Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hornady Superperformance Ammo

Any feedback on Hornady Superperformance Ammo? I'm specifically interested in .257 Roberts and .35 Whelen. They claim 2920 fps velocity for the 200 grain Whelen load.

I used it for the 35 Whelen in a Remington 700 Classic with very poor results. Gave away the two
remaining boxes.

It is not very accurate in 300 Savage caliber, at least in my rifles.

I forgot to mention I shot it in 30-06 caliber in a New Ultralight Arms rifle. Fast and accurate in that rifle, kicked like hell!

Pretty pricey, won't be buying any given the reported spotty results.

I have had good luck with Superformance ammo in 308, particularly with 168 Amax bullets. I have tried it in several 308s and 3006s, including several Kimber Montanas. For my experience, the 168 Amax, or 165 SSTs seem to be more accurate than the 150s in several rifles. I have used the Amaxs and SSTs on elk and I much prefer the SSTs; the Amaxs are pretty fragile. For whitetails, the Amax bullets work fine. The Amaxs did the job, but it wasn't very impressive, and not recommended. The Superformance GMX bullets were not extremely accurate in anything I tried, but that has been my experience with copper bullets across the board so far, but I keep trying.

Getting 3000 fps (advertised) out of a 308 with 150 grain bullets sounds interesting. I have had acceptable, but not great accuracy, with any 150 grain Superformance bullet, at least in the guns I tried. Regarding velocity, I have checked the 168 Amax bullets in a Kimber Mountain Ascent and got 2746 fps average, compared to the 2840 fps advertised velocity. It is pretty close to advertised velocity in that gun, and with the shorter 23" barrel. I could hand load some hot loads to get similar results, but Hornady goes an extra step by crimping-in the primers. They are hot loads, and since the primers are crimped, its hard to see a flat primer, and probably reduces the risk of blowing out a primer. I have never crimped-in primers and not sure I want to start.

If I am milking the most out of a lightweight rifle non-magnum rifle, such as a Montana, they are a good choice. When carrying a lightweight short-action (308) rifle for elk, adding Superformance 165 SSTs to the mix doesn't handicap you too much. I prefer my own handloads, which are tailored to each rifle with a specific bullet. However, if I had to grab something off the shelf, it would be Superformance in SST bullets.

Both guns in 7-08 I tried it in were 2.5-3" at 100. Those same guns with hand loads were well under 1" for 3 shots.

It's been terrible in every rifle I have tried. My 7mm-08 shot about 5"-6" patterns with it and the primers were smoked.

It wasn't too accurate for me. My favorite factory ammo is Nosler Custom, but I'm mostly concerned with accuracy rather than velocity.

I shoot the 180 grain SST Superformance in my 300WM. Rifle loves it............ Elk,Deer and Axis not so much!

Tried it in .280 and .30-06. Velocities were near what Hornady advertises, but accuracy was mediocre in both calibers. Won't be spending money on it again.

I've had good luck with it in a 7mm-08. Couple elk I've taken with it probably didn't feel so lucky

I tried in a Remington 700 Heavy barrel and it was terrible. If you like 1.5" groups at 100 yards it would make you happy. My cousin tried the 204 stuff in his rifle and it shot fine, but the actual velocity was a couple of hundred feet slower.

I bought a couple of boxes for my 30-06 and 308 when it 1st came out. Neither matched advertised speeds and the 30-06 loads gave poor accuracy. In fact my handloads with H4350 were within 30 fps of what I got with Superformance and much more accurate.

I don't recall the exact speeds, their 308 loads didn't match advertised claims, but they were faster than I felt I could safely get with hand loads. And they were acceptably accurate. I wouldn't feel handicapped using that load, but my re-loads are still a bit more accurate and a lot cheaper.

I've tried the 7mm08 ammo in two different rifles. The best group in the ruger American was 2 inches. The worst was in a Weatherby vanguard at 3 to 4 inches.

My experience with most Hornady ammunition has been better than satisfactory. Their regular factory .308W and .270W ammo give fine accuracy for me. I reload with Hornady equipment and components. Hornady is my favorite go to brand for quality and customer service. But our rifles do not like Superperformance ammunition. The groups are too big. I am not sure what powder formula they use, but perhaps it is unwise to try to wring every last bit of velocity out of a load. As I indicated, I like Hornady the best, just not the SP line.

I would like to add another data point; my Ruger M77 in 7mm-08 loves Superformance GMX ammo, but the elk I pointed it at didn't like it one bit. I haven't hunted with that rifle in two years, so maybe I had an older, better lot of ammo?

I tried the .30-06 Superformance. No significant velocity improvement, mediocre accuracy.





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The only load that I've had any luck with in Superformance or the previous Light Magnums, is the .444 Marlin 265gr FP. Everything else I've tried shoots into patterns, rather than groups.

The LIght Magnum in .257 Roberts gave good accuracy, I have only shot it on target though have not hunted with it.