Hornady changing up ??

[Fuj]

Not a fan of any type of tipped bullet, and what that trend has been for
a company such as Hornady. Sierra jumped in to gain some market share
which I think the Jackets needed to go to their stable's of Match Kings !!
Either way something caught my eye from Hornady ?? They came out with
a 123 grain HPBT for a 6.5mm bullet ?? I wonder why ?? Grendel guy's will
probably love these ?? I'll have to dig around to see if other calibers are
coming back to the HPBT's ?? Hornady made an excellent 162 gr HPBT
in 7mm years ago, and discontinued it. It's a shame because I had since
shot the last of my stash, then when the 166 A-tips came out, I tried them.
No comparison. Doubled the price for a bullet that shot twice as bad, and
I have to wipe the oil off them......Just saying !!

 

[rijndael]

They came out with a 123 grain HPBT for a 6.5mm bullet ?? I wonder why ??

I use 123 grain bullets in my 6.5 CM almost exclusively. My current load is a 123 Scenar @ 3K fps ...

 

[Rob01]

Not a fan of any type of tipped bullet, and what that trend has been for
a company such as Hornady. Sierra jumped in to gain some market share
which I think the Jackets needed to go to their stable's of Match Kings !!
Either way something caught my eye from Hornady ?? They came out with
a 123 grain HPBT for a 6.5mm bullet ?? I wonder why ?? Grendel guy's will
probably love these ?? I'll have to dig around to see if other calibers are
coming back to the HPBT's ?? Hornady made an excellent 162 gr HPBT
in 7mm years ago, and discontinued it. It's a shame because I had since
shot the last of my stash, then when the 166 A-tips came out, I tried them.
No comparison. Doubled the price for a bullet that shot twice as bad, and
I have to wipe the oil off them......Just saying !!

You should have tried the 162 ELD-Ms in your 7mm. They shoot great. I used the 180 ELD-Ms in my 7mmRM and was hitting 12" steel at a mile. There is nothing wrong with tipped bullets. You should really give the ELD-Ms a try.

As for the 123 BTHP, probably for those Grendel guys or anyone with a 6.5 anything wanting that weight bullet but I would use the 123 ELD-M. You get a higher BC. The BTHP is .450 and the ELD-M is .506. Close up not a big deal but if going longer it will help.

 

[FrankG]

You should have tried the 162 ELD-Ms in your 7mm. They shoot great. I used the 180 ELD-Ms in my 7mmRM and was hitting 12" steel at a mile. There is nothing wrong with tipped bullets. You should really give the ELD-Ms a try.

As for the 123 BTHP, probably for those Grendel guys or anyone with a 6.5 anything wanting that weight bullet but I would use the 123 ELD-M. You get a higher BC. The BTHP is .450 and the ELD-M is .506. Close up not a big deal but if going longer it will help.

^^^^ this right here.

The 140ELDMs and the 225 ELDMs fly as good as anything else.

Big Army did testing several years ago and tested like 23 different 6.5mm bullets. I'll quote what they said, "The Hornady's shot as good as anything else. No single bullet from Berger or Sierra or Hornady flat out performed any better than the other!" I believe they did testing out to 1200 yards if I recall correctly. In 6.5CM and 260 Rem. calibers and we made all the ammunition test barrels both pressure and velocity test barrels and accuracy test barrels.

Later, Frank

 

[JEFFPPC]

^^^^ this right here.

The 140ELDMs and the 225 ELDMs fly as good as anything else.

Big Army did testing several years ago and tested like 23 different 6.5mm bullets. I'll quote what they said, "The Hornady's shot as good as anything else. No single bullet from Berger or Sierra or Hornady flat out performed any better than the other!" I believe they did testing out to 1200 yards if I recall correctly. In 6.5CM and 260 Rem. calibers and we made all the ammunition test barrels both pressure and velocity test barrels and accuracy test barrels.

Later, Frank

I think what the Army is looking for and a competitive shooter are looking for are vastly different. If it says anything it might be that most of them do pretty well which is probably what they are looking for. FrankG thanks for your input to this forum, I always look forward to it, you get to see a lot and it's great you share with us.

 

[Knotwild]

Many years ago, when I had free time, I would tune for a gunsmith in my spare time. Hornady must have really changed for the better over time - we used to never even remotely consider using Hornady. In fact, I only tuned one rifle that liked them.

 

[K22]

I am huge fan of Hornady's pistol bullets, namely the XTP's but I was, in the past, never a fan of Hornady rifle bullets. However, when my preferred bullet choice supplier for many years, Sierra, dried up, I was forced to try something else and discovered some real gems.

The 60 Vmax, flat base, bullet shoots exceptional well in my 223 Rem bolt rifles, 8" twist. Their 75 gain Vmax shoot similar in my 10" twist 243 Wins.

One of the most accurate bullets that I ever used and tested, and I've tested and used a bunch in the 243 Win, is the Sierra 85 BTHP however that 75 Vmax is very close which surprised me.

So, I think Hornady deserves a second look for rifle bullets.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Hornady bullets have gotten better and Sierra bullets have gotten worse - unless you use the Matchking line.

 

[JSH]

I shot Sierra’s pretty much exclusively years ago. Then it seemed anything I wanted was hard to get or over priced.
I went to Hornady and Speer for the most part 20 years ago. Not a lot of the match bullets, but excellent hunting bullets with great accuracy for a hunting bullet. Worked good enough for my purposes.

 

[dantiff2]

Try, try, and try as many bullets as you need to! I've seen rifle barrels throw Hornady bullets in the right general direction :O but at a shotgun pattern and then I've seen some guns actually really like them! Won't know until you try. Although, I will say that I've never had as big of an issue getting Sierra's to shoot. I have personally never had smk's shoot 3"+ patterns from any guns. Maybe the sierra weren't in the 1/2 moa but instead around 1-->1-1/4 moa but i've seen Hornady BTHP's go absolutely crazy and then another gun shoot them just fine. What gives??

 

[Bill K]

Different load, but all I shoot in my 6.5's are the 123 Barnes,
Work great on game or target, for me.

I use 123 grain bullets in my 6.5 CM almost exclusively. My current load is a 123 Scenar @ 3K fps ...

 

[Pheasanthunter]

Try, try, and try as many bullets as you need to! I've seen rifle barrels throw Hornady bullets in the right general direction :O but at a shotgun pattern and then I've seen some guns actually really like them! Won't know until you try. Although, I will say that I've never had as big of an issue getting Sierra's to shoot. I have personally never had smk's shoot 3"+ patterns from any guns. Maybe the sierra weren't in the 1/2 moa but instead around 1-->1-1/4 moa but i've seen Hornady BTHP's go absolutely crazy and then another gun shoot them just fine. What gives??

Possibly twist rate or powder type I’ve always had good results with Hornady bullets and the availability is something to consider

 

[dantiff2]

Possibly twist rate or powder type I’ve always had good results with Hornady bullets and the availability is something to consider

Who knows! I had one 7 twist 223 shoot 68 and 75 gn hpbt's at 3-4" at 100 yds. Two would touch the other three would be WAY out. Then take that same powder/ primer and would shoot 69 and 77 smks under 3/4 moa. Tried them both in a 9 twist at mag length and got decent groupings with both Hornady's and Sierra's.. Had a 12 twist that wound NOT shoot any of the light Hornady offerings at all. Every weight available (15 years ago) I mean horrible accuracy but 52 smks would shoot 1/2 moa with almost no load workup. I'm hard headed so I still try different brands in most calibers I load for (cause I like to tinker and try different loads). My rem 06' shoots Hornady and Speer and Sierras into same gorups. Can't tell which brand you fired. Oal's are a little different between brands but just goes to show that it really comes down to the barrel.

 

[6.5 forever]

Hornady bullets have gotten better and Sierra bullets have gotten worse - unless you use the Matchking line.

My 6.5 142 SMK are at the top of my list. Better than Berger. Used to be Hornady 147 till they started blowing up at 80 yards. A well documented problem.

 

[Gary in MD]

I’ll still take the ones that come in the green boxes any day over the red boxes, tips or no tips. YMMV

 

[Fuj]

You should have tried the 162 ELD-Ms in your 7mm. They shoot great. I used the 180 ELD-Ms in my 7mmRM and was hitting 12" steel at a mile. There is nothing wrong with tipped bullets. You should really give the ELD-Ms a try.

As for the 123 BTHP, probably for those Grendel guys or anyone with a 6.5 anything wanting that weight bullet but I would use the 123 ELD-M. You get a higher BC. The BTHP is .450 and the ELD-M is .506. Close up not a big deal but if going longer it will help.

Rob....We live in two different worlds. Your probably still shooting
the long game, and I'm shooting the short game. In the short game,
you do not shoot VLD style, high BC bullets, let alone tipped. My
needs are for more of a tangent ogive bullet in slow twist barrels,
and in some cases, flat based.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

The 130 gr. ELD-M's are impressive so far, in my 6.5 Creedmoor as are, the 52 gr. M's, in my .22-250 !
Killed, a Metric chit Ton of Deer & Antelope using, 130 and 150 gr. Hornady InterLocks with, my .270 Weatherby, years ago with, NO "issues" on, Accuracy or, killing power !
The Only Horn bullet that did NOT shoot "Well" for me, was the .22 cal 68 gr BTHP's for some reason ( the Sierra 69 gr. SMK's, shot very well, in same Rifle ).
MOST of, the ELD-M's, ARE,.. a "Work of Art",.. IMO
Same BC bullets, in a Berger costs around, 50% More, IF you think, you "need" them.
But then, I'm NOT a Competitive BR shooter, either.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

Sierra .22 cal, Blitz Kings, are Nice , But for, the huge, Price difference and Availability, I'll shoot,..
the 50 or, 53 gr. V-Maxes ! The 50 gr V-Max and 52 gr. ELD-M's, "BugHole" out of, my .22-250 !

 

[jimmymac]

I’ve had excellent results with Hornady bullets in a number of hunting guns. V-Max in the 22-250. SST’s hammer out of my factory .243 and .270.

 

[ebb]

When I got an AR10 in 260 Remington I loaded some 140 grain Bergers and used a load that was not very close to max in my Mauser. Not stellar accuracy and brass looked like it had been run over with the lawnmower. I called my friend that has the AR10s in Tennessee, He says go to JP rifles site and read on loading for an AR10 in 260. So I read it and JP himself wrote the paragraph or two on it and he says go to 120 class bullets and load lighter if you don't want beat up brass. So I get some Nosler 123 custom comp and low and behold, nice brass, good accuracy smiles all around. I don't think its mandatory but I liked it a lot better. Back then 123 Nosler custom comp were $26 and change, recently $51 now Christmas special $46.