Hornady DGX not performing......

[BRICKBURN]

I believe @AKSloper71 took his 9.3x74r to Namibia last year. I don't remember what bullets he used and can't find the thread, but I bet he has some good info.

Wayne,

I highly recommend the 9.3x74R for African game. I had amazing performance with mine on my recent hunt in Namibia and I'll have to say that I was pleasantly surprised as I had never used that caliber nor had I used that particular rifle on a hunt before. ............

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/ruger-number-one.34084/#post-321350

 

[Philip Glass]

I had terrible results on accuracy with Hornady ammo in my .375 Ruger. Terrible! I never hunted with the Hornady ammo because I had Safari Arms load custom ammo for me with Nosler Accubond and Northfork Solids. While on safari I had numerous PH's tell me of Hornady bullet failures on DG. Not something a person wants to gamble on!
Regards,
Philip

 

[rafaellinne]

I hunted 5 cape buffalo with my double .500 NE and hornady factory ammo (DGX first shot) and had to follow just one (Just one shot). We found it stone dead after 15 min. Maybe 5 buffalo is not enough to say if the bullet is good or not, but they worked for me. I shot other animals (impalas and zebras) and the bullet did the job, but as a .500 NE is too much gun for smaller animals, It doesn't necessary mean the bullet performed good.

 

[ActionBob]

This is excellent Phil. What we as hunters need to understand is that bullets are designed to preform differently. As EXAMPLE, Barnes TSX and Nosler Partitions are very different bullets and designed to preform very differently under different conditions. IMO Both are excellent bullets when used under the conditions for which they are designed. But both also experience failures when they are used in applications they are not designed for.
IMO when Hornaday bullets are used in the application and optimum thresholds for which they designed, they preform very well. If impact energy is pushed, they it appears they will come apart. I personally would not take that chance. And, I also would not take the chance with with a TSX bullet in a rifle with a low impact energy either.
Use bullets that are designed to preform based on what the specific application is and do not stretch those limits on the upper or lower end of the design.

I used their GMX in my 375 H&H and in their fast factory ammo, Superformance. If you follow the thought that a bullet should be loaded properly for it's construction, one would hope the manufacturer would get it correct. I wanted a fast 375 load for leopard that would expand. And one that would be tough enough for eland and sable.
the damned things failed on all counts. Got a dead leopard in one shot but the bullet had fragmented. And I got all kinds of mess out of the eland. Bent and un-expanded bullets, fragmented bullets....

 

[IdaRam]

Yikes Bob! Glad things worked out like they did.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Yeah if a bullet fails on a whitetail is one thing, but on DG it can be a life threatening disaster. Too much on the line to risk it IMO, and Hornady has to know about these issues by now, it is harder to find someone who had a good experience then a bad one.

 

[JamesJ]

@ActionBob, wow really the GMX? It's my favorite Hornady bullet and their most consistent, accuracy was mediocre at best but it worked.

 

[Foxi]

I hunted 5 cape buffalo with my double .500 NE and hornady factory ammo (DGX first shot) and had to follow just one (Just one shot). We found it stone dead after 15 min. Maybe 5 buffalo is not enough to say if the bullet is good or not, but they worked for me.

So far as I remember,the freak-value is always Hornady .
Their DGX bullets to kill safe Big Game constantly .
We don't discuss (since years) about :
Woodleigh,Swift A-Frame ,Barnes, Nosler Partition, Degol and some others
But look at the price,compare these with Hornady bullets and you know,that Hornady can not be a member in the champions league.

I use Hornday ,I like it,it has worked .
But a Mercedes has an other quality as a Nissan .And the last is really not bad.
Foxi

 

[johnnyblues]

All to common story on Hornady bullets on DG. Ask Hornady and they will tell you they have heard no reports on their bullet failing. I know because I called them. Bottom line use Hornady on deer, pigs, elk etc but not on Buffalo or similar.

 

[LivingTheDream]

That's crazy to me they say they have never heard of a problem. Everyone who has really used it has had a problem and many have bullet recovery pictures so this isn't just hearsay.

 

[johnnyblues]

I know. I told them to check our forum. They had no interest at all

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I know. I told them to check our forum. They had no interest at all

One word: Litigation

Or at least the fear thereof.

 

[gizmo]

This is what we found in the buffalo after the client gave it a “perfect shot” with his 458Win… needless to say his perfect shot was not as fatal as we hoped due to very bad bullet performance. It looked like the bullet just broke up after impact and had very little penetration. I have used the Hornady DGS before to great success but looks as if the softs are just too soft for the job. View attachment 181647

Join the club brother. I had complete failure with that garbage DGX. Funny enough Hornady told me they had "never heard of such a problem" and pretty much said I had done something wrong. Huh looks like your another one of us mythical people who have problems with their junk DG series ammo.

 

[gizmo]

Here is pics of the recovered bullets from my lion non the less. The best bullet in the group was a DGS which actually expanded.

This and the next pic was actually a DGS. 5 of the 7 rounds I shot into the lion were recovered other two were pass through. 4 DGX and 1 DGS were recovered . I fired 5 DGXand 2 DGS

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@gizmo, what caliber and bullet weight?

 

[ActionBob]

Hornady told me they had "never heard of such a problem" and pretty much said I had done something wrong.

Yup, you shot big dangerous animals with their ammo.

 

[gizmo]

@gizmo, what caliber and bullet weight?

416 Ruger @ 400 grains both DGS, DGX

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Would find it hard to believe all 5 of the recovered bullets from @gizmo's lion , and perhaps none, impacted bone to cause this.

 

[PeteG]

looks like the jacket of the DGS broke down... not good.

I have put a measly total of 20 rounds of DGX, through my 416Rigby.
All target shooting, but what i did was compare A-Frame's to DGX into the same compacted sand contraption. there were merely fragments of DGX recovered, the jackets that did stay together somewhat had no lead left in them. The A-Frame however stayed together as advertised and pretty much perfectly mushroomed.
I have now shot the Peregrines into a slightly harder more abrasive sand mix and they were perfect mushrooms.
I cannot bring myself to even contemplate any hornady ammo for hunting.
I would strongly recommend from some of the reports on here and my experience that who ever is contemplating using their ammo, to think twice.

 

[Royal27]

416 Ruger @ 400 grains both DGS, DGX

And .17 HMR @ 20 grains recovered.