Hornady 130gr Amax In 6.5mm,Long Overdue)

[ThunderDownUnder]

An open letter to Hornady!

Dear Hornady Manufacturing, Inc,

For sometime now we shooters have had the Creedmoor 6.5mm, Lapua 6.5x47, and Remington 260 in need of a 130 grain premium long range bullet.

These calibers and others require a bullet less than 140 grains with a high BC for long range competitions and varmint hunting.

Your line of Amax bullets in 6.5mm would fulfill our needs if you were to produce a 130gr Amax with a BC close to your current 140gr Amax bullet.

The Amax with its plastic tip provides shooters with a manufacturer capable of making precision bullets at a reasonable cost. We call on you to please provide us with a bullet in your Amax line up that meets our needs.

A 130 grain Amax should be capable of approaching velocities 3000fps and with a high BC find itself in great demand by shooters all over the world.

Please let us know if this is possible and when production would commence.

Regards,


A Hornady Customer With a Win/Win Suggestion!


Please copy and paste this suggestion onto the Hornady Contacts Page Here: http://www.hornady.com/contact_us.php

I was told some time ago that this bullet was under consideration, lets let Hornady know its wanted!

Ian

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Hornady have responded! I'll get to that later. Why we need Hornady to make this bullet for us is simple.

The ability to buck wind and get to the target with minimal deflection is all about BC and velocity. It doesn't make any difference if the bullet is 80gr or 220gr. If they have the same BC and are launched with the same velocity then they will share the same ballistic curve.

If Hornady give us a 130gr, 6.5mm Amax bullet with a G7 BC of around 0.300 then our Creedmoors, 260 Rem and 6.5x47L just to name a few, will be on equal footing with the big calibers. To be on or near equal footing with a 7mm, 180gr VLD means we need around 3000fps. The 180gr high BC bullets are generally launched around 2900fps.

A 180gr Berger VLD,0.337) at 2900fps drops 268' at 1000yds
A 130gr Amax,N/A),0.300) at 3000fps drops 263' at 1000yds

The Amax would shoot a little flatter but drift 6' more in a 10mph cross wind at 1000yds.

If we can successfully petition Hornady to make this bullet, not only would we get comparable ballistics with the big guns but we would have less recoil and barrel wear. The Creedmoors, 260Rem and 6.5x47L use far less powder and dont burn barrels like the 6.5x284s.

Its win/win for Hornady and us! Hornady with its ability to manufacture using plastic tips can achieve high BC bullets with low manufacturing costs. The 130gr bullets are in the sweet spot for the rifles mentioned and with low recoil maybe give better accuracy for some shooters. A 130gr bullet in these rifles will allow them to achieve the 3000+fps needed. The 140gr bullets are just too heavy to achieve this velocity and the 120gr bullets cant reach the required BC.

Hornady make premium bullets for reasonable cost, I say lets let Hornady know we want them.

Ian

This is the reply from Hornady...

Thanks for the comments we've forwarded your suggestion to engineering and new products. It won't happen soon, but if it looks like it, or something along those lines, has merit it could come out mid to late next year.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Hornady have the potential,if we can convince them) to make a superior 130gr VLD in 6.5mm. The plastic tips enable them an easier design route than Berger and JLK and the potential to make a higher BC bullet.

If Hornady make it they will come!

This is becoming one the best ballistic solutions for 6.5mm shooters and manufacturers who make premium 130gr bullets will reap the rewards.

Anyone care to comment?

 

[RBD]

Using the Hornady 140 A-Max I shot a 1.8xx' five shot group at 600 yards with my 6.5x47L, but the velocity just isn't there to take advantage of the accuracy.

I applaud your idea.

RBD

 

[3gunf1guy]

Hornady is a mass marketer, they won't do it unless they can sell a bunch. Just use the 130gr Berger's. The Berger's always have a better BC than any Hornady bullet of the same weight.

Scott