Guys,

Some time back I replied to something or asked for information from Hornady and recently Ive been getting a LOT of email from them promoting their products or from them reminding us of how well people they sponsor are doing in competition.

This is fine as I'm a big fan of their products.

I'm interested in your feedback on their most recent products, namely:

http://www.hornady.com/store/Superformance-NewAmmo

The above ammo cited a "Superformance"

Basically in the UK we always take an age to catch up with you guys so I dont expect to see these products on the shelves over here for some time but to my way of thinking the information they have given raises a couple of questions:

Firstly is anyone buying this in the US?

It seem's quite expensive to me as an example - I'm a fan of 100gn or 120gn 25/06 ammo but the prices between $39.31 and $45.97 for a box of 20 bring these in at between $196.55 and $229.85 per 100 - by the time those get across the pond they will be £ for $'s or more

.243 is similar with ammo at between $35 and $41.60 per box or .308 where it varies between $36.11 and $49.59

So are you buying it and is it worth the price?

Given that the main feature seems to be about a 100fps advantage on what they consider to be "conventional" ammo is it a solution in search of a problem that doesn't really exist?

Secondly, Hornady seem to be attributing this this enhanced performance on a new generation of propellant powders, so my other question is, have Hornady (or anyone else) made available or been advertising new powders that have enhanced performance that may be purchased by handloaders?

If there is something on this line can you please share this with me?

Your thoughts please?

I had an interesting discussion with a fellow on a stalking board in the UK about this. It came up in the context of a discussion about the 6,5x55 and its use in the UK. It has a gained a reputation, if you believe the board, as an ineffective cartridge for deer. When push came to shove though, we found that many of these relatively small species were being hit with bullets that were of too heavy construction. The fellows who killed deer readily were shooting plain old JSP's and JHP's and not any structurally re enforced bullets. We concluded that in 90% of the cases, these "ultra performance" bullets were a bit of hype and over-kill when it came to deer.

Of course, all the deer I've killed over the last decade and a half have been with cast bullets so I may be prejudiced....~AMMOe

I think they just renamed the "Light Magnum" and "Heavy Magnum" labels from previously offered items, at least that's what I read elsewhere.

As far as getting the powders, nope, they have it blended to the specs they want, to get the results they want. They can have, by dint of buying bunches of it, practically anything they want.

I've taken their plant tour twice, seen them making bullets, but they don't allow anyone into the loading rooms for producing ammo, no doubt for liability reasons, or for some corporate secrets (are really long drop tubes an industrial secret?? )



I've only tried one box of the Light Magnum stuff, some 140 gr. .270s, and I wasn't particularly impressed. Accuracy in my rifle was only mediocre compared to the handloads I like, and that bullet had already done a poor job on deer, twice, for me in another rifle, so I've abandoned it. I still have the better part of a box of the bullets left on the shelf, in fact.

Critters never seem to notice the extra 100fps either & in some cases 100fps slower actually shoot better groups. Seems with more powder you would have more carbon too. Just my ideas on it.

So no big fans of it herer then?

AMMOe, whch uk site, I might like to have look at that thread.

Shame the powders aren't available though

Newest Rifle magazines says its not just a rename of the Light/Heavy mag stuff. Totally different powder blend and less expensive to produce. Doesn't require compressing like the LH mag stuff did.