The engineer at the Hornaday both told me that for 2017 the 375 and 416 DGX bullets (component and loaded ammo) copper and steel jackets are now bonded to a softer lead core. All safari/big bores in this line will be so updated as time moves on.

He told me the bonded DGX is not in 2017 catalog, but 2017 will be see this product in 375 and 416 production line.

That is good to know.I wonder if being bonded will affect their accuracy as it was an accurate bullet to begin with.I hope Swift were to do something about their sticky a-frame bullet jackets and make them more accurate.

I'm sure it will be a real "winner" like all the other bullets Hornady has had through the years....

I would think if they come up with an up to date bullet their sales would be through the roof!!!

Mr. Slider:

Please do not say up to date design to them as they get trigger happy about putting heat shield tips on them.

I do not have the finger dexterity to punch out my objections to that gimmick.
I will say make a bullet of same caliber, longer, and equal weight and of courses it will fly better than its shorter brother. Hornaday likes to compare the improvement of the ELD against the A Max. Well, dugh the A Max is shorter.

As for the bonded DGX I will give it a chance. It does not have a partion like an Aframe. I did buy a box of 570 Aframes. Hornaday was not selling.

I wrote the PR guy at Hornady some time ago and said the DGX was getting a lot of bad press; he said they heard the feedback and were switching to a bonded bullet.

As for the ELD bullets, they are the most accurate bullet I have shot, bar none.

Respectfully:

I did not say they were inaccurate. But that tip does not make them anymore accurate than any other long range premium out there such as the long range noslar.

The tip would experince most heat at short ranges not long. Bc it is going fastest at close range. Hornaday marketing would have us believe that everyone's bullet tips are melting down range. This is simply not true. I have been told by Serria bullet engineers that B/C is not a constant static unit of measure. That it changes do to things like velocity loss down range.

I will give the bonded DGX a chance, but as for the ELD being the most accurate bullet is very rifle dependent. I use a lot of Hornaday products.

The bonded DGX removes the interlock and continues the jacket thickness uniformly through the bullet. There is no partion, encased core, or solid shank. Very much like the weldcore from wooldiegh. The he engineer
told me weight retention was in the 86 to 95 percent like the non bonded bullet, but bonding should stop core seperation.

NOT MANY 375 and 416 bullets have Heat Shield Tips, so I am NOT SURE what you meant by that comment?

This is the era or the bonded core bullet..I suppose its a good move, the hunting community is sold on them...I really like the Nosler accubonds and maybe in the future they will develop a bullet to compare to the cup and core WW Power Point!! the 9th wonder of the world.

Mr. Slider:

I was being facetious because that is where Hornaday is putting its energy, marketing, and what the engineer wanted to talk about. To them the ELD is the Cadillac of up to date bullet design. I appolgize.

No worries, they are going after the masses.

To me, this is kind of the issue with Hornady as a company.

Change things Willy-nilly and don't let the consumers know what they are doing. Some are done to change a perceived need, like this.

Some to save money.

I recall that a couple decades ago they had an excellent steel jacketed solid for big stuff...and changed it as it was getting too expensive to make. Didn't tell anyone, and didn't change part numbers. The new ones failed all over the place and no one knew why.

When it came out, it was real problems.

Looks to me like they haven't learned. Make changes, don't announce them, and ...

The new bonded DGX may be better, but what happens to all the old ones? Somehow I doubt hornady wants to take them back... and I know there are a bunch on store shelves now.

I know this is not on topic, but can't stand to let the heat shield portion go unanswered. If you have doubts to the validity of the technology, I challenge you to do this. Work up an accurate load with an a-max, an eld-m, an accubound lr, and a sierra tipped matching. Same cartridge, same rifle and shoot them over a chrono at 15' and into an electonic target that measures velocity at 1,000 yards and compare the velocity SD's of all the bullets. I'm not a gambling man, but I will buy you a 12'er of your choice if the eld-m doesn't win. I have with the A-max and eld-m and it was no contest.

I agree the Amax will lose, but because the A max is not an elongated boattail and tipped bullet. The heat shielding is not what is causing the win, but the two designs are apples and oranges.

An a accubond lr or Barnes ttx lr would be a true test. Again, accuracy is not my objection it is marketing comparing the ELD against the Amax instead of the other long range bullets, and the marketing says the tips are deforming down range causing accuracy issues. Sorry the most heat is experinced at close range bc the bullet is going faster. Therefore, our bullets should be all over the map at 100 and 200 yards. We know they are not.

All of them in a given rifle will be accurate enough with one or the other being "better" in a particular barrel. Some barrels will not like some bullets. Nothing new.

If any one cares the ELD is not bonded. I do not as at the longer ranges this bullet is to be employed velocity is more sedate, and there is not a deer that can stand up to
an interlock.

It is the marketing of the heat shield tip that I do not buy for above stated reasons. The bullet works bc with t is a tipped, extended boattail, with a good even jacket. Even in the sense the lead is centered in the jacket. Not bc of heat protection.

Interesting read on bullet tip heat.

http://www.advancedimagingpro....Bullet-Heating/1$180

LHeyme500,

I don't think you know what apples and oranges are. the only difference between the a-max and eld-m are a little bit of geometry and the material the tip is made out of.

I did not say the accuracy of the eld-m was better because of the tip. I said the standard of deviation of velocity at 1,000 yards was smaller because of the tip. Each bullet ( a-max,eld-x) is in flight 13 times longer at 1,000 yards than it is at 100. No shit your not going to notice an accuracy difference at 100. There is not enough time for the problem to show up. When you can show that there are actual numbers to prove your supposition that this is all marketing, I will respond. Otherwise I will treat this as a democrat style of " I say it, therefore it's true" style of smear campaign.

At least we still have Hornady supplying us with all kinds of shooting stuff.Maybe they will once again make great bullets like the solid mentioned.I took two buff with their old solids.

CRB,.

All the bullet companies have been doing that for ions, WW was the worst offender I know of, they changed bullet design ever damn time they got it right..Finally after a million years they built the Power Point and have stayed with it ever since, and its as good as any bullet out yonder, at least in the 30-06 and 308..

A bonded DGX by Hornday is a smart move and a better bullet is my bet..Hornady hopefully learned a lesson with the solids of yesteryear, I hope..As to the bullet tip, sounds OK to me, I think we get a little OCD sometimes on this sort of stuff. I guess that's part of the fun.

Ever notice when a icon manufacturer goes to the kids, and the highly educated engineers that ate their books take over, I call them bean conters..all goes to hell in a shoebox, and if you gave them an enama they would go to hell in penny match box.

Not that the ELD-X is a "bigbore" bullet -
my hunting results in the past 2 years have been excellent(300 WinMag)
All game was under 200#s
I will add-Extremely accurate bullets

As to the new bonded DGX - sounds good,
Other bondeds have done well

I had no troubles with the current DGX in 450NE,
seems others have

Ya'll might want to consider the game all those fancy steel jacketed DGX bullets were used on have just about vanished....

The CNC brass or other metal bullet making competition has increased...making it economically unfeasible to produce those high dollar bullets.

Bonding is a relatively inexpensive way to produce a "solid" that will also open up...and only slightly more expensive that doing cup and core because the technology is thoroughly developed and almost totally automated. Barnes and a couple others do a passable job with their offerings.

Whether an engineer has "sh**fobrains" or not isn't the point...it's the buying public and game that dictates the plan...and what the company can sell at a profit...

There is a better choice of bullet platforms to pick from today that there ever was in "the good old days", which I don't think were all that good anyway...I LIKE what my choices are today...if that "nostalgic, dreamy, misty eyed, perfect bullet" isn't available today, then there are several even better ones to pick from, all you have to do is try something new.

Many seem to forget just how bad some bullets were in the past...and they were only driven at modest velos.

It all boils down to nit-picking very minor personal biases as to which bullet, caliber, etc you like, plus everyone likes to stir the pot, no matter what.

And it's only going to get worse as we continue to overpopulate, pollute and kill everything that moves, wiggles, slithers or swims.

Luck

The new bonded DGX's will need to establish an excellent track record with hunters worldwide before I gamble a wounded or lost animal on them.

In the meantime, it's Barnes and BBW #13 banded flat nosed solids and TSX's for softs in my doubles.

Still use, and will continue to use Woodleigh, Nosler partition and TSX softs in my heavy medium, and big bore bolt guns.

Bonding a good bullet to start with will work, Lets wait and see..I'll bet dollars to donuts the complaints will stop, well most of them, its hard to satisfy everyone, mostly the ones that won't even try them..As a matter of fact many of the nay sayers of the unbonded DGX that I know had never shot a buffalo with one, they were shooting them into rock and gravel..duh!

Unbonded DGX from 500 NE shot from 10 yards at cape buff from stern through hip found in between diaphragm and lung. Held up just fine.

They can do whatever the hell they want to with them. I will never get over the 500 NE rounds that would not shoot and those that the primer could be removed with a fingernail. Sorry gentlemen, I don't have a death wish. I will use them on the range. In the field ? Not a f'ing chance.