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Hornady is making knockoff/clone bullets (Aeromatch)

The_Steward

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 23, 2022
104
109
USA
So, if I'm seeing this right, they are just popping out clones of SMK and Bergers now. Theory is that if you have difficulty finding what you want in stock, you just get an Aeromatch bullet and you can use your same load.

Super weird though.... I guess bullets aren't protected IP unless they are patented. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding this product.


 
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I may or may not be Hornady's biggest fan, but they do keep up supply well. If these atleast match the shitty consistency of the ELDM line they will sell a ton of these, especially if they are a nickel cheaper.
I'm not a hater, I do like and use ATIP's and am a fan of their dies since QC at Redding has gone downhill. A problem seen across the board in today's world.
 
So are they all Sierra knock offs, or are they going to try Bergers too? Across all the rifles I've loaded for over the years Berger has been the standout in consistency and accuracy.
This looks to me like they will clone any bullet profile.

The 105 and 140 are presumably Hybrids.
They have some other name like double or complex profile or whatever...

I'm guessing the .mil is behind this since they supply chain redundancy
Demand for hybrids and smks was probably thru the roof

Also new 6.5 ammo people were wondering what the 140gr bullet was
this would explain alot of missing info on that bullet
 
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So, if I'm seeing this right, they are just popping out clones of SMK and Bergers now. Theory is that if you have difficulty finding what you want in stock, you just get an Aeromatch bullet and you can use your same load.

Super weird though.... I guess bullets aren't protected IP unless they are patented. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding this product.



How is it a copy and where do you get that impression from?
 
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I'd be curious to see how their 77's compare to Sierra's, Sierra QC and consistency isn't always the best, certainly not anywhere near Berger quality. If they are close and cheaper than Sierra then good deal.

I would be very surprised if Hornady was making any Berger knock off that matched Berger's quality though.
 
How is it a copy and where do you get that impression from?
Are you serious? Did you look at what I posted? They literally deadass state they are using bullet profiles from other companies and making the bullets so similar that you won't need to adjust your loads when you switch to the Hornady version of the bullets.
 
Are you serious? Did you look at what I posted? They literally deadass state they are using bullet profiles from other companies and making the bullets so similar that you won't need to adjust your loads when you switch to the Hornady version of the bullets.

Example 1:
1729115481327.png

Example 2:
1729115570525.png

I take that to mean a hpbt in a normal weight such as a 105 which basically everyone has.
I assumed they were going to be phasing out their old match line and replacing it with this for a few cents more, ala the atip amax> eld

Theres not exactly a lot to go off of there and they are pretty generic weights, such as are/have been made already by hornady before as well
1729115611897.png
 
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Example 1:
View attachment 8525839
Example 2:
View attachment 8525841
I take that to mean a hpbt in a normal weight such as a 105 which basically everyone has.
I assumed they were going to be phasing out their old match line and replacing it with this for a few cents more, ala the atip>eld

Theres not exactly a lot to go off of there and they are pretty generic weights, such as are/have been made already by hornady before as well
View attachment 8525843
they say “don’t change your load, seating die, or dope”.. they are 69, 77, 168, 175 smk clones and 105 and 140 hybrid clones. Look at the gol darn BCs. They aren’t being sneaky about it, they are outright saying we’re making the same thing for cheaper and it’s going to be more available.
 
they say “don’t change your load, seating die, or dope”.. they are 69, 77, 168, 175 smk clones and 105 and 140 hybrid clones. Look at the gol darn BCs. They aren’t being sneaky about it, they are outright saying we’re making the same thing for cheaper and it’s going to be more available.
So which is it? A smk or hybrid clone?
 
And, even without watching the video, how would it be possible to nail the ballistic coefficients exactly and not have to adjust seater stems if the bullets weren’t identical?
The same can be said for almost any non secant match bullet from this millennium, my 105 rdf, 105 hybrid, 105 barnes are all within .010 of each other on the seating micrometer. And all have the same .270-.290 bc along with the 108 eld, only its more secant so it touches my seater stem a smidge different, comparator tool puts it in the same general range as the other 105s.

Remember, the claim is coming form the company that says load development is a waste of time because you cant shoot enough to prove it works and to just buy their stuff.
 
They can make berger clones all they want but the reason why we buy berger is for quality and consistency no? They're not perfect lot to lot but they're probably a lot closer to consistent than hornady is.

Unless you are able to buy enough of one same lot, at hornady price, to burn out a barrel, I'm not so sure about them.

Maybe @Ledzep can share some light. Is hornady just trying to clone these shapes and bullet profiles? Or is it trying to do that and also improve and refine the process to match consistency of the other manufacturers?

**edit for grammar*
 
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The same can be said for almost any non secant match bullet from this millennium, my 105 rdf, 105 hybrid, 105 barnes are all within .010 of each other on the seating micrometer. And all have the same .270-.290 bc along with the 108 eld, only its more secant so it touches my seater stem a smidge different, comparator tool puts it in the same general range as the other 105s.

Remember, the claim is coming form the company that says load development is a waste of time because you cant shoot enough to prove it works and to just buy their stuff.
.27-.29 is a pretty big spread. Even if it’s not as good for our purposes, I’d argue it’s hard to nail, to the third decimal, the G1 b.c. without them being IDENTICAL. Only time and folks measuring, and shooting them, will see if that holds true.
 
I'd be curious to see how their 77's compare to Sierra's, Sierra QC and consistency isn't always the best, certainly not anywhere near Berger quality. If they are close and cheaper than Sierra then good deal.

I would be very surprised if Hornady was making any Berger knock off that matched Berger's quality though.
Just get Black Hills red box or aac 77gr and you can find out how the Hornady 77gr are. All aac rifle rounds have hornady bullets unless specified otherwise.