Okay, I recently bought an LWRC REPR, 16" barrel, as a general purpose, do-most-things-decently rifle, kind of my 5 yards to 500 yards gun. It has a Mako T-Pod and a Vortex Razor HD Gen II 1-6x, so I can reach out and touch somebody, but I am not really needing to reach out past 600 yards.
Among other things, I would like to be able to hunt with this rifle, and since I live in Kalifornistan, that means lead-free ammo (pronounced "very expensive"). However I do not need lead-free for everything else (shooting paper, steel, zombies, etc.). I was wondering: is there a lead-free factory load that closely mimics a good quality, accurate non-lead-free round? Individually, I am aware of several good makes and models, but I am looking for two that are nearly performance twins, so I am specifically looking for somebody that has experience with both a lead-free and a non-lead-free equivalent. As far as requirements on the ammo , I am looking for both decent price point averaged over both types of ammo (so I would rather buy a $35 box of lead and a $50 box of lead-free than a $25 box of lead and a $80 box of lead free), and I am also looking for consistency and similarity between ammo types... the more they are similar, the better. Also, the lead free-needs to expand, and not just punch right through (I will be hunting mostly mule deer, and around here they run between 100 and 200 lbs, but I may also go for a pig or a bear if the opportunity presents itself).
I know that Federal Gold Medal 168 gr. is kind of the standard, and Federal also makes the Copper Trophy 165 gr. On paper they are similar out to about 300. Are the Federal lead-free any good, anywhere near the GMM? Also, Hornady Match 168 gr. and Hornady Superformance GMX 165 gr. look similar on paper out to 500 yards, and I have always heard great things about Hornady... any experience with shooting these side-by-side?
I am pretty open to suggestions, as I am still pretty new to rifles.
Thanks all in advance for your suggestions.
Among other things, I would like to be able to hunt with this rifle, and since I live in Kalifornistan, that means lead-free ammo (pronounced "very expensive"). However I do not need lead-free for everything else (shooting paper, steel, zombies, etc.). I was wondering: is there a lead-free factory load that closely mimics a good quality, accurate non-lead-free round? Individually, I am aware of several good makes and models, but I am looking for two that are nearly performance twins, so I am specifically looking for somebody that has experience with both a lead-free and a non-lead-free equivalent. As far as requirements on the ammo , I am looking for both decent price point averaged over both types of ammo (so I would rather buy a $35 box of lead and a $50 box of lead-free than a $25 box of lead and a $80 box of lead free), and I am also looking for consistency and similarity between ammo types... the more they are similar, the better. Also, the lead free-needs to expand, and not just punch right through (I will be hunting mostly mule deer, and around here they run between 100 and 200 lbs, but I may also go for a pig or a bear if the opportunity presents itself).
I know that Federal Gold Medal 168 gr. is kind of the standard, and Federal also makes the Copper Trophy 165 gr. On paper they are similar out to about 300. Are the Federal lead-free any good, anywhere near the GMM? Also, Hornady Match 168 gr. and Hornady Superformance GMX 165 gr. look similar on paper out to 500 yards, and I have always heard great things about Hornady... any experience with shooting these side-by-side?
I am pretty open to suggestions, as I am still pretty new to rifles.
Thanks all in advance for your suggestions.
