Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Amax and elk

Probably the most fair statement out there...

FWIW as a taxidermist, and folks running common ammo, the MOST core/jacket seperations I saw and this mostly on whitetails, was corelokt.

Of course I can't recall one failing on a deer for me. But moving forward to the boy scout theory many years ago, I mostly went to good bullets for hunts where I didn't want to have to pass up a shot.

I consider amax the same, I don't see one ever giving up on the skin/hide of a lung shot, but I'd treat em like bergers et al, lets go in soft and out hard if hard is involved at all...

Kinda sorta what I was thinking. Then there's the fact that there might be only a coupla loads with Amax off the shelf, and not at WalMart.

But since this is the first thread ever about hunting with A-Max, the world may never know.

Well I have. it happens, there was no mud either

Oh, and I've NEVER lost an animal with A-Max. Ever.



'Course I poke Barnes in groceries....

Either have and I shot a lot

And 7/08 for sure.....

I've got a little stash of them set aside to work up a load for in the lil ladies Kimber 7/08. If they perform anything like the 123s/139s, that combo won't suck...

Laker... Kurt (30338) has knocked over a fair number of critters with the 180s. I ran a load work up with them in my 7 WSM. Much like my other experiences with Scenars, they were super easy to tune.

I've never seen a bullet "fail". My guess is 95% of those claiming their bullet "failed" was actually due to poor shot placement.

Naw man, its always the rifle. Just look at the used gun racks after huntin season. None of them guns shoot....

I've had 1 deer take Step.
He covered about 30-40 yards. Double lung.
But, a deer ain't an elk.

I would agree with the 95% figure but it also depends on how you define "fail." Some would say if you recover the animal the bullet by definition didn't fail. But, if you shoot multiple times and recover a bullet that blew up before making it to the vitals, that would count.

I know a guy who shot a nice bull with a 168 TTSX at 60 yards. He showed me the recovered bullet because I loaded the ammo. for him. It centered the heart. Good thing it did, because it looked like you could stick a new plastic tip on and load it again.

By definition, it didn't fail, but it sure did make me second guess using that bullet at those velocities. 308 Win. in this case but a .300 Weatherby at 350 yards is the same thing.

That first one has computer paper wrapped around his horn, did you kill him at the office?

If you use the A-Max within a limited velocity window it seems to work well most of the time. As it's a very lightly constructed bullet with an amplified expander button, basic logic should dictate what will work and what may turn into a disaster.

This seems like one of those topics on which people don't change their minds.a

I don't have an opinion one way or the other, but I remember that the AMax was listed as a frangible game bullet on Hornady's site before the SST came along.

Clearly the OP and many others here have proven the pre-SST stance correct. If you or I don't want to use a target bullet we still can't dispute photographic proof that it'll work.

Yeah, be was vandalizing the copier.

Anyone ever caught one?

Disregard my last... Perfect mushroom!

whatever you do, don't try one of those target bullets on an elk.

Several have mentioned using 708s and 308s with them. These chamberings rarely tear bullets up. Start pushing them at magnum speeds and the target bullets are iffy. Using a heavy for caliber target bullet will buy you a lot of leeway. Using a lighter one at high velocity makes for spectacular kills and disastrous wounds if things don't go right.

I use the 30 caliber 178gr A-Max out of my 300 Wby match, fps with this load (85.5gr H4831) is 3341FPS and it killed a lot of deer and pigs too. I would use it on elk to if giving a chance.

Complete?
Never. Jackets...yes.
In fact I have shot deer at double digit yardage (low ...like sub 30) and never had a particle exit the neck.
At longer ranges...READ LOWER. VELOCITIES, I've had them fully penetrate double lung and leave 10cm exits.
I don't give a chit what they do at +2600 ...I don't push them that fast.
And when they group like this...

and your cold bore shot is this predictable...


...then you have a level of confidence that allows you to take shots that avoid large bones.