Most consistent commercial ammo brand

[Jon54]

Who do you think makes the most consistent ammo?

 

[TNRifleman]

For me it has been Nosler

 

[BobTail]

Each of the major manufacturers are as "consistent" as the other. Some swear by Federal, others won't shoot anything but Winchester or Remington. Take your pick. For Tennessee deer hunting, most any major brand should be accurate enough from box to box. But if you are looking for dependable longer range (past 200 yards) accuracy, you're going to have to reload. If I were going to shoot only factory ammunition, I would find a bullet weight that my rifle liked, and then buy several boxes of that ammunition from the same place with the same lot number.

 

[smalljawbasser]

Federal premium.

 

[Hunter 257W]

There is no most consistent ammo. Even if one particular brand did measure their powder to tighter tolerances, hold bullet diameter tighter etc, that doesn't necessarily mean it would shoot the smallest groups in any given rifle. The only way to know that is to shoot the ammo in your rifle. Also in most instances ammo that is sold as "Premium" ammo doesn't have anything to do with it being better except that it has a tougher bullet designed to retain more weight after impact. When you are looking at the larger cartridges with fairly heavy bullets at medium velocity, and the intended game is deer, I see no need to pay for such controlled expansion bullets myself. My velocity threshold where I think a controlled expansion bullet is needed is when you start getting significantly over 3,000 fps and expect ranges to be less than 100 yards.

 

[Jon54]

I was shooting some of the cheaper Winchester ammo yesterday at the range. I shot 12 shots at 100 yards. Of the 12 rounds, 10 were in or about the center ring with 2 flyers. On both flyers, I felt I had made a good shot and was amazed in both cases that the flyers were more than 2" from center (down). At 100, I know that doesn't make any difference. At 300, it could. I'm practicing up for a Texas Deer hunt where distances will, more than likely, be more than 100, thus my question. I know that Nosler offers some custom "handloads".

 

[Remington742]

Remington core lokts

 

[BobTail]

Jon, what rifle and caliber are you shooting?

What power scope will you be using?

 

[Jon54]

Ruger M77 Matk II in 270. Custom stock that has been free floated and glass bedded. Also, trigger has been worked. I've had this rifle since the early 90s. Scope is a Leupold VariX 3, 3.5-10.

 

[BobTail]

Unless my aging memory fails me, that rifle is a 1:10 twist. It "should" shoot most any .277 bullet you feed it up to and including 150 grain. BUT, my experience with my Ruger 270 was that it preferred 130 grain bullets, and some 140 grain bullets if they were not overly long. If you haven't tried any 130 grain factory ammunition it would be a good idea to feed it a box and see what you get. I also had better accuracy with flat based bullets like the Partition. Accubonds were just so-so. Unfortunately, unless you reload you're likely not going to find 130 Partitions in a factory load. But they are readily available in 150 grain loads. That would be my first choice in your situation. Federal loads it's Vital-Shok with the 150 Partition. I'd try that first before you go any further. HTH. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[Jon54]

Now that you mention it, I normally do shoot 130 Winchester Supreme Ballistic tips. I hadn't been to the range in a while, so I took a box of Winchester 140 grains that had been here forever, maybe 20 years.

The first 8 shots were to get it centered. The rest were the 12 mentioned in my original post. I do make it a habit of shooting 130 grains. I'm gonna try some other brands and see. It'll give me a chance to go back to the range and make some noise.

 

[280longshot]

Federal premium has been very consistent for me, actually that's what I shoot in my .280 along with my reloads.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Winchester Supreme has been the most accurate for me. As far as box to box consistency I couldn't tell you, when I find the need to buy multiple boxes of a single caliber I just go buy dies

 

[TN Song Dog]

I had a .270 that shot the affordable winchester 130gr power point lead nose rounds as good as the Win 130gr supreme ballistic tip.

 

[John3]

My old browning 270 is perfect with the cheap federal soft point in 130 gr. Any other ammo I have ever tried has been much more finicky. If I go to 150gr the groups really open up.

 

[sll]

Hornady Custom

 

[sallee-bo]

Hornady Custom

^^ This ^^

 

[Mr.Bro]

Remington 22lr. Consistently the worst and dirtiest 22 ammo out there.

 

[RUGER]

Remington core lokts

This.

 

[SKFOOTER]

Winchester Ballistic Silvertip.

 

[sgtwebb1]

Winchester Ballistic Silvertip.

Same here, before I started rolling my own.