My safari is in less than 110 days. I have lioness, oryx, impalla, & blesbok on my permit. I have obtained 2 boxes of Norma A-frame and 2 boxes of Hornady DGX. I need to blast some for sight-in & practice w/ my .416 Rigby. If it were you, (experience prefered), which ammo would you shoot up & which would you hunt with?......Duh I KNOW THAT the final sight-in in Africa will be with what I will hunt with.....Different ammo usually shoots to different points of impact.

I'm betting that Shakari Steve will say hunt w/ the A-frames, Bill.

Well we know the A Frames will work just fine.

however I would shoot both to see just how far apart they hit at 100 yards.

Hi Bill
The A Frame is a fine bullet for sure and will get the job done on all the above. BUT, I have really got to see the birth and development of the Hornady Dangerous Game series and I can't tell you how effective that bullet is. We have used it on all the big stuff filming for our Tracks Across Africa TV show and it has proved an excellent bullet at a great price. The pricing is right, and I hope you will buy a box and see how they work for you. I think you will like how they shoot and preform. But it is a good idea to try a couple of different loads and see what your gun likes. Good luck!
Dave

Dave, I LOVE your show! Never miss it now I have a DVR. THANKS!

Buy the A frames and have a great safari. Africa is too expensive to testing and developmental work on your hunt.

I would let someone else do that and use what is known to work. ( A frames and triple shoks)

Hornady seems to be doing some good work and sorta shaking up the industry. For that reason I hope their ammo turns out to be the best but the jury is still out on this one IMHO.

Adrian

anybody got a line where I can get my hands on Hornady new 470nitro ammo??

my local dealers are not doing special orders-nor can I order from Hornadys website.
no luck at Cheaper than dirt or other sites

A frame. Seen a couple of dodgy resuts with early DGX. the 'second generation' stuff may be just fine- the stuff we saw last year in zim sure as hell wasn't and I know there have been changes- but why not stick to a proven bullet, and let others do the testing....

quote:

Originally posted by Karamojo Bill:
I'm betting that Shakari Steve will say hunt w/ the A-frames, Bill.

'Fraid I don't have much experience of the DGX (I'm happy to do a few tests if someone wants to send me some freebies ) but the A frame always seems to me to be one of the very few bullets that achieves most things well.

Why not shoot some of each and see which ones group best in your rifle? If you can do a few tests on both types of bullet, so much the better. - Let's face it, the cost of a few boxes of ammo pales into insignificance when compared to just one trophy fee, let alone the cost of the hunt.

In my testing the new DGX was as good if not better than the Woodleighs...and thats saying alot. They are pretty damned tough and plenty for what you are shooting. Why not perform the real world testing ourselves? How else are we going to know the real story? Ain't that part of the adventure? I went on my first guided western big game hunt(not cheap) shooting my own handloads...and I just started reloading.....its all part of the satisfaction of the entire experience. Oh, the Hornady 180gr spire points worked very well too.

Well Boys, I shot some of each yesterday and both group to about the same place. I also got in a lot of practice shooting off sticks and off hand at balloons on 1 foot strings blowing in the wind.

I feel like that rifle is ready for Africa.

Steve, you ARE the man. Your logic just makes too much sense. I was waiting for your reply before I went shooting. Glad I did!

Always glad to be of help where I can buddy!

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
A frame. Seen a couple of dodgy resuts with early DGX. the 'second generation' stuff may be just fine- the stuff we saw last year in zim sure as hell wasn't and I know there have been changes- but why not stick to a proven bullet, and let others do the testing....

The steel jacketed ones did not "work"???

Keith

DGX bullets how did they work??? I was given a handfull of the 480gr Hornady's and loaded them for my 450#2 Double... An unscientific backstop of a 18 inch diameter cherry log seasoned and hard as a rock... I cut it like a loaf of bread with the chain saw and let her have it lengthwise... Got up to 20 inches of penetration and bullet retained over 80% of weight and when compressed the steel and copper edges would cut flesh like a knife...
The DGX bullets will be accompanying me to the Selous in late Aug Sept hunt...

Mike

I would listen to someone like Ganyana. I know the A frame has had a great reputation. If it was my hunt and my money, I would use something with a track record behind it. Its not to say the Hornady DGX may not be a great performer, but until its been out there a while, I would use the tried and true bullets.

It does seem a bit disappointing that a good US bullet maker like Hornady keeps changing its bullets, and it gets to the point where you can't be sure which ones are the good ones anymore. I guess that's the profit motive for you.

I have not used the ones I have on game yet. they do shoot nicely in my 450/400.

We're using A Frames on our upcoming Maasailand hunt in July, for obvious reasons.