Hornady 90 gr GMX .257 diam #25410

[Barlow]

Spent the afternoon with a buddy chronographing his loads and doing some bullet testing. He has a Model 70 fw in 257 Roberts (his wife's) and was using the 90 gr GMX at 2900 mv. He shot it into a box of magazines and it penetrated approx. 7 inches and it was text book in performance. The material was dry and the range 35 yards. It really wrecks bullets. All this to ask, how does this bullet perform on game. (deer sized)? I have had mixed results with Barnes TSX's and was wondering about this bullet. Thanks, Barlow

 

[Larryh128]

Any of the all copper bullets will hammer deer. If it's accurate, shoot it. They are more forgiving bullets when the shot is off a bit. A friends grandson proved that, hit them everywhere & they all died within 60 yds. Most may not have been recovered with a cup & core bullet. Yes, I know, he needs to learn to shoot better.

 

[Changeling]

Hi Barlow, How was the accuracy with the 90gr GMX?

 

[Barlow]

I didn't measure any groups, and he was shooting with the barrel pretty hot. But it looked in the 1.5" range. The guy is a new handloader and is stuck on 4350 for everything, which is o.k. I guess. I did check bullet runout before we shot and tweaked them all under .003, but many were .002 or less. I also don't know if he started with a clean barrel. The bullet performance was impressive. He has a new Tikka 260 that shot very well, sub moa easily. We shot a 129 Hornady SST and a 129 Hornady IL into the same box of books. The SST came apart (jacket shed core) the Il was totally wrecked but had a bigger piece of brass left than the SST. Expansion was about equal with the edge going to the tried and true IL. Barlow

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

I haven't used them in that caliber but i have used them in 30 calibers on Blue Wildebeest, Kudu and Oryx from 80-200y and they performed as advertised. Never retrieved one of them but the exit hole showed they opened up nicely and the internals were mush. Only one Blue managed to go more than 20y after receiving a boiler room shot, others just jumped turned and dropped.

 

[Barlow]

That's a pretty good test and recommendation, he will have to give them a try. Barlow

 

[searcher]

From much info I have read on the GMX VS. The TSX, the GMX supposedly opens a bit slower and provides greater penetration, whereas the TSX opens more quickly, regardless of velocity - yet can blow a few petals off when high velocity and close target. I'd opt for the TSX unless penetration was the number one need - then go with the GMX. I personally use the TSX's primarily because they are more accurate in all of my guns.