• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Hornady bullets

Interesting enough that ELDM's are known to still go 'poof' over a quarter century later. ;) In all fairness, any bullet can 'come from together' on the way to the target is a barrel is too hot/firecracked/velocity too fast.

Have not experienced that at all in 20+ years of shooting them (knock on wood). Managed to make the shootoff in the President's Match and finished in the top ten with Hornady bullets (except for the 300 yard RF where I use TMKs) and won my fair share of local matches.

Not saying they are perfect, but price to performance is pretty good. I've got about 3K Bergers sitting on my shelf but I feel no real need to change at the moment.
 
It's funny. I don't know ANYONE who uses Bergers for anything other than target shooting. But all other bullets are "junk", especially Hornady. I'm sure there are people that use Bergers to hunt or some other purpose, but they are rare. Too expensive for varmint shooting for sure...

Hornady, with all their flaws, did not ABANDON their customers for greener pastures and richer customers when the rubber met the road. I know my customers are shooting them. Lots and lots and lots of them. I shoot them. They are the only company that has a new varmint bullet design in 30 years.
How are Bergers too expensive for Varmint shooting? I shoot far more bullets target shooting than hunting or shooting varmints. About 70 rounds a day at an F class match, would take a very long time to shoot that many groundhogs, etc. When I go to shoot at a varmint I don't care if that bullet is 25 cents or 60 cents, I'm keeping the load that I know shoots best point of aim in that rifle because I plan on one shot one kill.
 
Interesting enough that ELDM's are known to still go 'poof' over a quarter century later. ;) In all fairness, any bullet can 'come from together' on the way to the target is a barrel is too hot/firecracked/velocity too fast.

I guess you don't remember when Berger was having the same problem. They had MIT scientists doing things that MIT scientists do, trying to figure out the problem. Eric spent a lot of time on the forums trying to convince everyone that they were doing their college best to fix the problem.
 
Every bullet maker has made good bullets and bad bullets. I have shot the Hornady’s and had success with them. Made the P100 shooting 75’s at mag length the whole way. I still use the 75’s in my 223’s quite a bit. If you don’t think the Hornady bullets can compete just google “Carl Bernosky”. Granted he could sling rocks and likely still win, but the man put up some incredible scores using Hornady bullets.
 
When i first started reloading i tried hornady out. I did not have impressive results, just ok results. I switched to bergers and there was a big difference. Over the past 6 years i have had an easier time finding hornady than anything else. So i spent more time tuning my loads and have gotten them to shoot well enough for varmint and predator hunting. If you look on the shelves right now thats the #1 brand still pumping out bullets for us reloaders. To me thats a big deal. I like knowing that i can mostly count on finding what im looking for. I really like nosler varmint ballistic tips for coyotes. Back about 2017 i think, the ones i use disappeared. I contacted nosler and was told they stopped production for a short time but would start back up in a few months. They were way too popular to discontinue. Well i never found them back on shelves untill 2022 and was gone again. So i switched to hornady that i can find. Even if my local spot is out i can find them on a website with little effort. When i want a great target bullet i still want my bergers.
 
I guess you don't remember when Berger was having the same problem. They had MIT scientists doing things that MIT scientists do, trying to figure out the problem. Eric spent a lot of time on the forums trying to convince everyone that they were doing their college best to fix the problem.
Reread my post with careful attention to the second sentence. ;) Berger still has one that ‘blows up’ periodically in the 7mm line.
 
I have been a RO for around 10 years and when I was heavy into competing I would RO on probably 9 or 10 matches a year, standing behind guys and watching them shoot I have actually seen more Sierras go poof then Hornady, the 180gr ELD in something like a 7SAUM is a different story though. 105gr RDFs also love to go poof in a fast twist big 6mm
 
I just got a box of Hornady 200 eldx. In a box of 100 the weight difference was a full grain.
Berger for f class comps and Hornady for other stuff.
 
The argument over bullets being good or bad are never ending, it all depends on the application and the shooter's OCD level. I haven't had much of any product from Hornady really meet my expectations for some purposes, but, worked fine for others. The V max works OK for gophers and yotes, an Interbond has worked well enough a few times on deer for one gun, but Nosler works just as well or better, Sierra the same again. For an app I wanted to try Bergers in, they were scarce, took me 2 yrs to acquire 500 of them to try out, but, tried Scenars first, fairly impressed with those, maybe the Bergers will work a hair better yet, or maybe the Hornady or Sierra or Nosler will, also have some Normas to try out one day. Main thing in my area is availability, Bergers I needed, aren't available over about the last 4 yrs without some hefty freight on them, same can often be said for others, Hornady have been on local shelves, and cheaper. Vendors have freight breaks, then either have no stock or a min order amount for free freight, or both, that I don't want to spend, as all I want to do is try some.
 
Does it matter?
They are either match ready or not. It doesn't say match ready for big targets only.
As I said berger for comps and others for everything else. It's obvious why berger are so desired...it ain't just the bc.
Just wish they weren't so hard to get.
Ps I shoot ftr club days thru to nationals. But I don't think that's here nor there.

Yes it does. Do you think that every match bullet is appropriate for every type of match? Do you shoot 52gr. 224 Berger flat base Target Rifle Bullets at 900M/1K yards in BR matches?
 
Yes it does. Do you think that every match bullet is appropriate for every type of match? Do you shoot 52gr. 224 Berger flat base Target Rifle Bullets at 900M/1K yards in BR matches?
Thats a Silly example...are you saying a 200grain match ready (as per the marketing) .308 projectile isn't suitable for ftr?
At least use an example of comps where no one would care about a grain difference in bullet weights.
anyways...Let it go dude.
You shoot yours and I'll shoot mine.
 
Last edited:
If you don’t think the Hornady bullets can compete just google “Carl Bernosky”. Granted he could sling rocks and likely still win, but the man put up some incredible scores using Hornady bullets.

You can also bet, he did not open a box and start seating. You could
bet he did a meticulous sort. Also note that Carl was sponsored by
Hornady and with his long time winning skills, especially Camp Perry,
Hornady would have made sure his shipments had high level inspection.

On another note since A-Tips were mentioned.....I tested the 7mm 166gr
against the 171gr Barnes Match Burners. I decide to drop down in bullet
weight for the closer games. I had already did testing between the 190gr
A-tips and the 183gr Sierra's. They were pretty much equals across the
board, except for cost. Sierra's won out.....The same played out with the
Barnes vs Hornady. The Barnes needed a faster twist, but all in all, they
shot the same, Barnes won on price point. Realistically, I paid $38 for the
Match Burners and $79 for the A-Tips, plus had to hand bag the bullets
to clean off the oils.....Winner, Barnes by price point, and huge !!
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
164,692
Messages
2,182,551
Members
78,475
Latest member
375hhfan
Back
Top