Is Hornady Outfitter ammo junk?

TheMinusHuman

TheMinusHuman

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Hey everyone.

Just looking to see if anyone has had any luck with the Hornady Outfitter ammo, I've ran it before in 4 seperate cartridges and I keep getting the same result. GARBAGE, HOT GARBAGE. Like this ammo doesn't group at all. 100 yards averaging 2" to 4". I've tried in 6.5 creed, .308, 7mm rem mag and 7PRC now and i havent had it work with any of these rifles. I've even tried to clean the hell out of my barrel before using it, acting on the general assumption that if you go from lead core to monolithic is has some effect on monolithic and vice versa, but still no good results. What's your experience like? Is hornady pumping out garbage ammo thats almost $100 a box? I like the idea of monolithic rounds but in 7PRC the CX bullet in the outfitter ammo just sucks. Looks like I'm sticking with ELDX for the foreseeable future.

Thought? Input? Let me know.
 
I’ve seen very poor and dangerous results with a Sako 90 in 308 just this past weekend using the Superformance loading from Hornady. Gun was bought new and hunted with last year. Fellow ran low on ammo and couldn’t find the Federal premium he was using so picked up the Hornady to try. Groups were 3-5” at 100yds with stiff bolt lift and clear signs of high pressure. The crazy bugger and his hunting gang fired the entire box. Buddy sent me picks of the empties and asked if he should just shoot the rest of the boxes for the brass,haha of course I told him not to shoot anymore and find some of the Federal that he was using previously. IMG_2685.png
 
Quite some time ago (maybe 15 years) I had bought some Hornady 308. Was going to test out my pressure trace using a heavy barrel Tikka. Only made 3 shots. The pressure trace captured a large secondary pressure spike with all 3. IIRC, the software calculated the bullet to be about 2/3 of the way down the barrel when it happened. Believe that indicated the powder burning then exploding instead of a continuous controlled burn. Still have 17 unfired from that box.
 
Yup, tried a box in a Win. Model 70 in 30-06 Springfield.
Had me second guessing everything, mounts ,ring, scope etc.

Turns out , the ammo runs like shıt in my particular rifle.
 
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Had no issues a couple weekends ago with 180gr CX Outfitter in 300WM. Grouped fine, had rifle dialed within 6 shots including a couple at longer range gongs. I’m not a big fan of hornady but was the only controlled expansion ammo available on local shelves.
 
I had good groups with it in a kimber hunter 6.5 creedmoor a couple years ago. Consistant three shot groups under an inch at 100 meters. Maybe they changed something in the past few years.
 
The only Hornady Outfitter ammo I have tried so far was the 6.5 PRC 130 gr CX load. It was faster than spec in my rifle by 125 fps and produced 2.012" groups at 100 yards. I did not experience any pressure signs, but did find other ammo that is more accurate in my rifle so have tried it again.
But I am not surprised as mono metal bullets usually seem to run at higher pressures, and some rifles just do not like them, preferring cup and core or bonded bullets.
I for one, prefer the cup and core or bonded bullets, and am thankful that we are not restricted to having to use lead-free bullets.

As for other Hornady ammo, I had good results with it in the past with their Interlock bullets and had no complaints.
Today's Hunter Precision ammo has proven to be more inconsistent in performance. It started out well, but has fallen off. I think that this has more to do with the powders they started with, that are now difficult if not impossible to find (e.g. Alliant) and the replacement powders (???) are just not delivering the same performance. (Just as us handloaders are experiencing.) While the ELD-X is performing well on deer-sized game, I prefer a stouter bullet for larger/heavier game, as the bullet is fairly frangible.

If it works well in your rifle, use it. If not, pass on by and find what your rifle prefers.
The bullet, or ammo, is still the cheapest part of the puzzle when it comes to shooting or hunting, and is the one item that has the biggest impact on accuracy and on-game performance. Maintain perspective, and remember, the days of $20/box of ammo are gone and will never return! :(
 
Thank you. I've shot hornady custom international years ago. It was very accurate. Im wondering if it dropped off in quality too? If so I'll avoid hornady all together.

I naturally lean federal.
 
I haven't shot any Outfitter ammo, but this summer I did shoot the 70gr Cx monometal factory Superformance in my 22 ARC. Result was a very impressive 1.05moa 20 round group at 100 meters. Standard deviation was 14 fps
 
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