Hornady A-max for whitetails.

[pharmfisher]

I will start by saying that I am a pretty inexperienced shooter. I hunt Midwest whitetails and my longest potential shot is 300 yards. I shoot a .308 Browning x bolt. I recently bought a box of Hornady black 168 grain with the A-max bullet, and they group fantastic. My only other hunting experience is with federal "blue box" ammo. How would the A-max perform for whitetail out to 200 yards? Would meat loss be more of an issue? What about non-ideal shot angles?

 

[saltfork]

They are a great whitetail bullet out of a .308. I've shot deer and antelope with that bullet from about 50 yards to over 500. They make a violent wound channel, especially when they hit bone at close range, but they still penitrate well. This doe was shot at around 80 yards, hard quartering to me. That is the entry, I found part of the jacket in front of her left hind leg. She didn't make it far.

 

[nobody]

I would hunt every game animal on planet earth with an Amax, from any cartridge, up to and including big fuzzy brown bears, at distances WELL beyond what you’re asking about. Performance will be similar to the ELDM/ELDX family of projectiles. The Amax is bad medicine. You’ll be fine on whitetails at any distance.

 

[JGRaider]

The Amax always got rave reviews from those who used them, in spite of covtard Steve Hornady's press release regarding the mythical melting tips. All that got Hornady users was practically the same bullet at a much higher price. This melting tip fiasco is a farce, as you never hear any user complain about them.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

If you shoot for the front shoulders there will be significant meat damage, especially if you hit bone. I will caveat by saying I only have one experience hunting with A-maxes. If you are lung or neck shooting every time, I'm sure performance will be devastating.
I was with a buddy hunting whitetails, and there was a doe that was hit a little far back at 250 yards. She turned as was quartered away hard, and he sent a follow-up (168 gr A-Max out of a .308). Anyways the bullet hit the rear ham, and watching through the scope it blasted a softball sized hole right on the surface. I don't think it broke the femur as she got back up and had to be trailed another 100 yards and put down. The whole hind quarter was full of lead and bloodshot.
I was just surprised at the violent immediate fragmentation at that range out of a 17" .308.
Good shooting is obviously the most important part of performance, but since you mentioned non-ideal shot angles I figured I'd throw this out there.

 

[pharmfisher]

Thank you everyone. I hunt a wet grassy area where it is important to get deer down as fast as possible. Even a 100 yard death run can make for interesting recovery. So maybe this bullet would be ideal for me. I almost always take a lung shot. Sometimes I am forced to take a neck shot when that is all that is visible. It sounds like this bullet does well for both of these shots.

 

[JGRaider]

If your longest potential shot is maxed out at 300 yds, I'd take an accubond over an AMAX any and every day.

 

[Reddish]

Killed several deer with the 105 AMAX in a .243 several years back. Thinking back now I have no idea why I thought I needed different calibers and rifles lol. It worked great...I would have save a ton of money had I just stuck with that combo. New and shiny things are exciting...

Sorry for the rant...shoot deer with them and have fun.

 

[sierracharlie338]

The Amax is one of the best killing bullets I’ve ever used. I disagree with the Accubond being a better choice. I’ve shot both and the Amax performed better for me although both bullets resulted in multiple dead deer.

 

[clperry]

Go forth and kill with confidence. The a-max/eldm is a gift to those of us that wish to kill fast and cheap.


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[JGRaider]

Go forth and kill with confidence. The a-max/eldm is a gift to those of us that wish to kill fast and cheap.


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You just described a Nosler ballistic tip, IME.

 

[clperry]

You just described a Nosler ballistic tip, IME.

Negative. I described an a-max/eldm. Says so right there in the post I made.


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[MT-nuffgun]

You just described a Nosler ballistic tip, IME.

Nothing with the name nosler on it is cheap.

 

[pharmfisher]

Go forth and kill with confidence. The a-max/eldm is a gift to those of us that wish to kill fast and cheap.


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Exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you