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Hunting & Fishing Hornady AMAX for hunting?
- Thread starter Nomad Farrier
- Start date
I have used the 123 A-Max in a6.5x47 for deer at 125 yds., both ran less than 25yds.
75 A-Max in 223AI at 100yds. on deer, good results.
168 A-max in 308, 50+ deer and hogs, all 1 shot kills.
Going to try the 105 in a 243 this fall, bet it work also.
Coach
75 A-Max in 223AI at 100yds. on deer, good results.
168 A-max in 308, 50+ deer and hogs, all 1 shot kills.
Going to try the 105 in a 243 this fall, bet it work also.
Coach
Random question regarding seating the 140 amaxes: are you guys using standard bullet seating stems? I bought the redding micrometer seater for my standard seating die. A freshly turned and resized piece of brass with less than .001 case runout is giving me .009 bullet runout once seated. Come to find out the bullet doesn't positively seat into the stem and I think its the culprit.
I wonder if the seating stem is different on rcbs vs redding?
I think its more based on the seating die not being the competition version. I just loaded my 338lm rounds using my competition seater and the majority were .002 or less. So I have a comp seater on the way for my 260...
I think its more based on the seating die not being the competition version. I just loaded my 338lm rounds using my competition seater and the majority were .002 or less. So I have a comp seater on the way for my 260...
I killed three Deer 1 morning a couple of years back. I used a 140 Amax out of a .260. 2 Bucks, 1 Doe, 2 of them DRT and the other ran 25 yards. They work, every Deer my brother has killed has been with a 105 Amax I load for his .243. None have not been recovered, none for him have traveled over 10 yards.
While definitely not big game. And probably kind of off topic. Here is a 208 amax on a groundhog at about 150M. From a 20" barreled 308.
How in the world did you get this shot in the first place?
I have 2 animals in the past 2 years
2011 - 365yd, launch velocity was 2635fps, impact was around 2150. Pass through with a rib on either side, through the top of the heart. Deer made is <30yd
2012 - 425yd, launch velocity was 2800fps, impact was around 2200, Pass through the spine, dirt check.
In 2010 a good friend of mine took 2 elk with his 6.5 Creedmoor pushing 140 Amax's @ 2750fps. First was a cow at 684yd, high shoulder shot, broke both shoulders and the bullet was recovered in the hide on the offside. She went 1 step. The second was a really nice 5x5 bull and he took out both lungs with a shot just behind the shoulder. He made it less than 50yd downhill and expired.
i have shot many many deer with amax's 168's 178's 208's 162's and 105's. none of them took a step. most of them were shoulder or neck shots and it was total devastation.. they explode whistle pigs too. the amax in whatever caliber is my preferred hunting round.
All I got to say is they shoot Amazing out of my 260. So of course I'm going to use them for hunting 
...just went through this debate personally. After a week or so of google-fuing, I've found the Amax is good for long range hunting if your gun likes it....300 yards plus. The only horror stories I've heard have been short shots where the bullet explodes on the hide, shoulder, etc. and leads to long, sometimes unsuccessful tracking jobs. I personally opted for the Sierra Gameking which also happens to be more accurate in my rifles. Lucky me! Best of luck to you with whatever you decide.
Thanks Six!
Its ready to pound a few down again next month with the 162s and vid-cam rollin'...
Infinity, I don't know what impact velocity would require the Amax to 'splash' on hide alone, but I suspect it would be pretty high. I've used the 75 Amaxs @ 3500fps on a bunch of woodchucks this year, thinking they'd be explosive? Turns out, they basically punched right thru, with very little carnage in their wake. Just sayin' that, from what limited experience I've had with them on deer & some 'chucks, there'd hafta be some serious bone in the way for an Amax to flat out nuke on the surface @ impact. The ones I've recovered from deer have broken bones & stayed intact, for the most part. Enough so, at least, to continue to use them on deer sized game.
Even with the positive results I've enjoyed with the Amaxs, erring on the side of caution and using a known 'game' bullet can't ever be a bad idea.
Happy hunting!
Its ready to pound a few down again next month with the 162s and vid-cam rollin'...
Infinity, I don't know what impact velocity would require the Amax to 'splash' on hide alone, but I suspect it would be pretty high. I've used the 75 Amaxs @ 3500fps on a bunch of woodchucks this year, thinking they'd be explosive? Turns out, they basically punched right thru, with very little carnage in their wake. Just sayin' that, from what limited experience I've had with them on deer & some 'chucks, there'd hafta be some serious bone in the way for an Amax to flat out nuke on the surface @ impact. The ones I've recovered from deer have broken bones & stayed intact, for the most part. Enough so, at least, to continue to use them on deer sized game.
Even with the positive results I've enjoyed with the Amaxs, erring on the side of caution and using a known 'game' bullet can't ever be a bad idea.
Happy hunting!
While definitely not big game. And probably kind of off topic. Here is a 208 amax on a groundhog at about 150M. From a 20" barreled 308.
I never could have imagined anything that awesome could happen in Canada...
AMAX is my only hunting bullet up to Whitetail sized game. Everything I've shot up to a 265lb buck has dropped dead where it stood every single time. Using 155AMAX in .308. Yes bullet placement is always important, but no other bullet placed like the AMAX has hammered game as consistently as the AMAX in my rifle.
Based on the performance I've seen I wouldn't want to make a shoulder shot as that ham would probably pretty shot up. While I have recovered all of the bullets, the expansion is pretty violent in the 155's, probably a little slower in the 178's from what I've read from others posts.
I've never had an exit and usually find the bullet lodged in the offside hide of deer or hogs. Which is what I prefer as I want all of the energy dumped inside the animal not passing through it. Closest shot at 65yds and furthest at 464yds.
Based on the performance I've seen I wouldn't want to make a shoulder shot as that ham would probably pretty shot up. While I have recovered all of the bullets, the expansion is pretty violent in the 155's, probably a little slower in the 178's from what I've read from others posts.
I've never had an exit and usually find the bullet lodged in the offside hide of deer or hogs. Which is what I prefer as I want all of the energy dumped inside the animal not passing through it. Closest shot at 65yds and furthest at 464yds.
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I just reread my previous post. Yes, there were some beers involved
. That said, I have read Amax bullets work great in instances where shoulder/major bone aren't impacted. The only criticism (and the reason Hornady does not recommend them for hunting) is that expansion is unpredictable (sometimes poking right through, other times being quite explosive). Most of what I read did herald the Amax as a very good hunting bullet. I am of course only offering hearsay, not experience. I decided a hunting bullet was the most ethical decision.Hopefully you will change your mind on the "want all of the energy dumped inside the animal" garbage next time you have to track a wounded animal and there is barely if any blood to trail. Dropping game in their tracks is great and I am all for quick clean kills, but realistically, if you hunt long enough, that isn't always going to happen. Your exit holes are where 75+% of the blood loss comes from, also contributing to faster "bleeding out" vs internal bleeding. I am only speaking on 24 years of whitetail hunting experience with 100+ deer taken. My 208 amax was going 1780 fps when it hit, opened and then exited the whitetail pictured above at 804 yards. Yes, the doe dropped in her tracks but had she not and taken off running, due to the large EXIT hole, trailing her would have been a breeze. A whitetail deer can get run over by a Mack truck, hit with a drone missle and still seem to run a mile. They are amazing what they can endure and take off running like nothing ever happened. When that happens, I like to be able to follow the red carpet right to them, without getting dogs and dozens of other hunters out running all through my woods looking for a wounded/dead animal.
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I just reread my previous post. Yes, there were some beers involved
I am convinced the only reason that Hornady says they are not hunting bullets is so they can sell their more expensive "hunting" bullets. I will take them every day of the week over the Barnes TTSX (Tipped Triple Shock) that wouldn't open at all out of my 300 win mag at ranges from 100-300. I also like Accubond but that is another thread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuMloJOXGc
At about 4min 30 and then 5min flat, 300 meter shots, 140gr Amax 6,5x47 lapua.
At about 4min 30 and then 5min flat, 300 meter shots, 140gr Amax 6,5x47 lapua.
In 35 years of hunting the only animal I have ever lost was a complete pass through based on the blood behind where it was shot and for the next 100 yds, all bright red and pink so arterial plus at least one lung, and all pre-AMAX. So each of our experiences are different, what does that say? Nothing - other than they're different.
There are two schools of thought, Punch through ,good blood trail for tracking and dump all of the energy into the animal - neither are "wrong" just different perspectives based on experience and preference- Not garbage as you put it, simply different perspectives and equivalent of what's better .45 or 9mm.
When I choose to hunt with a rifle it's about shot placement and a key benefit of using a firearm is kinetic energy (how much force is hitting the animal at impact) why would I want some of that energy wasted and escape out the opposing side of the animal other than to assume I have to track it?
Anything getting the complete energy dump inside the animal makes tracking moot for me - they drop where they stand straight down on the ground with the only caveat being that I wouldn't use the AMAX for anything larger or thicker skinned than whitetail. But I've seen Elk taken with a 208 AMAX out of a .308, whatever the hunter feels comfortable with and there ability to make an ethical shot.
Ultimately the odds show that if one hunts long enough they will eventually lose one, blood trail or not. Good luck on your hunt this year.
Your right. Its two different schools of thought. I prefer one over the other but that doesn't make mine "better." I am just more comfortable with it than the other. I am sorry for coming across as an asshole. I couldn't agree more with your last statement.
I took a large cow elk 5 days ago, just under 250 yards with a 178 amax. I was going to start a new thread with thoughts and pictures, but I will just put it here.
In the end, I will probably get just over 300lbs of meat from this big ol fat girl. She was downhill crossing in front of me through a little depression. She stopped and I put one nicely behind her shoulder. She took about 10 steps, did the wobble and it was over.
When we started cleaning her I observed a couple things that are of note:
1. There was a ton of blood shot in between the hide and the ribs, a ton. This elk had a a fair amount of fat and pretty thick hide. Most of this we were able to scrape away. Because of my shot angle, I didn't lose much meat at all. Oh, entry through the hide was a .30 caliber hole.
2. There was a hole a little bigger that a tennis ball on the entry side through the ribs. This sent rib fragments through the chest cavity and damage was significant. I will try to update with a pic of this when we butcher it this weekend.
3. There was no exit. I located the bullet in the hide on the opposite side, it made it through the ribs again through a hole about the size of a golf ball. It did not pierce the opposite hide however.
4. The heart had a large channel through it. The lungs had several large holes (bullet fragment and rib fragments I would guess) and the liver was pretty well mush.
For all the damage to the internals, there was very little meat loss.
The bullet weighed 103.5gr.
Lessons I took from this:
This round will do the job on a good size cow elk, but like with everything, shot placement is key. My grandpa has repeatedly reminded me of that when he told me about killing elk with .22's many moons ago. I not only knew my holds etc. but also was familiar with elk anatomy, which is why I didn't try to shoot for a shoulder or lung. I felt my best shot would be to try and put one as close to the heart as I could and it worked out for me. We all know this isn't what always happens. Obviously if my placement hadn't been good I would have probably lost this elk due to there being no exit. Certainly with the amount of damage she would have died, but we all know how far animals can go, even when mortally wounded.
I would be reluctant to try this round again on elk. I didn't use it because I had no other options, I knew my rifle, round and my limitations and decided to use it based on that. I passed up a few other shots because I didn't feel I could make the clean shot I knew I needed. I have no problem using this round on white tail or mulie though.
My buddy and I are planning on trying for a late season bull tag next year in an area where we can get some long shots. I will not be using this round for that. I am either going to rebarrel my rifle or go with something like a 190gr Berger.
Oh, lastly the stats on my rifle and load. Savage 10, 20" bull barrel in a Mcmillan stock. Optics are Weaver Tactical 3-15 edmr. Load is 178 amax, 2.810, 44.6gr Varget for right around 2700fps.
In the end, I will probably get just over 300lbs of meat from this big ol fat girl. She was downhill crossing in front of me through a little depression. She stopped and I put one nicely behind her shoulder. She took about 10 steps, did the wobble and it was over.
When we started cleaning her I observed a couple things that are of note:
1. There was a ton of blood shot in between the hide and the ribs, a ton. This elk had a a fair amount of fat and pretty thick hide. Most of this we were able to scrape away. Because of my shot angle, I didn't lose much meat at all. Oh, entry through the hide was a .30 caliber hole.
2. There was a hole a little bigger that a tennis ball on the entry side through the ribs. This sent rib fragments through the chest cavity and damage was significant. I will try to update with a pic of this when we butcher it this weekend.
3. There was no exit. I located the bullet in the hide on the opposite side, it made it through the ribs again through a hole about the size of a golf ball. It did not pierce the opposite hide however.
4. The heart had a large channel through it. The lungs had several large holes (bullet fragment and rib fragments I would guess) and the liver was pretty well mush.
For all the damage to the internals, there was very little meat loss.
The bullet weighed 103.5gr.
Lessons I took from this:
This round will do the job on a good size cow elk, but like with everything, shot placement is key. My grandpa has repeatedly reminded me of that when he told me about killing elk with .22's many moons ago. I not only knew my holds etc. but also was familiar with elk anatomy, which is why I didn't try to shoot for a shoulder or lung. I felt my best shot would be to try and put one as close to the heart as I could and it worked out for me. We all know this isn't what always happens. Obviously if my placement hadn't been good I would have probably lost this elk due to there being no exit. Certainly with the amount of damage she would have died, but we all know how far animals can go, even when mortally wounded.
I would be reluctant to try this round again on elk. I didn't use it because I had no other options, I knew my rifle, round and my limitations and decided to use it based on that. I passed up a few other shots because I didn't feel I could make the clean shot I knew I needed. I have no problem using this round on white tail or mulie though.
My buddy and I are planning on trying for a late season bull tag next year in an area where we can get some long shots. I will not be using this round for that. I am either going to rebarrel my rifle or go with something like a 190gr Berger.
Oh, lastly the stats on my rifle and load. Savage 10, 20" bull barrel in a Mcmillan stock. Optics are Weaver Tactical 3-15 edmr. Load is 178 amax, 2.810, 44.6gr Varget for right around 2700fps.
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Planning on taking my 300WM deer hunting this season. She loves the 208 AMAX so that's what I'll be using. If I'm successful I'll post results here. Thanks for the info guys.
I've posted these elsewhere, but this is where they belong:
162 Amax from my 7saum
435 yd elk - YouTube
00078 - YouTube
162 Amax from my 7saum
435 yd elk - YouTube
00078 - YouTube
bigbuck 023 by CampX, on Flickr
275 yards, 7mm Rem Mag, 162gr Amax at 3100fps. Quarter size entrance, bullet zipped in between 2 ribs, quartering out the front side of the opposite shoulder. Minimimal meat damage.
Your not allowed to talk about how awesome the 162amax performs until they start putting them back into production! It would be my go to bullet for my saum. I love the 140s in my 260
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
A single 162 Amax to the neck fell this beauty:
From the SAUM:
Another 162 Amax dropped this handsome little fellow:
Here is the impact:
The remains of his heart, from 435yds @ estimated 2500fps:
From the SAUM:
Another 162 Amax dropped this handsome little fellow:
Here is the impact:
The remains of his heart, from 435yds @ estimated 2500fps:
Shot placement is what matters.
From another thread going on 308 175 SMK's. Here are videos of 175 SMK and 178 Amax.
Both are very effective with good shot placement. None are good without it.
308 175 SMK (comment by my 7 year old nephew)
For comparison, here is a 308 178 Amax (same result, no difference)
From another thread going on 308 175 SMK's. Here are videos of 175 SMK and 178 Amax.
Both are very effective with good shot placement. None are good without it.
308 175 SMK (comment by my 7 year old nephew)
For comparison, here is a 308 178 Amax (same result, no difference)
I took this young lad hunting and he was able to hammer a couple of pigs using my 223AI using 80gr Amax's. The shots were right at 100 yards. Both DRT's, the left one took it in the ear while his buddy took one between the eyes, not really a test of the bullet but still very effective.
I took this boar yesterday using a 243 Win topped with a 105gr Amax at 3000fps MV. Shot was taken at 400yards, the bullet entered about 1/3 of the way above the left leg went through the heart and stopped under the skin on the right side.The hog traveled 20 yards before expiring.
The recovered bullet weighed just 52 grains from the original 105grs. I didn't think it would shed that much considering the distance.
I took this boar yesterday using a 243 Win topped with a 105gr Amax at 3000fps MV. Shot was taken at 400yards, the bullet entered about 1/3 of the way above the left leg went through the heart and stopped under the skin on the right side.The hog traveled 20 yards before expiring.
The recovered bullet weighed just 52 grains from the original 105grs. I didn't think it would shed that much considering the distance.
I shoot the 208 amax at 3278fps. I have taken elk out to 1356 yards and mule deer out to 1156 yards never had an issue with this bullet on game at long distance. All animals dropped like a brick. I went on a trophy elk hunt the first morning we were sitting in the truck waiting for daylight listening to elk bugle. At daylight we crawled on top of a ridge and saw an elk of a life time. To make a long story short i ended up shooting the elk 5 times. The bullets hit and exploded on impact with very little penetration. Use caution with these bullets pushing them at high speed on short range shots. Anything over 3000fps and under 300 yards
I could of told you that was going to happen, almost any bullet fired at those speeds would have a hard time staying together. I've had the same thing happen with higher end hunting bullets.
I shot 4 whitetails last year witht he 208 amax at 2900. The two bucks weighed 225 and 215lbs. I had pass throughs on all 4 with excellent bloodtrails and two drt's. Ranges were from 300 to 425 yards. Bullets performed like Barnes ttsx's.
Took a doe today with a 178 amax at 175yds. Enter right behind the leg and exited through her shoulder.
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I shot both a moose and a very large wolf with my 6.5 creedmore shooting 140g amax the moose was head shot just at the base of the skull at 100ft the bullet was retrieved just on the other side under the skin no full penetration but did the job very well, the wolf was shot at 253yrds on the run just a little back from center mass clean through shot with very little damage to the hide, I like these bullets.
Ummmm, yea they kill things dead. Notice what's laying on the ground next to it. 7wsm 162 amax 69.2g H1000
holly crap dude
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