Sealhunter, Factory loaded ammo is very batch dependant as to accuracy. For the person that doesn't handload, this can be an expensive nightmare. Depending on how fussy you are about accuracy, hunting requirements are not nearly as stringent.
Some people say that expensive "premium" cartridges are the best. Its been my experience that "premium" rounds are loaded with expensive, special core/jacket controlled expansion for weight retention bullets and don't usually deliver stellar accuracy, although it is more than acceptable for most hunting requirements.
Unless you are buying milsurp match ammo it's pretty tough to find match ammo at a reasonable price.
I find that Federal red box and Remington ammo is as good as any commerdial stuff out there.
Some of the Igman or Privi Partisan stuff can be pretty good as well.
It's a crap shoot, whichever brand you shoot will have variations from lot to lot, such as bullet make and lot, different powders, make and lot etc.
Because I became a bit of an accuracy fanatic years ago, I switched to hand loading for 100% of my hunting needs. Even this can have problems with components changeing slightly from lot to lot. I will admit however that both factory loaded ammo and components are getting better every day, much better than they were even 5 years ago. A lot of this has to do with the advent of the Wenke (spelling) gauge that bullet producers use to check bullet jacket thicknesses for consistancy. That's just the beginning of things. bearhunter
