Sierra vs Nosler

[Kamicosmos]

My Bushmaster Varminter has always liked the 50 and 55 grain Nosler CT Ballistic Silvertips. I use a mild charge of Varget with them, and (when I do my part) it produces .5-1.0 inch 5 shot groups consistantly, even as the rifle heats up. So, I tried some 55 grain Sierra Gamekings. Gun hated them! Best group I could get with them was around 1.5 inches, and I forced that by changing my point of aim on each shot to try and keep them close together. Otherwise, they'd group around 2.5-3.5 inches at 100 yards. These were shot yesterday, and after I shot them, I switched back over to my Nosler loads and got several 1 inch groups, and even got my best group to date: .538". 4 shots can be completely covered by a dime. I blew the last shot and threw it wide with a flinch, which opened the group up to around .8".

Guess it just goes to show that every gun is a unique individual, and you have to feed it accordingly!

Anyone else have a gun that is particulary picky with ammo?

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Try Again

As a Sierra dealer years ago and when buying Sierra rejects and bullets made when setting up for production runs that I had my scouts sort out from the buckets we bought as a fund raiser for them selling them at gun shows. Their customers reported winning matches with the Sierra rejects.

My advice is to work up a load for the less expensive Sierras like you did for your Noslers and you will save money in the long run or save more money with Hornadays.

Fitz

 

[Art Eatman]

Sierra has several options in the 50- to 55-grain weights. I used to load a 52-grain HPBT that gave exceptional accuracy in both a .223 and a .220 Swift--and was devastating on feral critters.

FWIW, I had a Bushmaster Match Target that didn't seem to care what it was fed; any brand, any weight up to a stubby 70-grain. Almost all five-shot groups were near 1/2 MOA at 100 yards.

Some rifles are just picky, though...

Art