Have you ever had a gun Prefer Factory Ammo???

[horsemen61]

Ok guys so I am working on a load for a savage axis 22-250 and I’ll be damned if that thing doesn’t prefer Remington Core Lokts 55 grain PSP over everything else I’ve tried so far I will keep going but at what point do you just say enough and buy like 500 rounds of Remington Ammo!

PS it isn’t my Gun or I would do more things to it to improve accuracy such as a new stock the Timney trigger re enforce the stock maybe

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have a Rem 760 .30-06 that shoots so well with Rem Core-Lokt that I never bothered to work up a load for it.

 

[Demi-human]

I, too, have a seven sixty, in thirty aught six. It likes the Hornady Whitetail series, one hundred sixty five grain, a lot. I have three boxes of it in the rare case I get froggy and go out for Venison.

I had given a go at handloading for it, all but one hundred and ten grain V-Max were less than accurate. I am sure those would work, especially when they go through the same hole, at seventy yards with me standing. But I am told they are to light for deer.

If in the rare chance factory fodder does well, buy much of the same lot. Many thousands, or sixty. Depending on use.

I just realized you said someone else was buying the ammunition. That would be when I would stop.

 

[HamSlamma]

Horsemen,,,,try this one. This is the one my Savage likes.....

https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/PRA2250RB

 

[joed]

The reason it doesn't like your ammo is because you are not doing something that it likes. Six years ago a friend asked me to load some ammo for his .22-250. This was one of the hardest cartridges I've ever worked with.

Anything I loaded shot groups of 2.5" at 100 yds while factory ammo could do about 1". After the second attempt someone on here suggested using the OAL in the load manuals. Reluctantly I tried this and the groups shrank to 1", same as factory ammo.

The second surprise was bullets. The only bullet I could get to shoot like no other was the Sierra 52 gr MK. When I tried this bullet groups dropped to about 1/2". I tried a few 55 gr bullets but none would duplicate that Sierra MK.

I now have a .22-250 and experienced the same thing as above. I saved a lot of grief as after the first outing I went to the book length and the 52 gr MK.

 

[rayatphonix]

I have a Bergara Stalker that loves Prime ammo. Shoots 5/8” groups for me, even better groups when shot by our Range Officer.

I can get close, but haven’t been able to beat it yet. I’ve got to work up a hunting load.

 

[Jack B.]

Remington BDL 700 in 30-06 bought a box of Remington ammo when new years ago mainly to get brass for reloading. Don't really remember how they shot. Nothing but hand loads since then. Never even shot factory ammo in my Henry Big Boy.

 

[horsemen61]

Thanks for all the replies I am using the book Oal which I believe to be 2.350 inches I may try H380 next

 

[Muddydogs]

Thanks for all the replies I am using the book Oal which I believe to be 2.350 inches I may try H380 next

Well that could be your problem considering I doubt the test weapon or barrel was a Savage Axis so the book OAL is just a good starting point. You might be .005 to .030 off the lands and have no idea.

I wouldn't know if any of my firearms likes factory over handloads as most have shot very little to no factory ammo. The factory ammo that was shot was used to sight in the firearm then blasted away with no real testing.

There's nothing wrong with the Savage Axis stock especially when shooting it off a bench, the trigger sucks and could be some of your problem as its hard to get a good trigger pull with the factory heavy creepy one. My Savage Axis 25-06 with Timney trigger will punch 1/4" groups at 100 yards all day long.

 

[someguy2800]

Most of my rifles that I've tried factory ammo in shoot good with one sort or another of factory ammo. I can usually beat the factory ammo with handloads but often not by much. They make some really good factory ammo these days.

 

[Nature Boy]

I have a Rem 760 .30-06 that shoots so well with Rem Core-Lokt that I never bothered to work up a load for it.

I think 30-06 and Reminging Core Lokts are like peas and carrots. My 03A3 shoots them very well too.

The hand loads I work up are better, but honestly, for a hunting rifle, it’s marginal. I’d have no problem taking a box of Core Lokts hunting, but it wouldn’t be as rewarding as taking a deer with a custom load I made.

 

[Ireload2]

I shot a lot of 140 grn hand loads in a Ruger 77 in 7X57.
The 140 boat tails shot about 2 inches. The 140 flat base were a little better so were the 150 and 160 grn boat tails.

But Federal Classic 175 grn RN bullets shot 3/4" groups.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I had a NEF Handi Rifle in .280 Remington that I couldn't get to shoot a handload to save my life.
It shot darn near MOA with Winchester Ballistic Silvertips though. I even bought some of those bullets to handload and no matter what I tried, it looked like I shot the target with a shotgun.

The rifle did have bad headspace issues. After only 2-3 firings the cases would separate at the base.
I got rid of the rifle (with that disclosed of course). The guy didn't handload anyway, and buying that particular factory ammo didn't bother him.

I hated it because I love the caliber. I'll pick up another some day.

 

[Coop45]

Remington VSSF .223

 

[WestKentucky]

Smartalec in me says yeah a 22 rimfire, but then when I think again I had a heavy barrel .223 survival rifle from NEF or H&R (terrible execution of a good idea) that would only shoot well with a bullet that wasn’t on the market for reloaders. That was before I was reloading .223 but did consider getting into it. I believe that at the time it was Hornady Steel Match or something similar that would shoot well and shortly after I sold the rifle they started selling that bullet in component form. I also have a marlin 60 in 256wm that correct weight bullets are not available for, but I can load heavy bullets for that rifle. It shoots the 75gr Handloads well enough but it used to do better with factory ammo which is now prohibitively expensive.

 

[Varminterror]

The reason it doesn't like your ammo is because you are not doing something that it likes.

This.

If I couldn’t find a load any rifle likes better than factory loads - especially Rem Core-Lokts, I’d give up reloading altogether.

Rifle precision is really just a matter of consistency. If you can’t get reloads to meet or beat factory ammo, you either have the wrong bullet for your twist or wrong powder for your bullet.

 

[Bang!]

I have a Rem 760 .30-06 that shoots so well with Rem Core-Lokt that I never bothered to work up a load for it.

Exact same thing here. Same rifle, caliber, and ammunition. 150 grain. Deer rifle that only comes out for the season. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

[edwardware]

Yes. I own a mid-70s Ruger M77 in .270 that loves the cheap Federal blue box 150gr ammo. I suspect it's due to the extremely gradual ogive provided by the blunt-nosed bullet.

 

[jmorris]

I have had some that were more than accurate for their job with factory ammunition and shot so little that is all that has been fired in them.

Other firearms have never had factory ammunition fired in them, so I wouldn’t know.

 

[Offfhand]

It's not at all uncommon for shooter/reloaders to suffer withdrawal when they discover their .308 loads don't equal the accuracy of Federal .308 Match. Even when using the same bullet and cases.

 

[anothernewb]

I have a 308 that shoots factory as well as any load I've developed. I just took it to mean that I don't load rifle well, and that my 100 yard+ skills suck.

 

[Kingcreek]

I have a Winchester 70 in .243 that shoots plain ol Winchester 100gr soft points like a match rifle and try as I might, I have never been able to come up with a recipe that comes even close.

 

[Laphroaig]

I've always thought that Hornady 168 Amax Garand ammo shot better than my 168 HPBT reloads. Bart B. used to have a theory that Garand bolt faces are rarely square which results in brass with a crooked base. I don't know if that has a small impact on reloads or not.

I had a 25-06 Rem 700 BDL in the early 80's that shot some Green Box 87 HP's better than anything I reloaded. I finally stumbled on an equally accurate load last year with Sierra 117 PH's. It only took me about 35 years!

 

[someguy2800]

Yes. I own a mid-70s Ruger M77 in .270 that loves the cheap Federal blue box 150gr ammo. I suspect it's due to the extremely gradual ogive provided by the blunt-nosed bullet.

My father in law and brother in law have been shooting the same blue box Federal 150 round nose in their 270's for 20 years and get excellent accuracy and great terminal performance. My father in law's weatherby and encore are about .75 moa with it. Last year I found a source for those bullet and bought 1000 of them to handload for them. Below is a 100 yard group from my brother in laws M77 that I glass bedded for him. This was with IMR4350 at 2800 fps. There are 4 shots in the hole on the right, if not for the last shot out to the left it would have been the best group I've ever shot.

 

[Patocazador]

I never had a rifle that liked factory loads better than careful handloads but I have a 4" S&W model 29 that loves Remington 180 gr. HP better than anything I can load.
I have to say that I handload for hunting mainly and use Nosler Partitions almost exclusively in my rifles. Some factory loads will shoot more accurately than my Nosler Partition loads but they usually have weakly constructed bullets. I can load Ballistic Tips in my loads and beat almost every factory load but I won't hunt with a Ballistic tip.