What's the difference between these boxes of ammo?

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hometheaterman

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I've been shooting Federal 150 Grain soft points out of my 30-06. They don't shoot as well as the Fusions but I've been getting them for $18 a box at gun shows vs the Fusions are $30 a box. These shoot good enough for hunting with them and target shooting. Anyway, Wal-Mart has them for $14 a box but I've been paying $18 at gun shows and it's similar to online prices without shipping. I've been looking at Wal-Mart for 6-8 months if not more and not found any instock so I figured $18 wasn't too bad.

Well, I stopped by Wal-Mart tonight to see what they had and they had 6 of these boxes in for $14. I picked up 3 but I'm kind of wishing I had gotten all 6. I didn't want to hog it but I will be lucky if 3 even lasts me until hunting season the way I go through it target shooting.

Anyway, I noticed the ends are different than the other boxes I've gotten from a gun show. I've never seen them like this before. They are of course a different lot number too.

Here are pictures.

Old is on the left and the new is on the right.

From the tops as you can see they look the same
AmmoMarch222009001.jpg

Now the ends are where you can see the difference.
AmmoMarch222009006.jpg

AmmoMarch222009009.jpg

Now as you see they are both Federal Power Shok 150 grain soft points but the boxes are slightly different. This is one reason I only bought 3 instead of all 6. I wanted to make sure they were the same thing. Are these the same thing and did they just change the box or is it a cheaper version for Wal-Mart or what? I can't even find them online for $14 without shipping much less by the time you add in shipping so this seems super cheap.

Just wanted to know if anyone knew if the box was all that had changed.
 
Are these a Wal-Mart special or just a updated box vs what I'm getting at the gun shows and seeing online a old box?
 
Just updated graphics. When they decided to change the graphics, they blew all the old style boxes out to major distributors on the cheap.

About a year ago Cabelas had endcaps full of that stuff for 9.99 a box. I know one guy that bought literally a couple shopping carts full of it.....
 
Wow I want some for $9.99. Wal-Mart for the $13.97 or whatever is the cheapest I've found it and I've only seen it at that Wal-Mart and they are often sold out. Most others I've been to don't carry it.

As I said gun shows it was $18. The second one they were asking $19 but I offered $18 and they sold it to me.

Natchez is $15 something but the description says it's something different but the title says it's Powershok so I'm not sure what you are really getting and you have to pay shipping there too.

I wish now I had bought all 6 boxes. The more I think about it the more I wish I had bought the other 3 too. Oh well, if it was the one right up the road I'd go back but I'm not driving that far away just for ammo unless I go back for something else. I'm over that way fairly often.

I really hate to buy more when I kind of want Federal Fusions as they shoot better but they are just soo expensive. $30 at the local gun shop or $22 something on Natchez. I figured up if I order like 3 boxes it's like $26 a box with shipping on there. So $26 a box vs $14 a box. Or $18 at a gun show. That's why I like this stuff. My rifle is picky about ammo and I'm getting the best groups with Fusions but they are about 1" bigger groups with this ammo but it still shoots good enough to deer hunt with I just might not head shot a squirrel but then again I don't need to and they are a lot cheaper. Not sure the Fusions would do that even. I like the price of these and as much as I like to target shoot I go through ammo fairly quickly so the cheaper the better.

If I see more of these later I'm not sure if I will pick up more or just try to find a deal on the Fusions so I have some of both.
 
I've thought seriously about it but haven't yet. I've heard some say reloading for a semi auto rifle is hard to do as everything has to be perfect or it will jam where as you get a lot more room to work with a bolt action.

This has me the most worried. That and trying to learn how to reload after I but the stuff.

I've heard some say that with hand loads they got these rifles grouping under 1". Some have said this with factory loads but it seems a lot more common with hand loads. Then again others say they can't get semi auto's to shoot hand loads. So I'm not sure how I'd do. Ammo is getting soo expensive though.
 
The box on the right is the later style I believe. I don't know why you would bother paying $.75 a round when you can pay $.25/rd for CMP surplus greek. I only use the soft points for hunting so a box a year is more than I need.
 
hometheatrman, are you shooting a Garand? The Directorate of Civiliian Marksmanship will sell you Greek surplus that is fine for target practice, and already on Garand clips, (if you want it that way), for a fraction of what you are paying, already loaded in to bandoliers and packed in a reusable ammo can. Seriously - give them a try. They also sometimes have de-linked Lake Ciry Arsenal in stock. They are good guys, and the money goes to a god cause.
 
The box on the right is the later style I believe. I don't know why you would bother paying $.75 a round when you can pay $.25/rd for CMP surplus greek. I only use the soft points for hunting so a box a year is more than I need.
Click to expand...
Thanks but isn't the greek stuff supposed to be corrosive? I don't know if I like that.

As I said the gun is also very very picky with ammo when it comes to accuracy. That's why when I found that the Fusions did halfway decent I stuck with them for a while. Now that they are soo expensive I've been using both these and the Fusions as while these aren't as good they still shoot decent and shoot in the same spot as the Fusions so I don't have to adjust my scope.

Never tried the Greek ammo but most other kinds I've tried shoot like crap.

Winchester Silvertips shot 1 big hole with 6 rounds in it at 50 yards out of a vise thing but I don't have that setup and they don't have 100 yard target so I'm not sure if it's partially me off the sandbags at 100 yards or if the gun just doesn't like 100 yards as the silvertips have a huge group for me at 100 yards.

hometheatrman, are you shooting a Garand? The Directorate of Civiliian Marksmanship will sell you Greek surplus that is fine for target practice, and already on Garand clips, (if you want it that way), for a fraction of what you are paying, already loaded in to bandoliers and packed in a reusable ammo can. Seriously - give them a try. They also sometimes have de-linked Lake Ciry Arsenal in stock. They are good guys, and the money goes to a god cause.
Click to expand...

No I'm shooting a Browning BAR in 30-06.
 
I've thought seriously about it but haven't yet. I've heard some say reloading for a semi auto rifle is hard to do as everything has to be perfect or it will jam where as you get a lot more room to work with a bolt action.

You can reload for semi-auto Easy- I guarentee that if you do it according to the book you will have good luck-If shooting a Garand Use 4895 and you will be just fine
 
Is the greek ammo any good for deer hunting? Since that's the main purpose of this rifle I want a load that is good for hunting. I do do a fair amount of target shooting it still but I also want something that will be good on deer.

I really need to get into reloading I just haven't made the jump yet.
 
No the greek stuff has a FMJ solid bullet and is a terrible and in some places illegal hunting round. You want a soft tip, hollow tip, polymer tip or whatever bullet that is designed to create a large wound channel.
 
Doesn't sound like the greek stuff is what I want. What's it good for? Or is it pretty good for target practice? I guess at that price I would get to target shoot a bit more but I'm not sure if I want to practice with something like I hunt with or something totally different.
 
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