Hornady steel Match .223

deeksofdoom

Hornady Steel Match Ammunition 223 Remington 55 Grain Hollow Point Steel Case Box of 50

Anyone tried these? what do they group like? how effective are they on foxes?

everypenny

Ya,

I used them in 308. The brother in 223.

They come in a 75gr as well but he hasn't been able to source them here yet.

Bloody good round and I'd recommend them.

Its a hollow point so it should drop a fox on the spot. Groups very well as you#ll see in the link below.

I reviewed it here a few weeks ago.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057246004

Hope it helps.

EP

daedalus177

I recently switched over to Hornady Steel Match from American Eagle, I have had no issue with them in my Tikka T3, I seem to get a consistent grouping and they seem like quite an effective and hard hitting round. I have not yet tried them out against fox, but as "everypenny" said, they are hollowpoint so they should dispatch a fox quickly and cleanly.

TriggerPL

These rounds are getting more and more reports of miss fires and hang fires . Take care when using them , I read a report where one fired on the ground after it was ejected as a miss fire

German pointer

I'm getting about an 1" to 1 1/4" out of myT3 Tac in the .223 at 100 yards

Cass

TriggerPL wrote: »

These rounds are getting more and more reports of miss fires and hang fires .

Was going for a box of these a couple of weeks ago, but the reports of hangfires is alarming. Not to take a "black or white" stance, but one is too much, and reports directly from lads using them say they can often get more than one per box.

The standard rule of thumb is to wait a minimum of 45 seconds to a minute before ejecting the round incase of a hangfire to prevent just what Triggerpl described. However how many lads do this, or are even aware of it.

I believe it's down to hard primers. Couple that with the different striking strengths of some rifles and some will experience it more than others.

everypenny

I think that the majority of bad press around these rounds is based on this article:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/09/foghorn/hornaday-steel-match-might-not-be-so-good-after-all/
Its a pathetic article outlined by the fact that he's put "hundreds of thousands" of rounds down one barrel.

I think its led to a rumour mill about them including statements like 8 out of 50 misfires in a box. If there was a 16% failure rate on a product then Hornady wouldn't allow it out of the factory.

The ONLY difference between these bullets and normal hornady match ammo is that the casing is made of steel. It uses the same round, powder and primer as their match ammo.

By a box yourself and see. I think that the 223 50 round box is about 26 quid. Thats about 50 cent a round.

Cass

everypenny wrote: »

I think its led to a rumour mill about them including statements like 8 out of 50 misfires in a box. If there was a 16% failure rate on a product then Hornady wouldn't allow it out of the factory.

I have read no articles on them and sure as hell not the one you linked to above.

What i am saying is coming from lads i shoot with. I witnessed this myself on Saturday. Of a box of 50 i saw two misfires. Not hangfires. He waited 1 minute and ejected the rounds. There were strike marks on the primer but they did not fire.

As for Hornady. This is not the first overrated product they ahve released. The Superformance. Some lads love it, but i think they're sh*t.

In my .243, .308 and 30-06 they never grouped more than the first two rounds before either climbing or simply never grouping. On the range on Saturday i was helping a chap with his .243 and new scope. He could not get the gun to zero at 100 yards. The best was 3 inches. He circled and clipped the shoot-n-c but never hit it. After 9 rounds i saw the box of Superformance on the table and told him to stop. I borrows three rounds of Federal from another shooter and the gun was zeroed in two and put the third straight in on top of the second shot.

Hornady claim 3,000fps out of their Superformance. I chrono'd them form a 24" barreled rifle and the slowest speed was in excess of 3,190 with speeds of 3,208+ fps.

The point is Hornady are not infallible. They will take every legal precaution to make sure their ammo is safe, and pretty much every other type of ammo they produce is perfect ( i use their standard SST, Amax, etc), but the old saying of no smoke without fire has some meaning.

If enough lads, that ACTUALLY use it, say it suffers hangifres or misfires then you need to start asking yourself are you wrong or is everyone else.

I mean i heard all the horror stories about split cases on the hmr ammo, but in over 600 rounds i've never experienced one. Doesn't mean i call bullsh*t on the lads that have.

By a box yourself and see.

I was trying to, but everyone is sold out. More accurately everyone within 2 hours of me is sold out.

ruger1894c

everypenny wrote: »

I think that the majority of bad press around these rounds is based on this article:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/09/foghorn/hornaday-steel-match-might-not-be-so-good-after-all/
Its a pathetic article outlined by the fact that he's put "hundreds of thousands" of rounds down one barrel.

I think its led to a rumour mill about them including statements like 8 out of 50 misfires in a box. If there was a 16% failure rate on a product then Hornady wouldn't allow it out of the factory.

The ONLY difference between these bullets and normal hornady match ammo is that the casing is made of steel. It uses the same round, powder and primer as their match ammo.

By a box yourself and see. I think that the 223 50 round box is about 26 quid. Thats about 50 cent a round.

Im sorry but I have seen these rounds misfire on the line they have a very Hard primer and these were shot through 2 different makes as well..

I know what you are saying about the article but im telling you that they are having problems with misfires.and the two rifle in question are a Savage ftr and a sako trg and both shoot very Well

German pointer

I've gone through 100 .223 steel match and no misfires. I have another 150 in the safe will let ye know how I get on with them.

Cass

The funny thing is all the misfires/hangfires i've seen and been told about were from .308 stuff. Nothing on .223. Whether that is by design or simply more lads are using the .308 stuff i don't know.

hedzball

I'd be cagey using match rounds on foxes.. I used 75gr super match on a few foxes and actually had the round pass through a good few foxes before I copped why I was "Missing"

Not all hollow points are designed to expand mind? Match and hunting rounds are more than a shade apart?






'hdz

SailingSOLDIER

Hey, I've fired approx 300 of these through a Remington 700 XCR and had no trouble, I'm hitting in around 1" - 1 1/2" groups out as far as 300 yds. I find them excellent round for price when target or fox shooting

Nightforce 65X55

SailingSOLDIER wrote: »

Hey, I've fired approx 300 of these through a Remington 700 XCR and had no trouble, I'm hitting in around 1" - 1 1/2" groups out as far as 300 yds. I find them excellent round for price when target or fox shooting

I fully agree , I tried them out a couple of weeks ago for the first time and was highly impressed , I was shooting in a strong and variable wind and the Group was less than 3/8" in height the left and right portion was down to the wind, The First shot was in the 1/4" Dot I was aiming at , the wind picked up a bit , the next 3 shots went into the same hole approx 1/4" to the left of the First and the Last one went in approx 1/4" to the right of the first shot as the wind died a bit . Over all they are excellent and at the price you cant beet them in my Rifle anyway.

I just put up a video of the Group , sorry about the camera it was on a tripod about 2m from the target , but must have settled after we left, you can still see the group though, its on my you tube channel.

deeksofdoom

Anybody use thm in a rifle with a 1:9 twist.

German pointer

German pointer wrote: »

I'm getting about an 1" to 1 1/4" out of myT3 Tac in the .223 at 100 yards

Forget about the above post. Nothing was grouping in my T3 :mad::mad:

and then I got it re crowened;)

Now I am getting with the Hornady Steel Match 55gr HP

3 shots one hole at 100 yards:D:D

Holdover

Are the steel match plentiful, tried around me but everyone out of stock in 308