Best bang for the buck 6.5cm practice ammo 2023

[Macintosh]

I searched and found a few old threads, none of which had much in the way of suggestions.

Looking to purchase a bunch of 6.5cm practice ammo. Ive been using hornady american gunner which I purchased a pile of several years ago, and holds ok groups for me out to 500-600 yards, but it doesnt appear this stuff exists any more. Any suggestions for a 140-ish gr option for practicing and informal “I dont take it seriously” match use that is relatively inexpensive per pop…and actually exists?

PM’s are great if this is the gear equivalent of spot-burning!

 

[prm]

Hornady 140 eld-m shoots really well. Federal 130 match king is on sale at Midway. Though I have not shot the Federal, there other match king ammo has shot very well. Edit: its been awhile since I’ve seen truly good deals on ammo. The S&B 140 FMJ ammo would be worth a try.

 

[swavescatter]

Federal 120gr American eagle doesn't group horribly for me. My go to for sighting in rounds.

Also consider Norma if you plan to reload. Used to be cheap and has good brass...

 

[hereinaz]

Hornady Whitetail and stuff like that. If it holds 1.5 on average, go for it.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Haven’t tried any myself but PSA has some inexpensive AAC loaded match kings

 

[Macintosh]

Haven’t tried any myself but PSA has some inexpensive AAC loaded match kings

I saw those. Posted yesterday to get any feedback and got no info. If anyone has firsthand experience Id love to hear.

 

[Macintosh]

Lets say 1.50/round or less shipped. That weeds out some of the obvious choices that everyone already has on their radar.

 

[Macintosh]

The S&B 140 FMJ ammo would be worth a try.

If anyone has used this, how was it? Fairly consistent, etc?

 

[Kimmo H]

If anyone has used this, how was it? Fairly consistent, etc?

I've shot both the 140gr FMJBT and 142 HPBT. Of the two the 142 seems to be a bit better. They aren't loaded very hot, but they have shot consistently in several different guns, always sub moa at 100 meters in I remember right. The 142 shoots better over longer distances, so if I were to use the SB ammo, I'd try to find a deal on thr 142's. For positional shooting etc they both should be fine though.

There are some downsides with the affordability unfortunately.
The SB cases aren't great, and there have been some issues with SB creedmoor ammo on Sauer and Mauser guns with their factory barrels. Sometimes the cases get stuck in the chamber and are very hard to extract.
For some reason that issue has only come up with Mauser 18 and Sauer 100 barrels. Other brands of ammo usually works on the problem guns. It seems as if the SB cases dont spring back as much as other cases, and therefore the case gets stuck if the chamber is not straight walled as it is supposed to be.

It may be worth testing them out in small quantity in your gun before stocking up too heavily.

 

[hereinaz]

I don’t think you will get much help, cause cheap ammo is cheap ammo and it’s a crap shoot how well it shoots in any particular gun.

Ultimately, when it comes to cheap ammo, I just always bought some buy some and shot it, cause cheaper ammo is gun specific with how it shoots many times.

I had the cheap Hornady shoot awesome in one gun and didn’t shoot good in another.

 

[Stickmark]

I have had the S & B cartridges be a tadbit rougher to extract.

 

[TreeDog]

If the American Gunner stuff works for you, check out ammoseek. Outdoors Limited and Optics Planet have options that are sub $1.50 round shipped

 

[H80Hunter]

My Ruger American 308 practice gun likes Hornady American Whitetail.

 

[sbaker0029]

I've shoot a couple boxes of the Freedom Munitions 140gr bthp and it's pretty good.
I wouldn't say a direct equivalent to the American gunner but close enough since that stuff I unavailable and good for the price.
I kick myself for not buying another two 200rd cans of it when I caught a deal several years ago. I think it was like $0.75/rd

 

[knale87]

Picked up a case a of the Norma golden target for $1.29/round to practice with. Read some good reviews and figured it’s better than the $1.60+/round for the eldx’s I hunt with. Haven’t shot them yet though.

I’ll probably try the freedom munitions 140gr next to compare.

 

[bm-55]

I saw those. Posted yesterday to get any feedback and got no info. If anyone has firsthand experience Id love to hear.

Small sample size, I’ve shot 4 boxes of the PSA 140 SMKs and haven’t had any issues. I’ve also had good luck with their 556 77gr TMKs and will continue buying.

Curious to hear from others.

 

[MTMeatHunter]

I use ammoseek to find the cheapest price on ammo that I want to shoot, then take my phone into whatever local box store (Scheels, Cabela’s, Sportsman’s) that will price match online prices. Last time I bought Precision Hunter I paid $25 a box at Scheels. Life hack.

 

[DangerRanger]

Picked up a case a of the Norma golden target for $1.29/round to practice with. Read some good reviews and figured it’s better than the $1.60+/round for the eldx’s I hunt with. Haven’t shot them yet though.

I’ll probably try the freedom munitions 140gr next to compare.

My Bartlien and tikka barrels are shooting the norma under 1.5” for 10 so I’ve been using a lot of it.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Dragging this back up. Planning on a .223 trainer but also have some other financial responsibilities to focus on.

I shoot the 143 ELD-X and I'm looking at the 140 BTHP for practice ammo. Difference is about $70 per 200 which seems significant enough. How do y'all adjust if your POI at your zero range is different with the practice ammo?

Might buy a box just to see for myself, but curious of what other's are seeing.

 

[wind gypsy]

Barnes 140 match burner ammo was barely over $1/ea a week ago but that ship has sailed. Federal GMM 130 AR hybrids were pretty cheap too and seem to be a little more now.

I'd just keep an eye on ammoseek for stuff that looks appealing. Good stuff comes up for sale occasionally.