What do you consider the best factory .303 British 180 GR. hunting round?

DANCESWITHEMPTIES

DANCESWITHEMPTIES

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All things being equal with a rifle with a 22 inch / 1 in 10 inch twist barrel. What do you think is the best factory hunting round in .303 British; in a 180 grain bullet, or larger for Moose hunting next fall? I will not have time to develop a reload, so I'll suck it up and buy commercial stuff to practice with the rest of this summer & hunt with this fall.
 
Winchester, grey box. I bought several boxes of this stuff for the brass a few years ago and in a decent rifle, with good bedding and good bore, they shoot as well as any hand loads.
 
There is no best ammo for any rifle. You'll have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best. Mind you, it doesn't have to drive tacks or be a 180(suspect they'll be easier to find in a hunting bullet). Three inch groups at 100 will do nicely for Bullwinkle.
Federal, Winchester and Remington, at least, load a 180.
 
Federal blue box 180's shoot 1 1/2 - 1 3/4" groups out of my #4 Mk1* with 2-groove rifling. I have only taken deer with it so far, but i suspect it will do the job on moose just fine. I would try to stay away from large bones with non-premium bullets though.
 
I realize that sunray, just looking for opinions on factory cartridges. A starting point, you could say... Accuracy is important (2 m.o.a. or so), but also expansion, penetration and overall experience that others have had with those cartridges. Your right, they may not shoot worth a damm out of the intended rifle, but some maybe loaded with more consistency or with a more quality bullet. Some manufacture's brass maybe better for eventual reloading.... That's the opinions I'm hunting for.
 
I find Winchester 180's very consistent, but I like Hornady as well (174 gr.), and the brass seems top shelf for the reloaders. Federal 180 is OK, but just doesn't seem to equal the other two. I actually find Federal 150 very accurate at the range though, although I have not hunted any 150's.
 
I had a P14 that hated that grey Box Winchester stuff, but most 303's are fine with it. As far as expansion goes, I think you would be hard pressed to fine a better bullet than that 180 grain Cor-Lokt RN load from Remington. If it will shoot in your rifle, take it hunting and get ready for the real work! Regards, Eagleye.
 
NW Redneck said:
Federal blue box 180's shoot 1 1/2 - 1 3/4" groups out of my #4 Mk1* with 2-groove rifling. I have only taken deer with it so far, but i suspect it will do the job on moose just fine. I would try to stay away from large bones with non-premium bullets though.
Click to expand...

The current version (last few years) with 180gr Speer Hot-Cor's are close enough to premium for a lot of work. The older ones were Sierra Game Kings. My factory-sporterized #1 gets similar accuracy with both version these, maybe a bit better since re-bedding.

Regards,
Joel
 
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