What Hornady bullet for Moose?

sisiphunter said:
Interlok or interbond. My experience with the sst is that at a distance they are great, but up close, under 100 they fail to expand reliably if they dont hit big muscle or bone. At a distance they expand great once they slow down a bit and shoot very flat, but in moose country you cant beat a good old fashion lead tip spitzer soft point or even a round nose. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you talking about Hornady SST not expanding at close range ?
They disintegrate at close range and do lots of meat damage if shot from potent magnums at high velocity in the muscles but yes they kill well if shot placement is right.

To OP if your only option is Hornady I would choose GMX as the only option unless you like lead in your venison.
Somebody suggested already Hornady GMX than Interbound than Interlock
in that order.
Andrew
 
I use 180 gr Interbonds in my 300WSM 24inch barrel @2960fps. My goto moose bullet for the cuts.
Wanted to use a bonded core but couldn't get accubonds to shoot and scirroco's weren't available close to me.
 
Holy crap, when did moose start wearing Kevlar?

To answer the OPs question, yes a 180 Hornady bullet (any style in 180 30cal) will work just fine for moose in your rifle. Will you get some damage if you hit one square in the shoulder with an SST? Probably. Will it still die? Most likely.

Will a Partition or TSX out penetrate the Hornady offering? Yup. Does it matter in the real world? Nope.

If good old Interlocks are the only bullet you are interested in loading, then I say go for it. They are an excellent bullet for non-dangerous North American game, and they are cheap as hell compared to the other options presented. Spend the money shooting more.
 
Many o moose fell to a hornady interlock before any of the others were developed in the Hornady line. What I have seen is more bullet separation on boat tails vs flat base bullets. If you are worried about bullet fragmentation and separation, within the short ranges specified in the originating post, try using a flat based bullet. Wait for the kill shot and your moose will be legs up waiting for the dinner table. The SPs are the least cost, longest running bullets made by them....hmmmm wonder why they still make them eh?
My two bits.....
 
Hornady

I have used the SST for years exclusively and they absolutely have no issues with Moose or Elk. Some "experts" claim they come apart to readily and are not the ideal choice for large game. That said I have not had any complaints from the animals I have humanely harvested. 99% have been clean 1 shot kills.
Above all, the SST is an inexpensive bullet that shoots as accurate as ANY so called "premium" bonded bullet.

My 2 cents
Thunder
 
Not saying they don't work for you.

I used to use the SST's , for a couple of seasons, my results-they did alright, nothing to write articles about. The incident that caused me to stop using them was a moderate range and moderate speed shot on a mature doe. It was a broad side lung shot, no exit wound,the animal dropped instantly which I though was odd. Upon dressing the animal the results were apparent that the lungs were both hit and the fragments of the bullet went into the spine.During processing there was enough bloodshot loin meat that much had to be discarded.No significant pieces of bullet were recovered.

I used the remainder of those loads for target.Yes there were very accurate but not what I would like for on game performance.

Now I use a premium bonded for everything. Why chance it over a $0.30 difference in bullet.



Thunder F/X said:
I have used the SST for years exclusively and they absolutely have no issues with Moose or Elk. Some "experts" claim they come apart to readily and are not the ideal choice for large game. That said I have not had any complaints from the animals I have humanely harvested. 99% have been clean 1 shot kills.
Above all, the SST is an inexpensive bullet that shoots as accurate as ANY so called "premium" bonded bullet.

My 2 cents
Thunder
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Andrzej Somebody suggested already Hornady GMX than Interbound than Interlock in that order. Andrew[/QUOTE said:
Yup, my opinion too. 180 gr. and heavier.
SSt's are great deer and target bullets, and will kill moose, but are the most fragile big game bullets in Hornady's lineup. I prefer less fragmentation and deeper penetration for moose.
Click to expand...
 
Shot my moose this year with 165 gr. SST's out of a 30-06 at about 80 yds broadside. It broke the shoulder, turned both lungs to jello and stopped in the far armpit. What else do you want? There are better bullets out there, but to me the extra shooting you do when bullets alone are not costing a buck each does even more good.
 
Hornady Interlocks were killing moose decades ago. Unless moose have developed some uncanny ability to stop them, they will still fall to a good ole 180 grain soft point of just about any variety - out of a .308 or a .300 mag.
 
I used to believe that barnes bullets were way overpriced when something like the hornady interlock or nosler partition would make the animals just as dead. After seeing the results of this study I have since decided that I will only be using copper bullets when hunting.
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/lead/index.htm

I'm not sure if this link has been posted on this site before, but if you haven't seen it you should watch it. Personally, the extra cost is worth it for me to save lead spreading through the animal. And if you think about it, you only shoot about 5 hunting loads per year. 3 or 4 to zero in the scope before the hunt and one to kill the animal. A box of 50 can last you a long time. Then just use cheap stuff in the same weight for punching paper for the rest of the year.
 
Hey BearClan, Turtle Clan here from the south. :D

I use Hornady 180gr Interbonds in my 300wsm. They shoot itty bitty groups but no real life action yet. I have complete faith in them if I put them where it counts. I use SSTs in my wifes 7mm-08 for practice and accubonds for hunting. The SSTs shoot better than the accubonds so I may use them on deer this fall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom