Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Hornady SP vxs SP SX bullets

Years ago, we were cautioned not to shoot Hornady's SX bullets in the faster centerfires and/or rifles which were twisted faster than 14 or 12 due to the fact that the cores would sometimes come out of the jackets via rotational forces.

Last night I was looking at a new box of SX and saw nothing to indicate that this is an issue anymore. The Hornady product listings on their website doesn't say anything about it either.

Does anyone have current insights on whether these bullets still 'puff' or 'squirt' on or before reaching the target?

Years ago I shot a lot of 55gn SX from a .225 Win. They left a smoke trail all the way to the target and at 100 yd left tiny splashes of lead around the bullet hole. They were very accurate and had an impressive scattering effect on ground squirrels.

A couple of years ago I tried some in the Swift at 3600 fps. They leave the remembered smoke trail and produced 5-shot groups of around 0.4". None of then disintegrated in flight. The Hornady Manual #7 suggests they be used at velocities from 1800 to 3400 fps.

I used them for years in a Ruger #1V with the standard 1 in 14 twist. They shot great and did not leave a smoke trail. I think the reason was a very smooth barrel. I tried some in a .223 with a faster twist and they came apart in flight.

I crossed this trail multiple years ago....in a 223...

they were coming apart right out of the barrel, and the end of the barrel looked like your breathe on a cold winter day... except this was out in 100 degree heat...

Called Hornady.. they asked if I knew the velocity they were supposing leaving the barrel at... I told him...

then he asked the twist of the barrel... I told him 1 in 7...

He briefly explained, the SPSX is designed to take a maximum of 180,000 RPM...the same load I was using was fine in a one in 14 or 1 in 12 barrel...

the same load in a 1 in 7 twist, it was leaving the barrel at approximately 290,000 RPMs...

He didn't have to explain to me why it was coming apart right out of the barrel...

He recommended the 55 SP, or even better would be the 60 grain SP, or HP....

The SPSX is fun to shoot at a fast MV, in a fast twist rifle on a really foggy Oregon Damp Day.....it really highlight the bullet's exit and disintegration paths...

I've smoked a few years ago too, especially seen them 'leaking' as they pass through the target.

I don't shoot them anymore, but bumped into a fellow at the local SW who was trying to choose a good 'plinking' bullet to use in his new AR. He was fingering the Hornady boxes and had one of the spendier 55s in his hands. I suggested ordinary SP bullets but the only thing in the Hornady section was the SX and I knew they used to be rather sensitive to speed/rotation and wasn't sure if that was still true. Anyway, he went on his way with a box of Speer 55 SPs and a bottle of Benchmark (he was looking for non-existent Varget).

I have a Stevens 200 in 223 that shoots the 50 gr SX pretty well. I don't remember the exact velocity but it wasn't crazy, maybe 3200 fps. The rifle pretty much lived behind the seat of my truck and needless to say it didn't get cleaned much. I was shooting gophers one day and I couldn't hit a darn thing. I set up a target a1 100 yards and nothing, moved in to 50 yards, still nothing. I walked up to somewhere around 10 yards and this is a pic of the bullet holes. You can see where thing were starting to come apart. I cleaned the rifle and things went back to normal. I eventually shot through my stash of those bullets and switched to the vmax. Thought it was kind of a cool picture.

I LOVE the SPSX bullets in my .221 Fireball, they are cheap and damned accurate little bullets, same deal with the Sierra Blitzes, too. Those soft-skinned bullets are perfect for .221s and .222s, they're a lot cheaper than a plastic-tipped bullet with about the same performance provided by the VMs, BKs, or BTs.

I can live with that. I'm glad I stocked up on them when I did, too......