Factory Ammunition or Custom Hand Loads

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

While posting on another thread earlier today I started wondering about this. How many of you out there are happy using factory ammunition for your rifle if it is readily available, and how many of you prefer custom hand loads whether you do it yourself or have them loaded by someone else.

This question is not just for dangerous game rifles, but throughout your arsenal.

Are you factory ammo for some and hand loads for others, and what is your reasoning for each.

For me personally I use factory ammo in my 338 Win Mag (Norma Oryx 230 gr.) and my 6.5 PRC (Hornady ELDX 143 gr.). These both shoot great out of my non custom rifles and work wonderfully on plains game.

For my dangerous game rifles (404J - 416 Rigby - 458 Lott - 500J) I have them custom loaded as I don't hand load myself. My reasoning is I usually go heavy for caliber so even if there are factory options they will be standard for caliber or lighter.

If you like please mention make and model of rifle for each selection. One of my suspicions is that higher end custom rifles will be used more with custom ammunition. Prove me right or wrong.

Curious to see the responses.

@Mark458
I reload for all my rifles.
Two because I have to because they are wildcats. A 22 K Hornet and my 25.
My son's 308 has never had a factory round thru it
My Whelen you just can't buy factory loads as good as my handloads.
I think I must just enjoy handloading and it's far cheaper than factory ammo.
Bob
My 222 is a joy to load for and again hasn't had a factory loads since I've owned it

 

[mdwest]

I do factory in rimfires and in high volume centerfires like 556 and in pistols (almost exclusively 9mm these days, but also a little 45acp, 380 acp, etc.. )

I only have single stage presses and dont have the patience or desire to sit and crank out 300 556 rounds in a day, etc.. although years ago I did it regularly (when I used a progressive press)..

Everything else I handload for..

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

For hunting since my first big game animal I’ve only used handloads.
For components or practice and plinking I’m fine with cheap factory stuff.
Because I’ve never taken game with anything other than handloads and I take just a next level of satisfaction the data I gather I am going to try to continue that until I die.
Realizing some factory stuff may be better in some calibers I own , in others like my 35 whelen it’s not even possible to buy some of the stuff I make.

@45-70guy
I hope your loading that WHELEN to its full potential. Makes it an awesome long and short range beast.
Bob

 

[Andrew62]

I wouldn't begin to have the patience or skill set to handload my own ammo, so for the most part I use factory ammo, sometimes I purchase ammo from online companies like Hendershot's, Superior and Pendleton Ammo.

For this year's plains game hunt I took my .308. Federal Trophy Bonded Tipped grouped at .5", Norma Oryx grouped at .6", I couldn't be happier with those results.

For my upcoming cow elephant hunt I am stepping up from my .375H&H and am taking a 416 Taylor, I had Lonnie Cribbs, Superior Ammunition load me some Woodleigh Hydro's, I can put 2 bullets in one hole at 50 yards. I can't beat that!

 

[45-70guy]

@45-70guy
I hope your loading that WHELEN to its full potential. Makes it an awesome long and short range beast.
Bob

The furthest I’ve shot any animal was 236 yards but a 225g pill doesn’t seem to fail. That was on a moose, a second bull moose was only 203 yards. Both with 225g TSX barnes.
South Africa with the Whelen, well everything was closer but bigger and tougher! Still the 225g North Forks didn’t leave anything to be desired.

Factory ammo is all over the place but hard to find good bullets at a good velocity if buying store bought ammo.

 

[Tdsmith517]

5.56,7.62x39, 7.62x51,9mm, 45acp I don’t have the time or effort to load. Hunting rifles and odd ball obsolete ammo yes. Big bore rifle and bug bore handguns yes.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

While posting on another thread earlier today I started wondering about this. How many of you out there are happy using factory ammunition for your rifle if it is readily available, and how many of you prefer custom hand loads whether you do it yourself or have them loaded by someone else.

This question is not just for dangerous game rifles, but throughout your arsenal.

Are you factory ammo for some and hand loads for others, and what is your reasoning for each.

For me personally I use factory ammo in my 338 Win Mag (Norma Oryx 230 gr.) and my 6.5 PRC (Hornady ELDX 143 gr.). These both shoot great out of my non custom rifles and work wonderfully on plains game.

For my dangerous game rifles (404J - 416 Rigby - 458 Lott - 500J) I have them custom loaded as I don't hand load myself. My reasoning is I usually go heavy for caliber so even if there are factory options they will be standard for caliber or lighter.

If you like please mention make and model of rifle for each selection. One of my suspicions is that higher end custom rifles will be used more with custom ammunition. Prove me right or wrong.

Curious to see the responses.

This is a very difficult question to answer, because I have seen both factory loads and custom loads behave poorly over the years. Some custom loads behaved worse than factory loads.

Out of factory loads, I’ve personally found German ammunition to be ABNORMALLY reliable (particularly RWS and Labor Fur Ballistik although the latter does not appear to be commercially available anymore). In 1995, I used a box of 1949 made DWM 7x57mm Mauser 173Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids. Every single one of those cartridges performed as if they left the factory last week.

Federal has given me some trouble in certain calibers more than once.

This ammunition in particular, behaved the most appallingly. In 1996, BSF (Bengal Shooting Federation) imported 20,000 of these 7x57mm Mauser cartridges. I am not lying. NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE CARTRIDGES ever fired. I still have some of the boxes of misfired cartridges as a horrible reminder. It was considered one of BSF’s biggest losses of the decade. We owners of 7x57mm Mauser rifles who had purchased this ammunition actually threatened to sue BSF unless they returned our money. To this date, I’ll never understand why every single of those 20,000 cartridges misfired. But it happened. We opened up the cartridges and found the powder to be working just fine. We attributed the problem to be those gold colored primers. You will observe that currently produced Federal 7x57mm Mauser ammunition uses silver colored primers.

Strangely, BSF (at the same time) had also imported 20,000 Federal 175Gr Classic Hi-Shok cartridges in 7mm Remington Magnum. Every single one of those cartridges performed (and continues to perform) absolutely flawlessly. Interestingly enough, the primers are silver colored. This supports my theory that something was wrong with the primers which Federal was using in their 7x57mm Mauser ammunition at the time.

Federal ammunition has also proved to often deliver chronographed velocities below the advertised figures.

Currently produced Federal Power Shok 175Gr 7x57mm Mauser cartridges have at advertised velocity of 2390 FPS, but chronograph at anywhere between 2200 FPS to 2317 FPS.

Federal’s Premium 500Gr Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer Solids for the .458 Winchester Magnum achieve only 1950 FPS at the muzzle, which makes them totally unsuitable for frontal brain shots on African bull elephants.

Nevertheless, Federal’s .375 Holland & Holland Magnum ammunition, .470 Nitro Express ammunition and .500 Nitro Express ammunition have always been excellent in my experience.

Amongst custom loaders, I personally consider Hendershots and John LaSala to be the best in the USA. John LaSala in particular, is a custom loading expert.

Superior Ammunition is a reputed brand too. But they did produce a batch of .577 Nitro Express ammunition with unsatisfactory velocities a few years ago. Ivan Carter was the white hunter when a group of American clients took the ammunition with them on an elephant hunt. The .577 Nitro Express ammunition was discovered to deliver extremely poor penetration.

One thing I’ll strongly discourage my fellow hunters from doing- NEVER use another hunter’s hand loads. You have no way of knowing what’s in them. Buzz Charlton used to own a Heym Model 88B in .500 Nitro Express. Due to difficulty of getting .500 Nitro Express ammunition in Zimbabwe, he uses whatever ammunition his clients leave him. Recently, he was using hand loads left behind by a client. That beautiful Heym double rifle just locked up and failed to open anymore after one barrel was fired. Richard Harland was finally able to get the rifle open, but there was a disconnection between the top lever & the locking bolt. Buzz later had the rifle repaired, although he recently abandoned it in favor of a new John Rigby & Co. Shikari in .500 Nitro Express.

 

[Aaron N]

Like Mark above, factory ammo in rimfires. All my centerfires are custom barreled with a few wildcats so everything else is reloads.

Have you got those Ross” shooting yet?

 

[WAB]

I handload all center fire rifle cartridges from .22 Hornet to .375 with the exception of high volume AR fodder (5.56 and 6.5 Grendel). Rifles fed range from Savage to Rigby and some pretty nice custom M70’s and No 1’s.

I handload all my target shotgun loads inclusive of 2 1/2” 12 ga.

I do not handload for pistols.

 

[mark-hunter]

While posting on another thread earlier today I started wondering about this. How many of you out there are happy using factory ammunition for your rifle if it is readily available, and how many of you prefer custom hand loads whether you do it yourself or have them loaded by someone else.

This question is not just for dangerous game rifles, but throughout your arsenal.

I am happy with high quality ammunition made by factory.
It stands both for African and for domestic hunting. But it must be chosen wisely.

I hunted buffalo with factory Norma PH Line 375 H&H swift A frame, 300 grains. Performed fantastic

Norma diamond line, molly coated bullets is most accurate factory made match round I have seen.
(it will not however beat properly made handloads at high level competition match)

etc
I have handloads for roe bucks, in 30 06, with nosler ballistic tip, 180 grains.

So, I am having handloads and factory ammo. I pick from both worlds.

Factory ammunition which is to be avoided for African hunt, I would not reccomend:
PPU in 375 H&H. (The only DG caliber they have) and I would not use it for buffalo, but I would use it for any plains game, in their soft point version.

Sellier & Bellot. Avoid at any cost. And avoid for any application. Accuracy issue.
Their ammunition lots for last few years (since 2022) went to disaster in all calibers with accuracy.
I have some old stocks for training, because they are (were) cheap, but they are usable for nothing else except for punching papers off hand.

If you shoot them from rest you will think something is wrong with your rifle. (this is not exaggeration - this is my experience, with S&B in 30 06, 9.3x62, 308 win)

A range owner - a friend of mine, on the range that I frequent says he has clients coming to him to zero the rifle, and he has serious problems zeroing the rifles with S&B ammo.

S&B has some premium bullets on the line. For example Exergy and nosler partition bullets. While those are really premium bullets, their loadings suffer in accuracy.

For reloading, not even brass is of highest quality.

Thus, avoid S&B at any cost.

Regarding Africa: there are ammunition brands that have reputation. One is Norma, the other could be Hornady. Generally speaking, look for known African brends. For northern hemisphere good ammo is RWS, cheaper ones Geco, Sako. etc

 

[Gomer]

I handload for all but one of my centerfire hunting rifles. I didn’t at first, but then I got into muzzleloaders and the light went off in my head. I find it relaxing, kind of like cleaning my rifles.

I am no longer obsessive about it. I feel like I am more efficient at finding a good enough load. I pick bullets/brass/primer, look at the reload books for case fill (90% or above), and let the purpose of the rifle dictate the rest. If it’s a sub 300 yard elk rifle, I often find that if I keep my measurements the same and weigh my charges, velocity will be way more consistent than most factory hunting ammo. I usually just work up to find book velocity and I may play with seating depth a little to see if there is a sweet spot.

I do get pretty nitpicky with one of my 300 Win Mags. It’s my one rifle set up for open country hunting.

The one rifle I don’t handload for is a Stevens 200 in 22-250. It shoots 45gr Winchester White Box so well that it’s neither cost effective or a good use of my time. The price has jumped considerably, so I may change that if I run out. I’m down to my last 400 rounds.

 

[Rimshot]

I find that unless it's a very modern or popular chambering, factory ammo offers either inferior projectile choice, inferior performance, lack of availability, and/or insane price markup.

Example - one of my favorite all around cartridges, 9.3x74r. Federal Premium 286 A-frame, assuming it's available (currently not, surprise!) is ~$8/rd. A reloader even buying the brass and throwing it away is still only $4 - 4.50. Re-use the brass? <$3. $100+ savings per 20rd box once you've already got brass. Any time I swap a scope or sight a gun in, I'm shooting at least 20 and probably more shots to get a true POI. You think a 3 shot or 5 shot group tells you anything? It isn't an adequate sample size. It's fine for short range, but I want to be the limiting factor in my shooting system, not my rifle. If I need to make a 400+ yard shot with my 9.3, I want it to hit where I'm aiming. I have 1 DR and 3 singleshot/drillings in 9.3x74R. That's 5 barrels, 5 boxes of ammo for a minimum sighting in (not even counting fine tuning the double, the adjustable Blaser S2). I've now saved $500 just adjusting scopes. What about practice? The chances of a different cheaper factory load, say PPU, hitting to the same POI is almost nil. As a handloader, you can often monkey with powder/charge/velocity and make the same weight cheap bullet go to the same POI as your premium hunting bullet. Now you're saving over $6/rd. 50 rounds of practice through each of the 4 guns and we've saved 6x50x4= $1200 + the $500 sight in = $1700 saved. EVEN IF you just practice with your premium (Swift A-frame) hunting reload, it's still 5x50x4 = $1500 SAVINGS over factory.. Now, would you ever take just 1 20rd box of ammo on mulit-day/species hunt like Africa? 2 or 3 boxes, 40-60rds, right? Another $200-300 savings. $1700-2000 savings in one season, for one cartridge.

A lot of my rifles are either old, rare, classic, or obsolete cartridges. I don't know what my total savings is by reloading but I honestly hadn't done any math lately until the above example, because that isn't even my primary reason for reloading them. I could come up with even more extreme examples too. One of my other favorites, the 22 Hornet, can be reloaded for 1/4 or 1/5 the cost of factory, while using better bullets and with superior performance. I don't think there's ever been a 22 Hornet factory load that would have allowed me to take a klipspringer as effectively as my handload at 247 yards.

I make decent money, but saving many thousands of dollars per year while having the ability to highly customize my ammo for specific circumstances is well worth the time and equipment investment.

You'll get no argument from me about how good factory ammo is in the new and popular cartridges with mass appeal. These days it probably makes the most sense to shoot factory in those, and there doesn't seem to be much gained with handloading compared to how it was 20-30 years ago.

 

[farmer_john]

I start with factory loads to see if the rifle likes any especially well. I reload for special circumstances and hunts. Also if I can’t get satisfactory groups with factory loads I start testing different bullets and powders until I get a load the gun likes.

Same i generally use factory match ammo with a new rifle.

But ive found handloading you get alot more consistancy than your average store bought ammo. But theres nothing wrong with factory. You will generally just have a little more dispersion

 

[Mark458]

Thanks for everyone's input so far and keep it coming.

The results so far are somewhat close to what I expected, but perhaps a few more handloaders than I realized. I know much is due to necessity, but for many of you it's by choice.

On the 450 Rigby ammo thread it has been posted that Rigby has and is attempting to negotiate to bring out their own line of ammunition. I think this would be a wonderful option to have. Given the large number of handloaders here, would you consider using Rigby factory ammunition if it were available in your caliber of choice.

Again I'm anxious to see the results and perhaps give Rigby a small and unscientific sample of interest.

Let's hear what you have to say.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I am happy with high quality ammunition made by factory.
It stands both for African and for domestic hunting. But it must be chosen wisely.

I hunted buffalo with factory Norma PH Line 375 H&H swift A frame, 300 grains. Performed fantastic

Norma diamond line, molly coated bullets is most accurate factory made match round I have seen.
(it will not however beat properly made handloads at high level competition match)

etc
I have handloads for roe bucks, in 30 06, with nosler ballistic tip, 180 grains.

So, I am having handloads and factory ammo. I pick from both worlds.

Factory ammunition which is to be avoided for African hunt, I would not reccomend:
PPU in 375 H&H. (The only DG caliber they have) and I would not use it for buffalo, but I would use it for any plains game, in their soft point version.

Sellier & Bellot. Avoid at any cost. And avoid for any application. Accuracy issue.
Their ammunition lots for last few years (since 2022) went to disaster in all calibers with accuracy.
I have some old stocks for training, because they are (were) cheap, but they are usable for nothing else except for punching papers off hand.

If you shoot them from rest you will think something is wrong with your rifle. (this is not exaggeration - this is my experience, with S&B in 30 06, 9.3x62, 308 win)

A range owner - a friend of mine, on the range that I frequent says he has clients coming to him to zero the rifle, and he has serious problems zeroing the rifles with S&B ammo.

S&B has some premium bullets on the line. For example Exergy and nosler partition bullets. While those are really premium bullets, their loadings suffer in accuracy.

For reloading, not even brass is of highest quality.

Thus, avoid S&B at any cost.

Regarding Africa: there are ammunition brands that have reputation. One is Norma, the other could be Hornady. Generally speaking, look for known African brends. For northern hemisphere good ammo is RWS, cheaper ones Geco, Sako. etc

Marko, when you hunted Nilgai from elephant back with my brother-in-law last month…. what ammunition were you using in his .30-06 Springfield Blaser R8 ?

Was it Sellier & Bellot 180Gr round nosed soft point ? Or Geco 170Gr Plus ? He had instructions from me to supply you with Geco ammunition since you don’t like Sellier & Bellot.

 

[375Fox]

Thanks for everyone's input so far and keep it coming.

The results so far are somewhat close to what I expected, but perhaps a few more handloaders than I realized. I know much is due to necessity, but for many of you it's by choice.

On the 450 Rigby ammo thread it has been posted that Rigby has and is attempting to negotiate to bring out their own line of ammunition. I think this would be a wonderful option to have. Given the large number of handloaders here, would you consider using Rigby factory ammunition if it were available in your caliber of choice.

Again I'm anxious to see the results and perhaps give Rigby a small and unscientific sample of interest.

Let's hear what you have to say.

I’m curious what Rigby branded ammo would cost? I’m thinking there’d be a very significant mark up for the name.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

On the 450 Rigby ammo thread it has been posted that Rigby has and is attempting to negotiate to bring out their own line of ammunition. I think this would be a wonderful option to have. Given the large number of handloaders here, would you consider using Rigby factory ammunition if it were available in your caliber of choice.

I own a 450 Rigby and a stated earlier in this thread, I load my own.

I don't mean to sound exceptionally negative but here are the presumes facts...
Rigby won't load it and chances are they won't set performance standards. Boy, it would be great if they did! Nevertheless, if Norma, Nosler, or RWS load the Rigby brand ammo, it will probably be pretty good. At least the 450 Rigby shooters will have a source for ammo.

If I were a shooter of factory ammo, which in most cases there is nothing wrong with, I'd first gather online comments about Rigby BRANDED factory ammo.

How is the velocity and extreme velocity spread?
How was the accuracy in those shooter's rifles?
What bullets is is loaded with? Are they know great buffalo killing soft points like Swift A-Frames or elephant dropping solids like Cutting Edge Safari Solids or North Fork solids?

If answers to the above are within acceptability, I'd buy a couple boxes and test them for accuracy, velocity and velocity spead in MY hunting rifle. Use a good chrnograph to measure velocity. I recommend the Garmin Xero but there are similar items from other makers.

Only then would I decide if I want to risk my hunting success on this or any ammunition.

Then if no negative reviews, I'd buy a few boxes and test them in my rifle. If accuracy was sufficient, then I'd use this ammo if I needed to buy factory rounds.

The above anal test parameters work for me. Most people just buy a few boxes of this or that brand of ammo, sight in, and have successful hunts!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I own a 450 Rigby and a stated earlier in this thread, I load my own.

I don't mean to sound exceptionally negative but here are the presumes facts...
Rigby won't load it and chances are they won't set performance standards. Boy, it would be great if they did! Nevertheless, if Norma, Nosler, or RWS load the Rigby brand ammo, it will probably be pretty good. It least the 450 Rigby shooters will have a source for ammo.

If I were a shooter of factory ammo, which in most cases there is nothing wrong with, I'd first gather online comments about Rigby BRANDED factory ammo.

How is the velocity and extreme velocity spread?
How was the accuracy in those shooter's rifles?
What bullets is is loaded with? Are they know great buffalo killing soft points like Swift A-Frames or elephant dropping solids like Cutting Edge Safari Solids or North Fork solids?

If answers to the above are within acceptability, I'd buy a couple boxes and test them for accuracy, velocity and velocity spead in MY hunting rifle. Use a good chrnograph to measure velocity. I recommend the Garmin Xero but there are similar items from other makers.

Only then would I decide if I want to risk my hunting success on this or any ammunition.

The above anal test parameters work for me. Most people just buy a few boxes of this or that brand of ammo, sight in, and have successful hunts!

Then if no negative reviews, I'd buy a few boxes and test them in my rifle. If accuracy was sufficient, then I'd use this ammo if I needed to buy factory rounds.

I’ve seen pictures of Rigby brand ammunition online for the .275 Rigby (loaded with 140Gr Hornady Interlocks) and the .416 Rigby (loaded with Woodleigh Hydrostatically Stabilized 410Gr Solids). These were in dark blue boxes and used Hornady cases.

I’ve personally seen a box of Rigby brand ammunition many years ago for the .275 Rigby (loaded with 140Gr Nosler Partitions). It was a yellow colored box with the outline of a red stag on it.

Edit: I found the picture for the .275 Rigby ammunition online. Apparently Rigby themselves sell these on their website.

John Rigby & Co. 275 Rigby (7x57) 140gr SP Ammunition - 20 Pack

The Rigby .275 custom 140gr Interlock® Soft Point ammunition provides shooters with a dedicated hunting solution, with proven reliability and accuracy.

johnrigbyandco.com.au

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Custom ammo by my rifle builder or I reload. Otherwise, any ammo I got as a result of a rifle purchase with ammo, I test the ammo by shooting 2-3 rounds with a chronograph and document results.

Or send Hendershots my components and load data. If I need custom bullets and brass they cannot source. I.e 450 Dakota…

I don’t shoot factory ammo in center fire rifles anymore.

 

[Mark458]

I own a 450 Rigby and a stated earlier in this thread, I load my own.

I don't mean to sound exceptionally negative but here are the presumes facts...
Rigby won't load it and chances are they won't set performance standards. Boy, it would be great if they did! Nevertheless, if Norma, Nosler, or RWS load the Rigby brand ammo, it will probably be pretty good. At least the 450 Rigby shooters will have a source for ammo.

If I were a shooter of factory ammo, which in most cases there is nothing wrong with, I'd first gather online comments about Rigby BRANDED factory ammo.

How is the velocity and extreme velocity spread?
How was the accuracy in those shooter's rifles?
What bullets is is loaded with? Are they know great buffalo killing soft points like Swift A-Frames or elephant dropping solids like Cutting Edge Safari Solids or North Fork solids?

If answers to the above are within acceptability, I'd buy a couple boxes and test them for accuracy, velocity and velocity spead in MY hunting rifle. Use a good chrnograph to measure velocity. I recommend the Garmin Xero but there are similar items from other makers.

Only then would I decide if I want to risk my hunting success on this or any ammunition.

Then if no negative reviews, I'd buy a few boxes and test them in my rifle. If accuracy was sufficient, then I'd use this ammo if I needed to buy factory rounds.

The above anal test parameters work for me. Most people just buy a few boxes of this or that brand of ammo, sight in, and have successful hunts!

It would definitely be disappointing if they didn't set some performance standards. They usually don't put their name on something that isn't made to very high standards.