Factory Rifle Ammo Feedback?

[Nevada Mike]

I don't shoot factory ammunition much anymore. If I did, I'd choose Norma (Oryx or Woodleigh) or Federal (TBBC) , which have always performed well for me.

 

[colorado]

I've had very good luck with the Remington Premier Safari Ammo in 375 H&H. 300g A-Frames at a chron'd 2500 fps out of a 24" barrel. This one still weighs 299.5 g after penetrating a 9' brown bear diagonally.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I've had very good luck with the Remington Premier Safari Ammo in 375 H&H. 300g A-Frames at a chron'd 2500 fps out of a 24" barrel. This one still weighs 299.5 g after penetrating a 9' brown bear diagonally.

View attachment 482380

@colorado
A 310gn Woodleigh at 2,400fps out of the Whelen should be similar almost.

 

[PerH]

Brenneke in 8x68S load a TOG also one to have a look at.
.308, Geco Plus ( may be the cheapest bonded ammo to find)

 

[Pondoro]

I had excellent results with Rem. core-locked in .375 in Namibia...accurate and good performance....shots up to 280m...never used it in smaller calibres..

 

[Opposite Pole]

I’ve used Geco ammunition in handguns for target shooting in 9mm, 357 and 32S&W L WC. That last one in match Pardini pistol. It shoots as well as Lapua and is pretty much half price. Very consistent and clean burning unlike say S&B. Never tried their rifle products but the handgun stuff is rather good.

 

[Novice Huntress]

Hi Guys how are you all?

Please keep the feedback coming in, any factory Federal users out there?

I did find this fieldsports nation link on non toxic ammunition choices,

I will see if I can find their summary presentation.

It was interesting to see GECO did well for accuracy.

 

[double rifle newbie]

in my humble opinion, paying a little bit more for premium ammo on a hunt that could cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars is money well spent. that being said, deer hunting in my home state would not require premium bullets.

 

[JimP]

Most hunting doesn't require premium bullets cup and core ones work quite well and have done so for over 100 years.

However I have been shooting monolithic Barnes bullets now for over 20 years on North American and African plains game and see no reason to change. They are both accurate in my rifles and I haven't had a animal argue with one either.

 

[steve white]

I've had very good luck with the Remington Premier Safari Ammo in 375 H&H. 300g A-Frames at a chron'd 2500 fps out of a 24" barrel. This one still weighs 299.5 g after penetrating a 9' brown bear diagonally.

View attachment 482380

I've never even heard of an A Frame failure. Love 'em

 

[BourbonTrail]

Hi Guys how are you all?

Please keep the feedback coming in, any factory Federal users out there?

I did find this fieldsports nation link on non toxic ammunition choices,

I will see if I can find their summary presentation.

It was interesting to see GECO did well for accuracy.

I use 150 gr. Power-Shok Federals in my 30-06, usually 1/2-3/4 MOA group. Never recover bullets from whitetail, all pass through shots.

Also, 416 Nosler Partitions did great on recent trip. All complete pass through,1 shot, clean kills.

 

[BeeMaa]

My wife and I both use Barnes TSX (375H&H) and TTSX (300WM) loaded by Barnes with great accuracy and hunting success. The only other bullet I have loaded is Woodleigh Hydro for the 375H&H. We specifically shifted away from lead products to these because of the CA legislation and expecting other states to do the same.

The exception is range time where we do use lead based ammo. I believe we are using PPU, Nosler AccuBond and maybe a few others that have lead in them. All seem to shoot to very near the same POI as the Barnes TSX.

In the past I've used the Rem Core-Lokt, Nosler Partition, Federal Power Point, Swift A-Frame and Norma Oryx. Of those bullets I'd only consider using the SAF or Oryx again (because of their bonded design) in a situation where I didn't have the TSX.

I spend a great deal of time with shotguns as well. For those I mostly use lead shot from Federal for range use, Federal Black Cloud TSS for waterfowl, Federal Heavyweight TSS for Turkey and I'll probably find some lead alternative for hunting upland birds. Most likely Federal Bismuth or Apex TSS. I'm still in the research phase for upland hunting cartridges.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

With the resurgence of popularity of the 450/400 ;3" what are the chances that more manufacturers will start producing ammunition? Right now it is only Hornady, correct?

 

[Cleveland48]

The last time I bought factory ammo was when I purchased my sauer 9.3x62. I bought two boxes of the Norma 230 gr ecostrike for whitetail to try out. Boy that was a great load, and have not found anymore in a few years. I took 3 whitetails with that bullet with great results, never recovered a bullet but exit wounds showed very good expansion and accuracy was wonderful in that rifle. Here is a five shot group with that ammo.

 

[BeeMaa]

With the resurgence of popularity of the 450/400 ;3" what are the chances that more manufacturers will start producing ammunition? Right now it is only Hornady, correct?

I found some Kynoch and I believe that Norma was making loaded ammo at one time as well. So yes...Hornady looks to have the 450-400 3" market cornered for current production.

 

[Puddle]

I’m taking Federal Swift A-Frames and some Nosler Partitions with me on my upcoming trip. They both run about the same in my gun, but I do believe that the Noslers look like they go through better quality inspections. The Federals are barely nickel plated and have several blemishes on the cases. The Noslers appear flawless (too bad they’re not bonded).

I recall way, way back when I'd planned to use Nosler's "Safari" grade ammo for an upcoming buff hunt. I was at the range to grab MVs and zero the rifle when on squeezing the trigger the rifle went "click". And then another round went "click".

Had a chat with a Nosler person and asked them what grade this ammo was, 'cause it definitely wasn't "Safari" grade. The buff facing me might have liked it, but certainly not me.

Don't know if it's even made these days as I've never looked at them again. YMMV.

 

[JimP]

Safari Grade is just a name, they could of just of well called it Rabbit Grade. It pretty much just says that it was loaded with a premium bullet in my idea.

Any ammo can just go click, you never know when it is going to happen, you just need to be ready to cycle another round into the chamber if it happens.

After thousands of reloads that I have done myself, this last spring I finally had my first "click" on a dud primer. What caused it, I have zero ideas, it just happened.

 

[Puddle]

Safari Grade is just a name, they could of just of well called it Rabbit Grade. It pretty much just says that it was loaded with a premium bullet in my idea.

Any ammo can just go click, you never know when it is going to happen, you just need to be ready to cycle another round into the chamber if it happens.

After thousands of reloads that I have done myself, this last spring I finally had my first "click" on a dud primer. What caused it, I have zero ideas, it just happened.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I must disagree.

Factory ammo labeled "Safari", or "Dangerous Game", etc. along with the associated marketing literature that describes how awesome their ammo is, and a picture of a Cape Buffalo printed on the spiffy packaging all infers one thing. Actually, two. One, that the ammo is expensive, and two, that the hunter who chooses to place themselves in a bit of a pickle can rely on that ammo to do what's promised. That's because of the presumed quality control of the components used, and of the presumed quality control of the finished round.

When the aforementioned Nosler product manager replied they had not yet been to Africa and used the ammunition they were responsible for, I suggested they take a quick trip to Limpopo province, and square off with a Cape Buffalo. I assured them they would then return with a visceral appreciation of the term "quality control" of the product they are responsible for.

Apologies for the thread hijack ...

 

[Cleveland48]

Safari Grade is just a name, they could of just of well called it Rabbit Grade. It pretty much just says that it was loaded with a premium bullet in my idea.

Any ammo can just go click, you never know when it is going to happen, you just need to be ready to cycle another round into the chamber if it happens.

After thousands of reloads that I have done myself, this last spring I finally had my first "click" on a dud primer. What caused it, I have zero ideas, it just happened.

I had my first “click” on reloads this summer as well. Actually had 4 so far from the same lot of federal small pistol match primers in 38 special. Not sure if I got a bad batch or what, but an ammo manufacturer or reloader could of got that same batch and had no idea there were some duds in it. So I agree with you! You really do never know when it’s gonna happen.

 

[colorado]

Here's the last Remington core-lokt that I ever intend to shoot at a game animal. Notice that the primer is dented but the bullet is still in the casing.

Remington marketers might be able to brag on the 100% weight retention, though...

BTW - I understand probabilities. But if I have a second cartridge failure from a second manufacturer, I still won't feel like it's my fault. If I have a second cartridge failure from Remington, it would be my fault...

View attachment 482041

Not saying the ammo isn't at fault, but I would have a gunsmith check your firing pin spring and firing pin. It would be a bad day if that happened on a trophy animal or worse something dangerous.