# Bullet test incl 168gr AMAX



## model88_308 (Dec 9, 2015)

A member of another forum I frequent had found the 168gr AMAX to shoot very well in his .308. He was considering it for an antelope hunt he was going on and ended up doing some impact "testing" with it and some other bullets. 

The results of that testing completely turned him away from the AMAX and he was quite pleased with the results he got, instead, with a 168gr BT. The BT has been a somewhat controversial bullet that many have found to be excellent on deer-sized game.

My understanding is that the jacket thickness was increased several years ago after some complaints about "failures". Most all I read today is positive about the BT with people using proper calibers & weights. From those who saw some "bad" things in years past, it's too simple to keep using something they found better, while the newer version BT has proven itself to many hunters.

Looking at the pictures, the BT held up very well and it's performance at high velocity was much better than the AMAX at much lower velocity. He mentions the AMAX as "exploding" at full velocity in the test medium (water jugs). 

Some interesting reading and pictures here and so you know, input to this thread is still ongoing.

https://www.shootersforum.com/rifle...let-testing-nosler-ballistic-tip-hunting.html


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## Flaustin1 (Dec 9, 2015)

I deer hunt with the 155 and 168 A max bullets.  Hard to beat them on deer sized game.


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## model88_308 (Dec 10, 2015)

I'm glad to hear you've had excellent luck with the A-Max. When I heard of using them for deer I decided to see what Hornady says about their A-Max. Here's what Hornady has on their site:

_"Rapid, explosive expansion with limited penetration.

Recommended muzzle velocity range: 2000+ fps.

These bullets are not recommended for hunting."_

http://www.hornady.com/bullets

It certainly makes sense that a 168gr 30 cal bullet can & will kill deer. But there's a lot of other bullets out there that are actually designed for that job (killing deer) so that's where I've stayed.


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## Flaustin1 (Dec 24, 2015)

Just trust me.  Its almost like what happened with berger bullets.  Walt Berger did not believe he made a bullet suitable for hunting until he reviewed a ton of footage.  

Ive yet to have one that hasn't exited with a good sized hole.  Ive also only had one deer run after the shot.  Im not talking spine, high shoulder, head or neck shots.  Im talking double lung, drop em in their tracks.


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## Steve08 (Jan 3, 2016)

Flaustin1 said:


> I deer hunt with the 155 and 168 A max bullets.  Hard to beat them on deer sized game.<object classid="clsid: D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="1" height="1"><param value="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1" height="1"></embed></object>


That's what works for me too most of the time.


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## Buzz (Jan 3, 2016)

Water jugs are a very tough testing medium for bullets.  Tough in that almost all cup and core bullets are going to separate.   Even a 50 BMG with a 750 FMJ comes to pieces fired in a large tank / barrel / pool.     Slower bullets like a cast lead ML Maxi Ball and similar react a lot different in water.   Ballistic gelatin is obviously difficult to come by but saturated newsprint / phone books are about as close to duplicating soft tissue as you can get.

The 168g Ballistic Tip is a very thick jacketed bullet.  I've sectioned quite a few ballistic tips, SSTs, and AMax bullets.  The 168g BT has a much thicker jacket than any of the SST or AMax bullets.  Now the 150g BT is a different animal, the jacket is pretty thin.     Ballistic Tips are just one of those bullets you have to poke around a bit on, someone has sectioned just about every one of them and some are surprisingly thick and others frail.    The oddest "frail" one of all is the 7mm 140g.   You'd think it would be pretty thick being a big game BT and often used in the 7mm RM; however, it isn't and oddly enough the 120g Varmint BT has a much thicker jacket than the 140g.   Not sure why Nosler did that, but they did.

In general anything from the 168g BT in 30 caliber and larger, 8mm, .338, .358 etc. are very stout construction compared to the smaller ones.   Another tough one is the 95g .243 BT, more jacket than core.


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## deadend (Jan 4, 2016)

I've hammered dozens of animals with Amax 105's and 162's.  They work.  Are they good on elk shoulders?  Nope, so shoot for lungs.  Water will destroy monos given the right circumstances.  It is not a good test medium.  Animals are the best test medium.

All of this crap posted about bullets on the 'net is usually based on a bunch of guessing, bloviation, or samples of one.  This stuff isn't hard and antelope aren't hard to kill.  The best way to find out what a bullet does on game is to put them into animals more frequently than pontificating about them on the internet.  Get bullets, section them in your garage, do some research, and make a decision.  I know for a fact that a lot of people giving opinions haven't the experience to back them up.  Some of those people are on this forum.  Some of them have the same 20 year old box of core lokt cartridges that is half full.  I know them and hunt with them.

Certain NBT's are some of the best bullets you can put into big game.  105 Amaxes in my experience are hammers as are 162's.  .284 120 BT's are some of the toughest c&c bullets I've used as are .338 200's.  Spending a few minutes here and there actually talking to the engineers at these bullet companies is more productive than reading internet drivel.

Hornady marketed the Amax for years as a deer bullet until they changed their marketing tactics.  They worked then and work now.


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