Hornady Steel Match hollow points - not suitable for hunting?

wahoowad

Member
I've learned Hornady's Steel Match ammo shoots great in my Savage 223. It uses a 55 gr. boat tail hollow point but Hornady's website suggests their "Match bullets are not recommended for hunting" - why would that be? Is the hollowpoint not designed to mushroom like I normally think of a hollowpoint?
 
I use Sierra match bullets for my varmit hunting and never had a problem! One rifle is an AR the other is a 22/250 bolt gun!

Steve
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadI've learned Hornady's Steel Match ammo shoots great in my Savage 223. It uses a 55 gr. boat tail hollow point but Hornady's website suggests their "Match bullets are not recommended for hunting" - why would that be? Is the hollowpoint not designed to mushroom like I normally think of a hollowpoint?

"Hunting" implies big game animals generally. "Varminting" is another beast, however in this case their warning applies equally.

MATCH bullets are designed to fly straight, and NOTHING else. CAN the bullet mushroom/frag/yaw? Certainly. But NOT reliably.
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadI've learned Hornady's Steel Match ammo shoots great in my Savage 223. It uses a 55 gr. boat tail hollow point but Hornady's website suggests their "Match bullets are not recommended for hunting" - why would that be? Is the hollowpoint not designed to mushroom like I normally think of a hollowpoint?

The technical term for them is "Open point match". It is a moot differentiation, but these match bullet are very unreliable in the expanding department - the opening is sooooo small, that they do not expand like real hollow points, and they can zip through a varmint without opening.


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Originally Posted By: CatShooterThe technical term for them is "Open point match". It is a moot differentiation, but these match bullet are very unreliable in the expanding department - the opening is sooooo small, that they do not expand like real hollow points, and they can zip through a varmint without opening.

A couple weeks you and I shared a few posts about the Winchester X223RH load. This also has a hollowpoint that has a small opening - they look near identical. What is different in bullet construction?
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadOriginally Posted By: CatShooterThe technical term for them is "Open point match". It is a moot differentiation, but these match bullet are very unreliable in the expanding department - the opening is sooooo small, that they do not expand like real hollow points, and they can zip through a varmint without opening.

A couple weeks you and I shared a few posts about the Winchester X223RH load. This also has a hollowpoint that has a small opening - they look near identical. What is different in bullet construction?


All of these small point match bullets are not reliable expanders. The old Winchester design was a little different - the tip was skived so it was predisposed to come apart, plus the nose metal walls were thinner, like the Speer TNT.

The OTM do not use thinned walls, they just crush the full thickness of the jacket into an almost closed hole.


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Then why is this Steel Match product loaded with a hollow point at all? It is designed and marketed as cheap plinking ammo. I would think they would drop a cheaper FMJ into it.
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadThen why is this Steel Match product loaded with a hollow point at all? It is designed and marketed as cheap plinking ammo. I would think they would drop a cheaper FMJ into it.

It is marketing - I think Hornady has made a big mistake on it.

But I'm sure that there are many "Newbees" that think they are getting match ammo for dirt money.

They slept through the class in the 8th grade about the price of lunch.


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It shot darn good in my Savage...well under MOA. Assuming it has more to do with it being a Savage...
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It just maybe marketing strategy, I mean why would you buy the high dollar superformance ammo if hornady told you the match grade bullets were great for hunting too. I also have a savage 223 that loves the steel match ammo but have not had a chance to test on a live target.
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadThought I'd update this old post. The Hornady Steel Match .223 indeed works quite explosively on groundhogs
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pics or it didnt happen
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They just haven't tested them for hunting. Hunting bullets are tested on a variety of targets including recovering them from animals.
 
Another reason for the no hunting use is when using a match bullet on a small critter like a prairie dog or ground squirrel the bullet often doesn't have time to open up before it is out the other side. It is more likely to open up in a coyote. I drill out the hollowpoint on loaded ammo. They open up nicely and accuracy is hardly affected.
 
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