Federal or hornady

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steve-o1979

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I know neither of the two are what you’d call great by any means, just run of the mill hunting ammo, but between hornady custom international and federal power shok, which is best ?
 
Compared to the two, it's Hornady Custom all the way. Powershok is OK, but the non typical is the exact same according to a federal rep. It was launched to complete with the cheaper Hornady American Whitetail.
 
steve-o1979 said:
I know neither of the two are what you’d call great by any means, just run of the mill hunting ammo, but between hornady custom international and federal power shok, which is best ?
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Only you can decide what is best for you.
I have used Federal Blue Box (back in the day of bonus rounds)and it shot very well in my 30-30, 243, etc.
Your choice and others as well.
Buy what you can find on the shelf for your needs.
Just my .05 worth of Carny inflation opinion.
Tight Groups,
Rob
 
Which is best is purely subjective here; which performs best in your rifle?

And then it would also depend on what animal you are hunting with said rifle/ammo combo? And what is your chosen cartridge?

For deer, almost any cup and core bullet is going to perform pretty well; but as always, bullet placement is key.
For bear, most cup and core bullets will perform just fine on normal bears, where one may want a stouter bullet if you are keying on a large, mature boar.
Canadian and Shiras moose have succumbed to cup and core bullets for decades, but a larger Alaska/Yukon would warrant a partition or bonded/mono metal bullet for better penetration on heavier hide, muscle and bone.
While I have successfully used cup and core bullets on a number of elk, I do prefer a partition or a bonded bullet on rutting bulls.
 
Yup, they'll both do a good job on any animal you hit with them, as long as your shots are placed well.

They only way you will find out which is best for your rifle is to buy a box of each and shoot them.

Shoot them only from an "ambient temperature" barrel to set your scope turrets. If you let your rifle get hot, say more than 3 shots, points of impact are likely to change.
 
Federal Power Shok & Fusion factory ammo any day of the week ... that's all I shoot ... excels in all relevant criteria ... power, weight retention, consistency, accuracy, expansion, price ... when I started handloading 50 yrs ago factory ammo was "so so" with very narrow selection on store shelves ... now it's not worth it for me to handload so I don't ... the deer, bear moose can't tell the difference & drop dead like they always did for 5 decades
 
I haven’t shot hornady custom international much, but my rifle liked it.
I’m zeroed @100 with hornady whitetail.
Federal blue box is standard deer ammo and should shoot well.
Everyone’s rifle likes different food.
 
The Hornady International uses a mono-metal bullet - ECX - with a flat polymer tip. They are generally designed for short to moderate ranges and the bullets used in the various cartridges generally have a significantly lower ballistic coefficient than most other "typical" mono-metal and jacketed bullets. It is interesting to note that the Hornady International cartridges, and the component ECX bullets - are not sold in the USA.

Depending on what you are hunting generally the Hornady will out-perform the Plain-Jane Federal non-bonded cup & core bullets as long as you stick to moderate range shots - say under 200 meters.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I’m in Nova Scotia, so just average size deer and bear, for the most part… and the longest distance I could shoot would be 300-350 yards tops, and I doubt I’d even shoot much further than 200 yards. The rifle in question is a 6.5 creedmoor, which I’ve never hunted with before, and I’m not really sold on it…but I got a super buy on the rifle, so I couldn’t turn it down lol. It’s sighted in with federal power shok, which I shoot in a lot of my rifles, and they have always performed well. I sighted in the 6.5 a few days ago, and shot two groups just a hair over a half inch. I’m having a hard time finding more power shok in 6.5, and I like to have lots of ammo around, so I grabbed a couple boxes of the hornady custom international just to have, and was wondering how they compare to the federal.
 
The 6.5 Creedmoor is loaded with Hornady Cup & Core 140 grain bullet.

I was confused between the "International" and the "Custom International" offerings. Neither are sold in the USA and the "Custom International" uses standard jacketed bullets at moderate velocity. Apparently many Europeans don't want high-velocity loadings as they can damage too much meat.
 
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Personally i've had about the same end results on deer from either the blue box powershok and the hornady interlock (either american whitetail or custom international) both expand well and result in a dead deer if you put it in the right spot.

The difference maker for me is that the hornady seems to be more consistently accurate in just about every rifle i shoot it out of. If i am getting a 3" group with the federal i get a 2" group with the hornady. And it is consistent with multiple rifles.

It's not enough of a difference that i am going to toss any blue box i have but if i were buying new ammo now it would be hornady of the two.
 
dand883 said:
Personally i've had about the same end results on deer from either the blue box powershok and the hornady interlock (either american whitetail or custom international) both expand well and result in a dead deer if you put it in the right spot.

The difference maker for me is that the hornady seems to be more consistently accurate in just about every rifle i shoot it out of. If i am getting a 3" group with the federal i get a 2" group with the hornady. And it is consistent with multiple rifles.

It's not enough of a difference that i am going to toss any blue box i have but if i were buying new ammo now it would be hornady of the two.
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Most of my rifles shoot federal blue box really well. I have a 30-06 and a 270 that shoot hornady American whitetails far better
 
steve-o1979 said:
I know neither of the two are what you’d call great by any means, just run of the mill hunting ammo, but between hornady custom international and federal power shok, which is best ?
Click to expand...
You should be comparing that Hornady ammo with Federal premium. They both make excellent ammunition.
 
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hornady custom international can be very accurate if your gun likes it.

Federal fusion tipped has been on sale at places like Tenda for the same price as power shok (Keep an eye out).

Federal has a rebate promotion right now on both fusion and power shok
 
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