Hornady A-Max

[djtjr]

i think everyone here so far feels the way i do and you may be mixing up the a-max with the match king that many would say not to hunt with. I have shot the amax on a lot of game with great results and it has been also been used in 1000 yd competetion and i believe held the world record for group that Kyle Brown shot till it was recently broken. i have shot game in close with it too and if you keep it (like any balistic tip) off bone it will destroy lng tissue with ease. its a great bullet for just about anything you would want to do and if i could only shoot one bullet per caliber for all my aplications it would likely be the amax.
good luck
d

 

[458win]

This was my recent experience with the AMax on a deer. Range was 506yrds on a big 3pt muley. Used my 308win with the 168gr Amax at 2730fps.

I ranged the buck, dialed the scope and let my friend (he is the one with a tag) shoot. At the shot the buck kicked out with both his back legs. He calmly turned then disappeared into the trees. Thinking he was down and out we walked over to where he was.
There was 4 drops of blood over maybe one yard on the rocks. It was bright red so I was thinking awesome great hit... Over the next 4hours we grid searched the hill and never found another trace of a hit and no buck??? I couldn't find another drop of blood to save my life!

Not sure if we just nicked him or if the bullet went through without opening? Velocity at target was around 2000fps which I figured was plenty to open it up. Either way no buck and I don't have much confidence in them for hunting. Problem is they SHOOT! The rifle loves them! Later that afternoon I sighted in on a rock at 885yrds and dusted it the first round. So I know my calc's were correct.

I am hoping he just nicked the deer or a rock fragment gave it a cut. But saying it did just punch a hole through the lungs how far can a deer go? He didn't seem alarmed and the other buck he was with continued feeding after the shot.

 

[R700MR]

I recently shot an antelope doe with a 105 amax of my 6x47 Lapua. Range was 240 yards. She was bedded and quartered to me. The bullet placement was good for a heart/lung shot, but apparently blew up after hitting the heavy bone in the lower portion shoulder. I had to shoot her a second time.

The Amaxes shoot great and bullet placement on the bone was my fault. I'm not sure if bullet or bone fragments entered the chest cavity and would have killed her in a short time or not. I chose to shoot a second time and put her down.

I have confidence in them.

A second antelope I shot was a buck at 271 yards. He was broadside. At the shot he reared up on his hind legs and fell over stone dead. The shot was not a high shoulder but through the front lower portion of the chest and the meaty part of the front shoulder. In this case penetration was good (no large bones got in the way).

BK

 

[jrw1976]

I shot an 3 point muley this weekend using a 162 Amax thrown from my sons 7mm rm at just over 300 yards and it worked beautifully. It was poor shot placement and range judgement because I had all of 20-25 seconds to setup judge the range and and calm enough to make the shot because that buck wanted no part of what was going to happen next. The buck was leaving the area in a 2 o-clock direction so he was quartering away and going up a hill, but after I whistled at him he stopped just long enough for me to squeeze the trigger. I placed the shot directly in the spine behind the front shoulder which exploded the spine and blew 2 ribs off of either side of the spine. Which blew chunks of bone into the heart and lungs. After going through all that bone the bullet came to rest under the skin on the other side weighting 106.8 grains. Which to me is very impressive considering all the bone that bullet had to go through. So if you ask me the 162 Amax really does its job at least when it is being flung out of my sons 7mm that is.


Jason

 

[FAL Shot]

Everybody with sense knows the A-Max is a long range bullet with sub-MOA accuracy. The closest I have used it is 200 lasered yards on a 250# muley buck from a 7x57mm rifle. I made a neck shot while he was bedded down. Bullet hit 1/3 of distance ahead of shoulders toward head. He dropped dead on the spot. Spine was severed and bullet penetrated to offside skin. The recovered bullet was cleaned and weighed and had 38% weight retention (62 grains). That is OK weight retention for a 7mm 162 grain target bullet that broke the spine at 200 yards.

For shooting deer inside 200 yards I have the 140 grain Sierra GameKing. The GameKing seems to be tougher than the A-Max but otherwise acts in a similar fashion. You have to set your own crossover point between the two in regards to the velocity of your rifle. I have set that point at 200 yards. Inside 200 yards it's probably best to use the 140 GameKing.

For something like elk, I would use the 150 grain Partition inside of 250-300 yards, depending on the angle of the shot. Try to keep A-Max impact velocity no more than 2500 fps on deer. You might have to back off a bit for elk and other tougher game. As others have stated, the A-Max is more for broadside hits than quartering hits.

 

[TH]

I have mixed feeling with the 208 A max. My first kill was a mature bull elk at 200 yards. I had to shoot him 5 times to bring him down. When we gutted him I found out the bullets only penetrated 5 inches I was really disappointed. I was shooting it at 3327 fps. This was the 2010 elk season. 2011 we decided to go mule deer hunting and I shot a mule deer at 738 yards droped in his tracks. My buddie that was hunting with me shot his mule deer bedded down at 537 yards with the 208 amax and it just rolled over dead. One of the hunters we were with had a cow elk tag and asked if he could use my rifle to make a long range shot. He ended up killing a cow elk at 1090 yards one shot in the heart. Droped dead in his tracks bullet went 3/4 through perfect mushrom. Another guy had a bull tag and shot a 5 x 5 at 1275. Hit him a little far back walked maybe 30 yards and bedded down. We walked over and finished him. My conclusion is I love the 208 a max for long range work. Close range might want to carry another loaded round with you in another bullet.

 

[WildRose]

It baffles me why some people insist on using a bullet for hunting that the manufacturer tells us point blank is not intended to be used as a hunting bullet.

A-MAX® NOW featuring AMP™ bullet jackets!

Designed by match shooters for match shooters. With an ultra-low drag tip, our A-Max match bullets feature an aerodynamic secant ogive that delivers flat trajectories with excellent uniformity and concentricity. Find out more...

• Rapid, explosive expansion with limited penetration.
• Recommended muzzle velocity range: 2000+ fps.
• These bullets are not recommended for hunting.

Bullets - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

Emphasis mine. If there were not a long list of High BC, great shooting bullets on the market desiged and intended to be used as hunting bullets it would at least make some sense, but that is not the case.

 

[Scot E]

The SMK's aren't "supposed" to be used for hunting either but they are pretty popular for LR shooters and have been used very successfully for an awful long time. IMO for the long range stuff you need a bullet that is going to open up easier than today's modern hunting bullets so the A-max is a very good choice. Most bullets today have around 1800 fps minimum velocity, in many cases that number should be higher to get a bullet to expand, for proper expansion and that doesn't get some shooters out nearly as far as they like to shoot.

What hunting bullets have the BC's of the A-Max and SMK? Are you talking about the custom copper bullets? I guess some like the Accubond does have BC's close but then you have the minimum velocity issue that limits your distance.

Scot E.

 

[WildRose]

The SMK's aren't "supposed" to be used for hunting either but they are pretty popular for LR shooters and have been used very successfully for an awful long time. IMO for the long range stuff you need a bullet that is going to open up easier than today's modern hunting bullets so the A-max is a very good choice. Most bullets today have around 1800 fps minimum velocity, in many cases that number should be higher to get a bullet to expand, for proper expansion and that doesn't get some shooters out nearly as far as they like to shoot.

What hunting bullets have the BC's of the A-Max and SMK? Are you talking about the custom copper bullets? I guess some like the Accubond does have BC's close but then you have the minimum velocity issue that limits your distance.

Scot E.

Interlock, Accubond, Sciroccos all have the BC's to get you to the limits of adequate energy to reliably kill game. They all will also give reliable and predictable expansion.

Now if one is using one of the big .338's it's a whole new equation just due to the mass of the bullet. In them I can understand BC surpassing all other considerations.

 

[Tnwhip]

I shot this one last week at 240 yds. 280 ack. 162 A-max. He was facing me and angled a little. I put the cross hairs on his neck about half way between his head and shoulder. He just dropped. When I went to him no blood. could not see an entry hole no exit. When I skinned him this is what I found. small hole in the front and a big hole in the back of the neck. Hit the neck bone and it exploded Jacket was in the hide. Found a few pieces of lead like bird shot.

 

[Coyboy]

By no means does Hornady recomend these for hunting???????????

better look again.


Long Range Whitetail - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

 

[MachV]

I use what works!
300g Bergers in the 338Edge.
6.5-284 and 7Mag=Nosler Partitions in the chamber when I'm moveing and Amaxes for all shots past 300 yards. Aiming for the boiler room!!

 

[Scot E]

Interlock, Accubond, Sciroccos all have the BC's to get you to the limits of adequate energy to reliably kill game. They all will also give reliable and predictable expansion.

Now if one is using one of the big .338's it's a whole new equation just due to the mass of the bullet. In them I can understand BC surpassing all other considerations.

Interlocks, really? Interbonds maybe but even they are quite a bit less than the upper tier of bullets in the BC department at least for the calibers I use. No doubt the sirocco's and Accubond's are good but IME they need 1900+ to be safe for expansion which does limit ones distance in some cartridges. If you are shooting the big boys then probably not.

I have been really impressed with the A-max's for mid level cartridges or for the big burners at longer ranges. You may want to give them a try. They open up very nicely close to 1100 fps and typically hold 50-60% of their weight.

Scot E.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

It baffles me why some people insist on using a bullet for hunting that the manufacturer tells us point blank is not intended to be used as a hunting bullet.

Emphasis mine. If there were not a long list of High BC, great shooting bullets on the market desiged and intended to be used as hunting bullets it would at least make some sense, but that is not the case.

Actually, one of my Hornady manuals specifically recommends the A-Max for hunting thin skinned big game animals. I've had excellent results on whitetails with the 162 A-Max at all ranges when fired from a 7STW.