Hornady 75gr Amax

[krw]

To make a long story short, I had a 223 built and had a throat put in it from here to next wk. I set this up explecitely for the Hornady 75gr HPBT match bullet. I picked up a quantity of 75gr Amax's and they need to seat in the case further so I'm going to have more jump the the lands. How Jump tollerant or the Hornady Amax bullets. With my measurements they will need to jump .040". I'll know this weekend for sure when I have some loaded up and try them.
Thanks krw

 

[Dustin Morris]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

Very jump tolerent, just rock and roll with what you have

 

[Sig685]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

Actually, that has not been my experience. While I consider the A-Max a fine bullet, I definitely would not consider it jump-tolerant. It is a secant ogive that lends itself to be seated quite close to the lands and while I never really jammed them in, I kept them very, very close and discovered they could be quite accurate that way. They are not true VLDs, but there is not much difference between them and VLDs. They like to be very close to the lands.

(Jrob300 is correct. Thanks for pointing it out.)

 

[HOGGHEAD]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

I shoot that bullet in my 1in8 Krieger in a 22-250. I have mine set .005 into the lands. That is where I have best accuracy. Farthest off the lands I tried was .010. Good accuracy is available with that bullet. But you have to sort them. Tom.

 

[Jon Lester]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

Had a Swift built for that bullet and at mag box length it was less than stellar in the SAKO. Seated to the lands however, it is one of the tightest I own. I modified the mag box!

 

[jrob300]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sig685</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Actually, that has not been my experience. While I consider the A-Max a fine bullet, I definitely would not consider it jump-tolerant. It is a <span style="font-weight: bold">tangent ogive</span> that lends itself to be seated quite close to the lands and while I never really jammed them in, I kept them very, very close and discovered they could be quite accurate that way. They are not true VLDs, but there is not much difference between them and VLDs. They like to be very close to the lands. </div></div>

If not mistaken, the Hornady's are secant ogive which is what VLD's are. Secant vs. Tangent

I loaded Nosler 77's, Sierra 77's and Hornady 75's for a M&P15. Same loads from 2500-2700 fps, magazine tolerant OAL, 10 round groups. Every load: Noslers best, Sierra next, Harnady's not even close. Nosler are tangent ogive which is gently curved, the Sierra's are in between, Hornady's are very pointy with a sharp shoulder. Coincidence? Maybe.

So far I've had trouble getting secant ogives to run in my 300 also. US military just approved the 220g SMK (tangent ogive) over the 210g SMK (secant ogive) despite the 210's superior ballistic coefficient because it was "more forgiving".

Food for thought.

John

 

[Goin'Hot]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

I did some testing with 75 grain AMax's in my 223 AI yesterday. I found them to be VERY tolerant of a jump. I am 0.075" off the lands and my best group was an even 0.500" at 3050fps. The load meets my ballistic requirements so I'm running with it. It may shoot better closer to the lands but, I don't need it to.

Hit an 8" piece of steel 10 of 10 times today at 500 yds. All indications from paint removal shows it holding better than 1/2 moa at that distance.

 

[Sig685]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jrob300</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
If not mistaken, the Hornady's are secant ogive which is what VLD's are.
(snip)
John </div></div>

You are totally correct. I claim temporary insanity; I was visualizing the secant ogive of the A-Max, its straight lines and of course wrote tangent. Thanks for catching that and setting me straight.

And yes, VLDs and the A-max with their secant ogives are nowhere as jump tolerant as the regular tangent ogives. You have to seat them very close to the lands. In fact for the true VLDs, and it can certainly be debated whether the A-Max is a true VLD, I seat the VLD into the lands by as much as .020.

I can see where the military would not want to do that as all rifles are going to have different throats, if not at manufacture, then certainly over time. I continue to measure the throats of my VLD-shooting rifles and adjust the seating die accordingly over time.

 

[jrob300]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sig685</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In fact for the true VLDs, and it can certainly be debated whether the A-Max is a true VLD, I seat the VLD into the lands by as much as .020.</div></div>

Temporary insanity granted

I live there most of the time.

I might categorize the AMAX as a hybrid, perhaps it's own class.

Question/mini-hijack: when I was doing load dev. for my 300 I was running AMAX's out .050" from the lands. They did not shoot horrible, just not what I wanted to end with (200 SMK's are around 1/2 moa, 5 shot groups) Do you think it's worth going back and running them closer?

thanks

John

 

[Sig685]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

I have completely turned over to JLK for the last couple of years, but I keep hearing good reports on the A-Maxes, especially at heavier weights. For instance the 208 A-Maxes mat be somthing you want to look at to compare to the 200gr SMK. (I sure hope you are talking 30 cal here.)

 

[jrob300]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sig685</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have completely turned over to JLK for the last couple of years, but I keep hearing good reports on the A-Maxes, especially at heavier weights. For instance the 208 A-Maxes mat be somthing you want to look at to compare to the 200gr SMK. (I sure hope you are talking 30 cal here.) </div></div>

Funny you should say that. The guy I got the Amax's from could not get them to run either and he has over 1000 210 JLK's (yes, .308!) He hurt his shoulder and can't shoot his 300WSM for awhile and has offered me the JLK's as well. I'm considering trying them, but the 200 smk's are shooting sweet and I don't want to shoot out my barrel doing load development.

sorry for the hijack

John

 

[Sig685]

Re: Hornady 75gr Amax

I've tried the 200SMKs and they shot nice enough but not as well as the JLKs. I used them in F-class LR.

Whatever you do, DO NOT TRY THE JLKs, because you will hurt youself kicking your own butt for taking so long to try them out.

I use the 180s JLKs now for F-Class LR.