Hornady Superformance GMX

[Pheroze]

I just used the 150gr 30-06 gmx on a boar in PA. About 180lbs boar hit in the shoulder at about 40 yards. It broke it, went through both lungs and took off the top of the heart before exiting and disappearing somewhere into the forest. Needless to say the hog went nowhere.

I was trying out the GMX for this fall's deer hunt (if my calendar allows for it) I read a lot about the barnes copper bullets so I thought I would share my results with this all copper offering. I can't tell you about expansion but the terminal effect was certainly good

The heaviest in 30-06 is 165gr but the folks at hornady say that is good for moose. I am thinking of continuing to use them and probably will take them to Africa when I get my act together.

Oh, yeah, had boar loin medallions with a black currant demi-glaze, garlic mashed potatoes and Italian style beans.....

 

[enysse]

The GMX is a premium bullet for sure! I wouldn't hesitate to use it on moose.

 

[Pheroze]

At 165gr with the 30-06 would you consider it for Eland or zebra? I read 30-06 is marginal for these. I am experimenting with the Superformance line and I am thinking it should be fine.

 

[sestoppelman]

Eland and zebra are big animals. Zebra can be quite tough, eland are just huge. Most might consider the '06 as a minimum for either critter with good, heavy for caliber bullets. Were I to hunt either with the '06 I would use a 200 gr bullet and get close.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Oh, yeah, had boar loin medallions with a black currant demi-glaze, garlic mashed potatoes and Italian style beans.....

Hey I didn't hear the dinner bell. Sounds good!
Congrats on the pig! I've used TSX, GMX and Etip all solid copper and all good thou my 308 browning likes Etip a lot better then TSX the wifes 30/06 Loves the TSX and my 270's love the GMX. and I've never heard a deer complain about it after I shot it.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Eland and zebra are big animals. Zebra can be quite tough, eland are just huge. Most might consider the '06 as a minimum for either critter with good, heavy for caliber bullets. Were I to hunt either with the '06 I would use a 200 gr bullet and get close.

+1 and I'm also going to dissent a bit on the GMX. While I think that bullet has it's place and certainly there are those who've used it effectively, I have read just too many reports and seen the pictures that prove that bullet breaks up.

On whitetail, maybe even elk, this is probably just fine. I use 140gr Nosler BT's for our little Coues deer in Arizona. A perfect bullet for that application. But I would never even think about using that on elk or heavier game.

My son killed an eland with the first two shots at 190 yards with his .308 pushing 165gr bullets at 2600fps MV. Do I recommend that? No, but he was shooting North Fork soft points which have proven themselves in so many circumstances to maintain their weight and give very good penetration. And in the end, it got the job done. Multiple shots to be sure, but that first one was a kill shot.

If I was going after eland with a .30-06, the 165gr bullet would not be my first choice, I'd prefer at least 180gr. And I'm going with something that I can be sure will give deep penetration....North Forks, A-Frames or TSX/TTSX. Having read multiple reports on GMX's breaking up on big critters, it would not be my choice, especially in 165gr.

 

[enysse]

At 165gr with the 30-06 would you consider it for Eland or zebra? I read 30-06 is marginal for these. I am experimenting with the Superformance line and I am thinking it should be fine.

I think it would be fine as long as you get that nice broadside or quartering away shot to the lungs....anything else, I'd use a bigger bullet.

 

[rnovi]

At 165gr with the 30-06 would you consider it for Eland or zebra? I read 30-06 is marginal for these. I am experimenting with the Superformance line and I am thinking it should be fine.

My buddy last year drilled a Zebra Mare on a clean broadside shot with a Federal Factory 180 gr. Barnes TSX. IIRC that load clocked 2650 from his rifle. He broke the near shoulder, took out the lungs and lodged the bullet on the far side just underneath the skin. The bullet did not exit.

The Zebra ran about 40 yards and piled up.

 

[Pheroze]

The tsx gets a lot of good reviews. The Hornady site lists the superformance GMX 165 gr at 2960 fps. As the tsx and gmx are both all copper maybe the results will be similar. I had not heard of the GMX breaking up as described above, that would be a problem! Although i had heard the tsx can loose some of its petals but you still have a chunk of solid metal zipping through the critter. Perhaps this is where the larger caliber comes into its own. With game that has a large lung capacity, and assuming complete penetration, i am thinking the lungs will need a bigger hole to ensure faster incapacitation. This really means a bigger caliber not just a longer bullet.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The tsx gets a lot of good reviews. The Hornady site lists the superformance GMX 165 gr at 2960 fps. As the tsx and gmx are both all copper maybe the results will be similar. I had not heard of the GMX breaking up as described above, that would be a problem! Although i had heard the tsx can loose some of its petals but you still have a chunk of solid metal zipping through the critter. Perhaps this is where the larger caliber comes into its own. With game that has a large lung capacity, and assuming complete penetration, i am thinking the lungs will need a bigger hole to ensure faster incapacitation. This really means a bigger caliber not just a longer bullet.

Oy! I must recant what I posted earlier. I went looking for the reports and I dorked this up. The reports I incorrectly recalled were on the DGX NOT the GMX. The DGX reports I've read are from one extreme to the other and that was the inconsistency that had me spooked.

Sorry Pheroze for my mistaken post.

 

[Pheroze]

No problem, keeping all the acronyms straight is like learning a new language!:laughing:

 

[Bert the Turtle]

At 165gr with the 30-06 would you consider it for Eland or zebra? I read 30-06 is marginal for these. I am experimenting with the Superformance line and I am thinking it should be fine.

I've shot an eland with 168 TSX in my 30-06. It didn't go far. I admit to shooting it a second time over my PH's protestations (he knew it was well hit and going down soon) just to be sure since it was getting dark. I've also shot a zebra, which I eventually got, but due to my mixing up the back end for the front... I can't blame the rifle for that.

My son shot a zebra with his 243 using a TSX, it ran around in a small circle and dropped dead where he shot it. Just requires patience to wait for the right shot and the ability to make the shot when it comes.

A 30-06 is plenty of rifle for either animal as long as you shoot it properly and use a bullet that penetrates to the vitals (like a TSX).

 

[Norwegianwoods]

At 165gr with the 30-06 would you consider it for Eland or zebra? I read 30-06 is marginal for these. I am experimenting with the Superformance line and I am thinking it should be fine.

I would not hesitate to use a 30-06 with a 165 grain Hornady GMX or a Barnes TTSX/TSX at a similar weight.

People are to hung up in initial bullet weight in my opinion.
It is proper expansion combined with what weight the bullet has after it has stopped that counts.
I much rather use a 150 grain Barnes TTSX/TSX that has 149 grain left after the hit, than a 200 grain cup and core bullet that has 110-120 grain left after the hit.

Here are two pictures of a 120 grain Barnes TTSX bullet from my 6.5-06 at 3367 fps at the muzzle after it hit a Roe buck at 100 meters on a frontal shot.
It went through 20 cm of spine, cut off all the ribs close to the spine and continued through the backstrap till it ended up under the skin just above the hips.
60 cm+ of straight penetration.



I often(almost always) experienced to lose petals with the old Barnes X bullet when I used it in my 6.5-06, but I have not yet experienced that with the TTSX.

Far better result(penetration) than I have got with a 180 grain Norma Oryx from a 308 with the same shot some years ago.
And that is a bonded bullet that is supposed to give great penetration and bullet weight retention.

The new monolithic bullets makes a cartridge punch way above what it did earlier with the cup and core designs.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

The new monolithic bullets makes a cartridge punch way above what it did earlier with the cup and core designs.

Agreed.:thumb:

 

[Pheroze]

on my recent boar hunt I used 150 gr GMX 30-06 and my father used the xp3 in a 7mm RM (I think 165 gr). With the GMX I broke the shoulder and took out both lungs and the heart before exiting. It basically died where I hit it. Later my father shot his through the side as it ran away, so the bullet went in by the low ribs, clipped the liver, damaged one lung I think and came out near to the opposite side shoulder. Despite the fact the GMX hit more bone I remember thinking that the exit wound on the XP3 was much more noticeable than the GMX. In fact, when I looked at my pig it was almost hard to see where the bullet came out. The exit wound with the XP3 was what I would consider to be a decent size and not a huge destruction of the side, probably about the size of a 50 cent piece. The pig did not run very far before expiring. There is no doubt that the GMX and XP3 both did the job: the shoulder I hit was toast and so were the organs but I am left thinking that the XP3 created a larger wound channel. From this experience I am left with an uneasy feeling that the purely monolithic bullet is destructive but in a very narrow way. I am guessing the lead rear of the XP3 caused the bullet to expand more thereby creating the larger exit. Not sure what this means but I plan on getting a box of XP3 to see how they shoot in my gun. I want to also get some partitions and compare the two. I like the idea of a little more width in the wound channel but that may be because of all the press I have read about slower kills with monolithic bullets.

 

[enysse]

I think you will love the XP3, it's a better bullet than the nosler partition.

My personal opinion is the GMX, TSX...etc shine on big animals with big bones but whitetails are good for lead bullets still.

I still prefer core lokt, power points, SST and Interbonds for whitetail.

The Accubonds, swift A's, XP3 are really nice!

 

[Norwegianwoods]

Pheroze, I have not experienced slower kills with the Barnes TSX/TTSX bullets at all.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

I think you will love the XP3, it's a better bullet than the nosler partition.
My personal opinion is the GMX, TSX...etc shine on big animals with big bones but whitetails are good for lead bullets still.

Enysse, I would have to agree 100% the TSX are "harder" due to the monolithic (Brass??) design, and would also be my preference on large heavy boned game without a doubt, it is for this exact reason why I recommend soft nosed Lead projectiles for Cats and often don't mind them on PG either.

My best always