Hornady Garand A-Max any good for moose and deer?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Hello CGN!

I am hell bent on hunting with my Garand this year. The only Garand specific ammo I have found readily available in my area is Hornady stuff topped with 168 grain A-Max bullets. I've ran a couple boxes through my rifle and it runs reliably and accurate. I have never used any Hornady ammo while hunting, so don't have a lot of experience with their performance on big game.

Anybody have any experience with this projectile and it's performance on moose?

My google-foo has turned up some reports that it is a target round and not designed for any amount of penetration and tend to fragment heavily upon impact. Any confirmation?

Before anyone suggests, I cannot reload any ammo at this time.

Also, if all else fails, I do have an adjustable gas plug for my Garand, but in the interest of saving time and potential damage to the gas system of my favourite rifle, I wanted to try and use something made specifically for the Garand pressure curve requirements.

Thanks for your help!

Bill
 
For deer I can't see why you'd have an issue but I'm not sure about moose. Hunting reports with A-Max are spotty.
 
I don't think the jacket on the A max is designed for hunting. It probably won't hold together well on impact and isn't designed for controlled expansion on game. Stick to using it for hunting paper like it was designed for and buy some similar weight hunting specific bullets. Something with a polymer tip would probably be a good idea, the old military rifles are often hard on softpoints.
 
I remember watching a video a while ago of an AMAX hit on a white tail. The wound was just massive; you could fit a childs head in it and it looked like loads of meat loss.
There are many here on CGN who believe "dead is dead, doesn't matter how" and for those, loosing a quarter of the meat doesn't seem to be an issue. If you subscribe to a similar philosophy then AMAX are just fine for hunting.
Personally I would try to find a hunting designed bullet that works in your rifle. I did some quick searches for hunting ammo in a Garand and most people say any 150gr 30-06 will work safely without damaging the rifle; it's only the heavier bullets (180gr+) that can cause issues and even then only in the longer term (at least a hundred rounds).
 
I shoot paper with AMAX and animals with SST works great both paper and animal die each time ;)
 
sheephunter said:
For deer I can't see why you'd have an issue but I'm not sure about moose.
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I would agree with this assessment. Muzzle velocity out of the Garand is very moderate (<2700fps with a 168gr bullet), which helps avoid bullet explosions, but the Amax is not really intended for game use. Hornady used to recommend it for medium game (my 7th edition reloading manual says so), but they have backed off on that since.

That said, I have shot one deer with a 168gr Amax (out of my Garand, at that) and the bullet performed the same as any other cup and core type bullet. I wouldn't use one on a moose, there is simply too much heavy bone to hit that may result in a wounded animal being lost.

OP, if you have an adjustable gas plug your best bet would be to set it up for some actual hunting ammo and use that. It's either that or start reloading and it doesn't sound like that is an option for you.


Mark
 
"...168 grain A-Max bullets..." Those are matrch bullets and aren't made for hunting. A 165 grain hunting bullet will kill any game you care to hunt. The rifle and cartridge love 'em too. Just be advised that an M1 rifle is a heavy SOB to lug around. If you don't have a sling, now, buy one. No adjustable gas plugs are required.
 
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just what sunray said... used mine for deer and by jeez my arms were stretched an inch and half longer holdin my m1 all day

for moose, i use nosler partition
 
Haha, weight ain't an issue. I've been lugging my 13 pound M-14 around for 2 years!

Sunray, are you saying that modern 165 grain ammo is safe to use regularly in a Garand? I thought it was the pressure curve that determined possible damage?
 
dimeN said:
just what sunray said... used mine for deer and by jeez my arms were stretched an inch and half longer holdin my m1 all day

for moose, i use nosler partition
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I find the Garand balances so well that the weight isn't an issue for me. Of course, all of my hunting rifles are 9+lb, so a bit extra for the Garand is not really an issue.


Potshot21 said:
Sunray, are you saying that modern 165 grain ammo is safe to use regularly in a Garand? I thought it was the pressure curve that determined possible damage?
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Definitely do NOT use modern hunting ammo without an adjustable gas plug, modern powders are slower burning and produce high pressures at the gas port that can damage the rifle. Sunray said 165gr hunting bullets will work fine, not 165gr ammo. My Garand shoots very well with 165gr SST's, which I have used for the last couple of seasons once the supply was available. I only used the Amax's the first season because I couldn't find any 165gr SST's or other hunting bullets that shot ok in the rifle. I reload for mine, using IMR4064 powder to produce the correct pressure curve and keep the rifle perking along as designed.


Mark
 
"...you saying that..." Yep. Been loading 168 match bullets(.30 AP used that weight) for mine for eons, but before I did, myself and everybody I knew or who came into the shop used whatever factory ammo they could. I've never once seen nor heard of anybody damaging their rifle with the ammo alone. Been told about it on assorted forums, but I've never seen it happen. Anyway, it's always been said that the upper limit is 180 grains.
13 pounds for an M14 type rifle is excessive. Should weigh less than an M1 Rifle. You have a heavy barrel, a la the M-15, on it?
"...modern powders are slower burning..." Which ones? Burn rates for IMR895, for example, haven't changed.
 
Haha, your right sunray, it is a little excessive. It is sitting in a troy mcs stock. Lots of thick durable aluminum on it. My future plan is to get another M-14 for hunting and put a heavy match barrel on the troy and use it strictly for target.

Either way, I'm hooked on M1/M-14/M1A type rifles!
 
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