Bullets that well advertised but were not that great

[PHOENIX PHIL]

A great bullet will not make up for poor marksmanship, but a bad bullet can undo a good shot. Both factors count.

And the truth shall set you free!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Well it's Friday, so why not stir up the pot a bit. I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned the original non-bonded Hornday DGX. I wouldn't hunt gophers with that bullet.

 

[steve white]

Well it's Friday, so why to stir up the pot a bit. I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned the original non-bonded Hornday DGX. I wouldn't hunt gophers with that bullet.

Before the thread got really going, I would have bet $5 that most of the entries would be Hornady...didn't turn out exactly that way, but I''m with you. I've been particularly unlucky with the Interlock.

 

[Safari Dave]

Well it's Friday, so why to stir up the pot a bit. I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned the original non-bonded Hornday DGX. I wouldn't hunt gophers with that bullet.

Mine worked perfectly on my one and only cape buffalo. (one-shot kill)

I guess, I put the bullet just where it needed to be.



I put a couple more bullets in it, at distance, just for insurance, but the old DGX did just fine for me.




Based on what I've heard, I wouldn't use them now, but they worked just perfectly for me in 2021.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Before the thread got really going, I would have bet $5 that most of the entries would be Hornady...didn't turn out exactly that way, but I''m with you. I've been particularly unlucky with the Interlock.

I haven't used any of their bullets so I won't comment on them. The new DGX bonded seems to have good reviews. But I'll just stick with my North Fork bonded cores and Swift A-Frames. Bonded bullets are certainly not needed for smaller PG, but they'll still kill them quite quickly and I prepare for the big boys.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Mine worked perfectly on my one and only cape buffalo. (one-shot kill)

I guess, I put the bullet just where it needed to be.



I put a couple more bullets in it, at distance, just for insurance, but the old DGX did just fine for me.




Based on what I've heard, I wouldn't use them now, but they worked just perfectly for me in 2021.

They worked for lots of people. But they also failed for a number of hunters at a rate I personally would not accept. You can ask @gizmo about his experience with them on a lion.

I honestly have never read of a failure of a NF bonded core or A-Frame. Certainly its possible it's happened, but I've never read or heard of it.

 

[ftrovato]

Mine worked perfectly on my one and only cape buffalo. (one-shot kill)

I guess, I put the bullet just where it needed to be.



I put a couple more bullets in it, at distance, just for insurance, but the old DGX did just fine for me.




Based on what I've heard, I wouldn't use them now, but they worked just perfectly for me in 2021.

I've heard from PH's that they have seen examples of the DGX's pancaking and not penetrating....(just 3rd person from me I only target practice with them)

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I am not a fan of Winchester Silver Tips, at all. On my life’s first African safari to Kenya in 1974, I lost a very big African male lion (which we had baited by employing a zebra stallion) when I made a frontal chest shot with a 300Gr Winchester Silver Tip factory load fired from a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. Later, my white hunter followed up and finished off the wounded cat. A postmortem revealed that the 300Gr Winchester Silver Tip bullet had completely broken apart & disintegrated into pieces without penetrating some 3.5” through the lion’s adrenaline filled hardened chest muscles. That one incident immediately made me swear off Winchester Silver Tips for life.

The pre 1970 Winchester Silver Tips used a proprietary jacketing material made from a combination of copper, nickel & zinc. There were excellent. After 1970 (up until the discontinuation of Winchester Silver Tips in 1999), Winchester (in an ill perceived attempt at cutting down manufacturing costs) decided to switch to an aluminum jacket for their Silver Tip bullets. Quality immediately deteriorated overnight.


These old Winchester Super Speed and Remington Klean Bore 300Gr copper jacketed flat nosed FMJ solids for the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum (last manufactured in 1981) were also absolutely deplorable for hunting anything which actually mandated a solid bullet. The jackets were absolutely guaranteed to split upon upon striking elephant skulls & shoulder bones, Cape buffalo skulls & shoulder bones and hippopotamus shoulder bones. Bullets were also prone to breaking clean in half at the cannelure.

 

[Safari Dave]

This just goes to show that "anecdotal evidence" does not amount to anything...


Winchester Silvertips have preformed flawlessly for me on game in America. Based on my experience, I would use them without hesitation on light skinned/boned animals, including big-cats.




If I remember correctly, Peter Chapstick said that he pried the "silvertip" off when he was hunting leopard, because they wouldn't expand enough.



HH - you have MUCH more experience than me, so I will defer to you on this subject...

 

[Hunter-Habib]

This just goes to show that "anecdotal evidence" does not amount to anything...


Winchester Silvertips have preformed flawlessly for me on game in America. Based on my experience, I would use them without hesitation on light skinned/boned animals, including big-cats.




If I remember correctly, Peter Chapstick said that he pried the "silvertip" off when he was hunting leopard, because they wouldn't expand enough.



HH - you have MUCH more experience than me, so I will defer to you on this subject...

Safari Dave, were you using the Winchester Silver Tips with the copper-nickel-zinc jacket or the Winchester Silver Tips with the aluminum jacket ?

Even if I do not like Winchester Silver Tips, I strongly believe that a man must be absolutely fair when criticizing anything. I will fully submit that for American deer (white tail, black tail, mule), elk and black bear (but not grizzly/Kodiak bears)… the Winchester Silver Tip (even the one with the aluminum jacket) will work satisfactorily.

I would not have a problem using the aluminum jacketed Winchester Silver Tips for a broadside shot on a leopard. Even a broadside shot on a lioness (provided that I don’t hit the shoulder bone/scapula). But not for a frontal chest shot on a male lion. The adrenaline filled chest muscles on an excited adult African male lion can best be described as being comparable to tyre rubber in terms of toughness. Even the modern 300Gr Federal Power Shok soft point bullet will frequently experience cup & core separation on these hard muscles.

 

[Flbt]

Before the thread got really going, I would have bet $5 that most of the entries would be Hornady...didn't turn out exactly that way, but I''m with you. I've been particularly unlucky with the Interlock.

You have ? What cal?
My 6mm with the old frontier 6mm Remington interlock would go through both shoulders with the high shoulder shot on deer and went completely through 350+ hogs the scale stopped at 350
When they dropped that load and went to using the sst when I changed to federal
The sst was a different failure they were not accurate in my guns

 

[Safari Dave]

I'm pretty sure that most of mine had the aluminum jackets...