Why I like Hornady bullets

444 Shooter, The 270 150g SST is listed at 2600 to 3200 (same as the interlock) but Don't use those veleocity ranges as all end all be all, they realy don't mean that much. You WILL get HIGLY explosive preformance at 3200 from an SST.:eek:

I currently am using a 162 SST at ~2900 from a 7mag as my big buck load. It gives big expansion with great penetration at the type of range I will be shooting (1 yard to 400:)) It will penetrate 3/4 of a deer on a quartering shot and give an entrance hole you can measure in inches. Your 270wsm with a 150g SST would pretty much duplicate my load and performance "should" be about the same.

I would not recommend a low SD SST at high velocity, the initatal explosion of the bullet leaves nothing left and penetration is at a very real risk of being poor for bad angle shots. The high SD SST (2.8 ish or greater) are the only way to go. I also believe this to be true with Nosler Balistic Tips. After that initial expansion you need some bullet left to make sure the job gets done all the way through.
 
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I ordered a couple boxes of hornady bullets for my new .270 wsm the other day, I got some SST and some Interbonds.. both 130gr. looking forward to trying them out, as soon as I get the correct shell holder
they are pretty much going to be for deer and smaller.. maybe a moose if I have no other option
 
redlaker1 said:
I ordered a couple boxes of hornady bullets for my new .270 wsm the other day, I got some SST and some Interbonds.. both 130gr. looking forward to trying them out, as soon as I get the correct shell holder
they are pretty much going to be for deer and smaller.. maybe a moose if I have no other option
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I am a big fan of lots of options!!!!!

But, that 270 WSm is a dandy moose gun.
 
guntech said:
Hornady list the velocity range that each bullet under most circumstances will perform well in... it is with the pictures of the bullets towards the front of the manual. I would think the heavier bullets .270 were designed for .270 Weatherby velocities...
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Anyone know if this manual with the velocity ranges is available on the internet? I've done some searches and come up empty.

Redlaker1, keep us up to date on how that .270 wsm works on game with the Hornady.
 
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What I like about Hornady is their price in relation to quality. I still call myself Nosler man, however have some success with Hornady as well.
 
Republic of Alberta said:
444 Shooter, The 270 150g SST is listed at 2600 to 3200 (same as the interlock) but Don't use those veleocity ranges as all end all be all, they realy don't mean that much. You WILL get HIGLY explosive preformance at 3200 from an SST.:eek:

I currently am using a 162 SST at ~2900 from a 7mag as my big buck load. It gives big expansion with great penetration at the type of range I will be shooting (1 yard to 400:)) It will penetrate 3/4 of a deer on a quartering shot and give an entrance hole you can measure in inches. Your 270wsm with a 150g SST would pretty much duplicate my load and performance "should" be about the same.

I would not recommend a low SD SST at high velocity, the initatal explosion of the bullet leaves nothing left and penetration is at a very real risk of being poor for bad angle shots. The high SD SST (2.8 ish or greater) are the only way to go. I also believe this to be true with Nosler Balistic Tips. After that initial expansion you need some bullet left to make sure the job gets done all the way through.
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I have always been impressed with Hornady, and they have been consistently accurate in any caliber I have loaded for.
Was thinking that by going with a 150gr, the speed is a bit lower and might reduce the explosiveness compared to a 130gr. Added to that the increase in SD and BC, it would be good for retained energy at longer ranges too.
 
I've shot flat-base Interlocks in many calibers by the thousands, and taken the 139 7mm up to 3500 fps in my STWs. That's definitely pushing it, but you should see deer go limp in a hurry.:eek: Broad-side shots usually exited. Thinking that a slightly heavier 154 grain at 3350 fps might be a little better, I made the switch along with some friends I load for. One is also using an STW and 3 are using Rem Mags. I don't know how many deer and more than a few moose and elk bit the dust with that combo.
This summer I loaded some 175 grain Interlocks for the same friends STW, and took them (and him) to South Africa with me. They killed well, when animals were hit well, which is about all you can expect. I never noticed that they worked any better than the 154s though. Personally I've switched to TSXs for hyper velocities and the biggest of animals, but it's not because the Inter-locks don't work. I don't like lengthwise shots or even bad angles with them though, the last word in penetration they are not.
 
.375 cal 300gr BTSP @ just over 2600fps for about 4600ftlbs. I's say acuracy aint to bad and sure as hell wouldn't want to catch one in the ribs or the shoulder no matter how big and dangerous I was or how small and distant I was. Some of the best acuracy I have achieved has been with those Hornady bullets in that rifle;)
6z5t005.jpg
 
gnrhawg, that's pretty impressive velocity for a 300gr. bullet. Would you mind sharing your recipe, I'd like to give it a whirl. :)
 
Man those performed nicely....certainly not what I've been able to acheive with Hornady bullets.

While I've killed a bunch of game with hornady bullets, I don't share the same enthusiasm (or luck) you do w/regards to their integrity. Here are a few I've recovered from game from varying distances (165gr SP - 30-06)....great for the 7-08, but wind them up and watch'em splatter:

Hornady025.jpg


After a number of hornady's performing like that over the years, I switched to these.......

These are rare pics, as most are not recovered:

225TSX005.jpg


P1010150.jpg
 
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Interesting results. What type of game and what distances if you can remember? Obviously you did not lose these animals... did any require more than one shot?
 
I like that 165 in a (boat tail though) out of my 20" BBL 308 at 2500fps.


As with all Hornadys once you peel it back past the cannalure they can pop apart at the end of the wound channel. The interlocking ring works a little but does not grip that much more than a cannalure will. I do see it making a difference in the amount of lead that "slips" forwards (lead pulled out of the cup and into the mushroom) as compared to a Speer or Sierra.
 
Woodsman said:
280 Ackley, seems to me if you recovered the bullets to show, Hornady did do it's job!
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Yup, but those Interlocks were nearly all from perfectly placed broadside shots...

When the chips are down, the TSX is clearly much more capable w/regards to integrity....

I've seen first hand the large difference in performance for the small difference in price...make mine the TSX!
 
Eagleye said:
I have shot some game up to and including moose with the Hornady Interlocks with generally good results, as seen in Dennis' pic. Hornady bullets have always been superbly accurate in my experience. However, I did have one dramatic failure, using the 140 Interlock in one of my 270's. This may have beeen an abberration, but it was definitely something that surprised me. I shot a 4 point Whitetail buck broadside at about 80 yards. The bullet hit an onside rib, and it basically broke into 3 pieces. None of which hit a vital organ. Nonetheless, it stunned this deer, which then ran about 50 yards and stopped, looking back as if to say, What the h*** was that? Gave me a chance to put another one into him. This second bullet acted properly, and the result was a dead deer. The autopsy showed what had happened. One piece of the bullet was in the onside shoulder, one piece was in the flank and the last piece was somewhere in the gut. This bullet had a muzzle velocity of about 3000 fps, so wasn't a really fast load. Strange behavior, but enough to make me choose a different bullet for my 270. Regards, Eagleye
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Same experince here. 125-150 yds 1/4ing towards me, 1 shot 140 gr SP Interlock out of my swede. I entrance, 3 exits no recovery . I hit heart and lung and the deer did not go far but my confidence in this round has been shaken. Too bad really, becuase the Swede loves the round.
 
280_ACKLEY said:
When the chips are down, the TSX is clearly much more capable w/regards to integrity....
I've seen first hand the large difference in performance for the small difference in price...make mine the TSX!
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There is also many cases involving Barnes X bullets that failed to expand adequately. Yes they do offer near 100% weight retention and they penetrate to beat hell but to say they are the ultimate hunting bullet is just an opinion or personal preference.

If the bullet you are using inspires shooting confidence that goes along ways towards success IMHO.

Just like Phil Shoemaker says, any reasonable bullet, placed properly into the vitals is gonna do the job!

And those Hornadys were recovered from DEAD animals. Failure? I think not! Don't confuse weight retention and terminal performance. They are not the same.


Also, you did not answer as to what those TSX were recovered from...


FWIW I use Hornady, Sierra, Nosler and Hawk bullets. Today I think my favorite bullet is the Nosler Accubond, followed by the Nosler Partition.
 
gitrdun said:
gnrhawg, that's pretty impressive velocity for a 300gr. bullet. Would you mind sharing your recipe, I'd like to give it a whirl. :)
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IMR4350! I've found it my favorite powder in .375 and /06 too for that matter. The load is above book max:eek: but shows no pressure problems @80gr. Don't go doing it without a cautious aproach. My rifle and likely most .375's can take heavy loads without showing problems. I've loaded 285's to 2730fps with 83.5 and the 235's up to near 3000 with 87.5 both those bullets were Speers. I loaded the 285's for the woods this fall but the 300 Hornadys just shot so well I carried them instead. Can't argue with 1/2 inch groups out of a hunting rifle especialy a hard hitter. Can't say I've ever had a Hornady bullet not work for me;)
 
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