School me on ammo please.

L

llcwalsh

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I'm ready to rock and have been training a bit with Winchester white box and Remington value pack stuff. My Colt is grouping well and the Leupold optic is doing its job.

I could use some pointers on ammo though. I do intend to invest in reloading equipment soon enough but I need some reliable ammo for the clinic coming up in April. Any suggestions on factory ammo would be most appreciated. Keeping in mind I'll reuse the brass and learn the reloading game over the summer.

Thanks guys. You were most helpful in optic recommendations.
 
It really depends on what your rifle likes. One of my rifles loves federal blue box, while one of my .223s likes winchester whitebox and the ae federal. Try a few types to see what your gun likes best.
 
That stuff is fine for close range stages, but it's not going to be very good for the longer range stages. Try Hornady Steel Match with the 75gr. BTHP.
 
If you're going to get in to reloading soon anyways, might be worth spending a bit extra on brass cased, boxer primed ammo you can keep after a days shooting. If your gun "likes it", it's already fire-formed and you can replicate the load down the road. Just a thought.
 
llcwalsh said:
My Leupold has turrets set up for 62 grain. As usual Bolivar is smart and leads the conversation the way it should have gone in the first place.
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I wasn't really thinking of your scope, just economy. Komb's suggestion of 75 steel match is not a bad one. My limited experience with it show it works well but you are new and ammo isn't holding you back yet.

Plus the CF CofF we use only has 20 shots over 300 yds so a full load out of 75 gn is a bit of a waste in some respects.

ORA matches are generally won by soldiers firing issued ammo from C7s. 62 will get it done.
 
Rifles and ammo are like people and menus, not everyone likes to be fed the same thing. I realize its not the simple answer you're looking for but its the reality of shooting.


Commercial ammo makers try to manufacture a honey load that "fits best" for the average rifle. If you have a rifle barrel that is longer , shorter, heavier, or different twist ratio than the average rifle, you may not get the best results. However, if you have a buddy with a similar rifle/caliber, yours may shoot as well as his.




Back to the point of reloading: Hand loading will allow you to customize THE LOAD for your gun. You don't have to invest a huge pile of money into it, in fact its best to find your buddy who does reload, and let him work you through the hoops with nothing more than your own set of dies and loading supplies such as powder, tips, and primers. Once you've done it a few times, you then know what is needed.

Other loading toys such as powder tricklers, tumblers, trimmers, ect can be picked up one at a time as your wallet allows or with no other large cash outputs.

I have several buddies who frequently come over with materials and beer. I have all the scales, presses, and other needed devices on a big work bench. Its not they are cheap, but more they don't have the room to do it, or often enough.
 
Here are my two cents purchase a good press look at the Forester co-ax you will be glad you did - buy a good calliper and Hornady bullet measuring thingy (allows you to measure from the ojive) now measure the length of the rounds your particular gun likes - write these numbers down - when you start reloading you know what depth you would have to seat your bullets. FWIW I seat my 223 so that the COAL is around 2.290 from the ojive it's about 1.967ish.
 
Reloading is something I'm definitely interested in just not sure I have the time or intelligence to come up with the 1000 rounds I'll need by the first week of April. Hence the request for info on commercial stuff. I'm a ridiculous person in many respects and will probably have a Dillon by summer. That said I still need some brass so buying commercial stuff fills that void too.
 
If you can find Federal in Lake City cases the brass is the best option cost vs quality followed by Winchester.

I like Sierras AR15 accuracy load, 69SMK over 25.3gr Varget (your mileage may vary so be sure to work up your loads).

I also know that to many people wrongly worry, fret and worry about not having a sub MOA rifle and ammo combo, when they are having misses on a larger than 9 MOA target at 100 and 200m. Master the 100m mound then push back to 200m, then back to 300m then after you shake out the matches start looking at match bullets/ammo and chase max points from 400 and 500m.
 
I wouldn't mess around with steel cased ammo if your end goal is to handload.
I would recommend shooting Winchester white box and saving the brass- at least to start. Lake City is good, but the added effort of dealing with crimped primers makes it a bit of a pain in the a$s.
If you end up with a Dillon, Ramshot TAC is an exceptional powder (I now save all of my Varget for my .308s) and does very well with 69 & 77 SMKs.
If you use match grade dies on a Dillon, you can make ammunition rivalling any factory offerings including Federal Gold Medal.

I understand the comments regarding match fitness, marksmanship principles and mindset - and agree with them.
However, quality ammunition will be the single most important leg up you can give yourself - everything else being equal.
 
If he's shooting the ORA matches, he can get plenty of brass at any match since most don't pic up their brass. I've got five 20L buckets of mixed brass sitting in my reloading room waiting to be sorted and two 20L buckets worth of brass on the shelf that been prepped and/or fired. Go to one match and you'll leave with a sandbag full.

The Steel Match stuff costs around the same as the 62 gr. ball ammo, so he really gains nothing using the PMC 62 gr. ammo.
 
kombayotch said:
If he's shooting the ORA matches, he can get plenty of brass at any match since most don't pic up their brass. I've got five 20L buckets of mixed brass sitting in my reloading room waiting to be sorted and two 20L buckets worth of brass on the shelf that been prepped and/or fired. Go to one match and you'll leave with a sandbag full.

The Steel Match stuff costs around the same as the 62 gr. ball ammo, so he really gains nothing using the PMC 62 gr. ammo.
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Good to know on the cost. Was not aware. Steel match is not a bad idea then.
Agree on getting brass at the match....but I don't want to be picking up your steel cased crap Walsh so shoot brassed case. LOL
 
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