Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Are Hornady A-Max Bullets any good for Deer???

Sorry I do not buy that. Huge difference in jacket thickness.

So differences in metallurgy such as alloy, temper, etc, won't make a difference in terminal performance?

Nosler lead is soft. Real soft... Hornady, not so much. Just sayin'...

300WinMag with 178's. Extreme tissue damage if large bone is hit.










The 168gr AMAX is significantly "softer" than the 168gr NBT. The 168 A-Max is about perfect for deer out of a 308 IME, however for those desiring more penetration the NBT is a better choice.

with age comes wisdom maybe there is hope for you someday in the future

Regale me with your experiences concerning heavy 30cal A-Max's on deer in direct comparison to TSX's, etc. Please discuss shot distances, relative tissue damage, distance traveled after the hit, and the amount killed with each.


Pics are always appreciated..."

Have shot dozens of deer from 50-450 yards with varias tsx and ttsx from 6mm 85's to 30 cal 168's DRT to ran maybe 30 yards . you are correct i have not shot a deer with a heavy 30cal a max but did so with a 162 from a 7-08 at about 300 yards small deer hit in upper neck about 6 in front of shoulders made a wound about 5in circle and all of about 3-4 in deep. deer did not run but lay there flaing about had to shoot it again, thats all i needed to see for useing a-max,s for hunting. Was this tread about a max's in general ??

So you have shot a total of 1 deer with an A-Max? Who would've thought....


I have seen TSX's that looked like an unpeeled banana after being removed from animals or expansion so minor that it was virtually caliber sized. However having shot significantly more deer with TSX's than you have with A-Max's, and having killed hundreds with A-Max's I am very comfortable with what they do and what to expect.


If I need to turf a deer right here, right now, I do not care about meat loss and I want a bullet that will destroy the most tissue possible. Give me a 300 Mag and 178gr A-Max..

i have shot deer with diff bullets from corelock interlock NBT tsx ttsx sst pro hunter gameking have seen deer shot with a wide varity or other and the worst wound proformance has been the a max and the makers of such dont recomend to do so ? who would have thought ?? and why would i want to shoot more than one deer with a given bullet when the first was a total puck up ??

I'm on board with the A-Max for just about anything that can be punched in the vitals behind the shoulder. If a 140 Berger VLD can do this:



....and a 140gr, 6.5mm A-Max can do this at 758 yards....



I would have no issues with 208's for Elk, Oryx etc...

They also blow up praire dogs really well.

Seems to be a bit of a paradox?

Or just a comment coming from a guy who has never chased a wounded elk 'round the mountains?

Nope. Just what I think from having shot a bunch of PD's out to 600 with the 140 A-Max. They blew the dogs up. That would lead a guy to think the bullet is frangible and blows up. I don't think so from seeing how it performed with perfect entry and exit on an Ibex. Also shot a bedded smallish deer at 200 that had its head curled back resting on its offside. The A-Max entered, passed through the body, entered the side of the head blowing a silver dollar sized hole in it.

The instance of the VLD with the elk, obviously not an A-Max, was just another experience with bullets like the A-Max that have a reputation as being "frangible" that turned out to kill well for me. Many of the competitive shooters I know use them to hunt with and swear by them.

From my experience with them, I would have no qualms using them on other big game

rc have you used the Amax on a lot of elk? Maybe at more moderate distances?

I would put the bullet right behind the first rib and aiming for the offside shoulder.

Quartering towards me, right at the base of the neck.

I don't, not at 36.00/50 <<< guessing though.

Hi Bob, I've never shot an elk with the A-Max, just the Berger VLD.

My comment that I would feel comfortable with the .30 cal 208 gr A-Max for elk was made because of my experience recently with both bullets. I believe the A-Max may be a little tougher, and the 208 should be great. I shoot it in a long range rifle.

The OP's question was if the A-Max was good for deer and I say yes!

rc thanks! They are accurate buggers alright.Load workup was easy for me with 162's.I bet they slam deer sized stuff.

Here is mine out of my 'lope this year.





123 Amp jacket, 200 yds, about 3000fps impact speed.

bellydeep,

MOST (but not all) expanding hunting bullets start to expand immediately on hitting game. This is why the most damage is usually around and just behind the entry hole--and why prairie dogs will splatter when shot with most lead-cored hunting bullets. But it has nothing to do with how deeply the bullet will penetrate.

I've blown up small varmints with bullets a bunch of .25 to .375 caliber "big game" bullets from cartridge from the .257 Roberts to .375 H&H, the bullets including Hornady Interlocks, Nosler Partitions, Winchester Power Points and some others I've probably forgotten. The same bullets also worked just fine on big game.

A-Max bullets are not good for deer and will in fact, make them very ill and ultimately, will kill them. This applies to most projectiles. GD