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Once again, Hornady Ammunition is jumping the gun, releasing 2015 product info well before anyone starts singing Auld Lang Syne. The Big Red H (as Pigman is wont to call it) has fashioned a new line of lead-free Full Boar ammo using monolithic copper-alloy GMX bullets that deliver “95+% weight retention and uniform, controlled expansion for unmatched terminal performance on the toughest game.” Note to politicians who think ARs are not hunting guns: Full Boar will be available in all the popular hunting calibers, which includes .223 at $29.95 per box of 20. But really, 6.8 please. Hornady’s other new line is . . .

American Gunner. Hornady’s “budget line” uses their tried-and-true XTP bullet. Twenty-five rounds of .380. 9mm. .357 and .38 Special will run you $22.17. As will 20 rounds of twenty .40 S&Ws or 20 .45s. The company’s also seeing in the New Year with expanded offerings in their Critical Duty, Critical Defense Lite, American Whitetail, Superformance, Varmint, Varmint Express  Rimfire and Match lines.

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23 COMMENTS

    • Maybe Hornady will give Barnes enough competition that they drop the price of their all copper TSX bullets. Great elk bullet but hard in the wallet. Doesn’t have to be a “green” thing.

    • well, guess you must not eat your game.

      ’cause if you do hunt and actually eat your own game, using lead bullets that fragment and often ‘powderize’, would be one of the most self-destructive things you could do to your own body/health.

      lead poisoning is accumulative. while it depends on how it manifests depending on your physique and current state of your immune system, if most of your meat consumption consists of game meat, as many hunters make it a point to do so, lead accumulation will affect you eventually.

      especially in an era where there are plenty of manufacturers who produce all copper/copper-alloy ammo, if you hunt and eat game, there’s no sense in using lead-ammo (jacketed, bonded or not).

      • Nelson,

        No one would ever claim that eating lead is a good idea. That said, I don’t see how I would be consuming any lead from deer that I shoot. Proper broadside shots through the heart/lungs doesn’t put the bullet path through any muscle … other than a thin layer on the ribs and I discard any meat around the entry or exit wounds. So how would I be consuming any lead?

      • Huh? All this anti-lead crap is pretty much unfounded. My family, and countless others have shot deer with lead bullets for years. Guess what? Not a single case of lead poisoning in our family.

        Are people shooting animals with fragmenting bullets and then eating those areas that are obviously tore up by them? If so, Darwin award goes to them.

        A properly constructed jacketed lead bullet with a good clean shot will not “poison” anyone. The bullet will hold together, and any fragments on the clean kill, shouldn’t be anywhere near any meat you might be eating.

        Use the right tool the job. This includes the correct caliber, bullet weight and construction. People need to learn how and where to shoot to avoid massive meat damage and potential lead contamination.

    • Copper has better weight retention than lead. It also deforms less easily (a .270 copper cali-compliant round will penetrate some .308 rated rifle armor plates), making it a viable choice for hunting. There are certainly lead bullets that compete with this and might even have advantages, but don’t short sell copper so quickly.

      • Penetration of all copper solids is something to behold-damn shame that ATF is giving Barnes the run around about those. And there are reasons that Hornady and others have come out with all copper and copper alloy bullets that have nothing to do with governmental foolishness. Those reasons are precisely why I picked up two boxes of the 175gr LRX bullets today for working up a .30-06 load.

      • The price for 20 rounds of Federal premium hunting ammo in .338WM with 210 or 250gr Nosler partitions is about $60.

        Compared to that, this looks cheap.

        • I agree.

          Hornady ammo brings a lot of quality performance to the table for a reasonable price. I thought LeverEvolution was a gimmick, but it shot tight (for a lever gun) groups in .30-30 and .45-70 and performs quite well on white tail deer.

          The GMX on the boar load seems to be a re-packaging of current GMX. Perhaps the specs are a bit different, but I’m sure it falls between the velocity of the standard to Superperformance specs. GMX also works well on deer, but is designed more for penetration than expansion. I’m confident the .308 and .30-06 loads could zip through a boar on a broadside shot.

    • You practice and sight in with old school leaded ammo and hunt with coppers. That’s my drill. If you’re losing sleep over the cost of a box of premium hunting loads maybe you shouldn’t be hunting. Just for hunting I’ve purchased a 4wd, new guns, ice chests, and on and on. A box of coppers pales in comparison.

      • I practice with cast bullets over a light load. Sight in and hunt with whatever bullet, seating depth and powder charge is the most accurate. Which for my .338 is a Barnes TSX 210 gr. and they expand beautifully. The expensive part is finding the optimal load for each gun. Especially a .338. Not that accubonds or partitions are much cheaper. Not having to chase and track very far is well worth the cost.

        • Economical and .338 don’t really go together. I can’t reload .338 Lapua because I can’t find the shell plate for my Hornady progressive press. I may have to buy a single stage just for that caliber.

  3. Dear Hornady:
    Instead of worrying about bringing new products to market, why don’t you start filling some of the two year old backorders for old products?

    I know that I’m not the only one who wants some 7mm A-MAX, for example.

  4. $29.95 300 black would be awesome! The only current 300 black on lgs shelves is remmington hog hammer at $36 for 20. I want to start reloading but primers and powder are still hard to find.

  5. No 300 Blackout? Looks like Hornady isn’t as “Full Boar” as they want to appear.
    Jeff, Cabelas has Barnes 110 Vor-Tx in 300 Blackout for 27.99. Barnes has a buy 2 get 1 free rebate. Do the math. There is not a better hunting round for hogs or Deer in 300 Blackut short of reloading. 20″ of penetration and double expansion at 300 yards.
    It makes RF and Nick feel inadequate.

    • That surprised me as well. The 300 BLK definitely hasn’t killed of the 6.8. I’ve got both, and am still debataing which I’ll take deer hunting this season. I’m leaning towards the 300 BLK, since its a nicer upper the the 6.8.

      Send an email or call Hornady for a 300 BLK boar load. If they get enough of a response they’ll probably add it to the line up.

  6. I’m kind of interested in the American Gunner stuff. I like to keep some hotter stuff in the .357 but a small horde of affordable +p 124gr. 9mm load might come in handy if the zombies ever arrive.

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