Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo		Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain	SEE IT
Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo		Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point	SEE IT
Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo		Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain	SEE IT

Although it’s similar in ballistic performance to the .35 Remington and .357 Maximum, the .350 Legend was a witty grab at a whitetail hunting market that’s purely the result of regulation—straight-wall states and counties. The prospect of a compact straight wall cartridge that delivers more energy than a .30/30 with low recoil, and functions in standard ARs struck a chord with many hunters. Any new cartridge’s success and acceptance depends partly on the availability of ammo—something that’s anything but certain these days. Fortunately, Winchester (who developed the cartridge) threw their weight behind producing a high volume of .350 Legend deer ammo. If this test looks a bit like a Winchester show, it’s because they have put out a wider variety of .350 Legend ammo than any other manufacturer. How good is that ammo? That’s what I intended to find out.

• Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo: Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain
• Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo: Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point
• Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo: Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain
• Hornady American Whitetail 170-grain
• Federal Power Shok 180-grain
• Winchester Deer Season XP 150-grain
• Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed

.350 Legend Ammo is Versatile and Shockingly Accurate

Despite some existing straight-wall cartridges that match or slightly outperform the .350 Legend in raw ballistics, the Legend is better suited for modern firearms. This doesn’t mean that those cartridges aren’t great, but there’s a reason the .350 Legend has become popular. As much as some folks believe that it’s all marketing hype, the .350 Legend’s design gives it two advantages that set it up for success—using a .355-inch diameter bullet and having a rebated rim that fits a standard AR bolt face.

Unlike older rimmed cartridges (or the .35 Rem.), it’s both an easy fit for any modern rifle, and legal under straight-wall regulations. The .355-inch diameter bullet might not make sense to some, but it allows the production and easy handloading of cheap plinking and practice ammo—using regular old 9mm FMJ bullets.

I had measured expectations for the accuracy of available .350 Legend ammo and was shocked at how tightly most of the rifles and ammunition grouped. I tested six .350 Legend rifles, and was able to shoot seven different types of ammo through them, using a five-shot-group protocol. Overall, the .350 Legend ammo and rifles averaged a group size of 1.78 inches (counting all groups fired), which was more accurate than the .308 ammo I tested in 11 different rifles.  Those had a total average group size of 2.02 inches. The average group size doesn’t necessarily reflect how the ammo will shoot in your rifle, but how it did across a range of rifles. The standard deviation gives you an idea of the variation of that accuracy. A load that shoots really well in one rifle and really poorly in another will have a high standard deviation.

I didn’t expect ultra-tight groups from any of the .350 Legend ammo, but four loads turned in sub-MOA five-shot groups and averaged just over an inch in rifles that preferred them. Overall accuracy was excellent and consistent for a cartridge that will typically be limited to under 200 yards. It’s notable that these exceptional results are with non-premium ammunition.

Things to Consider When Buying .350 Legend Ammo

Application

Although the cartridge was designed with a narrow focus on deer hunting, it would make a great hog gun, plinker, or even defensive rifle when chambered in an AR. Most of the ammunition you’ll find is intended for deer, and it’s all pretty accurate. That ammo would work well on hogs too, but for other purposes you can find full metal jacketed ammo, defensive hollowpoints, and subsonic loads (which are excellent when using a suppressor).

Cost

As with many products, you generally get what you pay for when it comes to rifle ammunition. In this case, the most accurate and consistent ammo was at the top for price, but even the cheaper .350 Legend deer ammo shot very well. For most purposes within the purview of the .350 Legend’s capabilities, the cheaper hunting ammo should work just fine.

Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain

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Award: Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.42 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .48 inches

Why It Made the Cut

The 160-grain Power Max Bonded load was the most accurate .350 Legend ammo tested, and has a bonded bullet that expands rapidly.

Key Features

• Protected hollowpoint
• Notched jacket
• Bonded jacket and Core
• Velocity: 2,225 fps

Pros

• Great accuracy
• Rapid expansion
• Bonded bullet gives deep penetration
• Good for hunting a variety of game

Cons

• Big hollow point doesn’t help trajectory

Product Description

The .350 Legend’s wheelhouse is 150 yards (and less), on medium sized game, and the Winchester 160-grain Power Max Bonded fits it wonderfully. At its lower velocities, a rapidly expanding, deep-penetrating bullet is idea, and that’s what you get with this jacketed hollow point .350 Legend ammo. The core and jacket are bonded together in this bullet, but the protected hollow point and segmented jacket expand rapidly—even at lower velocities.

The overall accuracy of the .350 Legend ammo I tested was good, but this stuff was right at the top. In one rifle, it averaged 1.25-inch five-shot groups at 100 yards. That’s something that several .308 and .270 Win. loads I’ve been testing can’t claim.

This .350 Legend ammo is a little slower than some 180-grain loads and should really be used within 150 yards. At 2,225 feet per second, the trajectory isn’t impressive. If you zero two inches high at 100 yards, you’ll be about two inches low at 150 yards, and seven inches low at 200 yards. Despite that lower velocity, it should deliver excellent terminal performance and would make a great black bear load at short range.

Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point

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Award: Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.87 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .58 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This Ammo wasn’t a standout in any single area, but was accurate, has a good bullet, and—at $27 per box—is some of the most affordable .350 Legend Deer Ammo available.

Key Features

• 180-grain soft point bullet
• Bonded jacket and core
• Velocity: 2225 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Good expansion
• Great all-purpose hunting bullet
• Affordable

Cons

• Deflected easily by brush

Product Description

Winchester’s Super X line has long been a bread-and-butter ammo for deer hunters, and it’s no different with .350 Legend ammo. In fact, this .350 Legend load is one of the most accurate Super X Power Point loads I’ve tried in any caliber in a while. This simple 180-grain lead-alloy core soft point is a cup-and-core bullet with a notched jacket to aid expansion.  

The non-bonded bullet should retain a high percentage of weight at its lower velocities, especially beyond 100 yards. The .355-inch, 180-grain bullet isn’t very aerodynamic, so it sheds velocity fast—part of the reason cartridges like this are deemed less-apt to travel long distances should they ricochet. With a 100-yard zero, this load will drop almost 10 inches at 200 yards. Set your zero two or three inches high at 100 yards, and you can still be effective to 200, but 150 yards is a more realistic maximum point-blank range.

The accuracy of the 180-grain Super X Power Point wasn’t exceptional, but it was adequate for the basic deer ammo that it is. The Winchester XPR Stealth SR averaged 1.12-inch 5-shot groups with this ammo, which was exceptional. In every rifle tested, accuracy was more than sufficient for the effective range of the cartridge. Because the .355-inch bullet is broad and relatively slow, you might be tempted to poke through some light brush with it—don’t. I did some thorough brush bullet testing and despite the old .35 Remington’s reputation as a “brush buster,” bullets are easily deflected by small twigs and brush.

Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain Extreme Point

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Award: Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 2.02 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .90 inches

Why It Made the Cut

Although some other mono-metal .350 Legend ammo is trickling out, Winchester’s 150-grain Copper Impact is the most available. It’s deep-penetrating, accurate, and lead-free.

Key Features

• All-copper bullet
• Solid base with tipped hollow point
• Large polymer tip to initiate expansion
• Velocity: 2260 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Lead-free construction
• Excellent weight retention
• Suitable for large game

Cons

• Some rifles can be picky with these bullets
• Expensive

Product Description

As in the name, the Extreme Point Copper Impact bullet is immediately noticeable by its large, pointed, translucent red polymer tip. Part of Winchester’s larger Copper Impact line, this lead-free .350 Legend ammo features an all-copper expanding bullet with that notable tip. The bullet itself is monolithic with a solid base and a wide-diameter hollow point. The large polymer tip sits inside that hollow point, making the bullet more aerodynamic and initiating rapid expansion.

Like other .350 Legend loads, this one is in its prime out to 150 yards. Get beyond that and your trajectory and expansion will begin to drop dramatically. Being that the cartridge is designed for whitetail deer hunting, that’s perfectly suitable. The all-copper bullet will retain almost all its weight and deliver great penetration.

Copper bullets have come a long way in terms of accuracy, but they can still be a little unpredictable. In all the rifles tested, the Copper Impact shot pretty well—except for one rifle that averaged 4.5-inch groups with it. Take those groups out, and the average group size was 1.83 inches. Two of the rifles I tested it in averaged 1.3-1.4 inches, and the Henry Single Shot fired sub-MOA three-shot groups, opening up regularly with all ammo on rounds four and five. Because of the copper projectiles, this .350 Legend ammo is some of the most expensive, but the performance can be worth it.

Hornady American Whitetail 170-grain

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Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.71 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .63 inches

Why It Made the Cut

Hornady’s 170-grain American Whitetail .350 Legend ammo is an accurate, good-quality deer round at a great price.

Key Features

• 170-grain soft point
• Secant ogive design for better ballistics
• Designed for easy expansion and good weight retention
• Velocity: 2200 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• High weight retention
• Bullet profile gives a good trajectory
• Excellent price at $29 per box

Cons

• Mediocre accuracy in most rifles, no standouts

Product Description

Hornady’s American Whitetail line is intended to bring good quality deer ammo at an affordable price. In that line, the .350 Legend ammo does just that. There aren’t many frills here, just a soft point and the dependable Interlock bullet which features a locking ring inside the jacket that keep the core from separating during expansion.

One interesting feature of the .355-inch interlock is that it has a secant ogive design—it’s gradually rounded nose profile—that gives this bullet a better trajectory than many other .350 Legend bullets. Even with the same velocity as other loads tested, this ammo gives the shooter a little bit more effective range. If zeroed two inches high at 100 yards, you should only be impacting two and a half inches low at 200 yards.

This .350 Legend ammo’s accuracy wasn’t bad, but it’s middle-of-the-pack. Many loads excelled in one or two rifles, but this one just shot a reliable good average. At only $29 per box, it’s one of the most affordable varieties of .350 Legend deer ammo.

Federal Power Shok 180-grain

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Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.97 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .70 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This .350 Legend ammo is a good combination of accuracy, terminal performance, and affordability. It has a 180-grain soft-point expanding bullet and costs about $30 per box.

Key Features

• 180-grain bullet
• Lead soft point
• Velocity: 2100 fps

Pros

• Good expansion
• Good trajectory
• Affordable

Cons

• Accuracy was ok, not great

Product Description

Federal’s Power Shok 180-grain is another affordable .350 Legend deer ammo that performs well. The soft-point Power Shok bullet isn’t bonded, but it’s designed to give good expansion. It’s heavy enough to maintain weight at .350 Legend velocities. Simple, affordable, and reliable is what puts meat in the pot for most hunters, and this fits the bill.

This .350 Legend ammo has a slightly better trajectory than some of its competitors, dropping only about four and a half inches between 100 and 200 yards. That seems to be a pretty accurate claim, and if you sight two inches high at 100 yards, you’ll be about two and a half to three inches low at 200 yards. In other words, you can hold dead nuts and be right in the money out to the .350 Legend’s reasonable effective range.

The accuracy of the Federal Power Shok wasn’t as tight as many of the other loads, but it’s about what I expected from the .350 Legend, so I don’t find it disappointing. Some other loads simply surprised me. Averaging just about two inches for five-shot groups at 100 yards is completely sufficient for any deer or hog hunting you’d do with one of these rifles.

Winchester Deer Season XP 150-grain

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Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.60 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .74 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This .350 Legend deer ammo was surprisingly accurate in a number of rifles and is built for rapid expansion and terminal performance on whitetails.

Key Features

• 150-grain Extreme Point bullet
• Large-diameter polymer tip
• Lead core
• Velocity: 2325 fps

Pros

• Great Accuracy
• Dramatic expansion
• Ideal for deer or black bears
• Good trajectory

Cons

• Likely wouldn’t have the best penetration on larger game

Product Description

Like the Copper Impact, this Extreme Point .350 Legend ammo has a large-diameter polymer tip that’s designed to initiate rapid expansion. Unlike the Copper Impact, this Deer Season XP ammo has a cup-and-core lead-core bullet. The bullet also features a notched jacket that guides expansion, and the higher velocity of this ammo gives it a more reasonable 200-yard effective range than some other Winchester loads.

Coming out of the muzzle at 2325 feet per second, the bullet has about seven and a half inches of drop between 100 and 200 yards. If you zero about 3 inches high at 100, you will be able to hold slightly above middle of a deer’s vitals and hit them reliably at 200 yards. The easy-expanding design of the bullet will ensure that you get good terminal performance at slightly slower downrange velocities.

Although the Deer Season XP wasn’t the most accurate ammo in the test, I was consistently impressed with the accuracy of this .350 Legend ammo, and it averaged 1.1-inch five-shot groups in two different rifles. That accuracy is important when shooting at or near 200 yards because the trajectory of the .350 Legend doesn’t offer much ballistic forgiveness.

Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed

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Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.74 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .69 inches

Why It Made the Cut
The .350 Legend is an excellent cartridge to suppress, and it’s perfect for heavy subsonic bullets. The Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed ammo is accurate, effective, and whisper-quiet.

Key Features

• 255-grain bullet
• Jacket designed to reduce suppressor fouling
• Open tip for expansion
• Velocity: 1060 fps

Pros

• Great accuracy for a subsonic
• Ideal subsonic suppressed cartridge
• Open tip helps with expansion
• Ultra-quiet with a suppressor

Cons

• Not the best choice for hunting big game
• Poor trajectory

Product Description

The .350 Legend is already a good cartridge to suppress, and supersonic loads take to a suppressor well. In fact, some of them showed better accuracy when shot through a can in my testing. A benefit of the cartridge like the .350 Legend is the ability to seamlessly handle both supersonic and subsonic bullets. This wide-diameter 255-grain open-tip bullet carries a lot of mass and is very quiet. The open tip isn’t deep, and probably won’t give dramatic expansion, but subsonic ammo doesn’t deliver dramatic terminal performance anyway.

Through the Ruger American Ranch Rifle, the Super Suppressed delivered an excellent 1.33-inch five-shot average group size. The trajectory is anemic, and that slow bullet drops like a rock between 50 and 100 yards. Beyond that, it drops off even faster (as subsonics do). An upside is that this .350 Legend ammo (and .350 Legends in general) don’t seem to heat up barrels and suppressors nearly as fast as other rifle ammo—even .300 BLK.

The 255-grain Super Suppressed would not be an ideal big-game hunting ammo simply because subsonics don’t perform to the same level on game that supersonic bullets do. I’m sure it would be hell on hogs and small game though.

How We Tested .350 Legend Ammo

To test the accuracy and functionality of this .350 Legend ammo, I used it in conjunction with my test of six .350 Legend Rifles. I fired five-shot groups at 100 yards from sandbags on a bench. Groups were fired in succession without breaking position (when possible) and barrels were allowed to cool completely between groups. I recorded a minimum of six groups per load, depending on available ammo. For most selections, I recorded between 15 and 25 groups. Average overall group size is listed here, as well as the standard deviation in group size. Most rifles had their preferred loads, but ammo with small standard deviation shot relatively uniformly in all rifles.

FAQs

Read Next: The Best .308 Hunting Ammo of 2022

Final Thoughts On .350 Legend Ammo

Living far, far away from any straight-wall cartridge restrictions, I never gave the .350 Legend a second thought. I still don’t have a specialized use for one in Alaska but shooting this ammo and these rifles have made me appreciate the cartridge’s accuracy and versatility for those who do live in those areas.

The accuracy of these loads impressed me thoroughly. None of them are premium or target loads built specifically for accuracy, but it’s probably the most accurate batch of regular ammunition in any cartridge that I’ve recently tested. I don’t think you could really go wrong with any of this ammunition.

The post The Best .350 Legend Ammo appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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This is the first in a two-part installment on the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge.

The Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge is arguably the most difficult long-range match in the world. It is held each year on a large ranch near Glenrock, Wyoming. Competitors come from all over the globe for the opportunity to pit their skills against each other and the demanding course of fire, which consists of steel targets arrayed from 800 yards out beyond 2,000.

It’s safe to say that the skill set of the assembled collection of shooters is unrivaled—at least as far as long-range shooting at steel under practical field conditions goes. And yet, the majority of the 300 shooters who participated head home after the two-day ordeal feeling beat to a pulp by the experience.

Simply put, the competition is brutally unforgiving. If there’s any weakness in your gear, load development, marksmanship skills, trajectory calculations, wind calling, or mental focus, this match will expose and exploit it to your detriment. It’s a meat grinder, but that’s part of its appeal.

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performing PRCs

While you won’t win this match through preparation alone, it is certain that you will lose—and badly—if you don’t put your time in before the range goes hot that first morning.

Every high-level shooting competition requires a degree of prep, but with matches as demanding as the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge it takes on an extra level of urgency.

The following is a rundown of what I did in the weeks and months prior to making the 450-mile drive from my home to Glenrock.

Team Effort

Even though I’d be shooting the match as an individual, during the preparation process I worked closely with a group of friends who I planned to squad with. This included Scott Seigmund, the vice president of Accuracy International of North America, some of Scott’s AI team shooters I’ve come to know over the years, and two of my buddies from Montana—Chris Gittings and Owen Koeppen who were competing in the team division. Shawn Burkholder, the owner of Hawk Hill Custom Barrels, also joined our crew.

.300 PRC Bandwagon

Scott and his boys shot .300 PRCs the year prior and had good success with that round so Chris, Owen, and I decided to shoot it as well. In previous Nightforce ELR matches Chris shot 6.5s (both the 6.5 SAUM and 6.5 PRC) and had several podium finishes.

But the consensus was that the .30-cal magnums—the .300 Norma Mag., .300 PRC and some .300 Win. Mags.—had an edge over the 6.5s at the location where the match is currently held.

The two main reasons for this are the high winds at the ranch—it is smack dab in the middle of a wind farm—and the thick sagebrush cover that dominates the landscape. The big .30-cal bullets handle the wind better than the 6.5s, while the sagebrush makes it more difficult to spot misses. The smaller 6.5s get eaten up by the foliage more readily than the harder-hitting .30s.

Cartridge Components

Not only were we all shooting the .300 PRC, but we planned to all use the same components for our handloads, which we acquired in bulk. Our bullet of choice was Hornady’s 230-grain A-Tip, which is one of the best .308-caliber match bullets on the market. It is blessed with a high BC (.823 G1, .414 G7) and like other A-Tips it is manufactured to exacting tolerances to minimize variations from one projectile to the next.

ADG Brass

For brass, we turned to Atlas Development Group, which makes excellent high-quality cases. I’ve used ADG brass many times over the years, including in my ultimate open-country rifle build, and have had nothing but excellent results.

AI AXSR Chassis Rifle and Hawk Hill Customs Barrel

Most everyone on the squad was shooting Accuracy International AXSRs, which are among the best sniper rifles currently fielded by military and law enforcement and are one of the most accurate rifles period. Scott got us lined up with barrels from Hawk Hill Customs. With a 1:9 twist, those 30-inch barrels had no problems propelling the 230s at 3000 fps.

But as you’ve no doubt heard, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Running cartridges full tilt is a risky proposition in a high-volume long-range match. Performance tends to get more inconsistent at the ragged edge of maximum velocities and the chances of getting a case stuck, blowing a primer, or experiencing some other calamities go way up.

Instead, we all set a target velocity of 2940 fps, which is more than respectable and would keep our bullets supersonic well past 2,000 yards in the thin Wyoming air, but which was also mild enough to diminish the chance of some mid-stage mishap.

Hodgdon H1000 Powder

I helped secure 64 pounds of the same lot of H1000 for our group. I’ll tell you what, I was feeling a little cocky about that coup. That powder, one of the mainstays for long-range magnums, has been unobtainium since the global pandemic.

All of us running the same cartridge using the same batch of bullets, the same type of brass, and the same lot of powder—at the same speed no less—was going to make our collective load development a snap and give us an edge over much of the field. As I’ll get to in a bit, it turns out my celebratory cork-popping was premature.

Gun Prep

Whether you’re getting ready for deer season or prepping for a big match, it makes sense to go over your gear with a fine-toothed comb—particularly your rifle and scope.

I had been shooting my AXSR a fair bit in the months prior to the match, leveraging its multi-caliber capabilities to test 6.5 PRC and 7 PRC ammunition. Even so, I stripped it down, gave all the fasteners and components a thorough cleaning and inspection and reassembled it.

To make sure my scope—a Nightforce ATACR 7-35×56 with the Mil-XT reticle—was dead nuts level in its Spuhr mount, I used a Short Action Customs’ Final Scope Level and Accessory Kit.

That SAC scope level has been a game changer for me. When shooting at extreme long range, even the slightest cant in the reticle will throw your trajectory off. In conjunction with the plumb line in the accessory kit, the leveling base lets you set the orientation of the reticle so that it is perfectly vertical.

Barrel Break-In

Before I got down to the serious business of load development, I needed to break in my new barrel. There are numerous schools of thought about how to break in a barrel, or whether it even makes a difference.

For most applications, particularly with hunting rifles and rifles that will be shot mostly within 1,000 yards, I’m skeptical about the benefits of an ornate break-in procedure. But there’s no doubt that a barrel will speed up after a certain number of rounds and making sure it has stabilized its velocities is critical for generating precise ballistic calculations.

In light of that, I decided to follow Scott Seigmund’s recommendation, which was to break in the barrel over the course of the first 100 rounds. Here’s his method:

1. Shoot five rounds and clean (repeat four times for 20 rounds total; cleaning procedure below)
2. Shoot 10 rounds and clean (repeat four times, bringing the round count to 60)
3. Shoot 20 rounds and clean (repeat twice, for a total of 100 rounds)

Velocity Gain

I shot factory Hornady 212-grain ELD-X ammunition during the break in. The first 30 shots were consistent, averaging 2920 fps. Then the barrel sped up. I chronographed the next three groups of 10 shots at 2935, 2938 and 2939 fps, for an average of 2937 fps. I got another bump with the next 40 shots, where the barrel sped up to 2952 fps.

I was 100 shots into the process, but didn’t feel my barrel had totally settled in. So, I shot two more 10-shot groups and recorded an average velocity of 2965 fps. At this point, the barrel had gained 45 fps.

I needed to start developing my load for the match since my time was limited, but every time I cleaned the barrel during that process I’d shoot more of the factory ammo, which was all from the same case, to see if the barrel picked up more speed.

When all was said and done, that factory ammo shot 3004 fps on average, for a total velocity gain of 84 fps.

Cleaning Procedure

When it was time to clean, I removed my Thunder Beast 338 Ultra SR suppressor and unscrewed the barrel from the chassis. That’s accomplished by loosening a 4mm set screw on the side of the chassis and then using a 1-inch wrench that fits in the flats machined in the barrel a couple inches below the muzzle.

Being able to pull the barrel so easily made cleaning a snap. I’d spray some Hoppe’s Elite down the bore and then push a couple wet patches with my .30-caliber jag and cleaning rod. After letting that soak for a few minutes, I’d switch to a rod with a copper brush and give it 10 strokes back and forth. (When using a brush, always wet the bristles with solvent first.)

After that I’d run three wet patches through the barrel. The first one would be filthier than a USMC Sergeant’s mouth while inspecting his platoon. The second is always moderately dirty. And the third should be more or less clean.

At this point you have a decision to make. The fouling from the powder has all been removed, as has most of the copper. But if you want to really get as much copper out of the bore as possible (I did), let the barrel sit for a while so the solvent can really work. Wait at least five minutes (10 to 15 minutes is even better) and run another wet patch down the bore. If the patch comes out bright blue, it means you’re still removing copper. Repeat this process until the patch only has a hint of blue. (FYI, since many jags are brass, which contains copper, you’ll get some blue on your patch no matter how little copper remains in the bore.)

Accuracy Gain

During break in, I also measured every group the factory ammo produced. I started by shooting and measuring five-shot groups (since that was the cleaning interval), but then switched to 10-shot groups, which is a better representation of the rifle’s performance. It’s also in keeping with the round counts during the match, where you might shoot up to eight rounds a stage.

I wasn’t expecting magic at this point since those groups were all shot from a cold, thoroughly cleaned barrel—but I was curious to see how those factory 212 ELD-Xs performed.

The first group through the virgin barrel was an encouraging .773 inches. But the next three groups opened up to 1.210 inches on average.

At this point, I shifted to 10-shot groups. The barrel definitely tightened up. The next 70 shots of 10-shot groups averaged 1.18 inches. Under normal circumstances, going from a 5- to 10-shot group will see a bump in group size of about 25 percent. So the fact that groups with twice as many shots had an average dispersion just as tight, is a good thing.

Then my last three 10-shot groups tightened up even more, averaging .928 inches. Between groups I’d let the barrel cool as long as it needed so that the area around the chamber was barely warm to the touch. At this point I was feeling pretty good.

Consistent Factory Ammo

One thing I noted about that factory Hornady ammo is that it shot consistently in terms of its velocities as well. The standard deviation of those first 120 shots (measured in shot strings that varied in sizes of 5, 10, and 20 rounds) was 14.8. That’s about as good as it gets with factory ammo.

Load Development

My fervent hope whenever developing a load is that it progresses smoothly and quickly toward eye-popping accuracy. I thought the cards were tipped in our collective favor with our .300 PRCs for several reasons. One, Scott and his team shot a similar load the year before with good results. Two, we were all pulling on the same oars by virtue of having identical components. Three, our aggregate experience with long-range shooting and precision handload spans many decades.

With stars in my eyes and hope in my heart I got to work at my reloading bench.

Brass Prep

All brass, no matter how expertly crafted, has a certain amount of variation from one piece to the next. You can see that in neck wall thickness, headspace (most commonly measured from the case head to the mid point on the shoulder on bottle neck centerfire cartridges), overall length, neck diameter, and so on. Necks in particular are susceptible to dings that throw them out of round, so before loading it makes sense to run them through a mandrel to make them uniform and concentric.

After taking my initial measurements on 10 pieces of brass, I ran them through a neck mandrel on my Forster Co-Ax. I then trimmed the brass to a uniform length on a Giraud Power Trimmer, which also chamfers the interior and exterior of the neck.

I was pretty happy with the results, but as my load testing went on I felt there was room for improvement. I added a step of running the new unfired brass (I had 400 pieces total) through a SAC Sizing Die with a .333-inch neck/shoulder bushing.

This uniformed my brass beautifully in terms of neck diameter and shoulder length. A neck diameter of exactly .3335 inches on every case ensured my bullets would be gripped with the same amount of tension, which is critical for peak precision. Uniform shoulder setback is beneficial for consistency too.

Here’s some extra information for those who might care. The degree of constriction on my bullets—meaning the difference between the bullet diameter (.308 inches) and the interior diameter of the neck (.3055 inches)—was .0025 inches. Generally speaking, neck constriction between .002 and .004 inches is a smart bet—so .0025 inches is right on the money. To calculate the interior diameter of the neck you take the exterior diameter—in this case .3335 inches—and subtract twice the neck wall thickness, which on the ADG brass averages .014 inches. So: .3335 inches – .028 inches = .3055 inches. 

Ladder Testing

There’s a lot of hokum around how to conduct a ladder test and what the significance of it is. The common wisdom is that you shoot small samples of different charge weights and measure their velocities to find flat spots, or “nodes,” in the results. The theory is that a flat spot indicates forgiveness in the charge weight—meaning you can be off in your powder charge by a tenth or two of a grain, and still have similar muzzle velocities.

I have some good news and some bad news here. The bad news is that this theory is a pile of hot garbage. These nodes don’t exist. When reloaders think they’ve come across a node all it really indicates is that their sample size is too small.

Most reloaders will load only a small number of rounds at a given charge weight. Sometimes, that number is as small as one, but rarely does anyone load more than five rounds at each weight. This is done to save time, money, and barrel life. 

But for gathering statistically valid data, these sample sizes are insufficient. I’ve done a lot of searching for these nodes with three- and five-shot samples. I noticed that when I repeated the tests multiple times and overlaid the data that the velocities versus charge weight behaved in a linear fashion, the nodes disappeared. 

This has been borne out by my friends at Hornady—specifically Jayden Quinlan and Miles Neville—who are two of the company’s chief ballistic nerds. They’ve conducted controlled experiments with massive data sets that show these velocity nodes are a myth.

The good news about nodes is that you don’t need to bother looking for them. Instead, use your ladder test to simply arrive at a target velocity and then start testing for accuracy.

H1000: Old vs. New

My share of the 64 pounds of H1000 we got for the match was an eight-pound container. Because I like to gather data, I wanted to compare this new lot of H1000 against some of my older, pre-pandemic H1000.

I quickly saw there was a bit of a difference in my velocities. The older H1000 was about 25 fps faster per given charge weight than the new stuff. While 76.5 grains of the older lot got me around 2940 fps, it took 77.0 grains of the new H1000 to hit the same speed.

That didn’t concern me much, but the differences in accuracy did. My first efforts with the new H1000 didn’t impress me. I shot three five-shot groups that averaged 1.516 inches, which for this rifle and application is terrible. With the older powder I shot one five-shot group that measured a tidy .590 inches with an SD of 10.3, which was much more encouraging.

Testing Other Powders

The fact that the new H1000 powder didn’t seem to agree with my rifle and loads threw a monkey wrench into my vision of having our whole team running identical loads. Turns out my squad mates were having similar struggles finding a load that would be competitive in the match.

Some had better results when they switched from Federal 210M primers to CCI 250s. Their velocities got more consistent, and accuracy improved.

I didn’t have that option, as my primer selection was limited to the 210Ms. So I started messing around with other powders. I shot N565, Retumbo, N170, and Reloder 26, as well as more of my old lot of H1000.

I got the best results with N565 (.680-inch average), RL 26 (.710-inch average), and my old H1000 (.648-inch average). That data is based on multiple five-shot groups.

Final Match Load: 77.5 Grains of H1000

Because I had the most data with the old H1000 and had the best results, that’s where I focused my efforts. I was running out of time and needed to finalize the load in order to dial in my ballistic calculations.

I had shot a lot of groups with the older H1000 with charge weights from 72.9 grains to 78.0 grains. Across that broad range of velocities—which varied from 2775 fps to 2960 fps—my groups averaged the .648 inches, as mentioned above, and my SDs were right at 10.9.

Within that range I seemed to have better results between 76.0 grains and 78.0. At 78.0 grains the load was running a little hotter (2960 fps) than I cared for. But when I knocked .5 grains off that charge, I landed right at 2940 fps and everything tightened up. I shot six five-shot groups to confirm. The averages of my groups (.540 inches) and SDs (9.3) would be competitive.

It’s worth noting that during my struggles to find a good powder and powder charge, I burned through a lot of ammunition and spent a lot of time making the hour round-trip drive to my gun range. All told, the barrel break-in and the load development required 373 rounds to complete. That’s a good chunk of my 30-inch Hawk Hill’s barrel life, which based on how I run it should deliver peak performance for 1,600 rounds. I liked where I ended up, but I’ve never worked quite so hard to develop a load.

Reloading Equipment Used

To get peak accuracy from any handload you need to have consistent and concentric ammunition. In addition to the brass prep mentioned above, I used the following gear to craft my ammunition.

I primed my brass on a Primal Rights Competition Primer Seater. For speed and accuracy, no other priming system can match it. I can prime 100 cases in eight minutes on it, with all the primers seated to a precise depth, which the user can adjust. In the case of these .300 PRC rounds, I seated the 210Ms .003 inch below flush.

I threw my charges with my bank of three RCBS Matchmaster Powder Dispensers. They are capable of dispensing charges that are accurate to plus or minus a single kernel of powder and, once calibrated, are in perfect sync with each other. With three running at once it makes loading a couple hundred precision rifle rounds much quicker.

I seated the bullets in an Area 419 Zero Turret Press with a Redding Competition Seating Die. I replaced the seating stem that comes with the die with Redding’s VLD stem, which worked perfectly with the shape of the 230-grain A-Tips.

I don’t think I’ve ever loaded such concentric rounds. Measuring bullet runout on the ogive with a Sinclair Concentricity Gauge and Mitutoyo Digital Dial Indicator I had measurements as low as a fraction of a thousandth, with some maxing out at .002 inch, which is terrific.  

Cleaning the Bullets

Before seating the 230-grain A-Tips, I cleaned them using a technique Scott Seigmund told me about. This is necessary because A-Tips come from the factory with a coating of lube on them, which should be removed before loading.

Hornady ships the A-Tips with a felt Crown Royal-type bag you can use to wipe them down, but that gets old quick when you have dozens of rounds to load. Instead, spread out a lint-free shop rag and dump your bullets on it. Sprinkle acetone on the bullets and rag. Roll the rag like a burrito and grab both ends. Rock the bullets back and forth in the rag for a minute and that will remove the lubricant without damaging the projectiles.

Truing

Truing a load means different things to different shooters. I’m using it in the common, less-technical sense, meaning it is the process by which you get a ballistic calculator’s predicted results to line up with what you see the bullet do in the real world.

Since I burned through so much of my unfired ADG brass and supply of bullets during load development, I didn’t have much cushion to work with.

The course of fire for the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge has a maximum round count of 160 rounds and I had exactly 182 pieces of unfired brass left over. While I didn’t plan on shooting 160 rounds at the match, I didn’t want to tempt fate by rolling into Wyoming with a bare minimum of ammunition.

Shooting Groups at 100 and 600 Yards

I started by checking zero with three rounds at 100 yards, which hit dead center and measured .165 inches. I was shooting with Chris and Owen, who did the same thing. Happy with our results, we moved to the long-distance range.

We painted steel targets at 600 yards and got solutions from our Kestrels. At 2940 fps my elevation adjustment was 2.7 mils. I held for the 9 mph crosswind and shot a good group which indicated my calculated elevation correction was correct. So far, so good.

Chris’ and Owen’s loads were quite a bit slower than mine. Chris was pushing his 230s at 2830 fps while Owen was at 2885—an indication that we all had to go our own way to find what worked best in our rifles even though we were shooting the same components through barrels that were produced consecutively from the same batch of steel. They dialed their corrections and shot well at 600, too.

Stretching It to 1,000 Yards and Beyond

We had a handful of targets from 1,000 to 1,400 yards to shoot, and at 1,000 yards my data still looked good. I was running Applied Ballistics on a Kestrel 5700 Elite and Hornady’s 4DOF on my phone. In addition, I had a Sig Sauer Kilo10K-ABS rangefinding binocular with AB on board. I had to manually adjust the environmentals on the Sig 10K to accurately reflect the temperature, but once I did that all three units were basically in sync.

That said, I started to have difficulties on the 1,400-yard target. Chris and Owen were both spot on, but my shots weren’t grouping as tightly as they had been. My impacts were landing close to the target but not connecting. The only thing that took a hit was my confidence.

Had I gone through all this work only to end up with a rifle and load that dipped into mediocrity at longer distances—where the majority of the targets would be?

Desperation Time

Those thoughts were racing through my head as we packed our stuff to head home. I grabbed my rifle by the suppressor and felt it give a little, and my stomach lurched. I didn’t mention it to Chris and Owen, but told them I was going to do just a little more shooting and sent them on their way.

I don’t know when my suppressor had come loose, but it is one of the cardinal rules of long-range shooting to obsessively check your gear. In fact, Chris and I, who often partner during team shooting events, have a term for it. We call it doing a Macarena, as our hands go through a head-to-toe motion to make sure everything is in order on ourselves and our rifles before starting a stage.

After screwing the suppressor down tight, I reengaged the targets at 1,000 yards, 1,100 yards, and 1,400 yards. My shooting was tighter than a gnat’s nether regions. I was ready for Wyoming.

Running on Fumes

Expending those extra rounds was necessary but cost me some of my valuable remaining handloads. All told, I shot 53 rounds that day, and had fewer than 130 left for the match. 

As a backup, I reloaded some of my once-fired brass, but as you might know, there’s usually a difference in velocities between virgin brass and cases that have been previously fired. I think this is because virgin brass expands more than fire-formed brass in the chamber—even if it has been fully resized, which mine was. So, some of the powder charge goes to that effort, resulting in reduced muzzle velocities with virgin brass.

To compensate, I dropped the powder charge in those resized rounds by two-tenths of a grain and hoped they’d shoot as close to 2940 fps as possible. 

Final Thoughts

Despite spending a lot of time and resources preparing for the match, I was rolling into Glenrock with fewer rounds than was ideal. But there’s no shortcut when shooting something as difficult and competitive as ELR. If you leave anything to chance or otherwise half-ass it, you’re courting trouble.

It took me 373 rounds to get my rifle squared away, but in the end it was shooting groups averaging in the .5s (with a spread between .259 inches and .840 inches) and with SDs hovering right in the single digits or just above. For a .30-caliber magnum, that’s excellent performance—and good enough to win even the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge.

As it turned out, my fellow shooters on the Accuracy International squad and I did shoot well. We also encountered some major difficulties along the way—which I will detail in the second installment of this story.

The post Prepping for the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge, One of the World’s Toughest Long-Range Matches appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Comparing the short-action .308 Winchester to the long-action, belted .300 Winchester Magnum will raise howls of “apples and oranges” from some readers. But we’re not tasting fruit here. We’re trying to understand how two different cartridges propel the same diameter bullets of the same weight in order to engage targets or game animals. Both can be used for each scenario, so let’s compare the .300 Win. Mag. vs .308 Win.

.300 Win. Mag. vs .308 Win. History

Despite their size differences, both the little .308 Winchester and the big .300 Winchester Magnum shoot bullets .308 inches in diameter. This is the all-American bore size—.30 caliber —made famous by the .30-30 Winchester of 1894 followed by the even more famous .30-06 of 1906, the .300 Savage of 1920, and the .300 Weatherby Magnum of—surprise—1944. Yes, the larger, faster, more powerful Weatherby Magnum beat the .300 Winchester to the magnum punch by a solid 19 years. But, the full magnum-length Weatherby was proprietary and expensive while the Winchester was engineered to fit affordable, standard-length-action rifles common in the U.S. Winchester allowed any and all ammo makers to load their new .300 magnum, too. The result was an immediate success as American hunters scrambled to own and hunt with one of these new, powerful, manly rifles. (Hey, it was 1963. John Wayne was in his prime, and neither the Beatles nor the hippies had even shown up yet.)

The .30-06 Springfield is central to this comparison because it not only falls between the .308 and .300 Win. Mag. in power, but is essentially the parent of the .308 Win. While some historians insist Winchester engineers worked from the .300 Savage to make the .308, a careful measurement of rim, head, and body diameters shows a clear connection to the .30-06. Arthur Savage probably used the .30-06 when developing his .300 anyway.

Because of the common dimensions of the .308 Win. and .30-06, many refer to the .308 as the .30-06 Short or, more derisively, the “.30-Not-Six.” Such teasing raises a legitimate question: Why would Winchester build a new hunting cartridge that was weaker than the already widely used and respected .30-06? Doesn’t cartridge development push toward higher performance?

Well, yes. But performance is not always about velocity and power. The .308’s performance advantage is efficiency. Because its overall length is a half inch shorter than the .30-06, it can be run through shorter, lighter, faster-cycling actions. Additionally, more cartridges can be carried by an individual, a truck, or a plane. You see, Winchester created the .308 in an effort to have it adopted as the new U.S. military cartridge. They succeeded, but only in 1954, two years after they’d released it as a civilian hunting round. NATO also adopted the .308 Winchester, calling it the 7.62x51mm NATO. It was chambered in the new M14 U.S. Service Rifle in 1957 and saw duty in Korea and Vietnam, with soldiers undoubtedly appreciating its lighter recoil.

Of course, the shorter .308 case holds less powder than the longer .30-06 and suffers accordingly, but not by much. It gives up about 100 fps to the 06 when both fire 150-grain bullets. Few fairly-struck big game animals have lived to notice the difference. But load up a 180-grain slug, and the .30-06 begins to pull away, besting the .308 by 200 to 250 fps. But most American big game hunters in the mid-20th century were pursuing whitetails, mule deer and pronghorns. For those, a 150-grain bullet at 2,700 to 2,800 fps provided plenty of reach and power without punishing recoil. It still does. And today’s premium bullets, including 165 to 180-grain models, make it more effective than ever.

READ NEXT: Best Deer Hunting Cartridges

Winchester obviously paddled a different river with their .300 Win. Mag. In a bid to capture America’s “bigger and faster” ethos, they went to the same H&H belted magnum case Weatherby was using. Actually, Winchester had already used this case in 1956 to create the .458 Win. Mag. They went to that well again to build the .338 Win. Mag. and .264 Win. Mag. in 1958. All three fit standard-length actions, but none would ever approach the popularity of the belatedly released .300 version. With its fatter case, the new .300 enclosed enough powder to drive a 150-grain bullet 300 fps faster than the .30-06 and 400 fps faster than the .308. Shooters paid the price in dollars at the pump and recoil at the shoulder, but they manned up and took it, many of them thinking the belt around the head was needed to contain the fearful pressures generated within. In reality, the belt was an unnecessary artifact needed for headspacing on the sloped shoulders of the original H&H cartridges. The 25-degree angle of the .300 Win. Mag. shoulder made the belt superfluous, but it was such an effective marketing tool, Winchester wisely retained it.

Odd though it seems, both the .300 Win. Mag. and .308 Win. grew steadily in popularity. With its power and flat trajectory, the .300 built a reputation as a world beater. Shooters could opt for the flat trajectory of a 150-grain bullet to reach a distant mule deer at 3,300 fps or suffer the heavy punch of a 220-grain round nose at 2,700 fps to calm down an agitated brown bear. From 10-pound dik-dik to 1,800-pound Lord Derby eland, no African game was out of reach.

Meanwhile, the .308 won converts for its mild recoil, extreme accuracy, affordability, and more than adequate killing power. It proved capable of terminating anything the old .30-06 could with less recoil. Mandatory use and training in the military introduced thousands of new shooters to this round, and on target ranges, it began winning everything.

Given that history, let’s compare these two side-by-side in several categories important to hunters and sport shooters.

Ballistics (Trajectory and Energy)

Obviously, the magnum wins this one hands down. It holds about 82 grains of water when accommodating a 180-grain bullet. The .308 Win. holds about 48.6 grains of water. Stuff the .300 with about 73 grains of IMR 4831 powder, and it should kick that bullet out at 3,150 fps. Top end for the .308 might reach 2,615 fps. With 150-grain bullets, figure about 3,420 fps for the .300, 2,997 for the .308, according to a Nosler Handloading Manual. Here’s how that translates in drop, drift, and energy at 300 and 400 yards for a 150-grain AccuBond bullet, B.C. .435 zeroed at 200 yards in a 10 mph right angle wind.

Recoil

As you might guess, the .308 minimizes recoil, but look at how much. It nearly cuts it in half. This can contribute mightily to accurate shooting. Reduced recoil is likely a significant reason for the .308 Winchester’s reputation for accuracy. Here are recoil energies and velocities in 8-pound rifles with two popular bullet weights.

Ammo Versatility and Cost

The .300 Win. Mag. wins here because it has the powder capacity to handle bullets as heavy as 220 grains, moving them as fast as 2,770 fps to generate a bone-crushing 3,800 ft lbs of energy. The .308 Win. can nudge a 200-grain bullet to about 2,400 fps and generate muzzle energy of about 2,550 ft lbs. It’s challenging to find .308 Win. factory loads with bullets much heavier than 180 grains. The best are sleek, boat-tailed, 165- to 170-grain bullets.

READ NEXT: Best .300 Win. Mag. Ammo

Virtually any retail store selling ammunition will carry both .308 Win. and .300 Win. Mag., but a 20-round box of .308 will run $15 for the cheap stuff to maybe $59 for super premium while the .300 Win. Mag. will start around $25 and climb quickly to as high as $65.

READ NEXT: Best .308 Hunting Ammo

Rifle Selection, Size, and Cost

We’ll call this a tie. Virtually every rifle maker chambers for both of these popular rounds, especially in bolt actions, but also in lever-actions, autoloaders, single shots, and pumps. You’ll find precision target rifles more often chambered in .308 Win., but plenty of sniper-style rifles are wrapped around the .300 Win. Mag. The .300’s ability to drive heavy, high B.C. bullets at good velocities makes it a serious contender at extreme ranges. The .308 Win. begins petering out after 700 yards or so. Light hunting rifles are easier to find in .308 and easier to shoot, and barrels will last a lot longer.

Read Next: The Best .308 Hunting Rifles

Accuracy

You might imagine the .308 wins this easily, given all the tactical, target, sniper, and precision rifles chambered for it, but the .300 Win. Mag. has won plenty of 1,000-yard target competitions. Rumors about the .300’s belt compromising its accuracy potential are exaggerated out of proportion to reality. In a hunting rifle especially, you needn’t worry about .300 Win. Mag. precision. I’ve worked with several .300s that shot honest 1/2 MOA. The .308, thanks to lots of precision-built factory match ammunition and rifles, long barrel life, and mild recoil, is the best option for high volume target shooting.

Conclusion

Even though more modern designs have bested both of these cartridges, they more than hold their own in today’s shooting world. Improved bullets have made them more effective on game than ever before. Standard twist rates of 1 in 10 inches stabilize most modern, high B.C. bullets, too. Most shooters choose the .308 Win. if they mainly target shoot and hunt whitetail-sized game. The .300 Win. Mag. is more popular with hunters who target shoot at extreme range and often hunt elk, moose, big bears and large African plains game. Both the .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum are poised to continue long and successful careers.

The post .300 Win. Mag. vs .308: Ballistics, Cost, and Accuracy appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Best Overall		Federal 165-gr Fusion	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Number-one big-game round.
Best Lever Action		Federal 150-gr Fusion	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Classic, reliable deer caliber.
Best 243		Barnes 80-grain TTSX	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Benchrest wildcat.

Let’s get something clear, I’m writing about deer hunting calibers under duress. It isn’t that I have an issue with the subject. I just have a problem with the headline. Anyone with a scrap of ballistic sense knows that it should say the “best deer hunting cartridge.” But, alas, in a world where Google dictates our fate, we must follow the digital mob. And more people, by far, search for “best deer hunting calibers” than the technically correct “cartridge.” With that out of the way, let’s proceed.

How I Picked the Best Deer Hunting Calibers

This was no simple task. Being a top deer hunting caliber requires more than just knock-down power. These are the superstars of the whitetail world, with the numbers and longevity to support their claim to fame. Picking the best deer hunting cartridge also comes down to taste. And who has better taste in such matters than me, the Shooting Editor of Outdoor Life? I’m glad you agree.

The Immortal: .30/06 Springfield

The .30/06 Springfield is the Captain America of big-game cartridges. It’s been around forever, packs a punch, and helped us defeat the Nazis in World War II. Without question, it is the number-one big-game round of the 20th Century. And it’s still going strong.

Like many other hunters, my first real deer rifle was chambered in the ought-six. Shooting 165-grain ballistic tips I put hundreds of pounds of corn-fed Michigan venison in the freezer over the years. I’ve also hunted with it across North America and in Africa, using 150-grain soft points, 180-grain Triple Shocks, 200-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, 180-grain Accubonds, and a bunch of other bullets I can’t think of at the moment. You won’t find another round with a more versatile array of offerings. It really is the best all-around hunting rifle caliber.

Physics plays a big part in the .30/06’s success. It strikes a good balance between power and shootability. The recoil generated by the ought-six is at the upper end of what most shooters can manage without developing a debilitating flinch. And its terminal ballistics can handle all but thick-skinned dangerous game.

It’s certainly more gun than most whitetails require, but it gets the job done and carries with it a nostalgia that few cartridges can match. If it was good enough for Teddy Roosevelt, this deer hunting caliber is good enough for the likes of you and me.

Best Deer Ammo in .30/06 Springfield

Federal 165-grain Fusion

Federal

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Nosler 180-grain Accubond

Hornady American Whitetail 150-grain SP

Winchester 180-grain Ballistic Silvertip

Barnes 180-grain TTSX

OG Lever-Action Caliber: .30/30 Winchester

Crowning one cartridge as the best whitetail caliber is a difficult task, but it is hard to imagine which would surpass the .30/30 Winchester. It was introduced in 1895 in conjunction with the Winchester Model 94 lever gun, and in a century and a quarter since then we’ve never witnessed a more successful rifle and cartridge combo.

How did it come to dominate? Few people realize it these days, but both the rifle and round were technical marvels. The ’94 was a fast-handling and reasonably accurate rifle with great balance and ergonomics and an impressive magazine capacity. The .30/30 was the first small-bore smokeless cartridge introduced in the United States and kicked off the era of high-power cartridges in America.

Lest you think it is some relic of your grandfather’s era, the .30/30 is still the top selling lever-action cartridge, beating out the .45/70 even though that round has seen many more new offerings in terms of rifles and ammunition.

Why does the .30/30 endure? Well, more than 7.5 million Model 94s have rolled off Winchester’s production lines, to say nothing of all the Marlin 336’s and (more recently) Henry Repeating Arms lever guns that have been chambered in .30/30. So there’s no shortage of rifles chambered in this round.

But these numbers don’t tell the entire story. The .30/30 has plenty of power to take on whitetail within 200 yards, making it suitable for 95 percent of shots on deer. It also produces about half the recoil of a .30/06, so it is a pussycat to shoot. Hunters who favor the .30/30 see no reason to go to anything else and consider it the best deer hunting caliber for 200 yards and in.

Great loads for the .30/30 include Winchester’s 150-grain PowerPoint, Hornady’s 160-grain FTX LeverEvolution, and the Federal Premium 150-grain Barnes TSX hollow point.

Best Deer Ammo In .30/30 Win.

Federal 150-grain Fusion

Federal

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Winchester 150-grain Powerpoint

Remington 170-grain Core-Lokt SP

Hornady 160-grain FTX Leverevolution

Winchester 170-grain Powermax Bonded

Old-School Metric: 7mm Remington Magnum

In the murky and distant past—meaning before the internet—gun and ammo companies would print catalogs, which you could grab for free at the local sporting goods store. For a broke kid, this was a godsend, since I was able to read about and obsess over all the rifles and cartridges I couldn’t afford while trying to pick the best deer hunting caliber.

Those catalogs had ballistic tables in the back, comparing the cartridges and listing their muzzle energy, velocity, and drop at various yardages. I didn’t need to be told that the “best” cartridge would be the one that moved the fastest and dropped less than the others. More often than not, that cartridge would be the 7mm Rem. Mag. I know a lot of other young, aspiring hunters felt the same way.

As it turned out, I used my ballistic crush on the first deer I shot—a spike whitetail buck at about 35 yards that had wandered out of a cedar swamp to feed on the grassy hill where I had posted up. Though that shot didn’t take advantage of the 7mm Mag’s flat trajectory, it convinced me of the cartridge’s superior qualities.

Since 1962, when the round was introduced in conjunction with the Remington 700, countless others have arrived at the same conclusion. You can see the numbers crunched here, but the main takeaway is that when shooting at a 10-inch target the 7mm Rem. Mag has a point-blank zero of 365 yards when sighted 3.9 inches high at 100 yards. That’s with a 175-grain spire-point hunting bullet at 2900 fps.

Performance like that in a rifle that has tolerable recoil and isn’t too heavy to lug around the hills was sure to catch the fancy of savvy hunters. For that reason, the 7mm Rem. Mag. managed to overcome the American shooter’s aversion to metric labeled cartridges and turn into a massive success for the last 60 years. It’s a solid contender for the best deer caliber out to 500 yards.

Best Deer Ammo In 7mm Rem. Mag.

Black Hills Ammunition 175-grain ELD-X

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Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Nosler 168-grain Accubond LR

Hornady American Whitetail 139-grain SP Interlock

Winchester 150-grain Ballistic Silvertip

Jack O’Connor’s Legacy: .270 Winchester

There’s no way as shooting editor for this esteemed publication that I could fail to include the .270 Winchester on the list of contenders vying for the best deer hunting caliber. Winchester debuted the cartridge in 1925 along with the Model 54 rifle, which was the predecessor to the famed Model 70.

It might come as a surprise to some, but despite the gargantuan success of the .270 over the decades it was not an immediate hit with the shooting public. The .30/06 dominated with bolt-action rifles and the availability of cheap surplus ought-six ammo dissuaded shooters from trying this new-comer. In addition, some gun writers of the time questioned whether the .270 was as accurate as the .30/06 or delivered the velocities Winchester advertised, casting more doubt on the round. It did, however, catch the fancy of Jack O’Connor, who sang its praises in Outdoor Life, and as hunters tried the .270 they found they liked it very much indeed.

What drew O’Connor to the cartridge was the impressive ballistics of the round when shooting a 130-grain spire-pointed bullet. With a muzzle velocity of about 3140 fps, the .270 is forgiving on deer at unknown ranges. As O’Connor put it in his 1949 work, The Rifle Book: “Sighted to hit the point of aim at 200 yards with a scope sight, the 130-grain bullet drops only 5 inches at 300 yards, not enough to miss even a small deer with a hold in the center of the chest.”

For hunters looking for the best long range caliber of that time, O’Connor suggested sighting in at 300 yards. This puts the bullet about 3 inches high at 100, 4 inches low at 350, and just 10 inches low at 400.

Long before shooters were talking about ballistic coefficients, O’Connor hammered home the value of retained velocity down range. He illustrated many examples of how the .270 hit harder and had better killing power at longer distances thanks to aerodynamic efficiency of the 130-grain “sharp points.”

His outstanding prose, and experience in the field, tipped the scales in favor of the .270 to the point where it has run neck-in-neck with the .30/06 in terms of popularity for three quarters of a century. Even though the cartridge no longer enjoys the prominence it once did, it’s hard to imagine it slipping out of the top 10 deer calibers anytime soon.

Best Deer Ammo In .270 Win.

Remington 130-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Remington

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Winchester 130-grain Deer Season Copper Impact

Hornady 145-grain ELD-X

Federal 130-grain Fusion

Nosler 130-grain Accubond

Benchrest Wildcat: .243 Winchester

In a sad twist of fate, the .243 Winchester has become known as a child’s deer cartridge. Talk about damned by faint praise. When state game departments established rules for allowable big-game rounds, a number put the minimum at 6mm caliber (.243 inch) cartridges, which is why I suspect it got that rap. Being the “minimum” it must be not as good as bigger, manlier cartridges, and therefore has been equated with youth rifles and first-time hunters.

It didn’t start life that way, however. It was the brainchild of a group of accuracy-obsessed riflemen, including former Field & Stream rifles editor Warren Page, who went on to establish benchrest shooting. Page had been fooling around with a number of 6mm wildcats in the late 1940s, but when Winchester introduced the .308 Winchester in 1952, he discovered the platform he’d been looking for. Page and his cohorts necked the .308 down to 6mm and gave birth to the .243 Winchester.

The .243 gained popularity so quickly that Winchester offered it as a factory round in 1955, an astonishingly quick rise from wildcat status to commercial production. From the get-go, deer hunters took a shine to the .243 Winchester. For the time, it represented the pinnacle of high-performance long-range accuracy. And the fact that its recoil didn’t threaten to detach your retinas with each trigger pull was a big bonus. Reloaders also appreciated that it didn’t require a cup full of powder to assemble a cartridge.

Fans of the .243 have helped it maintain its status as one of the best deer cartridges, though it never could dislodge the .30/06, .270 and .308 from the top slots. But as .243 shooters know, it is an ideal one-rifle solution for hunters who chase deer and predators and is arguably the best pronghorn antelope round ever.

The best bullets for deer are those weighing 90 grains or more. Those heavy-for-caliber projectiles penetrate well and shoot flat and do a decent job of bucking the wind thanks to their high ballistic coefficients. Nosler’s 90-grain AccuBond, Federal’s 95-grain Fusion, Hornady’s 103-grain ELD-X, and Berger’s 105-grain Target Hybrid are all excellent bullets. For non-lead bullets, the 85-grain Barnes TSX and Federal 85-grain Trophy Copper deliver outstanding terminal performance.

Best Deer Ammo In .243 Win.

Barnes 80-grain TTSX

Barnes

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Hornady 90-grain ELD-X

Winchester 95-grain Deer Season

Black Hills Ammunition 80-grain Hornady GMX

Remington 100-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Battlefield Proven: .308 Winchester

The fastest way for a new cartridge to gain widespread acceptance with the shooting public is for the military to adopt it. That’s what happened with the .308 Winchester. Frankfort Arsenal designed a prototype cartridge called the T65 in an effort to approximate .30/06 (the U.S. service round at the time) performance in a shorter cartridge. Winchester thought the project held promise for civilian shooters and hunters and in 1952 trotted out the .308 Winchester. Since the wheels of government bureaucracy churn slowly, it wasn’t until 1954 that the military version—the 7.62x51mm NATO—was unveiled.

The .308 Winchester is certainly the most successful short-action big-game hunting round in history. It’s been used worldwide on everything short of dangerous game and is a perennial favorite among whitetail hunters.

In a well-constructed action, it is one of the most accurate rounds out there and is capable to 500 yards on deer and other big game. As I’m sure you know, the military has relied on it for many years in a variety of sniper rifles and in that role, it is effective to 1,000 yards.

For hunters the most common bullet choices are those from 150 to 180 grains. On the lighter end, you’ll find bullets like the 150-grain Barnes TSX and 150-grain Trophy Copper. The 165-grain Nosler AccuBond and 165-grain Trophy Bonded Tip both occupy a sweet spot in the middle. And the heavyweight offerings include the 180-grain Nosler Partition and Federal’s new 175-grain Terminal Ascent, which is designed for long-range hunting. All these projectiles work great on deer and larger game.

A good friend of mine who is a shooting nerd and avid Western hunter, uses a .308 on the coastal blacktails he hunts in his home state of Oregon. The timber covered mountains have patches of clearcuts where the deer hang out and long cross-canyon shots are the norm. To anchor the deer quickly, he needs a bullet that will put them down, but the bullet must also be accurate enough to make those shots. For him, the .308 is the answer, combining the desired knock-down power with pin-point precision. Most deer hunters don’t encounter such technical shooting scenarios, but the .308 is one round that can handle most any task you’d ask of it.

Read Next: Best .308 Hunting Rifles

Best Deer Ammo In .308 Win.

Winchester 165-grain Accubond

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Barnes 168-grain TTSX

Federal Premium 165-grain Sierra Gameking

Federal 175-grain Terminal Ascent

Sig Sauer 150-grain HT

The Underdog: .223 Remington

“The only hunters who don’t think a .223 will kill a deer are those that haven’t shot a deer with a .223.” Those words of wisdom were uttered by a friend of mine on a phone call some years back while discussing our favorite whitetail rounds—and I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

I think a lot of hunters feel squeamish about shooting a whitetail with a .223, and in several states a .223 doesn’t meet the minimum caliber requirements. But the fact is that with the right bullet a .223 is ample medicine for any whitetail buck out there.

I’ll admit, I used to be in the no-way camp. But then I took my 10-year-old son on his first deer hunts. I equipped him with one of my 3-gun AR-15 carbines with an adjustable stock and he smoked the hell out of every deer that crossed his path, including some very large-bodied bucks in Nebraska.

I was impressed by how decisive those kills were and decided to give it a try myself and for a couple seasons notched a handful of deer tags with a .223. I used a number of bullets and among my favorites are Barnes’ 62-grain TSX, Sig Sauer’s 60-grain HT and 77-grain OTMs. Is the .223 the best AR-15 deer hunting caliber? I think that when you consider how simple it is to build a tack-driver of a .223 (just go with a 1:7 twist for these heavy bullets) and how well an AR balances with the round that the answer is yes. The ample availability of inexpensive ammo (at least during normal times) is another factor in favor of the .223. It’s certainly what I’d consider the best deer hunting caliber with least recoil generated.

Read Next: Best 5.56 Ammo

Best Deer Ammo In .223 Rem.

Winchester 64-grain Deer Season

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Black Hills Ammunition 62-grain Triple Shock

Federal Premium 60-grain Nosler Partition

Sig Sauer 60-grain HT

Nosler 77-grain HPBT

The Boomer: .300 Winchester Magnum

If the .223 Remington is at one end of the ballistic spectrum for deer hunters, then the .300 Winchester Magnum bookends the other. This potent round brings deer-killing capability at every reasonable (and even unreasonable) distance a hunter might shoot. But with the significant caveat that the hunter must be able to handle the .300’s sharp recoil. Sad to say, many hunters cannot.

We’ll leave that aside for the moment. Let’s first look at the virtues of this belted .30-caliber magnum. Introduced in 1963, the .300 Win. Mag. was based off the .338 Win. Mag., which was, in turn, developed from the granddaddy of all belted magnums, the .375 H&H. At this time, the .300 Win. Mag. faced some stiff competition among .30-caliber magnums. One advantage it had over the most popular .30, the .300 H&H Magnum, is that it could be chambered in a standard long-action rifle, whereas the .300 H&H required a magnum-length action to run. The other .30s of the time—the .308 Norma Magnum and the .30-338 Winchester (arguably a better design) didn’t have the same support from gun makers as the .300 Win. Mag., so they fell behind with the shooting public.

The original loads for the .300 Winchester were with 150- and 180-grain bullets. Published velocities put them at 3400 fps and 3070 fps respectively giving the round a 350 to 400 fps advantage over the .30/06 with the same bullet weights. At 500 yards, the .300 Win. Mag. shoots about 15 inches flatter than the ’06 with a 180-grainer, so you can see the appeal. Where the .300 Win. Mag. especially shines is with some of the excellent heavy-for-caliber bullets in the 190- to 212-grain range.

For instance, Hornady’s 200-grain ELD-X load at 2850 fps from a 24-inch barrel and a 200-yard zero hits just 20 inches low at 400 and 40 inches at 500. Even out past 500 yards, this round is carrying more than 2000 foot-pounds of energy.

Where you pay the price is with recoil. The felt recoil from a .300 Win. Mag. is about 30-percent greater than from a .30/06. Unless that rifle carries some extra weight or a good muzzle brake, it will be difficult to shoot well. And no one practices as much as they should with a rifle that beats them up, compounding the problem. The result is lousy shot placement on game.

Fans of the big magnums insist that a benefit to these boomers is that they are more forgiving with bullet placement than lesser cartridges. Personally, I think that advantage is negated by the poorer shooting one sees with these thumpers, but to each his own.

For a shooter who has actually mastered one of these rifles, it is perhaps the best deer and elk rifle caliber available.

Best Deer Ammo In .300 Win. Mag.

Winchester 190-grain Accubond LR

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Hornady 200-grain ELD-X

Federal 150-grain Fusion

Barnes 180-grain Tipped TSX BT

Remington 180-grain Swift Scirocco

The Newcomer: 6.5 Creedmoor

You didn’t think we could make it through a list of the best deer calibers and not talk about the 6.5 Creedmoor, did you? I’ll confess, I find the red-faced rage that some folks harbor against the 6.5 Creed amusing. Most detractors say that the 6.5 Creedmoor can’t do anything that their grandpa’s deer rifle can’t do and leave it at that. Other, more technically oriented, critics argue the Creed doesn’t perform as well as other .264-caliber rounds like the 6.5×55 Swede, the .260 Remington, 6.5-284 Norma Mag., and the .264 Winchester Mag. Neither line of argument is convincing.

How often do you hear the term match-grade thrown around? Match-grade rifles. Match-grade barrels. Match-grade ammunition. What does it mean? Well, for something to be match grade it must—wait for it—win shooting matches. Otherwise, it is meaningless marketing blather.

One only need look at the NRL Hunter series, where shooters must use hunting-style rifles to shoot real-world scenarios, to understand that not every deer hunting caliber is created equal.

The 6.5 Creedmoor dominates in NRL Hunter because it combines outstanding accuracy and shootability with bullets that are excellent on big game.

One key facet of “shootability” is the shooter’s ability to manage the rifle’s recoil and spot where their bullet went and make an accurate follow-up shot if needed. Larger cartridges, even something as relatively mild as the .308 Winchester, can’t compete with the 6.5 Creedmoor on this point.

As for the arguments concerning the other 6.5 cartridges—and I have experience with them all—they, too, don’t hold up. Since these are technical arguments—mostly concerning the ability of those cartridges to drive a given bullet faster—it requires a technical rebuttal.

The genius of the 6.5 Creedmoor is that it is such a well-balanced cartridge that is designed to maximize its accuracy potential. The fast twist rate (1:8 inches) works better with the aeroballistically efficient 130-grain (and larger) 6.5mm bullets than the 1:9 twist on the other 6.5s. The neck and chamber dimensions are tighter and the leade in the throat is at an optimized (1.5 degree) angle, so the case is more inherently accurate than those other rounds. Compared to the Swede, the Norma and the Win. Mag., it is a short-action cartridge, which is another accuracy-enhancing element in its favor.

The sum of all these details is why the 6.5 Creedmoor winning matches, and why the other 6.5s don’t.

Do these advantages translate into better performance on game? In most cases, no. When the shots aren’t challenging, then there’s not meaningful difference. But in those cases where the shots are longer and you need every bit of accuracy your rifle and cartridge can muster, then, yes, the 6.5 Creed excels and in my mind is the best deer hunting caliber of the modern era.

You can read more about the evolution of the 6.5 Creedmoor and how it came to dominate here.

Best Deer Ammo In 6.5 Creedmoor

Hornady 143-grain ELD-X

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Federal 130-grain Terminal Ascent

Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip

Remington 129-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Black Hills Ammunition 120-grain GMX

More of the Best Deer Hunting Calibers—That Didn’t Make the List

There are a number of great deer cartridges that didn’t make the final cut for this story. Many of them are personal favorites, which vexes me to no end—but I couldn’t see them dislodging any of the rounds we’ve talked about as the best deer hunting caliber.

The one 6.5 I didn’t mention in the writeup on the 6.5 Creedmoor is the even-newer 6.5 PRC. Whether this round achieves long-lasting success is an open question. But it is an outstanding cartridge that delivers great accuracy and has a little more gas in the tank than the 6.5 Creed. It pushes bullets about 250 fps faster and has been winning ELR (extreme long-range matches) even when going head-to-head against big .30s and .33s like the .300 Norma, .300 PRC and .338 Lapua. It definitely hits above its weight class and is my number one choice for open-country hunting.

The .280 Remington is impossible not to love. It’s the scrappy underdog that elbowed its way in between the .270 and .30/06 and has managed to hang in there despite the dominance of those rounds. Don’t bother with the Ackley “improved” AI version. It doesn’t give you anything other than excess pressure.

There are several quarter-bores that are great deer rounds. The .257 Roberts, which is continuing its slide into obsolescence, is near and dear to my heart. And the .25/06 and .257 Weatherby are also wonderful on deer. But fewer and fewer hunters look to the .25s these days.

In a lever gun, I’ve always been partial to the .35 Remington. The .30/30 is king, but the .35 Rem. packs a bit more punch and watching a big buck flop over after taking a 200-grain round nose from one is a sight to behold.

Read Next: 10 Best Deer Hunting Guns Today

The .338 Federal is another good round that’s been lost in the mix. It was introduced in 2006 amid a flurry of cartridge introductions and never quite caught on. For about 3 years I used it extensively, on everything from deer, bear, moose and elk and was impressed by its performance. I agree with my friend Ron Spomer that it is probably the best deer cartridge you’ve never tried.

Best Deer Ammo In 6.5 PRC

Hornady 143-grain ELD-X

Federal 130-grain Terminal Ascent

Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip

Best Deer Ammo In .257 Roberts

Nosler 110-grain Accubond

Norma American PH 100-grain SP

Remington 117-grain SP

Best Deer Ammo In .280 Rem.

Nosler 140-grain Accubond

Hornady 150-grain ELD-X

Federal Premium 140-grain Trophy Bonded Tip

Best Deer Ammo In .35 Remington

Hornady 200-grain FTX Leverevolution

Remington 200-grain Core-Lokt

Federal 200-grain SP

Best Deer Ammo in .338 Federal

Federal 200-grain Trophy Bonded Tip

Federal 200-grain Trophy Copper

Federal 200-grain Fusion

The post Best Deer Hunting Calibers of 2023 appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Best Overall		Black Hills Ammo 5.56mm NATO MK 262 MOD 1-C	SEE IT
Most Accurate		Nosler Match Grade .223 77-grain Custom Competition BTHP	SEE IT
Best for Deer		Remington Premier .223 55-grain Accutip	SEE IT

It’s arguable that the 5.56x45mm NATO and .223 Remington are the most popular centerfire cartridges, by volume, in the United States today. The best 5.56 ammo is accurate and can fill multiple roles. It also depends on your application. A precision match load might be best for you, or maybe just dependable, cheap 5.56 ammo. Among centerfire cartridges, it dominates as the plinker-in-chief, and has been our standard military issue cartridge for decades. But it also excels in competition, hunting, training, and self defense applications. In-fact, there may not be a more generally useful cartridge on the books or in our gun cabinets. 

Although the 5.56mm NATO and the .223 Remington are slightly different cartridges—more on that later—both are ubiquitously referred to as 5.56. Hell, I do it myself. That’s why you’ll see so many .223 Remington loads in this test—and they’ll be referred to as 5.56 ammo. Try not to have a stroke. There is an excellent variety of 5.56 ammo available, which makes testing and determining the best 5.56 ammo a gargantuan task. I recorded over 500 5-shot groups from six rifles to see just how all this ammo would perform.

This will be a living document, with additional samples and data folded in down the road. This test of 23 different 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington loads is an excellent starting point for selecting ammunition for a variety of applications, and it represents the general field well.

• Best Overall: Black Hills Ammo 5.56mm NATO MK 262 MOD 1-C
• Best Value: Freedom Munitions .223 69-grain HPBT Match
• Most Accurate: Nosler Match Grade .223 77-grain Custom Competition BTHP
• Best for Larpers: Lake City 5.56mm NATO M855 Ball, 62-grain Green Tip
• Best for Varmints: Freedom Munitions .223 55-grain V-Max
• Best for Deer: Remington Premier .223 55-grain Accutip
• Best Lead-Free Ammo: Nosler .223 55-grain Expansion Tip
• Best Ball Ammo: Winchester USA Target .223 55-grain FMJ
• Best for Shooting Steel: Freedom Munitions .223 42-grain Zinc-core FMJ

Match Ammo

• Black Hills Ammo .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• Remington Premier Match .223 77-grain Sierra Matchking
• Remington Premier Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• Federal Gold Medal Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking 
• Hornady .223 75-grain BTHP Match
• Winchester Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking

Hunting and Defensive Ammo

• Black Hills Ammo .223 62-grain Barnes TSX
• Hornady Black 5.56mm NATO 75-grain Interlock 
• Nosler .223 55-grain Ballistic Tip Varmint
• Winchester Varmint X .223 40-grain Polymer Tip
• Hornady Critical Defense .223 73-grain FTX

Range and Practice

• Freedom Munitions 5.56mm NATO M193 55-grain FMJ
• Remington UMC .223 55-grain FMJ
• American Eagle .223 62-grain FMJ

5.56 vs. .223 Remington: Are They Interchangeable?

If you’re an astute stickler for details, you’ve already noted that there is indeed a difference between the 5.56X45mm NATO cartridge and the .223 Remington. Although both cartridges are derivatives of the .222 Remington and have the same external dimensions, there are a couple key differences. 

A lot has been written on those differences in chamber design and pressures, but conventional lore boils down to one point: when used in some .223 chambers, the 5.56mm NATO cartridge can cause pressure that exceeds SAAMI specifications. 

Because of the commonly-exercised interchangeable use of the 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington cartridges, some barrel manufacturers are now chambering in .223 Wylde, which is designed to be a cross-compatible chamber cut.

Chary individuals will tell you that it’s safe to shoot .223 Remington ammo in a 5.56mm NATO chamber, but it’s not safe to shoot 5.56mm NATO ammo in a .223 Remington chamber. Generally, this is bunk. If you’re trying a new 5.56mm NATO load in your .223 chamber, check for pressure signs, sure, but in a modern rifle, you’re not likely to encounter any issues. I’ve fired a tremendous amount of military M855 ball and other 5.56mm NATO through regular old .223 chambers without so much as a flattened primer—including in this test. Pay attention, but proceed.

What Do Twist Rates Mean for Selecting the Best 5.56 Ammo?

The twist rate of your barrel can exclude certain ammunition based on bullet weight. Across the spectrum of 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington rifles, you’ll see twist rates from 1:14 (1 twist in 14 inches of barrel length) to 1:7. 

Slower twist rates might be great for 40-, 50-, and 55-grain bullets, but won’t stabilize heavier bullets. An example of this is one of the rifles I used to supplement this test. It has a 1:9 twist Kreiger match barrel that will shoot lights-out with bullets up to 70 grains. It will not, however, shoot heavier 75-, 77-, or 80-grain bullets accurately.

The most common contemporary twist rates for 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington barrels are 1:7 and 1:8. A 1:8 twist barrel is capable of stabilizing any standard factory ammunition, including the popular 77-grain Sierra Matchking. As demonstrated by the service rifle that won me a distinguished rifleman badge many years ago, it’ll also shoot the ultra-long 80-grain Sierra Matchkings—although the 80- and 90-grain VLD match bullets are too long to fit in a standard magazine and must be single-loaded for an AR-type rifle. The run-of-the-mill mil-spec AR-15 barrel will have a twist rate of 1:7, making it capable of stabilizing any of the best 5.56 ammo you can find.

How We Tested the Best 5.56 Ammo

The Outdoor Life gun team takes pride in exercising a thorough and industry-leading protocol when testing guns and ammunition. Because a few groups through one or two rifles is too small of a sample size to tell you anything really useful, I went the extra mile. I requested, gathered, and bought all the ammunition I could reasonably manage, in a variety of styles to represent competition, recreational, hunting, and defensive applications. 

Test Rifles

I selected my test rifles to mirror what many shooters are using, and to provide a spectrum of barrel lengths, twist rates, and rifle styles. In total, I used six different rifles for this test. I fired each load through four of the rifles, and used two of them to gather supplementary data.

Ruger AR-556 MPR Proof Barrel 

• .223 Wylde
• 20-inch Proof carbon-fiber barrel
• 1:8 twist

Lone Star Armory TX15 Designated Marksman Light 

• .223 Remington (KWC chamber)
• 20-inch Bartlein steel barrel
• 1:7 twist

Lone Star Armory TX15 Multi-Purpose Carbine 

• .223 Wylde
• 16-inch Boss carbon-fiber barrel
• 1:7 twist

Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle 

• .223 Remington
• 20-inch carbon-fiber barrel
• 1:8 twist

Lone Star Armory TX4 Carbine (older)

• .223 Remington
• 16-inch Kreiger stainless-steel barrel
• 1:9 twist
• Was not used with bullets heavier than 69 grains

DIY Mil-Spec Build

• 5.56mm NATO
• 16-inch M4-profile barrel
• 1:7 twist
• Used as a reference point for several common loads

Testing Protocol

The most important thing we want to know about the best 5.56 ammo is how it shoots, especially in a variety of rifles. My basic testing protocol was to fire at least two, but ideally four or five recorded groups from 100 yards with each type of ammunition, through each of the first four primary rifles. My total group volume per load varied a bit due to the ammo I had available and consistency of performance. I typically fired fewer groups with ball ammo that exhibited average performance and consistency than I did with match ammo or ammo that displayed above-average accuracy. Shooting extra groups gave a fine-tuned average for the more accurate loads, but for mediocre-shooting loads, it was unlikely to move the needle much.

I also fired groups with ammunition that used 69-grain and lighter bullets through the 1:9-twist Kreiger-barreled TX4 in addition to the four primary rifles. I recorded groups with some standard 5.56 ammo like the MK 262 MOD 1-C and M855 through the mil-spec DIY rifle to use as a reference point as well. 

I fired five-shot groups, without pausing between shots in a string. Between groups, I rotated rifles so that barrels could cool. At the end of testing, I fired 10-shot, continuous-string groups at 300 yards with some of the most accurate rifle and load combinations to see how well they would hold on longer strings at longer distances.

Best 5.56 Ammo: Reviews and Recommendations

This test was one of tight margins. Many of the loads I tested were neck-and-neck, but here are my favorites.

Best Overall: Black Hills Ammo 5.56mm NATO MK 262 MOD 1-C

Tyler Freel

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Key Features

• 77-grain Sierra Matchking w/cannelure
• Annealed brass
• Crimped primer
• Velocity: 2,750 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average:  .953 inches (43 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .814 inches
• 300-yard 10-shot accuracy average: 2.827 inches
• Cost per round: $1.25

Pros

• Excellent accuracy
• Versatile load
• Quality components
• Good for long-range

Cons

• Limited availability
• Requires 1:8 twist barrel

One of the best all-around 5.56 loads is a true 5.56mm NATO cartridge—the MK 262. The load has its origins in special operations and was designed for better accuracy and downrange performance than the standard-issue M855 ball. It’s designed as AR 15 ammo and uses a 77-grain Sierra Matchking bullet, which is a juggernaught of across-the-course competition, but this version which is like the military-issued MK262 features a canellure on the bullet to accept a crimp. The standard 77-grain SMK does not. 

Unsurprisingly, the MK262 MOD 1-C ammo was accurate across all of the test rifles, and the heavy bullet holds onto that accuracy downrange. In my service rifle days, 77-grain SMK handloads were the ticket at 200- and 300-yards, and could even shoot well at 600 yards if I was short on 80-grain VLD’s. This ammo shoots well in both carbines and longer-barreled rifles, and I saw no pressure signs when shooting it through the Christensen MPR chambered in .223 Remington.

Best Value: Freedom Munitions .223 69-grain HPBT Match

Tyler Freel

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Key Features

• 69-grain BTHP
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,850 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .891 inches (28 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX4, .657 inches
• 300-yard 10-shot accuracy average: 3.109 inches
• Cost per round: $0.70

Pros

• Excellent accuracy
• Great for competition or defense
• Bargain-priced

Cons

• Not carried by most retailers

Freedom Munitions brought a ray of sunshine to our 2023 gun test when they sent us a couple cases of their very affordable match 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition. It was so accurate and consistent that I had to try some here too. Similarly, this 69-grain Match BTHP load was a stellar performer. It ranked third out of the 23 tested loads in accuracy, and was only short of the top spot by .044 inches in average group size. That’s arguably within a cumulative margin of error of my own measuring of all those groups.

This load shot well in just about every rifle and exceptional in some. It averaged .658 inch groups in the 1:9-twist TX4, and even held a 1.044-inch average in the DIY mil-spec AR carbine. Although the performance was stellar, it’s even more impressive when considering how affordable the ammo is. It outshot ammo like Federal’s Gold Medal Match—and rings up at half the cost.

Most Accurate: Nosler Match Grade .223 77-grain Custom Competition BTHP

Tyler Freel

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Key Features

• 77-grain BTHP
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,600 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .847 inches (24 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen Arms MPR, .687 inches
• 300-yard 10-shot accuracy average: 2.65 inches
• Cost per round: $1.86

Pros

• Best overall accuracy
• Great for competition 
• Perfect for service rifle competition or precision rifle training

Cons

• Expensive

The Nosler 77-grain custom competition averaged out as the most accurate 5.56 ammo in the test. It averaged a screaming .687 inches in the Christensen MPR, and even held under an inch in the 16-inch LSA TX15 carbine. At 300 yards out of the Christensen rifle, it held at .84 MOA for non-stop strings of 10 shots—an impressive feat.

As dominant and popular as the Sierra Matchking bullets are among shooters and ammunition manufacturers, Nosler’s match ammo brings the goods. In this case, it out-shines all others. It’s a load that requires a 1:8 or tighter twist barrel, but like the MK 262, it would be excellent defensive carbine ammo and would be a solid option for varmints.

Best for Larpers: Lake City 5.56mm NATO M855 Ball, 62-grain Green Tip

Tyler Freel

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Key Features

• 62-grain steel-core FMJ
• 5.56mm NATO
• Velocity: 3,020 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.877 inches (26 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX4, 1.047 inches
• Cost per round: $0.65

Pros

• Generally low cost
• Standard military issue
• Quality brass

Cons

• Not compatible with steel targets

M855 ball, also referred to as “5.56 green tip ammo,” is the quintessential 5.56 ammo. It’s a 62-grain FMJ bullet with a steel core and characteristic green painted tip. M855 is standard issue. Its accuracy is mediocre, but a good benchmark. It averaged group sizes of about an inch at best and printed several groups over 3 inches. In my mil-spec 16-inch barrel, it averaged 2.862 inches for 5 shots at 100 yards.

There are frankly better options for both practice, hunting, defensive, and duty ammo in this test, but because it’s standard-issue, M855 5.56 green tip ammo is a benchmark that needs to be included. The steel-core bullet will damage your expensive AR500 targets and cause potentially dangerous ricochet, so stick to regular FMJ or frangible. If you’re one of many passionate shooters who want everything to be true-to-issue, you need some green tip AR 15 ammo in your foot locker.

Best for Varmints: Freedom Munitions .223 55-grain V-Max

Tyler Freel

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Key Features

• 55-grain Hornady V-Max 
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,160 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .978 inches (28 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .772 inches
• Cost per round: $0.56

Pros

• Excellent accuracy
• Time-proven varmint bullet
• Bargain-priced

Cons

• Not carried by most retailers

This was the most accurate 5.56 ammo for predators and varmints, and also the most affordable. Like the Freedom Munitions 69-grain match load, this ammo is accurate in a variety of guns. Between the 16-inch TX4, the TX15 carbine, and the TX15 DML, I recorded 14 groups. Only one of those groups measured more than an inch. It averaged just over an inch in the Ruger and Christensen.

The accuracy was great, but again, the price of the Freedom Munitions ammo is what really grabbed my attention. It’s half the price of many other comparable varmint loads, and the 55-grain Hornady V-Max is a proven varmint buster that I’ve killed many coyotes with. It would serve as a great home defense round too, since the rapidly-expanding bullet won’t over-penetrate.

Best for Deer: Remington Premier .223 55-grain Accutip

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Key Features

• 55-grain Accutip 
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,240 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.167 inches (30 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen MPR, .848 inches
• Cost per round: $2.00

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Mechanically fastened jacket for weight retention on medium-sized game
• Excellent expansion

Cons

• Not as durable as monolithic bullets

An excellent all-around hunting bullet, and great option for game like deer is the 55-grain Accutip from Remington. It’s a polymer-tipped bullet that has a tapered jacket that’s mechanically fastened to the core. This allows rapid initial expansion, but good weight retention and penetration. It’s going to require more careful shot placement than monolithic bullets like the Nosler E-Tip and Barnes TSX, but it’s certainly potent enough to get the job done on deer.

Best Lead-Free Ammo: Nosler .223 55-grain Expansion Tip

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Key Features

• 55-grain Nosler Expansion Tip monolithic bullet 
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,100 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.382 inches (21 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .825 inches
• Cost per round: $2.15

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Lead free
• Balanced expansion and penetration
• Excellent weight retention

Cons

• Accuracy can vary rifle-to-rifle

Lead-free bullet technology has improved dramatically in the past 20 years, and there are several great options on the market for hunters now. Nosler’s Expansion Tip is a polymer-tipped all-copper bullet that’s designed for immediate expansion, but to maximize weight retention too. It’s an excellent bullet for predators like coyotes, but also larger game like deer. Overall accuracy was good, but it seemed that this ammo shot either very well or very mediocre in rifles, with groups ranging from the upper 1-inch range, to consistently sub-inch, depending on the rifle. Although the BHA Barnes TSX load averaged a hair better in accuracy, its availability is limited right now, so the E-Tip gets the nod.

Best Ball Ammo: Winchester USA Target .223 55-grain FMJ

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Key Features

• 55-grain FMJ
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,240 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.836 inches (13 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX4, 1.346 inches
• Cost per round: $0.65

Pros

• Good for practice and plinking
• Works with any twist rate
• Readily available

Cons

• Only ideal for practice and target shooting

Ball ammo is the bread and butter for scores of 5.56 and .223 shooters. It’s the most affordable option for 5.56 bulk ammo if you’re into high-volume practice and plinking. Ball ammo is simple and straightforward, and most of it is pretty consistent. Most of the ball ammo I tested averaged 1.5- to 2-inch groups at 100 yards, and this Winchester 55-grain FMJ was right at the top of the pack. It was edged out in accuracy by one other load, but because of its widespread availability, low cost, and compatibility with steel and self-healing targets, it’s one of the best options.

Best for Shooting Steel: Freedom Munitions .223 42-grain Zinc-core FMJ

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Key Features

• 42-grain zinc core FMJ
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,500 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.397 inches (19 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Ruger AR-556 MPR Proof, 1.184 inches
• Cost per round: $0.47

Pros

• Lead free
• Works with any twist rate
• Great for steel targets
• Very affordable

Cons

• Only ideal for practice and target shooting

Standard steel rifle targets can be shot with most regular FMJ ammo, but it can sometimes shower the shooter and bystanders with spall fragments—tiny pieces of bullet and jacket material. Frangible ammunition is the most ideal option for shooting steel targets, especially at close range, and although this zinc-core FMJ ammo isn’t frangible, it is lead free and fragments nicely. When shooting high volume indoors or at closer range, it will reduce the amount of lead you’re exposed to.

This ammo isn’t just great for steel though, it’s one of the best 5.56 ammo ball loads I tested. It was the most accurate ball ammo, and one of the most affordable—though you’ll probably have to order it. 

The Best 5.56 Ammo: More Match Ammo

They might not all be top dog, but this field of ammunition was full of strong contenders in their respective categories. Ammunition performance will naturally vary from rifle to rifle, and one of these might also be best one for you. Here are some other excellent loads in the match ammo category.

Black Hills Ammo .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking

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Key Features

• 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,850 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .963 inches (18 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 MPC .704 inches
• Cost per round: $1.11

Pros

• Great accuracy
• Great for competition and practice
• Quality components

Cons

• Limited availability

The only downside to Black Hills Ammo’s 69-grain match load is that it’s hard to find these days. I have some squirreled away, and eventually it will come back. As in other loads, the Sierra Matchking is a solid performer, and the 69-grain bullet is ideal for the 200-yard line. 

Remington Premier Match .223 77-grain Sierra Matchking

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Key Features

• 77-grain Sierra Matchking
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,790 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .886 inches (20 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen Arms MPR, .681 inches
• 300-yard 10-shot accuracy average: 2.321 inches
• Cost per round: $1.65

Pros

• Exceptional accuracy
• Great for competition 
• Good value

Cons

• Won’t shoot well in slow-twist barrels

Big Green ammo has come back strong since the last big Remington bankruptcy debacle, and they’ve been pumping out solid-performing ammo at a time when we really need it. I want every ammo and rifle to succeed—almost to a fault—and it was pleasing to see this Premier Match load shoot so well. It fires 77-grain Sierra Matchking bullets and was the second most accurate load in this test—and that was only by a few thousandths of an inch. The Christensen MPR took a shine to this load, and with it, I didn’t fire a single group over one minute of angle. Even pounding out 10-shot groups at 300 yards, the load was decisively sub-MOA. 

Remington Premier Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking

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Key Features

• 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,000 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.332 inches (21 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, 1.054 inches
• Cost per round: $1.75

Pros

• Proven Matchking bullets
• Good for competition or practice
• Good value

Cons

• Accuracy wasn’t as good as 77-grain load

This 69-grain match load is right at home in 1:9 twist barrels. Accuracy of this load wasn’t stellar, but it was good, and consistent across all the rifles tested. For service rifle competition, where the X-ring is approximately one minute of angle, this would be a good option at the 200- and 300-yard lines. 

Federal Gold Medal Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking

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Key Features

• 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,950 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.085 inches (18 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX4, .964 inches
• Cost per round: $1.75

Pros

• Proven Matchking bullets
• Great accuracy
• Good for competition or practice
• Great standard load for accuracy evaluation

Cons

• More expensive than some better-performing match ammo in the test.

Federal Gold Medal Match needs no introduction, and it’s a standard ammunition that we often use when evaluating accuracy of rifles and comparing other ammo. This load also features the popular 69-grain Sierra Matchking bullet, and sends it accurately. So that we don’t get lost in just how accurate much of this ammo is, any load that averages an inch at 100 yards with five-shot groups across multiple rifles is excellent. 

Hornady Superformance .223 75-grain BTHP Match

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Key Features

• 75-grain Hornady BTHP
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,930 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.257 inches (18 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 MPC, .728 inches
• Cost per round: $1.40

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Competitive price
• Good for competition or practice

Cons

• Less consistent accuracy than some other loads

Hornady’s Superformance line of ammo focuses on squeezing maximum velocity out of its chamberings, and that’s demonstrated with the 2,930 fps speed of the 75-grain BTHP bullet. It’s a more affordable load than some others, and proved to have good accuracy—although it wasn’t consistent rifle to rifle. Most rifles averaged just over an inch at 100 yards, but groups from the 16-inch TX15 MPC carbine averaged .728-inch groups. 

Winchester Match .223 69-grain Sierra Matchking

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Key Features

• 69-grain Sierra Matchking
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,060 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .938 inches (28 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .767 inches
• 300-yards 10-shot accuracy average: 4.1 inches
• Cost per round: $1.40

Pros

• Outstanding accuracy
• Great for 200 and 300 yards
• Good for competition or practice

Cons

• More wind drift at 300 yards than 77-grain bullets

Winchester’s 69-grain Matchking loads produced some of the tightest 100-yard groupings in the test, including the tightest overall group of .298 inches. It posted a stellar average groups size, and would be a fantastic go-to. It uses the venerable Sierra Matchking bullet, but won’t buck the wind as well as 77-grain bullets at distances beyond 200 yards.

The Best 5.56 Ammo for Hunting and Defense

The field for quality 5.56 ammo for hunting is just as deep as it is in the match category. A testament to the 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington’s versatility, many of these hunting loads would be excellent at pulling double-duty as self defense or home defense loads because their rapid expansion prevents overpenetration. 

Black Hills Ammo .223 62-grain Barnes TSX

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Key Features

• 62-grain Barnes TSX
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,025 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.292 inches (14 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .883 inches
• Cost per round: $1.60

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Lead free
• Great terminal performance
• Good for varmints or medium-sized game

Cons

• Limited availability

The Barnes TSX is one of the best hunting bullets you can choose in 5.56 or .223 because it expands rapidly, but maintains its weight. This load from Black HIlls Ammo uses the 62-grain TSX, and barely edged out the Nosler E-Tip in accuracy, but like several of BHA’s .223 loads, it’s tough to get right now. 

Hornady Black 5.56mm NATO 75-grain Interlock

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Key Features

• 75-grain Hornady Interlock
• 5.56mm NATO
• Velocity: 3,025 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.778 inches (12 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, 1.342 inches
• Cost per round: $1.25

Pros

• Good bullet for medium-sized game
• Mechanically fastened core and jacket
• Affordable

Cons

• Mediocre accuracy compared to competitors

Hornady’s Interlock bullet is a great, affordable option for a variety of hunting calibers. It has a soft lead point and mechanically fastened core to allow for good expansion, but high weight retention. This would be a good option for hogs or deer-sized game.

Nosler .223 55-grain Ballistic Tip Varmint

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Key Features

• 55-grain Ballistic Tip
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,100 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: .991 inches (24 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen Arms MPR, .731 inches
• Cost per round: $1.50

Pros

• Great accuracy
• Excellent for coyotes and varmints
• Great option for a defensive carbine

Cons

• 55-grain bullet not great beyond 300-400 yards

This load from Nosler was within a few thousandths of the most accurate varmint load tested, and comparable to the performance of other 55-grain ballistic tips like the Hornady V-Max. It was edged out in this test because of the exceptional value of the Freedom Munitions V-Max load. This would be excellent coyote medicine, and could easily double as a great option for a defensive rifle from which you don’t want excessive penetration.

Winchester Varmint X .223 40-grain Polymer Tip

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Key Features

• 40-grain Varmint X bullet
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,600 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.083 inches (21 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen Arms MPR, .795 inches
• Cost per round: $1.10

Pros

• Great accuracy
• Excellent for coyotes and varmints
• Compatible with slow-twist, older rifles

Cons

• 40-grain bullet not great for long-range shots

This lightweight, high-velocity load surprised me with its sub-MOA accuracy average. It shot well across the board for such a light bullet, but averaged a screaming .795 inches with the Christensen MPR. That would make a deadly coyote or groundhog combo. The polymer-tipped bullet is designed for rapid expansion and devastation on small critters.

Hornady Critical Defense .223 73-grain FTX

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Key Features

• 73-grain Hornady FTX bullet
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 2,790 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.08 inches (18 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX15 DML, .92 inches
• Cost per round: $1.55

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Nickel-plated, crimped cases
• Consistent expansion
• Limited penetration

Cons

• Not intended for long-range performance

Hornady’s Critical Defense line is designed with dependability and performance in mind. The FTX bullet doesn’t have the high ballistic coefficients that match bullets have, but its protected tip induces uniform expansion, and reduces overpenetration in this defensive load. I’m sure it would perform well on small and medium-sized game, and it shot well out of a variety of rifles.

Best 5.56 Ammo for the Range

The bulk of 5.56 ammo consumed is simple ball or FMJ, and its important to consider. As in all the other categories, there were some standouts among the range ammo in this test too.

Freedom Munitions 5.56mm NATO M193 55-grain FMJ

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Key Features

• 55-grain FMJ bullet
• 5.56mm NATO
• Velocity: 3250 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 1.928 inches (19 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: Christensen Arms MPR, 1.582 inches
• Cost per round: $.44

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Great for all-around practice
• Good for steel

Cons

• Not great for hunting or self-defense

Freedom Munitions brought another solid performer to the table with their 55-grain M193 load, which is meant to duplicate the original M193 55-grain 5.56mm NATO load that predated the M855 and was used in the M16. All-around, this is solid-performing cheap 5.56 ammo with good accuracy and reliability. 

Remington UMC .223 55-grain FMJ

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Key Features

• 55-grain FMJ bullet
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,240 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 2.104 inches (10 groups)
• Most accurate rifle, average group size: LSA TX4, 1.93 inches
• Cost per round: $.73

Pros

• Affordable
• Great for all-around practice
• Good for steel

Cons

• Not great for hunting or self-defense

Remington UMC’s FMJ is another pillar of shooting ranges across the country. It’s one of the most common and best cheap 5.56 ammo loads for practice that you’ll find. It uses a simple 55-grain FMJ bullet that is fine to shoot with just about any twist rate. It’s useful for both plinking and dedicated practice.

American Eagle .223 62-grain FMJ

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Key Features

• 62-grain FMJ bullet
• .223 Remington
• Velocity: 3,020 feet per second
• 100-yard 5-shot accuracy average: 2.563 inches (12 groups)
• Most accurate rifle and average group size: LSA TX4, 1.967 inches
• Cost per round: $.90

Pros

• Similar to M855 ballistics
• Great for practice
• Good for steel

Cons

• Not great for hunting or self-defense

Federal’s American Eagle line has been a go-to practice and 5.56 bulk ammo since I had my dad buying it for me (because I wasn’t old enough). It’s not the most accurate ball ammo I tested, but is generally good quality and reliable. The 62-grain FMJ load closely mimics the ballistics of the M855 Green Tip ammo, but doesn’t have the steel core that will damage steel targets. 

FAQ

Read Next: Best Long Range Calibers

Final Thoughts 

Testing the best 5.56 ammo is a wormhole that I likely won’t soon escape. We’re still working our way out of an ammo shortage, and this isn’t the first. The ammo shortage of the late 2000’s caught many off guard, and common ammunition for cartridges like 5.56mm NATO, .223 Remington, and .308 Winchester were all but nonexistent. In response, manufacturers were better prepared this time—at least for these cartridges. As a result, we have a wide variety of 5.56 ammo available. Testing these 23 loads was an overwhelming but pleasurable effort, and I’ll eagerly keep testing and adding products to the lineup. If there are any solid conclusions to be reached from this testing, it’s that the best 5.56 ammo is extremely accurate, affordable, and versatile.

The post The Best 5.56 Ammo of 2023 appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Best for Hunting		Federal HammerDown 170 Grain	SEE IT
Best for Backcountry Defense		Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 180 Grain	SEE IT
Best for Self-Defense		Speer Gold Dot Personal Protection 125 Grain	SEE IT

Following its introduction in 1935, there was a long period of time when .357 Magnum ruled over the other handgun cartridges. The .357 earned an impressive reputation for “one-shot stops” when used by police officers. Sportsmen used it to take virtually every species of North American game animal, including moose and grizzlies, plus other big critters across the world.

The king of handgun cartridges was dethroned in the 1950s with the arrival of the .44 Magnum, which was followed by a succession of increasingly powerful handgun cartridges, including some which produce a level of recoil that many shooters do not well tolerate.

However, a diverse offering of the best .357 ammo keeps this cartridge relevant and useful today. With guns of reasonable weight, most shooters can handle the .357’s recoil. The cartridge is also highly versatile. With the right loads, it performs well for hunting and self-defense. You’ll likely be able to trigger follow-up shots more quickly with a .357 Mag. than you can with more potent cartridges, and you can also shoot milder .38 Special loads in guns chambered for .357 Mag. (but not vice versa). A few specialized semi-auto pistols, such as the Coonan and Desert Eagle, have been chambered in .357 Mag. There are a variety of lever-action rifles chambered in .357 for deer hunting in high-wall cartridge states—the round is even more capable for hunting purposes in those lever guns. There are even .357 Mag. rounds loaded with birdshot for killing snakes and pests. 

So here’s my list for the best .357 ammo for a variety of applications:

• Best for Hunting: Federal HammerDown 170 Grain
• Best for Backcountry Defense: Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 180 Grain
• Best for Self-Defense: Speer Gold Dot Personal Protection 125 Grain
• Best for Practice: Federal American Eagle 158 Grain JSP
• Best for Snub-Nosed Revolvers: Winchester Defender 125 Grain

Things to Consider Before Buying the Best .357 Ammo

Application and Availability

Whether you’re buying ammunition for practice, hunting, or self-defense, it’s important to match your ammo to the task at hand. You shouldn’t use cheap practice ammo on the hunt of a lifetime, and it would be unwise to carry a self-defense load with a light, rapidly expanding bullet in grizzly country. Fortunately, there are plenty of .357 Mag. loads to choose from. Availability is another matter. Demand for ammunition remains high and supplies remain tight. Some of the loads on this list are in limited supply or out of stock, so it may take some persistence to find the load you’re looking for.

Cost

The best .357 ammo isn’t cheap, but let’s get one thing straight: It’s a genuinely bad idea to try to save a few dollars on ammo that you may be betting your life on. The best self-defense ammo costs about $1.40 to $2.25 per round, while good hunting ammo will cost between $1.15 to $1.70 per round. I’m a firm believer in practicing with the same ammo you’re going to use for hunting and self-defense, but that can quickly become cost prohibitive. It’s a good idea to at least practice with bullets of the same weight that you intend to use in a hunting or self-defense scenario. Our top practice ammo selections cost $1.00 (or a bit less) per round. You can find even cheaper ammo, but my practice ammo list notably excludes rounds with all-lead bullets because I loathe spending my time scrubbing lead build-up from barrels. 

Best .357 Ammo for Hunting: Reviews & Recommendations

Federal HammerDown .357 Magnum 170 Grain

Federal

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Key Features

• Heavy-for-caliber, 170-grain bonded hollow point
• Velocity: 1,610 fps (rifle)
• Nickel-plated brass
• Jacket molecularly bonded to core
• $33.99 for 20 rounds

Pros

• Reliable feeding
• Optimized for lever-action rifles
• Good penetration, expansion and weight retention

Cons

• Available in only one .357 Mag. bullet weight

HammerDown .357 Mag. load is designed to function flawlessly in lever-action rifles and deliver superior terminal performance. Federal partnered with Henry Repeating Arms to design HammerDown ammunition for lever-action rifles and those who like to hunt with them. This nickel-plated, modified, and chamfered case allows easy and reliable feeding from side-gate and tubular feeding systems. Federal designed the round’s heavy-for-caliber, 170-grain bonded bullet to deliver good terminal performance when launched at higher velocities in lever guns. While Federal accomplished that goal, the round performs surprisingly well in handguns, too. If you’re looking for one .357 Mag. hunting cartridge to feed your revolver as well as your lever-action rifle, HammerDown is an excellent option.

Hornady FTX LEVERevolution 140 Grain

Hornady

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Key Features

• 140-grain Flex Tip bullet
• Velocity: 1,800 fps (rifle)
• $28.99 for 25 rounds

Pros

• High velocity
• Flat trajectory
• Good penetration, expansion and weight retention
• Affordable

Cons

• Some rifles may need a newer magazine follower for best feeding of the last round in a magazine.

Hornady’s LEVERevolution ammo was a game changer. Designed specifically for use in lever-action rifles, it allowed shooters to use pointed, ballistically efficient FTX bullets which have a flexible elastomer tip that can safely rest against the primer of another bullet stacked in a tubular magazine. The bullet’s design results in a flatter trajectory and extended range over traditional .357 Mag. ammo thanks to its relatively high ballistic coefficient and use of a slower-burning powder to maximize velocity out of lever-action barrels. 

Read Next: Best Lever Action Rifles

Barnes Pioneer 180 Grain JHP

Barnes

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Key Features

• Velocity: 1,665 fps (rifle)
• Heavy-for-caliber Barnes original bullet
• Also available with a 140-grain copper XPB bullet
• $29.99 for 20 rounds

Pros

• Optimized for lever-action rifles
• Good penetration, expansion and weight retention
• Price

Cons

• Brass cases only

Barnes Ammunition is famous for its monolithic, all-copper bullets, but the firm went a bit old-school with its Pioneer .357 Mag. load. This load uses a heavy-for-caliber, jacketed lead core Barnes Original JHP Bullet. Designed to cycle smoothly in lever-action guns, the round has plenty of power to take deer and hogs cleanly within reasonable ranges. If you prefer an all-copper bullet, Barnes also loads a .357 Mag. Pioneer load with a 140-grain XPB bullet.

More .357 Ammo for Hunting

• Federal Fusion 158-grain
• Hornady 130-grain MonoFlex Handgun Hunter
• Winchester Super X 158-grain JHP
• Remington High Terminal Performance 158 grain

Best .357 Ammo for Backcountry Defense: Reviews & Recommendations

Buffalo Bore Heavy .357 Mag Outdoorsman 180 Grain

Buffalo Bore

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Key Features

• Velocity: 1,400 fps
• Heavy-for-caliber hard cast, flat nose 180-grain bullet
• $40.17 for 20 rounds

Pros

• Excellent straight-line penetration
• Field proven
• Safe for any all-steel revolvers, including J Frames

Cons

• Not recommended in super light alloy frame revolvers as bullets may jump crimp under recoil

My number one pick for backcountry defense is Buffalo Bore’s Heavy .357 Mag. load, which employs a hard cast lead bullet that has proven effective on the biggest North American animals like moose and grizzlies. Effective defense against large, hairy critters that are trying to kill you is all about penetration (and shot placement). This load delivers unparalleled straight-line penetration with its flat nose, hard cast lead bullet. Sure, there are more potent options for bear country than the .357 Mag, like the .44 Mag. And nowadays, many experienced backcountry hunters say a 10mm semi-auto is a better choice for bear defense because of their ability to put more rounds down range, faster. 

Read Next: Best Bear Defense Handguns

But ultimately, choosing how much gun you want to pack for bear defense comes down to personal preference. If you doubt the effectiveness of Buffalo Bore’s hard cast bullets, consider the experience of long-time Alaska guide Phil Shoemaker. He stopped and killed a brown bear in 2016 when it charged his fishing clients. He did so using Buffalo Bore hard cast bullets in a 9 mm semi-auto, which is not at the top of anyone’s list of effective bear stoppers.

Doubletap 200 Grain Hardcast Solid

Doubletap

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Key Features

• Heavy-for-caliber 200-grain hard cast bullet
• Velocity: 1,315 fps
• Sealed primers
• $27.27 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Excellent penetration
• Field proven
• Cost

Cons

• Stout recoil

Doubletap’s 200-grain Hardcast Solid delivers very good penetration with a hard cast bullet at an affordable price. Priced affordably compared to other cartridges in this category, the Doubletap 200-grain Hardcast Solid penetrated more than 33 inches in gelatin testing. The bullet has a wide, 80 percent meplat, or flat nose, for maximum tissue disruption, and has proven effective on elk and black bears weighing up to 500 pounds.

Federal 180 Grain Swift A-Frame

Federal

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Key Features

• Heavy-for-caliber 180-grain Swift A-Frame jacketed hollow point bullet
• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• Velocity: 1,130 fps
• $63.99 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Controlled expansion with deep penetration
• Field proven

Cons

• Price

Launching a heavy Swift A-Frame bullet, this load delivers balanced performance with good expansion, penetration and weight retention. Federal’s 180-grain Swift A-Frame load places about 80 percent of its weight behind a partition while the front section of the bullet uses soft lead bonded to a copper jacket that’s thinned and skived at the nose. This allows the wide hollow point of the bullet to expand at a range of velocities while retaining much of its weight, and the mass of the rear portion of the bullet ensures good penetration. If you’re in areas where black bears are at the top of the food chain and you don’t need the maximum penetration of hard cast bullets, this load is a good choice.

More .357 ammo for Backcountry Defense

• COR-BON Hunter 200-grain HC
• Barnes VOR-TX 140-grain XPB

Best .357 Ammo for Self-Defense: Reviews & Recommendations

Speer Gold Dot Personal Protection 125 Grain

Speer

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Key Features

• 125-grain Gold Dot jacketed hollow point
• Pressure-formed lead core molecularly bonded to the jacket
• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• Velocity: 1,450 fps
• $44.99 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Barrier-blind performance
• Excellent penetration, expansion and weight retention
• Field-proven

Cons

• Price

Speer Gold Dot ammunition is my top choice in the self-defense category because it has a proven track record and qualities that have long made Gold Dot a gold standard in law enforcement. Revolvers haven’t been the duty gun of choice since high-capacity semi-auto pistols took over in the 1980s, but this Gold Dot .357 Mag. load remains a stellar performer. 

More than 3,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide rely on Gold Dot ammunition. In common law enforcement cartridges, it meets or exceeds the FBI test protocol in terms of barrier penetration with uniform expansion, good penetration, and excellent retained weight for reliable terminal performance. Reliability is ensured with the use of sealed primers.

Read Next: Best Revolvers for Hunters and Personal Protection

Federal Premium Personal Defense 154 Grain HST

Federal

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Key Features

• 154-grain HST jacketed hollow point
• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• Velocity: 1,340 fps
• $44.99 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Barrier-blind performance
• Heavier weight makes it a capable hunting load
• Field-proven

Cons

• Price

Federal Premium Personal Defense HST ammunition is also commonly used by law enforcement. It shines in the FBI test protocol, and has a proven record of delivering optimal performance when it counts. HST ammunition features a jacketed hollow point design that will expand reliably and not plug when passing through barriers or clothing. The round delivers great penetration and holds together well with a high retained weight. The heavier weight of this load makes it a good choice for hunting as well as self-defense.

Hornady Critical Duty 135 Grain FlexLock

Hornady

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Key Features

• 135-grain FlexLock
• Velocity: 1,275 fps
• InterLock band
• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• $34.99 for 25 cartridges

Pros

• Barrier-blind performance
• Good penetration and expansion with full-size handguns
• Field proven
• Price

Cons

• May not expand well with handguns with 2-inch barrels

The Hornady Critical Duty line of ammunition meets FBI protocols and is also popular with law enforcement. The Critical Duty 135-grain FlexLock load was designed specifically to meet law enforcement needs with tough bullets that deliver good barrier penetration, expansion, and penetration. Critical Duty ammo does not use traditional jacketed hollow point bullets. Rather, it employs Hornady’s elastomer Flex Tip nose to eliminate clogging and help initiate expansion. A large jacket-to-core InterLock band ensures the bullet will hold together for good weight retention.

More .357 Ammo for Self-Defense

• Winchester Elite Defender 125-grain
• Sig Sauer Elite Defense V-Crown 125-grain JHP
• Remington Golden Saber Defense 125 grain
• Hornady Critical Defense 125-grain FTX
• COR-BON 125-grain DPX
• Barnes TAC-XPD Defense Handgun 125 grain

Best .357 Ammo for Practice: Reviews & Recommendations

Federal American Eagle 158 Grain JSP

Federal

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Key Features

• 158-grain jacketed soft point bullet
• Velocity: 1,240 fps
• $45.99 for 50 rounds

Pros

• Good practice substitute for 158-grain hunting or defensive ammo
• Ideal for target shooting, training, and practice

Cons

• Only ideal for practice and plinking

Federal American Eagle ammunition is produced to the same stringent requirements as Federal Premium ammunition, but at a much more affordable price. Federal’s American Eagle line is specifically made for practice and target shooting. It’s not the cheapest practice ammo out there, but it provides similar ballistics and feel as same-weight bullets in hunting or defense loads. This is a straightforward handgun load with jacketed soft point bullet, basic truncated cone, brass case, and Federal primer. 

Hornady American Gunner 125 Grain XTP

Hornady

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Key Features

• 125-grain Hornady eXtreme Terminal Performance JHP bullet
• Velocity: 1,500 fps
• Controlled expansion
• $19.99 for 25 cartridges

Pros

• Versatile, multi-purpose cartridge
• Mimics performance of 125-grain self-defense loads
• Price

Cons

• Not ideal for animals larger than deer

Priced in the practice ammunition category, the Hornady American Gunner 125-grain XTP cartridge is also capable for self-defense and hunting medium-sized game. Hornady’s American Gunner 125-grain XTP .357 Mag. load is a more affordable alternative to pricier top-of-the-line options and is more versatile than many other .357 Mag. loads commonly used for practice. The varying thickness of the drawn metal gilding jacket of the eXtreme Terminal Performance bullet results in uniform, controlled expansion. Jacket serrations help initiate expansion.

Winchester Super X 125 Grain WinClean

Winchester

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Key Features

• Brass-enclosed base
• Lead and heavy metal-free primer
• Velocity: 1,370 fps
• $52.81 for 50 cartridges

Pros

• Mimics performance of 125-grain self-defense loads
• Helps eliminate airborne lead at shooter’s station

Cons

• Only ideal for practice

Winchester’s Super X 125-grain WinClean load makes our list because it’s a great option for minimizing airborne lead. The WinClean load is designed primarily to eliminate airborne lead, making it a great choice for indoor shooting ranges. In addition to a lead-free and heavy metal-free primer, the bullet’s base is enclosed in brass, preventing vaporization of lead from the base.

More .357 Ammo for Practice

• Remington UMC 125-grain Semi-Jacked SP
• Fiocchi 142-grain FMJTC
• CCI Blazer 158-grain JHP
• Sellier & Bellot 158-grain FMJ
• Sierra Sports Master 158-grain JHP
• Sig Sauer Elite Ball 125-grain FMJ

Best .357 Ammo for Snub-Nosed Revolvers: Reviews & Recommendations

Winchester Elite Defender 125 Grain

Winchester

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Key Features

• Bonded 125-grain jacketed hollow point
• Velocity: 1,180 fps

• Sealed primer
• $32.81 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Excellent expansion
• Good penetration
• Good weight retention

Cons

• Considerable muzzle flash

Winchester’s Elite Defender 125-grain .357 Mag load isn’t intended for shorter barrels only, but it delivers excellent terminal ballistics out of snubbies. ThenElite Defender 125-grain load launches from 2-inch barrels considerably faster than the .357 Mag. loads designed for use in such barrels. That results in a fair amount of muzzle flash, but it also helps the jacketed hollow point bullet achieve impressive expansion with good penetration and weight retention. Winchester claims 1.5 times expansion, but I’ve seen the round do even better than that in gelatin tests. Terminal performance is, in a word, impressive.

Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection 135 Grain JHP

Speer

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Key Features

• 135-grain Gold Dot hollow point bullet
• Pressure-formed lead core molecularly bonded to jacket
• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• Velocity: 990 fps
• $44.99 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Consistent expansion
• Good penetration

Cons

• Price

This Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel .357 Mag. load delivers all you could ever ask for from a snub-nosed revolver. Optimized for performance from short-barreled revolvers, Speer’s Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection 135-grain JHP load delivers surprisingly good penetration and expansion from barrels as short as 2 inches while producing less recoil.

Remington Golden Saber Defense Compact 38 Special +P 125 Grain

Remington

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Key Features

• 125-grain jacketed hollow point bullet

• Nickel-plated cases and sealed primers
• Velocity: 895 fps
• Reduced-flash powder
• $35.99 for 20 cartridges

Pros

• Price

Cons

• Lacking .357 Mag. velocity

This Golden Saber Defense Compact load—the only 38 Special on our list—offers good terminal performance with milder recoil. Remington’s Golden Saber Defense Compact 38 Special +P 125-grain load is engineered to produce optimal penetration and expansion from short-barrels, even after passing through heavy clothing. It does so with less recoil than full-power .357 Mag. loads.

More .357 Ammo for Snub-Nosed Revolvers

• Buffalo Bore Tactical Low Flash Short Barrel 125 Barnes XPB

FAQs

Final Thoughts on the Best .357 Ammo

In a defensive role, the .357 Mag. can be a lot easier to control than the heavier magnums, potentially enabling you to fire more shots at a time when your fine motor skills are stressed. With the right bullet and proper shot placement, there’s not much the .357 Mag. can’t do. And the fact that it remains popular seven decades after its introduction is solid testimony to the round’s versatility.

The post The Best .357 Ammo for Hunting, Target Practice, and Self Defense appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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As any good reloading manual will tell you, the first successful (commercially at least) attempt to neck the .221 Fireball case down to .17 caliber was the .17 Mach IV. This cartridge was introduced in the early 1960s by Vern O’Brien, a well-known gunsmith in the Las Vegas area. Who initially requested the caliber, or whether Mr. O’Brien simply realized that the case and bore diameter would be well matched is a matter for conjecture, but whatever the case the .17 Mach IV has certainly had a following for around 60 years.

Enter Remington. Early in this century, Remington decided to introduce a new version of the .17 Fireball, similar in many regards to the Mach IV but standardized and optimized for mass production. Instead of a custom rifle, varmint hunters now would have access to brass, standard (read, less expensive) dies, rifles and factory ammunition. The first offerings were svelte Model Seven CDL sporters and various varmint configurations of the short action 700 platform, and factory ammunition was produced using a 20-grain tipped varmint bullet at over 4000 fps and a 25-grain hollow point at over 3700.

Sadly, the cartridge enjoyed only a few years in the Remington lineup before various factors contributed to Remington’s demise and a long production interruption ensued.

Today, Remington once again has the .17 Fireball ammunition in its lineup. So too does Nosler—and both companies offer cartridge cases. Hornady, Nosler, and Berger offer bullets, and dies are readily available from most major manufacturers. I for one couldn’t be happier with the result—as the .17 Fireball fills a nice role in any serious varmint hunter’s battery and is both mild and economical to shoot.

Handloading the .17 Fireball

Handloading for the .17 Fireball is fairly straightforward and most of the .17 Fireball rifles I have owned or been around have been quite accurate and tolerant of a wide range of components.

As Jim Carmichel once said “The case is the font from which accuracy flows.” There’s no doubt that the case makes a lot of difference in small cartridges, and fortunately, brass is easy to come by for this caliber. Whether you choose to buy factory fresh cases or make them (as some more masochistic handloaders insist on doing), quality is very good. The original Remington brass was somewhat lighter than current Nosler brass—which in my testing means that charges in the Nosler brass needed to be reduced approximately one grain to reach the same velocity (and pressure). Both brands of cases are easy to work with—and require minimal preparation to provide consistent results on paper and in the field.

Trim and Chamfer Brass

My regimen is very simple. Since I usually plan to shoot both predators and colony varmints, I like to have a lot of cases on hand. My prep consists of trimming to a uniform length (and I usually trim a little under the trim-to length listed in books, perhaps .002 in. to .004 in. under) to minimize the need for future trimming. I run all my cases over the expander ball of my sizing die to make sure cartridge mouths are round. I chamfer both the inside and outside of the case mouth, putting a slightly more aggressive chamfer on the inside because most .17-caliber bullets have flat bases, and I want them to get a good, clean start during seating and minimize the risk of damage to the all-important heel of the bullet.

I debur flash holes. Do I think this makes a big difference? I honestly can’t tell, but as I’ve mentioned in previous articles—see these stories on the .222 Rem. Mag., .17 Hornet, .17 Remington, .221 Rem. Fireball, and .22 Hornet—it makes me sleep better at night. Particularly in cases with very small internal volume where consistent ignition is important to consistent accuracy. I don’t usually uniform primer pockets until after the first firing. This is simply because my Holland’s primer pocket uniformer is also my preferred primer pocket cleaner. So after the first shot they get the works.

Tumble and Neck Size

After my first firing, I tumble my cases for a few hours in treated corn cob media with the primers in. “Primers in?” you say. Yes. One of my biggest annoyances is going back to make sure every flash hole is not obstructed with a piece of media when I tumble cases with the primers out. Therefore, for high volume reloading chores, I clean them with the primer in and let the decapping pin push out any stubborn piece of cob that I miss.

I then size most (but not all) of the case necks on a standard FL Sizer die from Redding. I check the case length of a random sample of cases to make sure that they are within the length tolerance and also to understand how much they stretch on the first firing/sizing operation. In a case like the .17 Fireball, it usually isn’t very much—maybe a couple of thousandths if everything is put together properly and there isn’t too much drag on the expander ball during the sizing operation. If your cases have thicker necks and your expander is a little on the large side, Redding sells a wonderful dry neck lube that will greatly ease the passage of the expander ball and reduce wear and tear on the dies.

Peak Performance from the .17 Fireball

After sizing my cases, I prime, charge and seat bullets in that order (of course). In each step, there are a few tricks that seem to have made a difference in the .17 Fireballs I have owned. Breaking them out:

Primer Sensitivity

Primers are important in small cases, and variability between primers can make a tremendous difference both in paper accuracy and ballistic uniformity of a particular load. The .17 Fireball, being a small case, can be particularly sensitive to primer choice and for that reason, trying several different brands and types of primers can provide pleasing results. Perhaps peculiarly, my rifles have preferred either CCI BR-4 or Federal 205 Match primers. My sample is relatively small—I’ve only had three .17 Fireball rifles—but I usually start there. Other good choices include the Remington 7.5 BR, the Winchester Small Rifle and Small Rifle Match, RWS Small Rifle, and the CCI 400 and 450.

Best Powders for the .17 Fireball

Many powders work well in the .17 Fireball, which is serendipitous. I’ve had good luck with Benchmark, IMR 8208XBR, VV N-130, AA-2200, AA LT-32, H-322, and RL-10X. Other powders I’ve seen work well in other rifles include H-335, CFE BLK (with 20-grain bullets), and VV N-133.

As a rule, most of the powders that work well in the .223 Remington also work well in the .17 Remington Fireball. A point to remember with all .17-caliber cartridges is to use care during the actual charging process—particularly with extruded powders. The combination of a .17-caliber powder nozzle, .17-caliber case mouth and extruded powder can result in bridging—where all the charge doesn’t drop into a case and a little drops into the next case in the next charging operation.

The resulting overcharge can result in pierced or blown primers or any number of other unpleasant high-pressure events. For this reason, I always take extra care to examine my charged cases with a strong light prior to bullet seating—which enables me to see any high or low powder levels in the case.

Bullet Seating and the .17 Fireball

Bullet seating is more straightforward in the .17 Fireball (and .17 caliber cartridges in general) than many would lead you to believe. Yes, if you are blessed with very large hands, the bullets are small and can take a little more care to properly align and seat than say, .30-caliber bullets. But I see a lot of references to using surgical instruments such as tweezers and microscopes to seat bullets, and neither I nor any of my friends or acquaintances have ever had to resort to such specialized equipment or heroic measures to properly seat .17-caliber bullets. In short, if you can pick up a Q-Tip, pluck a jellybean from the candy dish, or extract an Advil from a pill bottle, you can seat a .17-caliber bullet.

Projectiles for the .17 Fireball

As for actual bullet construction and uses, there are some excellent 20- and 25-grain tipped projectiles available that will bring a smile to your face in a prairie dog town. The 20-grain Hornady V-max and 20-grain Nosler Varmageddon tipped bullet both turn in tremendous results and at over 4000 fps, shoot laser flat out to 300 yards or so. The 25-grain Hornady V-max at 3700 fps shoots as flat as a .22-250 Rem. with a 50-grain tipped bullet and provides similarly dramatic terminal effects. If fur is on the menu, Berger makes a superbly accurate 25-grain Varmint HP and Nosler’s 20-grain Varmageddon HP is an excellent choice for cats, fox, and with good shot placement coyotes.

My current .17 Fireball is a Remington Model 700 SA with a 22-inch Shilen #4 contour Select Match barrel. My previous rifle was a Remington Model Seven with a 22-inch Shilen #4 and they both shoot similarly. Five shot groups of ½ in. are consistently achievable with the right combinations.

.17 Fireball Accuracy

In my experience, small calibers do have a tendency to throw more fliers than slightly larger calibers—and I’ve never been able to figure out exactly why. I chalk some of it up to the tight tolerances required to make something that small shoot as consistently as a larger caliber—small variations in powder charge, case capacity, primer brisance, bullet weight and OAL—they probably have a more significant impact on the overall accuracy than they might in a larger, well-designed cartridge.

That said, ½ in. at 100 yards, or sub-2 in. at 300 to 350 yards is quite adequate for most of the hunting done with a cartridge in this class. In fact, 30 years ago, that would have been considered fantastic accuracy and left at that.

.17 Fireball Terminal Ballistics

How does the .17 Fireball perform in the field? Better than one would think. Lightning-fast kills on animals up to 35 pounds with well-placed shots are the norm. Lots of air time and acrobatics on smaller animals will make you think you’re shooting something much larger. And interestingly, the .17s do not drop or drift as much as you might think—particularly with the current generation of plastic tipped bullets.

A mild report, string straight trajectory and dynamic terminal performance make the .17 Fireball a winner in my book. What’s not to like?

The post Reloading the .17 Remington Fireball appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Following the 350 Legend’s surprising popularity among hunters—especially in those states with cartridge restrictions for hunting—Winchester has announced the brand new 400 Legend; a cartridge that checks every box for the hunter who desires a hard-hitting, mild-recoiling, 300-yard deer rifle.

As we’ve seen in recent years, an increasing number of Midwestern states are embracing straight-wall cartridges for hunting, happily outdating the shoulder sledgehammers known as slug guns. These newly-designated straight-wall and primitive-cartridge states have long restricted the use of bottlenecked high-velocity rounds for big-game hunting, deeming them unsafe due to the potential for those high-velocity projectiles to travel far beyond their intended target. Whether these restrictions are unnecessary or sound reasoning, they are what they are and they have, for decades, reduced deer hunters to carrying shotguns and shooting slugs. These have ever been a close-range, body-pummeling, less-than-accurate solution. But that’s changed with the restricted-state’s evolving cartridge laws.

Recent years have seen refreshing regulation changes that enable hunters to carry straight-wall cartridges into the field. These cartridges provide greater accuracy with less punishment and, in a masterstroke of genius, the capability to be used in MSR style hunting weapons—at least in the case of the 350 and 400 Legend cartridges.

I had the opportunity to hunt with a pre-production rifle shooting pre-production 400 Legend ammunition last fall, and was blessed to harvest the whitetail buck of a lifetime. As anticipated, the cartridge and bullet performance in the field was impressive.

My shot came at the thin edge of dusk. The old bruiser had his head tipped back working a licking branch 113 yards from my position when my bullet struck him. A complete pass-through and a 48-yard dash later he crashed in a tangle of branches and briars. It was the very first animal ever harvested using the 400 Legend, and what a buck it was. Massive of body and antler, it was the perfect first field test for the new cartridge. The 215-grain Power Point bullet entered the broadside buck just behind the left shoulder, passed directly through a rib, continued on through both lungs, and exited the far side of the broadside animal, again right through a rib bone. There was energy and penetration to spare.

400 Legend Specs

• Bullet Diameter: .4005 in.
• Available loads: 215-grain Power Point (300-grain SuperSuppressed to follow this year)
• Muzzle Velocity (215-grain Power Point): 2,250 fps
• Muzzle Energy (215-grain Power Point): 2,416 ft-lbs
• Parent Case: None
• COL: 2.125” – 2.260”
• Case Length: 1.650”
• Case Head: 0.422 (Same as 6.8 SPC)
• Twist: 1/16
• Muzzle Velocity: 2,250 fps
• Free Recoil: 16.26 ft-lbs
• SAAMI Max Pressure: 45,000 psi

Origin of the 400 Legend

The 400 Legend is the bigger but ironically younger brother to the 350 Legend, which was born as a result of engineer’s search for an alternative to the .45/70 Gov’t and the 450 Bushmaster. The Bushmaster was the innovator’s first answer to the need for a bolt-action-friendly cartridge suitable for hunting the newly-announced “straight-wall” states. It was a good answer too, at least on the terminal end. But the problem with the Bushmaster is it kicks like a Missouri mule every time you touch the trigger. Shoulders and shooters alike complained.

So Winchester put their engineers to work and found a solution that met the demands of a recoil-sensitive hunting public, as well as (with a touch of brilliancy) modern shooters sporting AR-15-platform firearms. Not only did the 350 Legend shoot with the perfect manners of a British Dutchess, it also cycles through America’s favorite MSR (Modern Sporting Rifle) with the attitude of a young Marine. It may have come as no surprise to Winchester that the 350 Legend rapidly became one of their top-selling rounds.

But the 350 has one small weakness. It’s, well, small. In the hands of an accurate shooter it kills with surgical precision, and out to 200 yards or so it’s more than any whitetail can handle. However some hunters wanted a round with greater authority. Unfortunately, at the time the only options were the graceful 350 or the brutal 450 Bushmaster. There was no happy medium.

Enter the 400 Legend. Bridging the gap between the 350 Legend and the 450 Bushmaster, the 400 Legend perfectly plugged the empty hole. It provides a perfect solution for the hunter who wants a harder-hitting, milder-recoiling cartridge than was heretofore available, with the bonus attribute that it is compatible with bolt-action and MSR-style rifles alike.

For your perusing pleasure are the following velocity and energy charts that compare five different loads: two 350 Legend, two 450 Bushmaster, and the currently available 400 legend load. These are basic comparison calculations developed by entering the projectile diameter and weight, advertised muzzle velocity, and G1 BC into the Ballistic AE app. Drop values are calculated using a 150-yard zero.

Winchester designed the 400 Legend cartridge brand-new from the ground up, with the exception of the case head itself, which matches that of the 6.8 SPC. The case dimensions enable the cartridge to cycle cleanly through the action of an AR-15 firearm, and thanks to the rim and head proportions it’s compatible with any 6.8 SPC bolt.

You might ask; since this is the same diameter as the .40 S&W does it shoot the same projectiles? The answer is no; Winchester has designed all-new projectiles especially suited to the 400 Legend’s velocity and expected deer hunting distances. Theoretically, any suitably shaped .4005 diameter bullet would be useable for handloading in the new 400 Legend, however for optimal lethal performance on deer sized game you’ll be well advised to use a bullet specifically designed for that purpose.

Introducing the New Straightwall Cartridge

Winchester will officially announce the new 400 Legend at this year’s NRA show and ammunition will begin shipping in July. Rifles chambered in the 400 Legend will be offered in the coming year from Ruger, Savage Arms, Mossberg, CMMG, Winchester Repeating Arms, and more.

The first 400 Legend factory load from Winchester will feature their well-respected Power Point bullet in a 215-grain configuration, starting out the muzzle at a velocity of 2,250 feet per second.  According to factory specs this bullet provides 2,416 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle and enough downrange energy to kill effectively out to around 300 yards. Trajectory will be significant at longer distances, so if you plan on stretching the range out you’ll want to know your drop and learn to compensate accordingly.

A 300-grain “Super Suppressed” subsonic round will follow later in 2023, tailored specifically for shooting with the aid of a suppressor. More offerings will be developed and announced by Winchester in 2024, and undoubtedly other ammo manufacturers will soon jump on the bandwagon as well.

The 400 Legend at the Range

When I hunted with the yet-to-be-announced 400 Legend last fall rifles and ammo were still in prototype stage, and the opportunity for shooting groups was limited. My rifle was a bolt-action Winchester XPR, and I was told that the final twist-rate had yet to be established, so don’t expect stellar accuracy from the rifle. Complicating my sighting in and testing was an incoming storm, complete with vicious, gusting winds up to probably 30 mph.

Read Next: The Best Rifles for the 350 Legend

Despite the prototype rifle and adverse conditions I was able to consistently average less than minute-of-deer groups at one and two hundred yards. Unfortunately I never had a chance to shoot and measure actual test groups with the new 400, and so have no hard data for you. During sight-in, my 200-yard groups were in the neighborhood of four inches (2 moa); plenty good enough to kill a buck, as I later proved. While zeroing a battery of rifles I shot perhaps 40 or 50 rounds in a couple hours time, and found the cartridge comfortable to shoot. It did kick, no doubt, but tolerably.

400 Legend vs. 350 Legend vs. 450 Bushmaster

It’s useful to draw a handful of comparisons in order to establish some reference regarding the new 400 Legend. The below percentages were calculated by Winchester and provide insight into the nature and temperament of the 400. Here are some of the most interesting:

• Energy equivalent to the 450 Bushmaster, with 20 percent less recoil
• Over 20 percent more energy than a .30/30 Win. and up to 25 percent more energy than a 350 Legend, while providing more penetration
• Double the energy of a 12-gauge slug gun at 100 yards
• 55 percent less recoil than a 12-gauge slug
• Similar recoil to a .308 Winchester, roughly halfway between the 350 Legend and the 450 Bushmaster.

Here’s some additional interesting information, also generated by Winchester:

• Maximum effective range on deer-sized game; 300 yards
• Maximum effective range on larger game such as elk and large hogs and bears; 200 yards
• Inexpensive; ammunition for the 400 will be affordable, likely between the 350 Legend and the 450 Bushmaster in price
• 400 Legend versus 350 Legend: The 400 offers almost 30 percent more energy than the 350, providing more authority on larger game like elk and bear as well as an increase in lethal range
• The 400 Legend is an excellent choice for hunters wishing to hunt big game with a Modern Sporting Rifle. The cartridge dimensions fit nicely inside standard receivers, and head dimensions allow for use of a 6.8 SPC bolt. Additionally, the 400 Legend provides 700 foot-pounds more energy at 200 yards than does the .223 Remington
• Compatible with straight-wall and primitive-season regulations, providing a great alternative to shotguns loaded with slugs

Final Thoughts on the 400 Legend

The Winchester ammunition company has a long and respected legacy building American ammunition for hunters across America and around the globe. Their products are reliable and their prices are affordable. They continue to innovate, as evidenced by their very popular recent cartridges the 6.8 Western and 350 Legend, and now the brand-new 400 Legend. No doubt they will continue to do so, their ammo dropping ducks and pheasants and bringing down big old whitetail bucks long into the future. Thanks to a square hole that needed to be filled, the 400 Legend is a thoughtfully designed square peg that fits perfectly into America’s cartridge needs.

The post 400 Legend: Field Testing Winchester’s New Straightwall Cartridge appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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The .30/06 Springfield cartridge is worn out. Outdated. Over the hill. Look, computers have replaced typewriters. Smartphones have replaced land lines. Isn’t it time we phased out the tired, antiquated .30/06 for better, more modern cartridges?

The old .30/06 hatched as a military cartridge in the horse-and-buggy era, 1906. That was two years before the Ford Model T hit the streets! It was 14 years before commercial radio began, and 48 years before Elvis Presley’s first hit record. There’s no way it can compete with the likes of the .308 Winchester, .300 Ruger Compact Magnum, or even the little 6.5 Creedmoor. Or can it? Let’s dive deep into this famous old centerfire rifle cartridge and see just how it holds up against some of today’s hot prospects.

.30/06 Springfield History

The .30/06 was born of military necessity after the Spanish American war of 1898. After our troops, including Teddy Roosevelt and his volunteer Rough Riders, felt the sting of 7x57mm Spanish Mausers in Cuba, the U.S. military set out to develop an equally effective rifle and cartridge. They came up with the Model 1903 Springfield bolt-action and .30-03 cartridge throwing 220-grain round-nose bullets 2,300 fps. That still wasn’t good enough, so three years later they shortened the case length slightly, replaced the stodgy round-nose with a 150-grain spire point at 2,700 fps and voila’. Meet the .30/06.

Both this cartridge and the Springfield bolt-action rifle were so similar to the Mauser that our government had to pay royalties to Mauser in Germany. (The .30/06 is pretty much a 7x57mm case lengthened about 1/4-inch and necked up to hold a .308” bullet).

How good were the new military cartridge and rifle? Well, both helped win WWI and WWII. But hunters didn’t wait for wars to test the set up. Teddy Roosevelt, fresh out of the White House in 1909, took a sporterized Springfield .30/06 on his African safari. Despite his poor shooting, it proved so effective that his friend and author Stewart Edward White followed suit in 1911. Earnest Hemingway shot a .30/06 on his 1933 safari, stopping a big lion and making a one-shot kill on a running rhino at some 300 yards.

READ NEXT: The M1 Garand, the Greatest Generation’s Service Rifle

By the mid-20th century the .30/06 was well established as the ideal, middle-of-the-road, do-it-all “light” cartridge against which others were judged. It fired everything from 100-grain plinkers to 220-grain solids and dispatched everything from carrot-raiding rodents to hut-stomping pachyderms. From equatorial jungles to the Arctic, the .30/06 was king despite competition from its own offspring, the .270 Winchester, plus the magnum-length .300 H&H and .300 Weatherby Magnum. Not until Remington released its 7mm Remington Magnum in 1962 and Winchester unveiled its .300 Winchester Magnum in 1963 did the .30/06’s star begin to dim.

Judging the .30/06 Springfield Today

Modern powders and bullets make the .30/06 more effective today than it’s ever been. Most ammunition will now push a 150-grain bullet 3,000 fps, a 180-grain 2,800 fps. But assessing the .30/06’s value as a hunting cartridge hinges on what you value. Some hunters rank ammunition variety highest, others ammo cost or availability, relative recoil, downrange energy, drop, wind deflection, even the length of the rifle’s action. Let’s consider many of these:

Ammunition Variety

In this category the .30/06 is still king with roughly 100 different combinations of bullets and brands on the market. Virtually every ammo manufacturer loads the .30/06. The lightest bullet offered is Remington’s 55-grain Accelerator Pointed Soft Point rated 4,080 fps. The heaviest is Federal’s 220-grain Sierra Pro-Hunter SP Round Nose. Handloaders can top the old -06 with everything from stumpy 100-grain plinking pills to 225-grain Match bullets and hit velocities as high as 3,500 fps. On the factory side, major manufacturers still offer the .30-06 in their flagship ammo lines.

Top .30-06 Hunting Ammo

• Federal Terminal Ascent
• Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter
• Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond
• Winchester Deer Season XP
• Remington Core-Lokt Tipped

Ammo Availability and Cost

If there is a retail outlet selling centerfire rifle ammunition that does not stock .30/06, chances are you’ll never find it. As for cost, you can find .30/06 fodder as cheap as 50-cents per round. That’s $10 per box of 20. Decent hunting loads generally run from $15 up. Premium fodder like Swift High Grade Ammunition with Scirocco and A-Frame bullets goes for as much as $66 per 20.

Rifle Availability and Variety

Again, virtually every popular rifle maker chambers .30/06. AR-15 and AR-10 platforms are exceptions for obvious reasons. The lever-action M1895 Winchester was the first commercial rifle ever chambered for .30/06. It’s been followed by break-action single shots, falling block single shots, pumps, auto-loaders, turn-bolt bolt actions, straight-pull bolt actions, over/unders, side-by-side double barrels, Hoenig’s rotary action, and various hand cannons. Nearly every new rifle model released—from $300 bargains to $20,000 semi-customs—is offered in .30/06.

Rifle Size and Weight

The original Springfield military rifle in .30/06 weighed 8.6 pounds unloaded. Recoil energy of 17.81 foot-pounds at a recoil velocity of 11.54 fps was deemed manageable by the typical soldier for extended action and daily use. Modern rifles in .30/06 can be had as light as 5 pounds with 7- to 8-pound models being most common. Recoil of a 150-grain bullet from a 7-pound .30/06 would be about 25 f-p at 15 fps.

Trajectory and Ballistics

With its original 150-grain spire point bullet at 2,700 fps, the Springfield .30/06 was certified for an extreme reach of 4.75 miles, an effective firing range of 1,000 yards. A flip up rear leaf sight was graduated for ranges out to 2,850 yards. Point-blank range for a standing, man-sized target was 500 yards. Whether the military rifles were accurate enough to take advantage of this is moot. Im sure a few were, most were not. But that doesn’t mean today’s sporting rifles aren’t…

Accuracy

The .30/06 has been used to win many short, medium, and long-range target shooting competitions. Modern hunting rifles regularly print Minute of Angle with select ammunition, and carefully tuned rifles often achieve true 1/2 MOA performance, sometimes even 1/4 minute precision. Rifle/cartridge accuracy depends more on a concentric and balanced rifle and bullet than the shape of the cartridge.

External Ballistics

For most serious shooters and hunters, external ballistics is the real measure of a cartridge’s value. The flight of the bullet is the whole reason for the rifle, scope, primer, brass, and powder. The faster a bullet leaves the muzzle and the higher its Ballistic Coefficient, the flatter it shoots, the less it deflects in the wind, and the more energy it retains at all ranges. Given the same MV and B.C., all bullets scribe the same trajectory, but the heavier ones retain more energy. Putting that bullet in the correct place is the final piece of the puzzle (see Accuracy above).

Think about all this for a minute. Muzzle velocity, B.C., and mass are the three legs on which every bullet runs. Shorten one and you shorten performance. Lengthen one, and you increase performance. This is how some seemingly smaller calibers and lighter bullets can outperform large, heavier ones. Every cartridge/bullet combination is a compromise. Increased velocity and mass increase powder consumption, recoil, and expense. In any given caliber, increased velocity decreases barrel life. With that in mind, let’s compare the old .30/06 to some other mid-sized, general-purpose hunting cartridges commonly used for big game hunting (pronghorn, deer, black bear, elk, and African plains game).

To make these comparisons consistent, we’ll zero each cartridge for its maximum point blank range (MPBR) on an 8-inch target. That means we zero bullet impact as high as needed (usually about 3 inches) at 100 yards to ensure bullets strike no higher than 4 inches above the aiming point at peak trajectory (usually around 150 yards). The distance at which they drop 4 inches below point of aim is that cartridge’s maximum point blank range. In addition, we will select appropriate bullet weights for deer hunting and attempt to keep bullet B.C. ratings as high as reasonably possible for each. Be aware that lighter, heavier, or better B.C. bullets in any cartridge will change ballistic performance. Increasing bullet weight to increase kinetic energy (downrange punch) always requires a sacrifice of MV. With a consistent form factor (boat tail spire point, for instance) additional weight reduces muzzle velocity, increases B.C., decreases wind deflection, and increases drop.

We’ll “shoot” each of the cartridges below in 8-pound rifles in identical atmospheric conditions for consistency.

Trajectories

Here are the trajectories and downrange energies for some of the above bullets. Not every rifle will hit these exact MVs, and changing to higher B.C. bullets will significantly alter downrange performance, but the bullets/loads here represent some of the more commonly sold and shot in factory hunting ammunition. Notice how higher B.C. bullets contribute to better downrange ballistics by minimizing drag and conserving energy.

The most revealing takeaway from these numbers is how similar all cartridges perform at 300 yards. There isn’t 3 inches of drop difference between the best and worst and only 2 inches of wind deflection difference. Energy levels are more than adequate even for addressing big bull elk.

Read Next: Why New Rifle Cartridges Are Superior to the Classics

How Popular Alternatives to .30/06 Springfield Stack Up

.308 Winchester

This civilian version of the military cartridge (7.62 NATO) has become the go-to “police/sniper” round, the first cataloged in any new target, precision, police/military, or long-range rifle. Heck, it’s even offered in most predator/varmint rigs. Yet it’s nothing but a “.30/06 short.” Same rim, same head, same body diameters, just 1/2 inch shorter. That means the rifle can be a half-inch shorter, maybe 4 ounces lighter, and 0.001 second faster (just a guess) to cycle. Many claim the 308 Win. is also more efficient than the .30/06. If, by that, they mean it uses less powder, they are correct. But that comes at the loss of 100 to 200 fps MV with most bullets. Game won’t notice the difference, but you might when your bullet lands just short due to more drop and drift. The .308 Win. is a fine little cartridge more than adequate for taking most big game, but with 10 grains less powder in its engine room, there’s no way the .308 Win. can outperform the .30/06.

READ NEXT: Best .308 Rifles

One legitimate win for the .308 is barrel life. The U.S. military long ago determined the average .30/06 Springfield barrel lost acceptable accuracy after about 5,000 rounds while 7.62 NATO barrels hang in there for about 8,000 rounds. If you’re shooting hundreds of rounds a month for practice or competition, the .308 is your better choice. In a pure hunting rifle, I can’t imagine anyone burning out a .30/06 in a lifetime. Personally, I don’t choose hunting rifles for longest barrel life. I choose them for performance. Barrels are like truck tires. When worn out, you replace them.

.270 Winchester

Squeeze the neck of a .30/06 to grip a .277” bullet and you have a 270 Winchester. Now you have the same engine (powder) pushing a narrower bullet which, in a given weight and form, is a higher B.C. bullet. It better resists drag so it drops and drifts less than the fatter, .308” bullet. Thus did the .270 Win. gain its reputation for shooting “flat,” especially with 130-grain projectiles. But bullets heavier than 150 grains are hard to find in the 270. Given similar materials and construction, heavier bullets carry more energy, hit harder, and penetrate farther than lighter ones, so the .30/06, with its 165- to 220-grain options, remains the better all-round cartridge for big stuff like elk, moose, kudu, and eland.

7mm-08

Both of these excellent cartridges throw .284” diameter bullets. Like the 270 Win., they have higher B.C. benefits with same weight/form bullets than .308. The 7mm-08 is just the 308 Win. necked down. The .280 is essentially the .30/06 necked down. With 150- to 175-grain bullets, the 280 Rem. wins the ballistic race. But for shear horsepower delivered on game, it can’t match the .30/06 loaded with 190- to 220-grain bullets. The 7mm-08, considered the ultimate whitetail cartridge by many, is limited by the same reduced powder supply as the 308 Win. With 140- to 150-grain bullets, it hangs right with the .30/06, but go any heavier and the .30/06 pulls away.

300 Win. Mag.

The winner! Of course. Any 300 magnum — and the list is long — outshoots the .30/06 because it burns more powder to push the same bullets. In the case of the .300 Win. Mag., about 20 grains more powder. The .300 RUM and .30-378 Wby. Mag. consume 30- and 40-grains more than the .30/06, respectively. The downsides to all magnums include decreased barrel life, increased recoil, more expensive ammunition, and typically longer, bulkier, heavier rifles. Before divorcing your .30/06 to marry a 300 super magnum, ask yourself if you really need the extra weight, expense, and recoil. If you’re not regularly shooting game beyond 400 yards, you probably don’t. The decrepit old .30/06 dances within a couple of inches of the 300 Win. Mag. at reasonable hunting ranges and does it with 10 f-p less kick to your chops.

6.5 Creedmoor

At first glance you’d think the little 6.5 Creedmoor pushing a 143-grain bullet at just 2,700 fps doesn’t belong in this comparison, but many hunters are using it to take many of the same species commonly hunted with a .30/06. As the trajectory tables show, this mild-shooting round hangs with the more powerful rounds and even begins catching many at longer ranges, thanks to its high B.C. bullet. When it comes to bullet performance, air drag is a drag.

READ NEXT: Best 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo

But the upper limit of bullet weight in .264 means the 30-06 is more versatile. Look at it this way: would you rather face a charging brown bear with a 143 grain bullet up the spout or a 220-grain?

Final Thoughts on the .30/06 Springfield

After more than a century of flattening the world’s biggest, meanest, and tastiest game animals, the .30/06 Springfield remains an incredibly well balanced, versatile, affordable hunting cartridge. With modern ammo it shoots 100- to 200 fps faster than it used to. If it was good enough to stop lions, rhinos, buffalo, and elephants 100 years ago, it’s probably good enough to stop deer, elk, and moose today.

The post .30-06 Springfield Cartridge Review: Why This Classic Is Still Effective Today appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Hornady has created quite the one-two punch in the realm of match bullets with the A-TIP and ELD-M. But one question that comes up frequently is what is the difference between the two? Both are accurate. Both are offered in multiple calibers. They both generally fall under the umbrella of heavy-for-caliber bullets with high BCs that is the hallmark of projectiles used in Modern Cartridge Design.

So, clearly there’s overlap with the A-TIP and ELD-M. How do they differ? Visually they sport different colored tips, and the A-TIP is quite a bit more expensive than the ELD-M. People tend to pick up on those points pretty quickly. But there are some other areas of differentiation that are worth factoring in when considering which to pick.

Long-Range Consistency

I’ve been shooting both these bullets in a variety of cartridges for many years now and have developed a good feel for how they perform. Both are capable on long-range targets, but the A-TIP, by virtue of how it is manufactured, is more consistent and therefore will deliver better precision.

As my friend Sean Murphy, who is an accomplished long-range rifle competitor, puts it, the decision to go with the A-TIP or ELD-M comes down to the level of precision needed based on the distance to the target and the size of the target. Within certain parameters the ELD-M will deliver everything you need, but for more challenging targets and conditions the A-TIP can give you the edge. For example, ELR matches where the average target distance is beyond 1,000 yards is where A-TIPs will give you an advantage.

Bullet Manufacturing Process

The secret sauce for the A-TIPs is in how they are constructed. The A-TIPs benefit from extra processes that enhance bullet-to-bullet consistency. Three things in particular stand out.

Sequential Packaging

First, the bullets are packaged sequentially. The 100 bullets in a box of A-TIPs, which consists of two flats of 50 each, came off the line one after the other—one through 100.

So any variation that might occur—and with machined and pressed metal parts you will inevitably find variation as time goes on—is minimized. For argument’s sake, picture a bin of 10,000 match bullets that then gets divvied into boxes of 100. In that box you might find the first bullet of the run mixed in with bullets numbered 9,000 or higher and a bunch in between.

As hard as a manufacturer tries to hold tolerances, there’s going to be more slop in those randomly boxed bullets than you’ll find in a box of bullets that are packaged with their companions that came off the press right before and after them.

Aluminum Tip

The two most common types of tips on match bullets are polymer tips and OTMs (open-tipped match). Both present challenges from the standpoint of consistency.

Plastic tips are difficult to manufacture with extreme precision. It’s the nature of the material. When attempting to hold tolerances tighter than a thousandth of an inch, plastic is not the ideal way to go. But well-made plastic tips are pretty good and have the virtue of being fairly inexpensive.

OTM bullets have solid bases (either flat or boat-tailed on match bullets) and tips that are drawn to a small point. If you look closely at a box of OTM bullets you’ll see the tip shapes are not the same from one bullet to the next. Small variations in the size of the opening at the tip and the evenness of tip are evident—and both are detrimental to our quest for perfect consistency. This is why some reloaders run OTM bullets through a cutter or a die to even out their tips. It is time consuming but can improve consistency.  

The aluminum tips (which give the A-TIP its name) that Hornady uses are more expensive than polymer tips but hold tighter tolerances. They also have another virtue I’ll touch on in a bit.

No Tumbling

The third feature worth noting in how A-TIPs are made (versus ELD-Ms) is that they are not tumbled to remove the lubrication that’s employed during the manufacturing process. Bullets such as the ELD-M, that are also used in factory ammo must have that lubrication removed via tumbling before they are loaded.

And tumbling in this manner has the potential to ding and otherwise reduce the consistency of the bullet.

Since A-TIPs are only available as a reloading component (with the exception of a few boutique ammo makers that will load them for you for a hefty price) they don’t go through this industrial tumbling and cleaning process.

This is why A-TIPs ship with a soft cloth bag that can be used to gently remove the lubrication by hand.

Why Consistency Matters

Long-range shooters love bullets with high BC values. The higher the BC, the better a projectile retains velocity down range and the better it resists the wind. But the published BC value on a bullet is like the published muzzle velocity on a box of ammo or the average velocity you record with your reloads. Just as each shot you take doesn’t launch the bullet at the same speed, not all bullets have the same exact BC.

The inconsistencies mentioned above—varying tip shapes, slop induced over time by the machinery that makes the bullet, flaws created by how the bullets are handled (tumbling)—will create some variation in the BC value.

And when you get to targets at longer ranges—800 yards is a typical threshold—or targets being shot under practical field conditions that are especially small—say 1.5 MOA or smaller—variations in BC (like variations in muzzle velocity) can turn hits into misses.

A-TIPs on Steel

Another virtue of the A-TIP is the distinctive way it impacts steel targets. During one of the first matches I shot with the 110-grain 6mm A-TIPs the RO asked me after the stage what cartridge I was shooting.

When I told him it was a 6mm Creedmoor, he was shocked. Based on the impressive impacts he witnessed he figured it must have been something much larger.

When the aluminum tips hit steel they flash, giving powerful visual feedback. Over the course of a two-day match, that is nearly certain to earn you extra points.

No match is possible without a cadre of ROs who volunteer their time to run stages and tally hits and misses. All who participate in these matches owe these ROs a debt of gratitude.

That said, ROs are only human and aren’t necessarily experienced long-range shooters. Depending on the weather and light conditions, the RO’s experience, the quality of their optics, and the distance to the steel, it can be devilishly tough to call hits and misses with 100 percent accuracy.

The fact that the A-TIP hits the way it does makes the RO’s job that much easier and removes a lot of the uncertainty.

The distinctive silver impact rings the A-TIPs leave also make it easier to measure groups at long distances, which is important when assessing a load’s BC and accuracy.

What ELD-Ms Do Well

So far, this sounds like an A-TIP love fest, but the ELD-M is no slouch either. For many long-range shooting tasks it is an appealing choice.

The variations in BC discussed above have an effect on a cartridge’s “waterline.” A cartridge with a good waterline is one where the horizontal component of the trajectory (i.e. the elevation) exhibits spot-on consistency.

However, you won’t see significant swings in your waterline because of BC until you get out beyond 800 yards or so.

Take, for example, a 6.5mm (.264 in.) 147-grain ELD-M. The published G7 BC value is .351. If we launch that bullet at 2700 fps—typical 6.5 Creedmoor velocity—at 500 yards it has dropped 50.8 inches. If we change the BC to .326, which is the BC of the 140-grain ELD-M, the bullet instead drops 51.8 inches. A whole inch difference at 500 yards. That ain’t much.

At 1,400 yards, a typical ELR target, that same drop in BC would cause the bullet to hit more than 45 inches low. Now unless you have a bum batch of bullets you’re not going to experience anything this extreme, but it does show you how sensitive the waterline is to changes in BC at longer distances—and how insensitive it is at closer ranges.

Cost

It isn’t unusual for a shooter to put 300 shots downrange between the prep, practice, and participation in a long-range shooting match. Given that you might shoot half a dozen (or more) matches over the course of a season the cost of the bullets becomes an issue.

Here, ELD-Ms have a decisive advantage over the A-TIP. With the 6mm bullets I use most often (108 ELD-M and 110 A-TIP) the cost for 100 bullets is about $45 for the ELD-Ms versus $88 for the A-TIPs.

So if I don’t feel I need the extra precision that A-TIPs bring to the party, I’m more than happy shooting the ELD-Ms.

Availability

The other big advantage to the ELD-M is that they are available in factory-loaded ammo, which the A-TIPs aren’t, and they come in a wider variety of calibers and weights too.

When I shoot one-day matches or am too busy to reload a few hundred rounds of precision ammo, knowing I can turn to factory loads that deliver good accuracy is a blessing.

Current ELD-M Lineup

Here are the calibers and bullet weights Hornady’s currently offers in the ELD-M series. You’ll notice a much more generous range of bullet weights and calibers compared to the A-TIP. So if you have a rifle with a slower twist rate that prefers lighter bullets, chances are good there’s an ELD-M that will work, whereas you might not find an A-TIP that performs as well.

Current A-TIP Lineup

When Hornady launched the A-TIP in 2019 they offered just five bullets: a 110-grain 6mm, a 135-grain 6.5mm, a 153-grain 6.5mm, a 230-grain .308, and a 250-grain .308. Since then they’ve added another seven bullets to the family.

Final Thoughts on the A-TIP and ELD-M

I have a lot of confidence in both these projectiles—as do numerous other shooters who have used them to land in the winner’s circle in national matches or to just print brag-worthy groups they can tell their buddies about.

Read Next: The 6mm GT Is A New Top Precision Rifle Cartridge

For NRL Hunter matches, where the targets max out at 800 yards and are typically larger than 2 MOA, the ELD-M is a good choice. Especially since you can buy a case of factory loads (now that we can find them again) and just go shoot.

For my ELR work or those matches that have tricky targets—like KYL racks—I will default to the A-TIP for the extra consistency it delivers.

But the good news is that when it comes to the Hornady ELD-M versus the A-TIP there is no wrong answer.

The post Hornady A-TIP vs. ELD-M Bullets appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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