Hornady Superformance Lead free

Anyone tried them, good, bad, likes, dislikes

I have a chance to pick up several boxes cheap from a friend and if nothing else I can shoot it and use it for reloading

I have not used those, but I would not hesitate to buy and try. No down side imo.

I agree but was wondering how they perform on game because he has enough that even as much as I shoot I will most likely have leftovers by hunting season

Isn't the Hornady Superformance supposed to be a step up in ballistics from standard ammo?

If they are lead free they must be the GMX bullet. Sounds like a winner to me. Only downside I can think of is if your rifle doesn't like them. I would take the chance. Be nice to try 1 box to see how they group then proceed. Good luck

Yep .338 win mag 185 grain GMX Bullet he has 25 boxes and wants 10 dollars a box

I'd be on it like white on rice!

I did tell him I would take it all as soon as he asked me if I would like to buy it because even if my gun doesn’t like it it’s cheap enough to shoot and then reload the brass for something that does

I just have never used any lead free bullets so wonder just how they work on game

He got rid of his 338 because it kicked to much, I never really thought mine kicked all that hard, but then I also shoot a 577 nitro express for fun just don’t do it all day long because it does get a little bit painful the next day lol

I gotta find some friends like that! I've been thinking about making the switch to lead free rifle ammo, but at $35+ a box, I'm hesitant to take the leap. I'll know in 3 or 4 rounds if my gun likes it, and if it doesn't, I'm out a chunk of change. To try 3 or 4 boxes, I'd have serious money invested.

Would be cool to have 3 or 4 friends with the same calibee to each buy a box, then get together and each take a few rounds to see what each gun likes. Get to try different ammo without buying so much.

338? 557? Boy you Minnesota deer must be a lot larger than our puny Pa deer? Do they have horns or tusks?.......jk

If lead free they have to be the GMX bullets, as mentioned. Hornady produced this line to have an option for areas that require “no lead bullets”. Because they tend to run warm there are 3 pressure relief rings around the bullet. If your rifle likes them you’re set. You will not likely recover a bullet as they tend to pass through n keep on trucking. That said, when tested bullet weight retention is very high. One thing about these bullets, you’ll notice the bullet weight is significantly less than a standard “lead” bullet, as the lead free compound is not as dense , thus weighing less. Bullet weight is a big deal to some shooters/hunters.

Dude a .338 you can load with wet toilet paper to stop the powder from falling out and it will still knock a deer over. My little 6.5 Grendel is a nice deer round with those lead free boolits. I am sure the .338 will do the trick as well. If you can coax them out of their ADC Armored Deer Carrier.

I use a 308 for deer, sometimes a 45/70, but I like big guns and the 577 was my grandpas, hopefully some
Day I will get to use it for what it was built for till then it comes out on occasion to make noise at the range

By the way it’s not for sale and never will be

Don't worry in the least about that ammo on deer or any other north American game, those bullets are designed for deep penetration and slow expansion. As stated earlier they most likely will bore a hole through a deer and keep on truckin, so keep that in mind. They will most likely do less damage then a cup and core lead bullet unless you hit large bone then all bets are off and you will have some mess on your hands.

Is your 577 a double? Would love to see a pic of it either way if possible. Thanks

Yes it’s a double made by Army & Navy so not worth as much as say a Holland & Holland but it was GP’s and that makes it price less, GP some how acquired it when he was overseas during WW1 and if the stories are true he packed it along through most of the war broken down in his gear

I will post some pics when I get off the road and get back home

Just a PS thanks for the info on the kind of performance of the bullets that’s what I was looking for, I bought the gun for elk and maybe some day a grizzly or brown bear which I have been saving up for

Ok, sounds good.

This is the first I've heard this ammo, but if they are anything like the Barnes TSX they will probably be a good bullet.
One thing about the TSX to keep in mind though; they fail to expand very much (if at all) once the velocity drops below about 1800fps.
In many cases that will prevent them from being a long range bullet. You might be able to punch a hole in what you're shooting at but it might not be considered an ethical shot.

Thanks waggler that’s good to know and something to keep in mind though I seem to not get long shots, I can make them just fine but for some reason everything I shoot seems to end up at archery range or even rock chucking range like the last 2 deer I shot one at 25 feet or so and the other exactly 5 steps from where I sat down under a tree to eat lunch

Thanks waggler that’s good to know and something to keep in mind though I seem to not get long shots, I can make them just fine but for some reason everything I shoot seems to end up at archery range or even rock chucking range like the last 2 deer I shot one at 25 feet or so and the other exactly 5 steps from where I sat down under a tree to eat lunch
[/quote]

I'll take those shots over long range all day long. I'd rather be a better hunter than a long range shooter.

I have shot them in the 243 as well as in the 6.5 creedmoor and they have worked on deer and antelope very well. Make sure to check your zero as they typically shoot quite a bit faster than a standard load, therefore usually shooting higher than normal. I believe they use a blended power to get velocities that most re-loaders can't get to.

Gun Nut

I'll take those shots over long range all day long. I'd rather be a better hunter than a long range shooter.[/quote]


My dad usually referred to it as hunters luck because it’s almost always due to a change in where or when I hunt like this last years deer which was taken on public land which when I showed up opening morning (late) all the spots I had picked as good stand sites had hunters already sitting on them so what’s a hunter to do, instead of going home or driving to a different area I instead walked down about 50 yards from the parking area to where a small stream crossed the road, this was a low area filled with waist high swamp grass and a few patches of small birch trees and red willow where I sat down under the biggest birch tree about 25 yards in from the road

Well literally just about the time I caught my breath I heard something coming through the tall grass and when it got to the small area of birch trees it stepped out of the grass into the relitive open area under the group of trees just steps away, a nice for our area 9 point buck, I had been tracking him through the grass with the scope and worrying about him getting so close that I couldn’t see him in the scope or that he would pass by through the tall grass with all I could see being an occasional bit of his back above the top of the grass

But when he stepped out into the open facing me almost head on I took the shot offered which went in on the left side right back of the front leg and exited the other side in front of the rear leg and he dropped on the spot

Total elapsed time from when I arrived to the time I loaded him into the back of my vehicle 38 minutes

Once is a fluke twice happenstance, but when it happens regularly not just with deer but bear and other both large and small game it’s like my dad said hunters luck

I see no reason to abandon what works for me, which is cup and core lead bullets. I did load some copper bullets when they first came out. They work well, just cost too much. First time I tried them was in a 7-08. Made a double head shot on two doe deer. Legally.