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Hornady American Whitetail Ammo

4K views 20 replies 15 participants last post by  redspeckable 
#1 ·
Has anybody tried the Hornady American Ammo? Caught it on sale at Palmetto State Armory for $12.99 a box around Christmas and bought some in 7mm08.
I read good reviews on the Hornady Interlock bullet but never have shot them. What say you?
 
#7 ·
I bought a box for my wife because I forgot her ammo from home, and Hornady American was all I could find. They resemble Remington core lokt, we loaded them up and she started killing. She has made 10 one shot kills ranging from 15-245 yards over the last couple seasons. Three deer ran less than 50 yards with an easy blood trail. She missed one a couple weeks ago just over 200 yards and I told her it was the ammo [smile]. She shoots a 7mm-08 with a 22" barrel.
 
#8 ·
Zeroed my daughter's A Bolt in with the HAW ammo and they grouped very well. I've been trying to shoot a deer for the last two weeks but all I could see were small bucks or nothing. This afternoon a mature doe stepped out in a food plot at about 130 yards. Tucked one in right behind the front shoulder and as she left the field I knew it was a solid hit. Found hair and blood where she was standing, good blood trail, she only made it about 70 yards. Overall the bullet did the job it was supposed to do. My $12.99 per box investment looks like money well spent.
 
#12 ·
I did buy 5 boxes hoping they would group well so she is set for a while. Just checked their website and they are off sale but priced at $20.49 per box. They have good "everyday" prices on ammo and the sale they ran around Christmas included other ammo not just HAW. So check out the Palmetto State Armory you might save some money.
 
#14 ·
Hornady Whitetail American

A FWIW. Have not examined or fired Whitetail ammo, but given the above comments was interested enough to see what the CS folks at Hornady said about it. Granted, they are in the business to sell ammo so their comments should be viewed with a cautionary eye. I placed 2 calls to get 2 different Hornady CS reps to see how well their stories matched. Here is what they said:
--The whitetail bullet is identical to the custom interlock except it has a flat base , not a boat tail. There are two exceptions to that. The 100 grain .243 and the 117 grain .25-06 both have BTSPs.

--The whitetail has the same velocity and terminal performance as the custom interlock and produces equivalent accuracy.

--Both bullets are made from the same copper alloys, the same lead, the same manufacturing processes and are made on the same equipment.

--Brass and primers are the same, but powders are different.

I did not ask about powder configuration, burn rate and consistency. I asked how they could sell the whitetail ammo at a cheaper price than the custom. Granted, they have jumped into this ammo line to compete with the Rem PSP-CL, the Fed Fusion and a few others. Their response was they have targeted specific high volume sales calibers and manufacture the ammo in large quantities to keep the price competitive. Here again, all this is a For What Its Worth. Each shooter will need to decide for himself.
 
#15 ·
Half way through this past deer season, I ran out of the Winchester silvertips that I shoot out of my 25-06 and couldn't find them anywhere. Van of Van's Sporting Goods recommended the HAW 117 grain mentioned in the post above. I was skeptical of a $13 box shooting as good and doing as good a job as my $38 box did. Well, I was extremely surprised to see that I shot better with the HAW. at 200 yards I was able to get a 5 shot group to be covered by a quarter. I did this both times I shot it on paper. I took 3 bucks, 2 over 200 lbs, and 4 does with the HAW. None of them ran very far. I will be shooting these bullets from now on.
 
#16 ·
I guess I'm the guy that brings the party down. I bought a box to try this year in my boys 7/08. They sighted in beautifully and I was super impressed with accuracy. Better accuracy than I have seen in any round, even hand loads. My oldest shot a 190 lb buck over thanksgiving and made a perfect double lung shot. The entry hole was non existent and the exit was the size of a pencil. There was little to no blood trail. Luckily the deer only made it 30 yards. I was skeptical about the performance but vowed to give them another test. Over Christmas, my youngest shot a 180lb buck and made a perfect heart shot. I literally searched for 2-3 minutes before I ever found the entrance, and there was no exit. The bullet lodged just under the off side skin. There was no blood trail but we did see the deer fall over within 25 yards.

Pros:accuracy is top notch, even out of a value based rifle. (Mossberg youth ATR)

Cons: no size to entrance or exit wounds. No blood trails in my experience. (Not saying others haven't experienced good blood trails.).

I also bought a couple of boxes from PSA when they were running the $12.99/sale. They will be our "plinking" bullets from here on out. I plan on going to the accubonds or Barnes next season. I spend way too much time, money and effort to short myself on a bullet, just to save $15-20 box.
 
#18 ·
Shot one about 25 pounds with it at 100 yards or so. Went down in a heap, ran off never to be found again.

To be fair, I also saw 2 other hogs DRT when shot with them. Both were head shots, however. I also saw a doe shot with the same combo that had a hole the size of half a fist blown out of her neck. I'm not saying they are bad bullets by any stretch, just did not see the wound channel results I was looking for.
 
#19 ·
??

Not sure why. I know that the same bullet in different calibers works with different effectiveness. I know all of the ones I shot with my 25-06 from 50 yards out to about 280 yards had good exit holes about as big as my fist. not all of them hit ribs going through either. All were chest shots in the heart/lung areas.
 
#21 ·
Not sure why. I know that the same bullet in different calibers works with different effectiveness. I know all of the ones I shot with my 25-06 from 50 yards out to about 280 yards had good exit holes about as big as my fist. not all of them hit ribs going through either. All were chest shots in the heart/lung areas.
I am glad you experienced positive results with them. I wish more than anything I had the same. A precisely accurate, devastating bullet for $12.99/box? I'd be in love. The accuracy was there for me. The devastation was not.

I can't complain too much...2 mature bucks, both dead within 50 yards. Problem comes if they weren't down that close and had decided to run 200+ yards as we all know deer are prone to do occasionally with a lung or heart shot. We literally would have had to stumble upon them. There was not enough blood the follow on one, and there was NO blood on the second. I'll keep trying until I find something I have 100% confidence in. With all of that said, I still wouldn't hesitate to shoot another deer with one.
 
#20 ·
Pros:accuracy is top notch, even out of a value based rifle. (Mossberg youth ATR)

Cons: no size to entrance or exit wounds. No blood trails in my experience. (Not saying others haven't experienced good blood trails.).

[/QUOTE]

Monarch 130 grain SP in .270 -- $15.99 at Academy Sports. Don't have a picture with the doe's exit wound, just the entrance, but it nearly took the opposite side leg off. Mossberg ATR at 60 - 65 yards. The bobcat was about 40 yards, same rifle, same ammo.
Didn't need a blood trail, as both fell where they were shot. He never even opened the box of HAW's this season.
 

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