did.
 

Here's a 180gr Hornady [ I know not a 9.3 but same company] hit a mulie frontal chest shot found in off side flank... never expanded ! The bullet looks like it flattened lengthways. Out of a .308 Norma magnum at just under 3000 fps.IMO Hornady has done something to their bullet jackets in the last 5-10 years cost/corner cutting and won't admit it. I look for the older Red +White boxes at gun shows.Those were good bullets.Have had explosive results with 130gr in a.270 as well.Many inconsistencies. Harold
 
Frontal chest shots can spin bullets around backwards Sounds crazy but I experienced the exact same thing as the bullet you have pictured. It was a 170g Speer out of a 30-30 at 75yards. Frontal shot on a whitetail, bullet hit just on the side of the sternum made a 2" hole, punched a 30cal hole through everything from then on, could see it perfectly in the stomach lining and diaphragm. I found it logged in the rear leg bone backwards. The bullet looked like yours.

I have also seen funny things with bullets in the spine. Sharp interlocking bone at odd angels make for weird wound channels and funky shaped recovered bullets, if they don't explode.
 
Thanks for all the ^ info gents. It's settled now for this guy. Cheap(?) accurate, 286 Horn's. for general messing about. 286 NP's for anything potentially important/serious. Back to Anthony for yet another wallet wringing ... :)

See you've got the Swede wool pants there Harold ... and your crotch stitching, it's still intact!.
Been years, since I've needed to bother with those pesky fly buttons ... just aim flow low and out the bottom vent! LoL.
 
I too have had bullets hit shoulder/spine and end up spun backwards or tumble, sometimes weird stuff goes on. I can understand now after seeing whats left of 286 grains of hornady interlock why I wont be using them in the near future , thanks for posting the pics Harold.

Here's a couple pics of a 286 grain nosler partition stared @ 2350 that went almost 4 feet through a good sized black bear and was found just under the skin after breaking the right hand shoulder. Its pretty much what you'd expect of a big partition
2mpeixl.jpg

142ep1k.jpg
 
So far, have used 2 bullets on bl. bear from my T3 in 9.3 X 62.

The first was a 286 Hor. to finish off a wounded bear by a young friend. It was "porpoising" through 3-ft of grass and thorn bush when I nailed it from behind into the short ribs. Impact was over 2300 fps. The deal was done. But in unzipping his fur coat, I found the exit for that bullet in the back of the neck. It wasn't evident with the hide on. It had taken out 3" of spine before making a hole in the back of it's neck that I could stick three fingers in. But the hole in the thick folds of hide was only about the size of a nickel. I would never have known that the bullet exited intact had I not removed the hide before going to the butcher. There were no metal fragments in the wound channel.

The second was just 2 weeks ago... Same rifle, different load. This time a 286 Nos Part. over a stiff charge of RL-17 (the first was over RL-15). A frontal chest hit at 2500 fps impact. The bear (medium) went down an embankment and was found at bottom DRT. In skinning out, the bullet fell out from the opposite flank just as it started to penetrate the hip muscle. It was typical Nos,. Part performance with 74% weight retention. It hit some bone going in and a couple of ribs before coming to rest. It also tumbled and was going backwards at some point as some of the "petals" were pointing forward.

This fall whitetail season, I'm going back to the 286 Hornady at about 200 fps slower than the Partition and I have no doubts it's performance will leave nothing to be desired. It's not a "soft" bullet. It penetrated about as well as the Partition at 150 fps slower impact, and made exit, I believe intact. The Partition didn't quite make exit.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca
 
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