Problems with the A MAX

[sniperjwt]

I heard a couple years ago that the A Max was a good hunting bullet but have had some problems. Here is what happened. I shot a nice buck at about 45 yards with my 7mm STW with the A Max going about 3350 FPS. The deer did the normal jump kick and off he went in the woods. After waiting about 30-45 minutes just sure he was dead not far in the woods we went in looking for him. We found a blood trail and started tracking. After about 200 yards the blood had run dry and we did a canvas search for another couple of hours but came up empty. The cross hairs were on his sholder when i squeezed the trigger but i cant figure out why this did not put him down. I had a friend in the stand with me and he said the shot was perfect but obviously the outcome was not.
The other expierence was my brother shot a doe with his 7mm RUM at 180 yards. It was a frontal shot and he hit her perfect in the chest but to our surprise she did not fall. She run about 150 yards before finally laying down and expireing. Apon examanation her chest was all blown up but there was little damage to anything vital so she must have died from blood loss. Now i know the frontal shot is not the best but if placed where this one was between the sholders then it should drop most any deer.
I was just wondering if i was the only one having the same issues with the A Max bullets. Oh his MV is 3300fps. Thanks

 

[Varminator 911]

At those velocities the amax is a varmint bullet not a game bullet. See the recent post on Bergers at close range. At high velocity both the berger and amax can blow up without reaching the chest cavity. At close range you need a tougher bullet like the accubond or TSX.

The amax would be better at about 600 yds and beyond. Out there the lower velocity would increase the chances of adequate penetration.

 

[liltank]

At those velocities the amax is a varmint bullet not a game bullet. See the recent post on Bergers at close range. At high velocity both the berger and amax can blow up without reaching the chest cavity. At close range you need a tougher bullet like the accubond or TSX.

The amax would be better at about 600 yds and beyond. Out there the lower velocity would increase the chances of adequate penetration.

+1 I have yet to hit anything short range, but it got plenty of penetration at 600yrds. I use the 208 A-max in a 300WSM.

Tank

 

[Michael Eichele]

The amax bullet on game at those velocities IS a huge problem. It was designed as a match bullet that Hornady also said would work well on up to deer size critters and that is true with average muzzle velocities. When you run them at hyper velocities you WILL run into problems at short range. A simple solution is to run Interbonds for close up and amaxs when the velocity slows down at LR.

I am a huge fan of the amax for hunting. Since my main weapon of choice is a 308 which has much less starting velocity and I like to shoot game at LR with it the amax makes sense because it will expand at very low velocities. I am not a huge fan of them at high velcoity impacts. I have been known to take a few deer with the 178 at 300 RUM velocities and with 100% success but I also did not connect with any bone. After seeing what happened to the bullets at that speed without hitting bone, I decided the high velocity mags were best when used with accubonds, interbonds, TSXs and similar.

 

[tackb]

the amax is a spendid bullet (lower velocity) it just isnt tough enough at the velocitys your using . At 45 yds i would have head or neck shot it probably?

personally i don't like the front on shot , its just to risky , if i did take it i would go for a neck shot most likely?

your problem if you change to a tougher bullet will be a pencil hole through the deer at longer range and as this is a long range forum i'm guessing your into longer range stuff? so i would stick with the amax but pick my shots at close range?

unfortunately there is no such thing as a high bc bullet that will expand well at long range but not blow up at short range , it's asking a lot of a bullet!

just my opinion?

 

[JUDD]

The amax bullet on game at those velocities IS a huge problem. It was designed as a match bullet that Hornady also said would work well on up to deer size critters and that is true with average muzzle velocities. When you run them at hyper velocities you WILL run into problems at short range. A simple solution is to run Interbonds for close up and amaxs when the velocity slows down at LR.

I am a huge fan of the amax for hunting. Since my main weapon of choice is a 308 which has much less starting velocity and I like to shoot game at LR with it the amax makes sense because it will expand at very low velocities. I am not a huge fan of them at high velcoity impacts. I have been known to take a few deer with the 178 at 300 RUM velocities and with 100% success but I also did not connect with any bone. After seeing what happened to the bullets at that speed without hitting bone, I decided the high velocity mags were best when used with accubonds, interbonds, TSXs and similar.

I agree...to fast to close for this bullet...I had the same thing happen a few years back with an STW...Luckily (or not) the deer ran into a 12 year old kid and he dropped it with a 30/30. Would have been my biggest buck to date...Oh well it made one hell of a deer for this youngsters 1st one and taught me a costly lesson

 

[sniperjwt]

Thanks for the responces so here is my problem then i hunt at a place where the deer could walk out at 10 yards or 800 yards Just trying to find a bullet that can cover that range. I switched to the Bergers after the above stated problems. They worked great on the deer i shot at 580 and 300 this year but seems like a lot of people are haveing problems out of them at the shorter ranges. I guess the first company that can make a high BC bullet that workes perfect on game close and far at any velocity will make a fortune huh. lol

 

[Dust_Remover]

I got a buck this year at about 40 yards or so with a 208amax at just under 2600fps, and it performed flawlessly. It went through the deer, and had zero fragmentation that I could make out. I think it's the velocities you are hitting those deer at that are causing those bullets to be so ineffective.

Branden

 

[Coyboy]

at those velocities and ranges I would only be shooting broadside deer thru the lungs at least 4-6 inches behind the shoulder bones, with the a-max.

If you hit the lower half of the scapula with anything other than a bonded bullet you would likly have similar results to what you described.

I had a 180 berger out of my 7 rum detonate on the scapula knucle of a large mule deer buck at 826 yards. It is like shooting a rock.

 

[Jayhawk]

This was the first year for the 208 Amax for me. My buck at 518 yards had 2 massive internal wounds and two exits. My 2 does, 1 @ 80 yds. and 1 @ 100yds. also had massive exit hole in them. Shot out of a 300 wm @ 3000fps. Both does dropped on the spot and the buck went 30 yds. Hopefully fill a couple more tags a little farther out.

 

[Buffalobob]

Sniperjwt

Hornady has made over the years three different versions of this bullet. I would be interested to know when you bought the bullets so I can trace it back to which version you are shooting.

There is a fairly large club of Ex-Amax shooters.

 

[sniperjwt]

I belive i purchased these around 2005 if that helps any.

 

[Buffalobob]

You go to their website and look at this exact bullet and you encounter this statement

*Match bullets are not recommended for hunting medium & large game

I suspect jacket thickness did not change


However you can find the same statement on Sierra's Website.

 

[sniperjwt]

You go to their website and look at this exact bullet and you encounter this statement



I suspect jacket thickness did not change


However you can find the same statement on Sierra's Website.

yea that statement is the reason i switched to the hunting bullet from Berger