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

Exactly.

From the Hornady website:



Look, it's a bullet and if you hit a deer with one it probably won't do him any good. But there are LOTS of good bullets that are designed to expand and still hold together for maximum penetration while the A-Max is a target bullet designed to penetrate a piece of paper and may very well blow up when it hits something solid.

Don't do it.

I use the AMAX 168 aund the house to reduce the chances of exit. If your shooting a long way or in an area that you may have to track a deer through brush I would suggest something a bit tougher in construction.
I favor head or neck shots with it. The AMAX frags very quickly. And while it offers devastating energy transfer and killing power placed in the right spot, a shoulder shot on a good sized buck near thickets would ruin your trip.
Trust me. I snuck one just past the shoulder bone and into the lungs on this ole boy and I had fraagment exits. There was a very faint trail and he only traveled 40 yards, but the stuff he went through was thick and i should have, in retrospec, used a heaver constructed bullet.

Hit this little buck at 35 yards in the neck week before last. Bullet is seated to 2.82 in FC brass over 41.5 gr IMR4895 and CCI BR primers. Running 2550 MV from a 20".
As you can see the exit shows the bullet had already come apart in only 5-6 inches of soft tissue. No bone.

NO !

Had a 105'er break both shoulders and exit this morning so I say yep one more time.

Good for you!

The 168 AMAX was the original bullet for the Hornady TAP ammo. I have shot them thru autobody, windshields, body armour and drywall. I assure you. they dont just turn into lead dust when they encounter something harder than paper.
Tissue is mostly water and water is incompressable. Water must be displaced since it is already at its most dense state when in liquid form. A bullet like the AMAX, when striking tissue, will deform quicker...but it doesnt return to it molecular state in the first mm of resistance.
Deer are not that hard to kill.
Skin on the off side being pulled away from tissue has nothing to brace against and is pretty damn tough to penetrate. A bullet that retains enough energy that when deformed will penetrate the offside hide has only left a small portion of its energy inside the animal. I prefer a round to enter and deform quickly, transfering energy to tissue. Not enter and traverse half the animal only to begin expanding 50% of the way through and then use its energy up trying to tear out the offside.
I shoot them BECAUSE they deform and have limited penetration. I want that rapid deformation. Coupled with precise shooting and the ability to relegate shots to the neck, an AMAX is a hard bullet (forgive the negative pun, to beat.
Is it the bullet to use when you shoot for the shoulder? no. but I dont and many shooters dont.

Almost surprising to witness what they really do compared to what you hear sometimes
They do pretty well, don't they?

I load the 168 Amax for a friends 30-06. Scooting along pretty good too @ 2930 fps. He's dumped 3 deer with them and calls me up every time to tell me how happy he is with these bullets. His guide this year was po'd at another guy in camp for using cheap bullets in his 300 RUM. Apparently he made a pretty good mess of a large Muley. I held my breath a little when my friend told me he put a stock on his deer and shot it at 30 yards! His guide told him "thanks for using a bullet that is up to par".

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/6.5x55.html comments on A-Max in the Hand Loading section. Seems to do well.

I was puzzled by Hornady's contradiction: On their website the say that they do not recommend target bullets for hunting, while in their manual they indicate that the AMax is a "capable" game bullet.

I emailed Hornady and got the following response:

You hit the nail directly on the head! Although we do not recommend the Match bullets for hunting we know that many people use them for that with tremendous results. The issue is size of animal and shot placement, an animal shot through the ribs into the lungs will probably give instant response of dropping. However, if shot in the shoulder we know that these bullets may blow up on the outside of the animal and possibly be lost.

Even though the suggestion is indicated that these bullets are appropriate for hunting they are not engineered with any consistent degree of expansion. This is why we do not recommend them as a hunting bullet. Catch22, I suppose it is but I'm just giving you the real life truth that although they may work under perfect conditions we don't suggest you do.

I know a lot of folks use them for hunting with success, and as long as you hit the slats, they will probably work well. I guess I just prefer to use a bullet for the purpose it was designed. There are lots of good hunting bullets on the market which are designed with terminal performance in mind. I prefer a bullet that still works when conditions aren't perfect. YMMV

I think that if I lived in a state that I could hunt with a rifle for a week and had one deer limit I would consider another option.
The reason being that a perfect shot may not be presented and the hunter would have a difficult time passing on a shooter knowing that another shot presentation may not come for the entire season.
BUT, I live in SC. Our deer season last from AUG-JAN. I can take 10 deer legally. If " the shot" doesnt come I will just wait till it does. In 10 min, 10 days, a month...
But each man has to make his on considerations.
But to discard the projectile as ineffective and know fully well that BT bullets have been touted as the greatest deer killers since I-95 seems asanine. I assure you that the AMAX is holds together at least as well and possibly better in the 168 than the Nosler BT does.

Have you tried the 168 Ballistic Tip on game? Check the jacket, it's the bullet next to the right:

ringworm: I understand and agree with your logic as long as you are willing to wait for the right shot. But what happens if the biggest buck you have ever seen just happens to appear quartering away, while you are out culling does? Having a cartridge/bullet combination that will work in unanticipated circumstances may seem asinine to you, but not to others.

But if you are truly willing to pass on such a buck, more power to you.

And I have never used Ballistic Tipson game, but I understand that they have been toughened up in recent years, redesigned for terminal performance. Don't think the same can be said for A Maxes.

Mathman,

Guessing, the red tips are Noz 120/140 7mm BT's and next a 140 AB?

No doubt the jacket is very thick on the 165s, surely more than the 125s I used long ago in a 30/30 TC 10"

As to if an AMAX is right for a hunter - it's all in how you hunt. If you have time in the terrain and can wait for that broadside shot, they can be as deadly as any bullet.

If not, and you want a bullet to punch thru, other bullets are probably better able to go thru more dense mass as needed w/integrity.

A frangible bullet can be completely devastatingly deadly or inhumanely wounding, depending on shot placement, so the user just needs to know to select their shots or hold fire until that shot presents...or not.

I have used 105 Amax in a 6BR, lungs, spine, and head shot. Also the 70 TNT at 3400 and 3500 from 6BR/243 - lungs and necks - all quickly fatal, many DRTs. That said, w/the 105, I would not shoot a shoulder at close range w/a light one. The heavier Amax's IMHO are more forgiving as they start w/more mass....

In summary - they very often work great when placed well, but if you want a bullet to do it all under the most diverse conditions, there are better bullets that allow more latitude in shot placements that will quickly anchor game.

I have used them and likely will again, but under select conditions. Close ranges/high speeds + Bad shot angles are not what you want IME and hunting in heavy brush, if one used say a Barnes, well what you have AFTER going thru something, is much more mass in a bullet built stouter....so IF your bullet stays true and game is not far beyond your obstacle, you may well have a chance at connecting w/deadly results.

Open terrain and longer ranges are ideal for Amax's IMO.

Like JB/Charlie Sisk say, if in doubt, grab partitions and go hunting

A-Max- only good for shooting does. Broadside.

Total distance traveled by those deer= 0 feet.

Having used them all I would rather have a heavy 30cal caliber A-Max for a going away shot on a "trophy" buck than any TSX, GMX, etc.

I think the new Accubond Long Range are going to be a game changer. Finally a bullet with the high BC of a target bullet, but with construction of a hunting bullet.

I think you are right, we are in a 'next Gen' phase of bullets....of course, then again, there is the 'LRX' Lol.

Maybe Nosler will save the best for last:

Poly tipped Bonded Partition VLD as in: PBPT-VLD

I get dibs on royalties

Nice deer above, what cannon, I mean round are you using?

Leme guess...30-06 with 178's?