Im just curious if anyone on here tried the A-Tip bullets from hornady on game this past year? Seen a few results reading but seeing more about personal experiences with it. Every other target bullet is used so lets hear what happened.........
Hunting & Fishing Any one hunt with hornady A-tips?
- Thread starter Schw15
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They act like the eldm? Stay off bone and be good? I was thinking 230 or 250 a-tip from 300 win mag from 2700 to 2850 and shoot antelope deer and elk. Ive had great luck with softer bullets running slower and staying off of bone but these seem like a 1 bullet do all if they work with hunting
For the most part yes stay away from bone and they don't tear up too much. Hit bone and they destroy a lot in a hurry. Went through my cow elk at 650 with about a silver dollar sized exit didn't hit any bone. Antelope was a head shot at 460 it wasn't pretty. Deer where hit in the shoulders between 60 and 300 yards. It dropped them where they stood it destroyed the shoulders though.
I didn't get much expansion on two heart shot Kansas whitetails, both big bodied deer. The doe ran 100 yards with no blood trail, only a few drops where she fell. Hit a rib on the way in, a rib and the upper leg bone on the way out. Not a very big hole in the heart. 2735 fps out of a 6.5 Creed 18" Bartlein. The doe was 165 yards, my buck was 340 yards. He went much farther with no blood either. Coyotes got him before I did.
First pic is entry on rib, second is entry on the heart, third is exit on heart, fourth is exit, last one is the doe. She was a big dry doe with no fawns. Had 2" of fat on her back and rump.
First pic is entry on rib, second is entry on the heart, third is exit on heart, fourth is exit, last one is the doe. She was a big dry doe with no fawns. Had 2" of fat on her back and rump.
Here is a video of it used on plains game.
Hornady doesn't make much that doesn't work so I don't know why ATips wouldn't work for you.
Hornady doesn't make much that doesn't work so I don't know why ATips wouldn't work for you.
Those were all head, neck, or spine shots. Just about any bullet would have the same results when you hit them there.
So bc you didn't actually watch the entire video I'll help you out. In the last 3rd of the video they showed a shot that was placed on the shoulder and also showed the external and internal views of what it did to the rib cage. Other than that, shot with an ATip is still an ATip. It's not a ballistic tipped bullet so it won't fishtail like an ELDX or a Terminal Ascent. Behaves similar to a MatchKing or any other match designed bullet, plenty of killshot pictures of those on the Hide.
I did watch the entire video and saw the internal damage that was up against the spine on the shot that you mentioned. I have seen a lot of kill pictures with the A-Tip and they must need heavier bone or more velocity than what I had on the two animals that I shot.
I have had great success with the 77gr SMK, 140 ELDM, and the 130 gr Norma Golden Target. I have settled on the 130 Norma as they do a lot of damage and have always given an exit at 6.5 Creedmoor velocities. The A-Tip is an amazingly accurate bullet, and I may try them againg out of a 6.5 saum or PRC. I have shot the 90 gr A-Tip out of my 22BR and am impressed with them, but the 75, 80, and 88gr ELDM do more damage at the velocities I shoot them at.
This isn't the first bad experience I've seen.
A few others have reported weak expansion on LR elk shots with good impact velocities.
I did some expansion tests out to 700 yards with 230 atip, and a bunch just bent while others totally fraged like an eldm
The SMK was mentioned as being a good hunting bullet, haven't used them myself but I've heard from good sources that they are prone to "bananaing"
At least the 230s are
My Dad shot a little Mulie last year with a 135 and it did and excellent job. Vitals hanging out the exit hole. 264WM from about 200yds
What was your MV on that 230 grain ATIP when you did those 700 meter tests?
That's what happens with an underpowered cartridge especially when hampered by a very short barrel .
Underpowered? A 6.5 at 100 yds with an 18" barrel?
Not underpowered for the task that it was assigned. Just that we sometimes ask too much out of a projectile in a role it wasn't designed for. Sometimes you get perfect terminal performance and sometimes you don't. Can't blame the design when you don't.
1. Shot placement (he had that covered).
2. Bullet construction
This is my son's hunting rifle, he's been hunting with it since he was 12. It's a 16" 260 Remington, arguably more underpowered than an 18" 6.5CM, particularly when shooting the 120-grain bullets that this little rifle craves and shoots so well. He has killed 4 mule deer and one cow elk with it since he started hunting, the closest one was 300 yards out. The first deer and elk were right around 500 yards.
For those who might want to know more about it, I've outlined it here:
A Rifle for Coldboremiracle Junior
putting together a rifle for my son's very first hunting rifle
coldboremiracle.com They look pretty close to the old Hornady A-Max bullets except the aluminum tip was bigger than the current bullet. Probably because the new bullet is designed for hunting?
I shot a lot of the old 168 A-Max bullets out of my 7-08 at the 500m ram silhouette, it was the hands down best at bucking the wind and downing the 60lb target.
I shot a lot of the old 168 A-Max bullets out of my 7-08 at the 500m ram silhouette, it was the hands down best at bucking the wind and downing the 60lb target.
The 120gr PVRI bullets you are using in that are amazingly accurate, just about impossible to get anymore.This is my son's hunting rifle, he's been hunting with it since he was 12. It's a 16" 260 Remington, arguably more underpowered than an 18" 6.5CM, particularly when shooting the 120-grain bullets that this little rifle craves and shoots so well. He has killed 4 mule deer and one cow elk with it since he started hunting, the closest one was 300 yards out. The first deer and elk were right around 500 yards.
For those who might want to know more about it, I've outlined it here:
A Rifle for Coldboremiracle Junior
putting together a rifle for my son's very first hunting rifle
Yessir they are, I love them, and you cannot beat the price. I bought almost a thousand of them a while back, just to make sure the boy has hunting ammo for life.
