Hornady 458 Bonded DGX

[CZDiesel]

Looking for honest feed back from anyone who has used the Horandy DGX Bonded on African game… Any feed back is welcome but specifically in 458 Win Mag or other Dangerous Game cartridges!
I already know of the low belief in it with the Non-Bonded bullets that tarnished its reputation but I’m looking for feedback on the new Bonded DG rounds on DG…
Thanks!!!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Excellent in every way. I honestly can't believe that it took Hornady so long to finally design a premium expanding bullet. You won't be disappointed with this one.

 

[Nhoro]

It is a decent bullet. Quite a few members use the DGX especially in doubles. They have a conventional round nose shape..I think the A frame and bear claw are tougher bullets because of their design ie the partition or solid base.

 

[HuntingFreak]

I look forward to seeing some thoughts here as I just picked up a box for my .416 REM and was hoping to run both solids and softs from Hornady. I’m a Nebraska guy so I’m a little biased towards Hornady but would 100% shoot something else if guys don’t have great experiences using them. Following.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Gun articles in 2075: “There are questions about the reliability of the 458 Win Mag not reaching appropriate velocities. These failures led Jack Lott to develop his namesake cartridge. Despite reassurances that the issues with the 458 Win Mag were resolved with improvements in powders, I opt for the 458 Lott as it provides that extra bit of case capacity”.

Ammo articles in 2075: “Doubts remain about the reliability of the DGX bullet. These doubts can be traced to the early DGX which was a non-bonded bullet which led to a number of notable failures. Hornady switched to a bonded design in 2018, which proponents claim resolved the earlier concerns. Reports on the real-world performance seem to show this is now a reliable bullet however occasional failures are still seen and hunts are expensive while bullets are cheap. A professional hunter friend of mine was nearly killed when his client shot a buffalo in the scrotum with a DGX. A second shot in the left ham failed to stop the beast. Fortunately, the PH was armed with a 470 nitro express loaded with solids and gave the enraged animal a left and a right, dropping the bull at his feet. While it makes for a good story around the campfire, neither the PH or the client will ever use the DGX again.”

 

[Monski]

Gun articles in 2075: “There are questions about the reliability of the 458 Win Mag not reaching appropriate velocities. These failures led Jack Lott to develop his namesake cartridge. Despite reassurances that the issues with the 458 Win Mag were resolved with improvements in powders, I opt for the 458 Lott as it provides that extra bit of case capacity”.

Ammo articles in 2075: “Doubts remain about the reliability of the DGX bullet. These doubts can be traced to the early DGX which was a non-bonded bullet which led to a number of notable failures. Hornady switched to a bonded design in 2018, which proponents claim resolved the earlier concerns. Reports on the real-world performance seem to show this is now a reliable bullet however occasional failures are still seen and hunts are expensive while bullets are cheap. A professional hunter friend of mine was nearly killed when his client shot a buffalo in the scrotum with a DGX. A second shot in the left ham failed to stop the beast. Fortunately, the PH was armed with a 470 nitro express loaded with solids and gave the enraged animal a left and a right, dropping the bull at his feet. While it makes for a good story around the campfire, neither the PH or the client will ever use the DGX again.”

This is pretty damn funny and probably prophetic! I thought at first the 2075 was a typo.

 

[Rafiki]

These were taken from 2 buffalo. I was very much a proponent of DGX as it has many of the features that I was looking for; large flat meplat, bonded, same dimensions as its sibling solid.

The bullets shown here were all 510cal, 570gr going at 2150fps and impact at less than 50yrds; and yes they did the job. what I did not expect is that the DGX lost a lot of weight where the Woodleigh's did not.

Would I use DGX again? Probably but I'm now going away from the more traditionally constructed bullets to monoliths; something I know near nothing about.

 

[Nhoro]

My brother has used Hornady DGS to take somewhere between 15 and 20 elephant with his 416 Rigby. He works on a conservancy and they do some control work.

 

[Andrew62]

I was hunting in SA three years ago, the guide took a cape buffalo using a 416 with DGX, it knocked the bull flat on its side. Since witnessing that, I have taken 3 cape buffalo using 300 grain Hornady DGX out of my .375H&H, I would not hesitate to use DGX ammo again. All 3 taken were basically one shot kills. The other 2 ammo choices I have had great success on buffalo are Barnes TSX and Swift Aframes.

 

[TTundra]

Used one on Buffalo in a 460 Wby at 2500 fps. Higher lung hit but he ran maybe 50 yards before dropping and then a finishing shot. Very happy with their performance.

 

[Puddle]

Excellent in every way. I honestly can't believe that it took Hornady so long to finally design a premium expanding bullet. You won't be disappointed with this one.

Likely one of the factors for why it took so long was input from a buffalo hunter and hunting writer that opined the non-bonded version was just dandy and he didn't see the point of bonding the DGX. Only later did he admit the DGX-Bonded was a better bullet.

 

[Luvthunt]

Hornady tardiness on bonding is puzzling.

 

[skydiver386]

I don't know guys. Bonded or not, if someone shot me in the scrotum with a .458 I'd go down and not get back up for quite a while.

 

[Puddle]

Hornady tardiness on bonding is puzzling.

What's even more puzzling to me is the DGX is the only bonded bullet in Hornady's entire line.
Thank goodness I still have a small pile of .30 165 grain Interbond.

 

[abe]

Looking for honest feed back from anyone who has used the Horandy DGX Bonded on African game… Any feed back is welcome but specifically in 458 Win Mag or other Dangerous Game cartridges!
I already know of the low belief in it with the Non-Bonded bullets that tarnished its reputation but I’m looking for feedback on the new Bonded DG rounds on DG…
Thanks!!!

This is a 500 grain DGX in 458 lot used on buffalo a few weeks ago. The buffalo was shot broadside at about 60 yards. The speed was about 2200 f/s

 

[IvW]

Still way behind proper premium expanding bullets......at 458 wm velocities it should be ok....not a premium expanding bullet by a long shot......

 

[CZDiesel]

This is a 500 grain DGX in 458 lot used on buffalo a few weeks ago. The buffalo was shot broadside at about 60 yards. The speed was about 2200 f/s

View attachment 614880
View attachment 614881

How was the penetration?

 

[abe]

The bullet was found in the skin on the opposite side.