jackburcs
FNG
TLDR: I’m brand new to reloading and it seems like my handloads are FAR better than factory Hornady Outfitter ammo. Has anyone else experienced bad accuracy from Hornady Outfitter? (I’m not talking about GMX/CX bullets, just the factory loading)
I just got a Bergara Crest Carbon in 7mm PRC and, wanting to shoot monos, picked up a few boxes of Hornady Outfitter. After mounting my Tract Toric 3-15x42 a cherry bomb I had laying around, and a Dead Air Nomad LT, I was excited to see how my shiny new toy it would perform.
Imagine my disappointment when I was getting 2-2.5 MOA 5-round groups at 100 yards…. I fired maybe 80 rounds over two shooting sessions, and sometimes ES and SD was upwards of 70 fps, sometimes under 10, but the group was always bad.
In between and during the two shooting sessions, rechecked all my scope mount and action screw torques, fully remounted the scope, removed the action from the stock and cleaned out that area, thoroughly cleaned the barrel, and it never improved.
I’m no great shot, but I was shooting my Ruger American .308 and my AR-15 under 1 and 1.5 MOA respectively, with factory ammo on the same days.
I decided to try hand loads using my Hornady LnL AP progressive press that I’ve had for years but never used or even set up. After getting all the right dies (Hornady Match Grade FL Die set w/ .310 neck bushing and a .282 expander mandrel) and tools, and some trial and error with the dies, I loaded 30 rounds (my first ever hand loads).
Hornady 160gr CX bullets seated 0.020” OTL, on top of H1000 in my once-fired nickel-plated Hornady Outfitter cases sized down 0.002”, as best I can tell (not supremely confident in my measurements). White River Energetics LR Magnum primers. 3 rounds each at 64.5-69.0gr in 0.5gr increments.
I threw my new Maven RS1.2 on the rifle, and got to shooting. I had to cut my shooting session short due to time and weather, so I only was able to fire the 64.5 and 65 gr groups, and it’s only three round groups, but I got 0.495 MOA and 0.856 MOA, which was far better than I was expecting. I’ll have to reload those charges to confirm and so I can do the full ladder test on the same day, but at first glance it’s very promising.
Some possible confounding variables are switching to a scope with better clarity (although I had the Tract on my .308 and it shot fine on that rifle), and the fact that I dropped down to 3 round groups. I noticed with that long Ti suppressor, the heat mirage after 3 shots (and even on the third shot) gets pretty rough.
Regardless, I recall also having bad accuracy out of older Hornady Outfitter in .308 with the GMX bullet. Maybe it’s the seal they put on the case mouth/bullet? And I haven’t shot any other factory ammo in the 7mm PRC, so I can’t comment on that.
Thoughts? Anyone else have a similar experience.
I just got a Bergara Crest Carbon in 7mm PRC and, wanting to shoot monos, picked up a few boxes of Hornady Outfitter. After mounting my Tract Toric 3-15x42 a cherry bomb I had laying around, and a Dead Air Nomad LT, I was excited to see how my shiny new toy it would perform.
Imagine my disappointment when I was getting 2-2.5 MOA 5-round groups at 100 yards…. I fired maybe 80 rounds over two shooting sessions, and sometimes ES and SD was upwards of 70 fps, sometimes under 10, but the group was always bad.
In between and during the two shooting sessions, rechecked all my scope mount and action screw torques, fully remounted the scope, removed the action from the stock and cleaned out that area, thoroughly cleaned the barrel, and it never improved.
I’m no great shot, but I was shooting my Ruger American .308 and my AR-15 under 1 and 1.5 MOA respectively, with factory ammo on the same days.
I decided to try hand loads using my Hornady LnL AP progressive press that I’ve had for years but never used or even set up. After getting all the right dies (Hornady Match Grade FL Die set w/ .310 neck bushing and a .282 expander mandrel) and tools, and some trial and error with the dies, I loaded 30 rounds (my first ever hand loads).
Hornady 160gr CX bullets seated 0.020” OTL, on top of H1000 in my once-fired nickel-plated Hornady Outfitter cases sized down 0.002”, as best I can tell (not supremely confident in my measurements). White River Energetics LR Magnum primers. 3 rounds each at 64.5-69.0gr in 0.5gr increments.
I threw my new Maven RS1.2 on the rifle, and got to shooting. I had to cut my shooting session short due to time and weather, so I only was able to fire the 64.5 and 65 gr groups, and it’s only three round groups, but I got 0.495 MOA and 0.856 MOA, which was far better than I was expecting. I’ll have to reload those charges to confirm and so I can do the full ladder test on the same day, but at first glance it’s very promising.
Some possible confounding variables are switching to a scope with better clarity (although I had the Tract on my .308 and it shot fine on that rifle), and the fact that I dropped down to 3 round groups. I noticed with that long Ti suppressor, the heat mirage after 3 shots (and even on the third shot) gets pretty rough.
Regardless, I recall also having bad accuracy out of older Hornady Outfitter in .308 with the GMX bullet. Maybe it’s the seal they put on the case mouth/bullet? And I haven’t shot any other factory ammo in the 7mm PRC, so I can’t comment on that.
Thoughts? Anyone else have a similar experience.
