Of course with Hornady as a show sponsor for the last 11 years I have got to do a lot of shooting, and witness a lot of shooting with Hornady ammo, especially on dangerous game. The early days of the DGS indeed saw some performance issues, which were addressed and corrected. I have shot all the big stuff in Africa ( minus rhino) as well as brown and grizzlie bear, and water buffalo including use of both softs and solids. I have never had a misfire or bullet failure. If I had, I would say so here, AND to the guys at Hornady. I can say this, I have never worked with a manufacturer that seemed to care about customer feedback as much as the Hornady team does. I am sorry that one of you were treated in a manner that left you disappointed. They are fine people, passionate about their product, and seem to care deeply about customer satisfaction. Just my two cents.Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Fulson:
Of course with Hornady as a show sponsor for the last 11 years I have got to do a lot of shooting, and witness a lot of shooting with Hornady ammo, especially on dangerous game. The early days of the DGS indeed saw some performance issues, which were addressed and corrected. I have shot all the big stuff in Africa ( minus rhino) as well as brown and grizzlie bear, and water buffalo including use of both softs and solids. I have never had a misfire or bullet failure. If I had, I would say so here, AND to the guys at Hornady. I can say this, I have never worked with a manufacturer that seemed to care about customer feedback as much as the Hornady team does. I am sorry that one of you were treated in a manner that left you disappointed. They are fine people, passionate about their product, and seem to care deeply about customer satisfaction. Just my two cents.Cheers

It was not my experience and I would not shoot Hornady if it was free.

Jeff

I have appreciated the fact that Hornady expanded its product line to include many big bore cartridges at reasonable prices.

Unfortunately I have also experienced problems with Hornady brass with rims out of tolerance. They were too thick to allow my 470 double to fully lockup. I sent rounds to Hornady and they confirmed the rims were out of spec, but I was not impressed at all with their response.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeBurke:
I have appreciated the fact that Hornady expanded its product line to include many big bore cartridges at reasonable prices.

Unfortunately I have also experienced problems with Hornady brass with rims out of tolerance. They were too thick to allow my 470 double to fully lockup. I sent rounds to Hornady and they confirmed the rims were out of spec, but I was not impressed at all with their response.

I experienced the same thing. However, I was impressed with their response to that incident. This time, not so much. I am done with them except for targets.

I think Hornday did a good job in keeping the large NE calibers alive. But of course the quality must be there. On another topic, they try to cater for the lead free hype in Europe but a lot of people are not happy with their DMX ammo, performance and in terms of accuracy.

I've shot four or five buff with the DGX with zero problems, the last two with CMS during the Dugga Boys hunt were one shot kills.

I have shot one elephant bull with the DGS with no problems.

You can bet I will continue to use Hornady ammo. My experience is worth more than any forum bullshit from folks who have not used it on DG but like to throw about hearsay...

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
I've shot four or five buff with the DGX with zero problems, the last two with CMS during the Dugga Boys hunt were one shot kills.

I have shot one elephant bull with the DGS with no problems.

You can bet I will continue to use Hornady ammo. My experience is worth more than any forum bullshit from folks you have not used it on DG but like to throw about hearsay...

Here is your internet heresay. You are free to do as you choose.

A premium gum builder has told me in personal communication(citeable in peer reviewed journals) that Hornady continues to have bullet density issues AND that their velocity can vary 150 fps from box to box.

I am a factory ammo shooter as I can't be an expert in all things. Federal Premium Ammunition has kept me safe through 10 African DG safari's. That is where I will place my trust. Take it at face value, discard it whatever.

This will be my last word on the matter and after the Hornady's I possess are shot for practice, I will never purchase another.

Jeff

Not to suggest that you didn't hear what you did but as a handloader myself you'd have to be very sloppy to get such large velocity variations, 30fps is big. Given the high quality and consistency of reloading equipment and components nowadays it defies belief especially since it isn't being churned out in massive volumes like cheap .223 ammo.

After reading through all these posts and recalling earlier threads I wonder if the variation in experiences has something to do with early DGX bullets having a different formula than later batches. Just because someone bought them recently doesn't mean they aren't old stock.

It would be prudent for Hornady to confirm whether they improved their bullets somewhere along the way so any concerns could be laid to rest, if in fact that is the case.

quote:

2

Why can't I access page 2. I personally haven't had any issues with the ammo. I haven't seen or heard a documented case of and issue.

and, I go back to the old standard, "At what point before the animal died did the bullet fail?"

quote:

Here is your internet heresay. You are free to do as you choose.

Not that I need your permission but thank you, I will.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:

Here is your internet heresay. You are free to do as you choose.

A premium gum builder has told me in personal communication(citeable in peer reviewed journals) that Hornady continues to have bullet density issues AND that their velocity can vary 150 fps from box to box.

I am a factory ammo shooter as I can't be an expert in all things. Federal Premium Ammunition has kept me safe through 10 African DG safari's. That is where I will place my trust. Take it at face value, discard it whatever.

This will be my last word on the matter and after the Hornady's I possess are shot for practice, I will never purchase another.

Jeff

Out of curiosity, does the "premium gum builder"
rep/ promote for or perhaps sell a different specific brand of ammunition?
Could you please link to the journals/ material that are citable- (citeable in peer reviewed journals) or at least name the journals /materials so they may be studied ?

quote:

Originally posted by Clan_Colla:

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:

Here is your internet heresay. You are free to do as you choose.

A premium gum builder has told me in personal communication(citeable in peer reviewed journals) that Hornady continues to have bullet density issues AND that their velocity can vary 150 fps from box to box.

I am a factory ammo shooter as I can't be an expert in all things. Federal Premium Ammunition has kept me safe through 10 African DG safari's. That is where I will place my trust. Take it at face value, discard it whatever.

This will be my last word on the matter and after the Hornady's I possess are shot for practice, I will never purchase another.

Jeff

Out of curiosity, does the "premium gum builder"
rep/ promote for or perhaps sell a different specific brand of ammunition?
Could you please link to the journals/ material that are citable- (citeable in peer reviewed journals) or at least name the journals /materials so they may be studied ?

No he does not sell or promote ammunition. It was personal communication. Take or leave it.

Jeff

No issues with reliability or regulation in my VC 450, that said, loads are way under advertised velocities (2060-80 vice 2150). I initially attributed this to the fact my rifle only has 26" barrels, but when Zephyr's gun (with 28" barrels) produced velocities in the 1900-2000 range, I have to conclude their velocity standards are not up to par. Which begs the other question, that of regulation. In my rifle, the Hornadys regulate very well with velocities ranging from 2060 to 2150.

Gentlemen:

This is my last post on the matter. What I can tell you is the following :

1- I was there to see the failure to fire. It happened. Like it or not. While not discussed as much, I was also there to see the primer issue . Honestly , I think the primer could have come out with a bit of bumping around. It would clearly move and do so quite easily . This scares the hell out of me. Maybe I am a wimp. Guilty as charged.

2- a PH from Zim (Collen van Der Linden) sent out an e mail to clients a couple of years ago. In this e mail , he detailed the failure of a Hornady DGX out of a 450/400 on a giraffe. He was very specific . Further , Collen has personally told me of several other failures .

3- when I got me first VC, I had major trouble . It would not shoot. It ended up that PART of the problem was rims that were out of specifications . I do have to say that Hornady's customer service was excellent in that situation .

4- when a well known gun guy , who doesn't sell ammo, tells me that he would never hung dangerous game with Hornady ammo that gets my attention . He discussed inconsistent velocity , in in inconsistent hardness and a variety of other matters, it gets my attention . By the way, this guy is adored on AR.

5- I have personally shot 12 elephants with the DGS ammo without problems . Of course , it only takes one failure to fire to get killed .

6- I have received quite a few e mails and texts imploring me to not use Hornady ammo on DG. Some gsve their personal experiences which they apparently do not want to share publically .

All of us can choose what we shoot . I will continue to shoot Hornady on the range. Hunting ? Not a chance.

Carry on gentlemen.

Excellent post, Mr. Larry, and like I posted, I can certainly verify #4 regarding inconsistent velocities. Cheers, jorge

I for sure appreciate the highlightimg of the problem. I just wonder where I can find an alternative in 450 NE. Maybe handloading is the answer. Still the Heym is regulated for Hornady.

For the record and for Hornady: make it a bit more expensive but reliable.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:

quote:

Originally posted by Clan_Colla:

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:

Here is your internet heresay. You are free to do as you choose.

A premium gum builder has told me in personal communication(citeable in peer reviewed journals) that Hornady continues to have bullet density issues AND that their velocity can vary 150 fps from box to box.

I am a factory ammo shooter as I can't be an expert in all things. Federal Premium Ammunition has kept me safe through 10 African DG safari's. That is where I will place my trust. Take it at face value, discard it whatever.

This will be my last word on the matter and after the Hornady's I possess are shot for practice, I will never purchase another.

Jeff

Out of curiosity, does the "premium gum builder"
rep/ promote for or perhaps sell a different specific brand of ammunition?
Could you please link to the journals/ material that are citable- (citeable in peer reviewed journals) or at least name the journals /materials so they may be studied ?

No he does not sell or promote ammunition. It was personal communication. Take or leave it.

Jeff

Then just perhaps:
you probably should consider not stating: "(citeable in peer reviewed journals) "

As the rest of us are not able to see the purported "citeable" information--

FYI, we sell all brands of ammo,
I have no vested interest in Hornady-
I shoot Hornady factory in my doubles-
reload their brass in my doubles (and non-doubles)

I've had Barnes "pencil"
Sierra's "explode"-
Partitions "bend" and deflect-

As I said before no bullet or maker is perfect

Hornady had problems early on with the DR softs and- they admitted that-- and addressed it-

From my "anecdotal" position --the new projectiles are remarkably better--
but- to me the most important thing for those of us that shoot doubles--
has been Hornady's initial willingness and continued willingness to invest in DR calibers--

They are without a doubt owed kudo's from DR shooters for even trying to assist us-

Much less assist us in the grand scale to which they have with DR calibers-
for which I for one am grateful-

I don't know guys, I think choice of ammo comes down to two things. Personal preference and personal experience!

Are we sponsored by Hornady? Yes, so let me get that out of the way from the start.

For the past 3 years I have exclusively used Hornady's DG Series ammo in both DGX & DGS in mostly my .416 Ruger (also a sponsor). I've taken roughly 11 buffalo (8 cape, 2 Australian, 1 asiatic) 3 lions, 2 leopards, 1 elephant, 4 hippo, and 1 - 13' croc. By no means making me an expert on all things ammo, but enough experience to draw some conclusions.

Honestly, the caliber/ammo combo has been a buffalo smasher, with 1-2 shot, quick/clean kills (mostly 1). All hippos have been 1 shot kills, lions hate it - they go no where, leopards do too. Bullet performance has been great, and I simply have only good things to say about the DG series ammo. I of course understand one could consider my opinion biased, but I'm simply telling about my experience over the past several years. I would continue to use Hornady ammo, even if they dropped our sponsorship - just as I did with Trijicon when they left for a year - as I really believed in their products. Trijicon is back now thankfully, and hopefully Hornady stays with us well into the future as I do sincerely like their stuff!

One man's experience/opinion, nothing more!!!

Not sure this is the right place to post this.

Did anyone see The Boddington Experience where CB and Brittany are shooting hogs in CA? They shot the Hornady no lead loads.

My question is this. When Brittany shot her hog , was that a cloud of dust or a cloud of blood that blew off the hog? It was an impressive cloud of something .

Neither hog they shot moved at all.

Go with Federal Larry. It is good.