hirtenberger 7.62x51 Remington 700
- Thread starter jrcarbine
- Start date
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I have some of that ammo as well - I noticed it does not have the NATO "+ in a circle" on the headstamp, so not being claimed to be NATO-spec. Is not being claimed to be Match quality, either. In our Model 70 Winchester 308 Win, it delivers much poorer groups at 100 yards than our 165 HotCor hunting loads - about 50 rounds fired off, from sandbags, over several sessions, to establish that. But your experience, with your rifle, might pan out differently - should not be a surprise? I bought it as a "less expensive", "less work" option to loading up plinking rounds. I think it would be fine for use in this rifle where guilded edge accuracy is not required. I have seen nothing to cause me concern about any "safety" issue, at all.
I have bought one and mostly finished building another in the style of late 1960's heavy barrel PALMA rifles. Both are 7.62 NATO chambers. With Parker Hale and AJP aperture sights on front and rear - that I have to learn how to use. I suspect that once I can get into that 12" or so group at 300 yards with that Hirtenberger, I probably should look at making some "better" ammo, but for my purposes, just now, I think it will do just fine... And, I am a ways from my objective - 65 year old eyes do not help!!!
I have bought one and mostly finished building another in the style of late 1960's heavy barrel PALMA rifles. Both are 7.62 NATO chambers. With Parker Hale and AJP aperture sights on front and rear - that I have to learn how to use. I suspect that once I can get into that 12" or so group at 300 yards with that Hirtenberger, I probably should look at making some "better" ammo, but for my purposes, just now, I think it will do just fine... And, I am a ways from my objective - 65 year old eyes do not help!!!
Last edited:
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I've gotten around 1 - 1.25" groups with my Savage 12 FV with it. But that was just the first time with that rifle. So it could improve once I practice more.
I've tried a couple of different dates of the Hirtenberger.
The first crate lot was Berdan primed and shot quite well out of a Mauser 98, with an adjustable trigger and a heavy European made 28 inch barrel with a 1-12 twist rate.
The velocity averaged 2835 fps, with very little deviation +- 30+ fps. The long barrel was likely the reason for the high velocity. Date of manufacture 1993.
Groups were just over one moa.
This rifle was built with Nato spec ammo in mind.
It's a Danish Kongsberg Match Rifle. Dense Beech stock and the rear receiver bridge has been milled, drilled and tapped to accept a lovely diopter sight. All other markings, other than the serial number on the left side have been scrubbed and all of the metal has been parkerized.
The late Don Robinson used to replicate those stocks.
The rifle will shoot better than most shooters are capable of and it isn't ammunition fussy.
The second, later, batch was Boxer primed. It didn't shoot nearly as well as the first. 3 moa was pretty much standard for the first 60 rounds.
About that time, Ganderite let out some information that he likely felt everyone, even experienced shooters, know about.
Bullet jacket and case necks welding together.
I took all of the rest of the ammo out of their plastic bags/cartons and ran the cartridges through my single stage Rock Chucker press, breaking the welds by seating the bullets appx .005 in deeper.
This helped to reduce the groups to just under 2 moa consistently, which isn't bad for any milsurp ammo.
The first crate lot was Berdan primed and shot quite well out of a Mauser 98, with an adjustable trigger and a heavy European made 28 inch barrel with a 1-12 twist rate.
The velocity averaged 2835 fps, with very little deviation +- 30+ fps. The long barrel was likely the reason for the high velocity. Date of manufacture 1993.
Groups were just over one moa.
This rifle was built with Nato spec ammo in mind.
It's a Danish Kongsberg Match Rifle. Dense Beech stock and the rear receiver bridge has been milled, drilled and tapped to accept a lovely diopter sight. All other markings, other than the serial number on the left side have been scrubbed and all of the metal has been parkerized.
The late Don Robinson used to replicate those stocks.
The rifle will shoot better than most shooters are capable of and it isn't ammunition fussy.
The second, later, batch was Boxer primed. It didn't shoot nearly as well as the first. 3 moa was pretty much standard for the first 60 rounds.
About that time, Ganderite let out some information that he likely felt everyone, even experienced shooters, know about.
Bullet jacket and case necks welding together.
I took all of the rest of the ammo out of their plastic bags/cartons and ran the cartridges through my single stage Rock Chucker press, breaking the welds by seating the bullets appx .005 in deeper.
This helped to reduce the groups to just under 2 moa consistently, which isn't bad for any milsurp ammo.
I don't have a 700 in .308, so I can't speak to that. However, I am a high-volume 7.62 NATO user. Hirtenberger is the only ammunition I have found to be consistently inconsistent. Few fliers, but just everywhere on the map. I am not aware of any safety concerns. As stated above, your 700 is likely to outperform this ammo.
The couple crates I got were for use in the M14, they are reliable, I got the boxer primed so I could reload it, runout is an issue with the ammo so the accuracy suffers.
Brass is on par with Winchester 308 blue bag stuff, similar weight (light brass) and hardness, crimped primers which is easy to take care of, good brass after prep.
Austria is not part of NATO so it's not NATO spec ammo, decent brass case surplus 7.62x51, but not real accurate stuff.
Brass is on par with Winchester 308 blue bag stuff, similar weight (light brass) and hardness, crimped primers which is easy to take care of, good brass after prep.
Austria is not part of NATO so it's not NATO spec ammo, decent brass case surplus 7.62x51, but not real accurate stuff.
