Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hornady Superperformance Ammo

The 7mag stuff shoots well outta my 700.

7mm08 works well for me. My Grandson took his first deer last fall using it and 1 shot it was DRT passed through and did plenty if internal damage to the heart and lungs. The deer went down so fast i thought he had missed. I dont shoot for target accuracy though, just minute of Deer.

I have tried it in 257 Bob,7mm-08, 270 Win, 30-06, 6.5 Creed and 308. It was the least accurate Hornady ammo I tried in all rifles and did not get on sub 2" group from any of them with this ammo. Some grouped a good bit less than 1" with the Custom, Match and even American Whitetail. I generally love Hornady ammo, but have had awful luck with the Superperformance.

I myself personally have never purchased Superformance ammo but I've shot a lot from folks asking me to sight in their rifles. When I'm sighting in the rifle I have to remember that I am shooting this ammo because it not very accrate. Pretty hot stuff. The sloppier your barreled action the more noticeable the inaccuracy. Now when I say not very accurate it's all relative to what doing with the rifle. I could get just over an inch at 100 on a non-custon, off the shelve 30-06. Savage would tell you that 1.4 inch group @100 is accurate.

Using that same 165 great 30-06 data, Superformance ammo should have a PBR of 275 yards. And down goes the deer. Do not use this ammo for your F class shoots. Yes I met someone once that used factory match ammo for his F class rig and no he didn't win much if ever.

I'm shooting '06 150's out of a heavy, 27 inch barrel on a Mauser 98, full length bedded. 3-shot, one inch groups at 300 with good rest. Rifle weighs about 9 lbs, or a bit more on the bathroom scale, including scope and sling. Recoil is mild - not much more than the 725 with light (700TI) barrel, shooting 140's in .260. I can and do easily shoot both (no fore-end hold) one handed across the rests without recoil problems.

I have never chronied any load, but at 300 yards, the SST Hornady SP loads (advertised 3080 fps) print 6 inches higher and 3 inches right of 150 gr. factory Corelokts in this rifle. The Corelokts groups are only 1/4 inch or so larger at 300.

I've taken a number of caribou with the SP above, out to 433, usually using the snow machine wind screen for a rest, or the bars of the ATV (374 longest). And one head-shot bull moose at 30 yards, offhand, from the snow machine seat, sitting..... . The SSTs will leave a substantial hole if encountering much resistence- bone or large muscle mass, probably more so at under 300 than beyond, after it has lost a little velocity. Two caribou shot at 300 and 433 yards had quarter size entry holes, 50 cent piece size exit holes, but the bullets missed rib bones both in and out.

The only bullet recovered was with the moose. Nicely mushroomed, but with probably half the lead gone.

GMX (mono) bullets supposedly will not produce as large wound channels as the SST, but I have yet to try them. They are supposedly interchangeable as to POI in the same weight, so SST could be used for light game/practice, and the GMX for more serious stuff. There is roughly a $10 difference for a box.

I don't think I'll be shooting SP out of the 17 inch barreled Ruger 77 '06, however..... that one has a little more bark and bite to it!

It shoots fine out of my .30-06 and my brother's .270. I use the 150 GMX load and my brother uses the 130 GMX and SST loads. I get 1.5"-1.75" 3-shot groups at 200 yards. Better from my brother's rifle.

Expat

I clocked some Hornady Superperformance 225-grain 338 WM loads ammo out of a 24" Browning Safari Grade at 2,775 fps. That's still pretty fast, but it's not the 2,940 fps that they claim. Accuracy wasn't bad, but I'm not a very good shot off the bench.


Okie John

I tried some in 30-06, not so good for the gmax, but the 180 SST held 5 shot MOA groups. I was just trying it for accuracy, I've read mixed reviews with most leaning negative for the SST on game, never tried it on game, what do you guys think of it?

I had mixed results with it: tried the .30-06 and 35 Whelen Superformance 1.5 - 2" at 100 yards but slightly faster than published speed.

But in my .223 Rem Savage LWH the NTX & GMX Superformance loads are sub moa.

This post is slightly off topic but since we're talking GMX v SST, of the three monos I shoot, the GMX has always had the larger group by any where between 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch at 100 to 200 yard sight in. I would have zero issues hunting with them. I've shot SST's but never hunted with them. But if their construction is anything like their smaller cup and core siblings (AMAX/VMAX), they will work. And if they didn't work no one would buy them so...

At 250 yards a .224 AMAX and VMAX has destroyed javelina.

HaYen

My Daughter shoots the GMX out of her Tikka compact 7-08. She has three Bucks with it and it groups well in her rifle. I must mention that anything she shoots out of that rifle groups well. I all my years I have never seen a rifle that shoots that well with anything you put in it.

What he said. Shoot what the rifle likes! And if the rifle don't care - shoot what you like!

Like any other factory ammo or handload, it's up to your barrel.

Over the last 3 seasons I've killed 6 caribou from maybe 70 to 433 yards with SST, 150 Gr. '06 Super Performance, boiler room placement.. And one moose at 30 yards, head shot.

Mixed results, but they all died, with larger or smaller wounds, the longer range ones without mass/bone contact showing the smallest entry/exit wounds. The only bullet recovered was from the moose. Rest were pass-thrus. Resistance (muscle mass/bone) may be futile, but at closer ranges. especially, seems to produce large wound channels. Once the velocity drops, wound channels seem to get smaller. contact with major muscle mass or bone exponentially increases the wound channel,. (More research needed! . )

The last caribou (300 yards) was -uh- "prematurely" shot thru the hams while positioning on the rest, producing a large wound channel thru both hams, with exit. The second round properly placed thu the lungs produced a ho-hum wound channel.

Like SGK, the SST Super Performance is probably best used from 300 yards out, IMO.

And properly placed is good!

Am not a fan. I tried a box of 165 grain Hornady Superformance GMX in one of my .30/06 rifles. The bolt wouldn't open and had to be beaten open with the palm of my hand. Cratered primers. Clearly overpressure in that particular rifle.

The gent shooting next to me that day was using Hornady Superformance .22-250 ammunition in his Savage 110. Bolt also had to be beaten open. Primer had fallen out. Clearly overpressure.

IMHO, the extra 100 fps simply ain't worth it.

I have never tried any, lots of nays here.

I have only tried Superformance in my .338 Win Mag 185 GMX. The last two bulls I have shot were with that ammo. They performed well and are MOA in my rifle. Over the chrono the avg velocity is 3031 fps from my 22.5" bbl. ES 9.0. Conversely the older Light Magnum and std. Hornady ammo in 257 Roberts are dogs. I cannot get them to shoot at all. My Roberts is a sub moa rifle with handloads when I'm capable. They kill fine for whitetails at 100 yds. So I would say they shoot "minute of paper plate"

I plan to try the 139 GMX Superformance in my new 7 Mag before I start the loading process. I may not need to work up a load.

They don't shoot as fast as they say on the box, especially once it cools off some for fall hunting temps. The GMX also doesn't open well at lower speeds. My report from a few years ago.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5850125/1

Tried some a few years ago in .308. While trying to sight in rifle had misfires about every 3 or 4th round. Went back to Federal 165s that the rifle liked and resighted it in to those.

I contacted Hornady via phone, and they asked to ship it off to them. They called back never really gave me a straight answer as far as what was wrong with it. Offered to replace the 3 boxes I had sent them, and I complained about the shipping cost, so they sent 1 additional box, which covered about half the shipping cost. Still have those 4 boxes as I never really trusted it for hunting. Last ammo I ever considered buying from them. Anyone want to buy them?

Well my .243 doesn't like it @ 95 grains. I was hoping it would but it prefers the Federal Fusion at the same weight. ya never know