Nosler vs Hornady

R

Roadkill2228

New member
Just thought I'd throw the question out there and see what everyone's experiences have been. I want to pit these company's hunting bullets against each other, specifically the sst vs the ballistic tip and the interbond vs the accubond. I suppose we could compare the etip with the gmx as well. Some see the hornadys as knockoffs of the noslers, not as accurate, etc... And others see the hornadys as a much better buy as they are less pricey an can do anything the noslers can do (there is no hornady version of the partition tho). What do you think? What has your experience been? We're talking accuracy and terminal performance here.
 
I can't answer all of you questions, but will get some. Overall I've found the Hornady's to be the most accurate bullets for the money. The SST's and Interlokt bullets are darn accurate in my rifles. The Interlokt kills game as well as any traditional jacketed lead bullet, they are reasonably priced and accurate.

The SST's are often considered a cheaper Ballistic Tip. Both have high BC's and shoot flat. Originally both were very similar. Both shot flat, but often over expanded, especially at closer ranges. Nosler has addressed the issue and within the last 10 years or so have been building a tougher bullet that stays together better if that is what you want. A quick expanding bullet, used properly kills stuff fast so the SST isn't a bad bullet if used right.

I don't have any first hand experience with Interbonds. but the word on the internet is that they tend to be less accurate. The Accubond is a good bullet combining the penetration of the Partition with the aerodynamics of the Ballistic Tip.

When it comes to copper bullets I'll buy Barnes.

I find myself choosing premium bullets for hunting most of the time. Specifically Bergers, Accubonds, and Barnes TTSX. Cheaper bullets such as the TTSX offer almost exactly the same trajectory and are used for practice to save a little money.

Lots of shooters complain about the price of the premiums. They are not the bullet for guys who like to shoot 200 bullets at each range visit. But as a hunter 200 bullets will last me several years for load development, zeroing, practice and hunting. The cost difference between 200 premiums, and 200 cheap bullets won't fill the tank on my truck with gas. The cost of less than a tank of gas every 3-4 years isn't that big of a deal, and worth the expense for the added insurance of a better bullet to me.
 
The only rifle I use Hornady bullets in is the Grandson's 308. They shoot great. I use Nosler 40 gr Ballistic Tips in the 223, but shoot only coyote and smaller critters with it, and the main purpose of using that bullet is that it fragments easily and rapidly - which is what I want in that rifle. The other rifles are fed mostly Nosler Ballistic Tips, which are as accurate as many match bullets and work just fine for deer, pigs, and coyotes. I wouldn't use them on an Elk, and would switch probably to the Accubond, which I expect would shoot almost the same as the Ballistic Tip and therefore would be easy to work up loads for. Between the Sierra Gamekings, which I also use, and the Ballistic Tips, I have no complaints at all.

If I just had to have a bullet that would work every time and every distance, I'd go with the Nosler Partition. The only issue with that is the rifles in which I've used that bullet didn't shoot them particularly accurately - at least not the accuracy I get out of BT's, GK's, and SST's. I'm tempted to think that the Accubond might have made the Partition a tiny bit obsolete, but that probably isn't the case in many use instances.
 
If I just had to have a bullet that would work every time and every distance, I'd go with the Nosler Partition. The only issue with that is the rifles in which I've used that bullet didn't shoot them particularly accurately - at least not the accuracy I get out of BT's, GK's, and SST's. I'm tempted to think that the Accubond might have made the Partition a tiny bit obsolete, but that probably isn't the case in many use instances
Click to expand...

The issue with Nosler Partitions is that they have the exposed lead base, which I believe the Swift A-Frame also has. That is probably why they are not as accurate as BT's, GK's, and SST's.
 
I use Nosler BTBT's. They both shoot to same POA in both of my 30-06's and are almost as accurate as Sierra HPBT Match.
 
There are only so many ways that lead and copper can be mixed, so eventually every bullet manufacturer will have a similar answer to every ballistic need.

As far as Nosler vs. Hornady, I have no preference for a hunting bullet. For match bullets, I've used both without any complaint.

Jimro
 
Thanks for your responses. I've never used noslers yet...almost all my reloads to date have been with hornady bullets, with a few speers and sierras. I think I have more fun reloading than I do hunting and shooting sometimes, it's really just a big boys version of a kid playing around with Legos (and I loved my Legos). The experimenting and waiting to see what happens is the fun part. If I come into some spare change i want to spend a little more and play with some nosler accubonds or partitions, along with barnes. Main reason I've stuck with hornadys is the price tag and they've just really made the best of first impressions with me: they had their "get loaded 2012" promo so I bought their starter kit single stage press and got 500 free 130 grain interlocks for my .270! That's a very very tough offer to beat.
 
And by the way those 130 grain interlocks may not boast a noteworthy ballistic coefficient and they may be plain Jane cup and cores but I shot my deer last fall with them pushed by a stout charge of rl19....talk about destruction! Instant lights out for the deer but we had to throw out an entire shoulder because it was bloodshot meat and about 40 pieces of bone from the exploded shoulder and spinal column. A very humane kill no doubt, but next time I'll be sure to try and avoid hitting bone!
 
You could also dial back the velocity a bit. My sister in law shot a deer, a nice fat 4 point about 120 lbs before field dressing with a 7.62x39 pushing a 123gr Rem Corelok bullet at 80 yards by pace. You could eat right up to the hole and I recovered the bullet on the far side just under the skin.

If you aren't making a long shot, no need for the velocity to make a humane kill. That is one of the great things about handloading.

Jimro
 
Sierra or Hornady. I went away from Nosler years ago when I realized just how much the per-bullet price was. I haven't seen a difference and I haven't looked back. A quick perusal of my bench shows that my bullets are just about evenly matched between Sierra and Hornady.
 
Hmmm...that "per bullet price" you mention is precisely why I haven't picked any up to try yet. But I've heard that they're more consistent...don't know if that's true or not, and your experience indicates that indeed it's not. Barnes are even pricier...but there's no lead in those and lead is cheaper than copper so that's probably fair. I've heard great things about the barnes bullets except that at longer ranges or in lower velocity cartridges (example the 308 win shooting 180s) they don't really open up much and suffer compared to plain old cup and core bullets at 1/4 the price. Have a friend who shoots the 140 gr barnes X out of his .284 winchester and he swears he's never going to bother with another hunting bullet again because of how impressed he has been with both accuracy and terminal performance.
 
Never shot at any animal with any bullet other than Nosler, and they all died that day.
Never shot any competition, so match style bullets wont be found on my bench, I will tell you this, Nosler is more pricey than the other brands mentioned, however they always seem to shoot well and they get the job done...

The partition stands alone when it comes to guaranteed penetratio.
Btips are very accurate, and not as pricey as partitions, and that leads me to my very faborite bullet made, the Accubond. It,s performance on the deer I've harvested was perfect, no excessive damage, and complete passthrough is the morm.
I also found that any rifle I have that has an Accubond load worked up for if shoots them very consistantly and accurately..

Now for the kicker....If Nosler doesnt get more product that I use on the shelfs here locally I changing my bullet manufacturer.
Actually first statement wrong I used a few corelokts before handloading for myself sorry..
 
I have 9 rifles I load for
3 Varmint rifles use Sierra and Hornady
Hunting rifles
2 use Hornady
2 use Nosler
1 uses Speer
1 uses Sierra
I have never been to concerned about cost per bullet on either hunting rifles or varmint rifles. All hunting rifles shoot 1" MOA or better at 100 yds. and all varmint rifles shoot 1/2" MOA or better at 100 yds.
If I were to have to pick one over all I would go with Hornady due to selection from 20 thru 30 caliber.
2nd would be Sierra
3rd would be Nosler
 
My personal take on this matter.
At one time or another all the big bullet manufactures probably have cloned another's product. And the one who's bullet was cloned doesn't seem to mind as I've never seen or heard of one taking the other to court over copyright infringement.
As I see it._"Their all in cahoots."_ Where there is a difference. Is the cost to the consumer. As far as the difference between Hornady verses Nosler. If I want a pretty box I'll buy Nosler. If wanting more bullets in the box I'll buy Hornady. As I don't care who's bullet I shoot. I'm easy. Just so long as it preforms as it's market place advertisement say's it will. How can I not be happy.
 
Geo erudite, thanks for posting that link about Comparing published Bcs with independent test results. Very enlightening. I had wondered by all the btip bullets sported better bcs than the sst bullets. I think that I was justified to wonder. No difference.
 
It'd be sweet if they would test a few more bullets to compare their claimed bcs with independent real world data. I'd be interested to know about speer btsp hunting bullets especially (posted that question on another thread) along with those fancy new nosler accubond long range bullets. Swift claims some pretty big numbers for their scirocco bullets too.
 
I've only used both brands in one gun, a .22-250. The Hornady were 40gr V-Max and the Nosler are 35gr LF. The Hornady was factory ammo and the Noslers handloads. Both are very accurate. The V-Max are more destructive, despite being several hundred fps slower.
 
Hmmmm...I've heard that the vmaxs are pretty violent even at low velocity. Read somewhere about a guy shooting them at a bit of styrofoam and observing complete disintegration meeting such light resistance as that. I've only tried the 58 grain vmax in my 243 and they shoot okay but just okay. It shoots much better with heavier bullets. The gun is an old savage 99 I received as a gift from a great uncle.
 
The loaded rounds with those 58 grainers sounded like a cannon going off when I shot them. I didn't have any powders with an ideally fast burn rate so there was a most verocious muzzle blast. Deafening. Made my 300 win mag with factory ammo seem pleasant.
 
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