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Old March 23, 2008, 07:20 PM   #1
Abndoc
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Hornady A-Max

I was just out at my reloading bench, reloading for my '06 and I just got to the part where I sort my bullets by weight. This is the first time I have used Hornady A-Max bullets and I came up with a pleasant surprise. Out of the first ten weighed, 9 of them were spot on at 168 grains and the one oddball was 167.9 grains.

This is much better consistancy than the Sierra Match Kings I normally use. Don't get me wrong, the SMK is a fine bullet, but not nearly as consistant in weight.

Did I get a freak box of Hornady, or is this typical with the A-Max? I hope they shoot as nice as they look.
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Old March 23, 2008, 08:04 PM   #2
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hornady bullets

I've found over the years that Honady makes an outstanding product. They have been my go to bullets for most of my reloading and I haven't been disapointed in them.
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Old March 24, 2008, 08:11 AM   #3
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Which rifle?

Glad to hear they are good. What are you shooting them in? Accuracy? I posted this asking about Garand loads, powders, and bullets.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...d.php?t=285321

I've got Hornady 168 BTHP match on hand and would like to try the A-max.

I just wonder if the A-max might be more accurate than the HP's?
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Old March 24, 2008, 12:31 PM   #4
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The A-Max bullets are a true match bullet, very consistent in weight. One issue you will likely have to deal with is seating length. Since A-Max have a longer ogive, you will need to seat them longer in order to get them as close to the rifling as your SMKs.
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Old March 24, 2008, 04:48 PM   #5
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I have found the A-Max bullets to be very accurate for me in a 6.5 Swede. I have not tried them in any other calipers but have shot the SST bullets in a few other calipers with really great results.
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Old March 24, 2008, 10:00 PM   #6
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Those A-Maxes are sweet bullets, I love them. I shoot 'em in my -06 and 300 Win. Very good bullets and accurate as hell.
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Old March 25, 2008, 09:14 PM   #7
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Quote:
What are you shooting them in?
I'm will be shooting them in a 1927 '03 Springfield. With 168 gr SMK's , I can get very close to 1 inch at a hundred yards. Heck, sometimes I can get it in under an inch, but that is the exception rather than the rule. I'm hoping that the A-Max wil get me closer to less than an inch on a consistant basis.

I have my Garand in the safe, waiting for me to get around to fixing the rear sight, so I'm not the best source of load info for that rifle.

Quote:
One issue you will likely have to deal with is seating length.
I have noticed that the A-Max really sticks out of the case. They will not load into the magazine, but since I only shoot one round at a time anyway, I can single load. This rifle really seems to benefit from loading close to the rifling.
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Old March 26, 2008, 08:29 PM   #8
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My experience with Hornady A-max has been quite different. I found that they were not only inconsistent-even more so than the Sierra MKs of the same caliber and alleged weight- but the base to ogive length was wildly variable. The last disturbs me a lot more than a 5% weight variation. Even after culling half of the bullets I bought in 3 calibers, I did not get better groups than MKs in my rifles. Any maker can have some problems from time to time and bullets will vary a bit from lot to lot. People have told me Honady's jackets are not very consistent and that would tally with the performance I observed.

If you are going to be shooting match grade ammo in a true match rifle, you might want to look into getting true match grade hand swaged bullets from a maker like Hammond or BIB or even mass produced but closely inspected bullets from Berger or Shilen (outback) if your budget is a little tight. My budget is tight these days and so I have been shooting the Bergers and Shilens. They are as close to the hand made bullets as I have seen. Culls are running about 2% or so in both for me.
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Old March 26, 2008, 10:23 PM   #9
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I'm not at that level of shooting yet. I hope to get there someday. The more I shoot, the more I learn. I know that there is a whole 'nother level out there waiting for me to explore.
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Old March 28, 2008, 02:23 PM   #10
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I don't have decades of experience in this matter, as I'm fairly new to reloading, but I used the 168 AMax in my .308 with outstanding results. They seem to be very consistent.
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Old March 28, 2008, 07:54 PM   #11
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I'm hoping to sneak out early in the A.M. to try them out.
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Old March 28, 2008, 07:59 PM   #12
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In my one box of 168gr A-max bullets only 2 were not 168gr. and like you said mine were 167.9 and 168.1. So I would say that is darn good for a mass produced bullet. These are not the custom made benchrest bullets that go for more money.

Even though I did not get all that great accuracy with them. But I am working on loads for 155gr SMK, 135gr SMK 155gr Hornady and 168gr Hornady.

I need to order a batch of 110gr v-max bullets.
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Old March 30, 2008, 07:05 PM   #13
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Well, I just got back from the range. What a beautiful day to be outside. Temp is in the upper 60's, the air is clear because it rained yesterday and the wind is around 6mph with regular gusts to around 10mph.

As for the shooting, I would have to say that the A-Max were slightly more accurate than the SMK. To be honest, I have seen better groups out of the SMK than was shot today and I think the wind was the culprit. Can't say if the difference would hold up under different conditions.

I will have to make a choice though. Even though I loaded them as nearly the same as I could get them, the POI was surprisingly different. The A-Max shot a couple inches lower and left of the SMK's POI.

Since I still have a couple hundred of the A-Max, I will play around with OAL and powder choices, to see if I can get the groups to tighten up even more. Groups for the A-Max were running at about 1.5 inches at 100 yards behind 50.5 grains of Varget and right around 2 inches with the SMK's with the same powder and load.
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