Hornady Great Plains Bullets

Drew first blood this morning with my new Lyman Great Plains Hunter (1st hunt). Shooting 425gn hornady hollowpoint GPBs over 100gn Ffg Wano powder.

First shot was broadside at about 60yds. Deer disappeared. After 30 minute search found him sick and shot again from about 45yds. When I cut him open the first shot was a little back about liver. 2nd shot angling forward from last ribs. Neither bullet was recovered but neither bullet exited. Only one lung was destroyed and the entrance holes were massive, about 2 inches. Deer was a fallow stag about the size of an average whitetail.

Has anyone had any hunting experience with these bullets. They fly well but do they blow up on impact? Need to experiment. I also have the 425gn buffalo bullet hollow point.

I used to use the .54 cal flat piont on elk works wonders. they expand ok. waird that you never fond the bullets. :hmm:

I've shot a bunch of whitetail deer with the Hornady great plains bullets. Never found any of the 54 cailber 390 grainers. All of these went in and out the other side. Found one of the 385 grain 50 caliber bullets. That deer was shot at an angle and I found the bullet way up in the neck. Best my buddy and I could figure the bullet had traveled about 3 feet before it came to a stop. The bullet had a nice mushroom to it.

I tried but could never get them to regulate or group well in my .50 double. (1-48)

Hornady GPB, .54, two different elk. 70 yards on one, about 110 the other.

I've never used the .54 GP's, but have a bit of experience with the .50's in deer.

My experience was that the .385 grain hollow points were poor game bullets and over expanded. But the 410 grain flat points were excellent. Then Hornady went and did something dumb. They discontinued the flat points and continue to produce the hollow points. I guess those hollow points are "sexier" and sell better. But they are not what I want in a heavy conical.

I fully agree. The 410 was the better bullet by far. I still have 25 boxes of the 410's for one of my rifles. When those are done I will use a paper patched 500 S&W bullet in that rifle. Ron

Both of those were the hollow points.

I have used them in .54 cal. the 425gr HBHC with 110gr 3F for moose and caribou, all my shots went through them, all but one was a broadside, they do a lot of damage but not a single animal went more than 50 feet after being hit and most went right down. The exit wounds were fist size and the animals bledout quickly.

Both of those were the hollow points.

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The 410 grainers were flat points Mike.

To answer one of your questions, no, they do not blow up on impact. At very close range if your powder charge is on the high side then the lead forming the hollow point may be shed but that represents only a very small portion of the bullet, leaving a solid lead core to continue on. Even if that happens it may even increase the wound cavity initially making for a larger hole and quicker bleed out. If you find it to be accurate in your rifle then use it with confidence.

Kapow said:

Drew first blood this morning with my new Lyman Great Plains Hunter (1st hunt). Shooting 425gn hornady hollowpoint GPBs over 100gn Ffg Wano powder.

First shot was broadside at about 60yds. Deer disappeared. After 30 minute search found him sick and shot again from about 45yds. When I cut him open the first shot was a little back about liver. 2nd shot angling forward from last ribs. Neither bullet was recovered but neither bullet exited. Only one lung was destroyed and the entrance holes were massive, about 2 inches. Deer was a fallow stag about the size of an average whitetail.

Has anyone had any hunting experience with these bullets?

Click to expand...

Haven't hit anything with them yet out of my .50 GPH buy they are fairly accurate. Recoil isn't brutal but could be described as stout by some folks.

I've used the 390 grain hollow pnt in .54 on both Mule deer and Bull elk. On one deer had an angaling toward me shot, went into shoulder and shattered vertibrate between the shoulder blades. No bullet recovery. Same exact result on Bull. Dropped in tracks! On another Mule deer broadside shot it broke shoulder and stopped at hide on the other side. perfect expansion. went 20 yards. Been using roundball since and just as happy with the results. Good Luck!!

Thanks for all the replies. I really did a thorough autopsy, opened up rib cage and went through all organs etc. I'm guessing the bullets either fell out when I opened him up or more likely fell out the entrance hole as he ran off.

I'll persist with them for a while, maybe try out on a few pigs to get a better picture of whats happening.

Sitting in camp now with bucks going off their heads all around me. Can't wait to see what the morning brings...

Sorry, evidently I wasn't clear. The mushroomed bullets in the pic I posted were both hollow points. :v

My bad Mike.

Kapow said:

Drew first blood this morning with my new Lyman Great Plains Hunter (1st hunt). Shooting 425gn hornady hollowpoint GPBs over 100gn Ffg Wano powder.

First shot was broadside at about 60yds. Deer disappeared. After 30 minute search found him sick and shot again from about 45yds. When I cut him open the first shot was a little back about liver. 2nd shot angling forward from last ribs. Neither bullet was recovered but neither bullet exited. Only one lung was destroyed and the entrance holes were massive, about 2 inches. Deer was a fallow stag about the size of an average whitetail.

Has anyone had any hunting experience with these bullets. They fly well but do they blow up on impact? Need to experiment. I also have the 425gn buffalo bullet hollow point.

Click to expand...

Its not likely they remained in the deer unless they struck something before hitting the deer. OR the twist is marginal. 48" twist is a compromise twist and will often result in the bullet going unstable on impact and not tracking straight through the animal and/or tumbling reduces penetration.
A 54 RB will usually penetrate over 30" in deer unless heavy bone is struck. I very seldom find one in a deer sized animal.
A conical is not the best ML hunting projectile.
There was a reason that most hunters staid with the round ball even for Elephant until the advent of the breechloader.

Dan

Thanks for all the replies. I really did a thorough autopsy, opened up rib cage and went through all organs etc. I'm guessing the bullets either fell out when I opened him up or more likely fell out the entrance hole as he ran off.

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Not likely they would back up all the way to the entry wound. Two things to look for, first, exit wound in the skin. If none, the bullet did not exit (how's that for a brainy summation :haha: ) Next look at the wound channel. If it goes right up to the skin on the other side but did not break the skin, then it stopped just under the skin and subsequently fell back into the entrails as you gutted the animal.

Had that happen twice in one day when helping gut other guys deer both shot with .54 balls. They went right to the skin on the far side but were not there in position. We did not search through the gut pile for them, given that temps were high which made for other priorities. If you are intent on recovering projectiles, then take a metal detector along to go over the gut pile.