Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Amax and elk

Have shot maybe a dozen deer with BT's. I tried 123 amax form my 260 on cow elk hunt this year and was quite pleased. Bullet performed well.

Of course only use this bullet In well placed shots on broadside or slightly quartering away shots

Shoulder shot

Entrance




Exit




Bullet continued out opposite side breaking a rib and exited animal, Exit hole was a bit bigger than a golf ball. Elk travelled about 20 yds and tipped over

Same experience I have with the Partition, TSX and AB.

From Hornady's web site.

'nough said.

And yet they kill deer and elk really well... Hmmm

Did the research and shot them into phone books covered by elk and cow bones before using for hunting

As I said ok for broadside and slight quatering away shots for elk

Every deer I shot was DRT

With the light recoil of the 260 I am very confident on shot placement; mores than my 300 win mag

I shoot 100's of rounds a year from the 260

I kill elk and deer with my anemic arrow too traveling at a meager 240 FPS

The A-max isn't the only "target" bullet that works on big game.

A woodliegh solid is a hunting bullet but I doubt it would have performed as well.
The amax is a killer in the right hands.

Maybe we've just been lucky hundreds, and hundreds of times....

What is it they say about luck again?

I been using the 30 caliber 178gr A-Max for years in my 300 wby. To date that bullet accounted for 56 deer kills from 400 to 650 yards and 17 wild hogs ranging for 100 to 450 yards. I never had to track one animal. Also took a truck load of ground hogs at ranges from 350 out to 1400 yards.

Range? mtmuley

Elk, A-Max, 260 ?

Stunt shooter.

I don't get the allure with using target bullets to hunt elk. After the expense of an elk hunt, I want a bullet that I know was designed for the animal. They are no more accurate in my rifles than the bullets that are designed for hunting.

I expected the criticism. Anyway most likely be bow hunting again for elk.


Yep know it is a target bullet after 40 plus years of "stunt shooting and hunting"
that is why I posted this. And Instated that I shot through cow and elk bones into wet phone books with the amax before doing this. I really like the 6.5"s the more I shoot them. I reload and can practice a lot and very little recoil. Not so much for me with my magnum rifles.

This was a cull hunt for cow elk. Should have been more specific.

Around 70 to 80 yds. I personally would not usevthe the 123 amax on a 200 yd plus shot on elk.

Like I said broad side or a slight quartering away. Killed lots of animals with primitive recurveband heavy slow arrows. I am talking maybe 170 FPS . Worked fine. Have shot animals with coreloks , partitions, barnes.


Right tool for right situation.

"Right tool for right situation"

Can't argue with that. And I am glad it works for you. But to myself and 99% of us other guys, there is no reason to use this bullet on an elk. I want a bullet that will do the job in a variety of situations. I don't want to always wait for that perfect shot, because they come all to fleetingly if they come at all to me.

To everything you have stated, I would say that the nosler partition does everything your bullet does (great expansion) but improves on it with follow through if conditions not ideal. In fact that is the very reason Mr. Nosler was inspired to create such a bullet: a soft lead bullet coming apart on a large animal. My personal preference is that I would never use the A-max or recommend it for elk.

So with the nosler you lose nothing, and gain tremendously. Well, you might lose a 1/2" of accuracy. Big deal.

I too hunt with a bow, but you can't compare an arrow to a bullet. They don't kill the same. The arrow just has to have enough velocity to carry it cutting blades deep enough to bleed out your quarry. Apples and dinosaurs comparison

Can't argue with a dead elk. mtmuley

They cost more than twice as much. If you shoot a lot, it matters. And I know you can practice with one and hunt with the other, but again, if you shoot a lot and get a particular load dialed in, it's always good to keep everything the same when "game time" comes.

Partitions are good bullets no doubt. They're not required to kill big game though. I'm not sure why these threads always result in the same kinds of comments from people who don't want to use a "target bullet."

So don't use one. The OP didn't try to convince anyone his bullets were "the best," did he? He just posted information on how a particular bullet worked for him, and even included photos. I like reading that kind of information. Doesn't mean I need to run out and buy 123 Amaxes, or tell him why his choice is wrong.

He even included a disclaimer, can anyone argue with this?

I have always examined animals after I shoot them when I dress them to see how bullet or broad head performed. From squirrels to moose caribou I have shot.

I noticed deer that I shot with the amax died very quickly ( good thing) and the amax bullet did not explode as most would think even though I hit bone. So I started shooting the amax into cow and elk bones in front of wet phone books.

Penetration seemed good. So opted to use it for this cow elk hunt. You can see from pics the amax performed well and animal died a very quick humane death. The bullet did not explode when it hit the shoulder and rib bones and did exit far side of the animal. I am not advocating that amax are superior to partitions I posted this because the amax and other BT bullets I have taken game with worked quite well and they did not "explode" when they hit bones in the animal. Now based on my experience I would not use the Hornady SST on elk because of personal experience and examine deer I have killed with this bullet. Others may disagree.

If I drew a big bull rifle tag I would choose a partition over the amax any day.

Regarding broad head vs bullet. I know they act in completely different ways. We re told in the bow hunting community that you need an arrow approaching 300 FPS per second with expandable broadheads to kill and slow does not work . Well that is a myth too as a heavy arrow ( over 500 grns) with a good sharp COC broad head will easily penetrate well even if it is going a mere 170 to 180 FPS .

When the manufacturer tells you it has lousy penetration and to not use it for hunting, doesn't that say something? There are equally accurate bullets all over the place. Why not use something that will penetrate all the time, not just when you get a perfect hit?

Manufacturers also say not to use reloads and that we should not attempt to disassemble our own guns

That's for lawyer proofing the guns. It has nothing to do with what a bullet is designed to do.