Precision Hunter velocity variability between lots

[nmacgyver]

I have always been impressed with my Precision Hunter ammo for my 270 Winchester, but this past weekend I shot with my brand new Garmin chronograph. I was a little disappointed with the spread on velocities in each of the shot groups I took, but I was most shocked seeing a difference of 100 fps between two different lots in the ammo I brought with me. Has anybody ever seen anything like that in their use of precision hunter specifically?

As interested as I am in longer range shooting and hunting, I recognize that standard deviations and differences between lots will be larger than the folks out there loading their own ammo. But that’s just way more than I was expecting!

While I’m at it, anybody have experience with 270 Winchester in federal premium? I guess it doesn’t really matter the caliber, but now I’m questioning whether Precision Hunter is the best load for what I’m trying to do? Or is this just a fluke?

 

[pharmfisher]

I don't run a lot of ammo through a Chrono, but I will say that I have noticed a difference in accuracy between lots of precision Hunter. I own 2 .308 rifles and one box of precision Hunter I got shot just awful out of both guns.

 

[Koda_]

Not surprised at all, in the factory ammo Ive chronoed Ive never found any with less than about 75fps extreme spread and as much as 200fps less than advertised on the box. I haven't chronoed between production lots but would expect to find large variations between some.

Generally, if you find a box of factory ammo that shoots well buy as much of that production lot as you can. Expect to rezero between production lots but sometimes Ive got lucky.

You can get lucky with a production lot, but if your interested in accuracy at longer ranges you need to handload.

 

[wind gypsy]

Doesn't surprise me especially lately with certain powder sources becoming unobtainable. Haven't compared enough different factory ammo lots to say conclusively which ones have more variance. Hornady has gotten a lot of attention lately due to 7 PRC lot variance and velocity underperformance that they blame on powder availability.

 

[mtnbound]

I have only seen it in the Hornady 7PRC line. I have tested 6.5 PRC and 6.5 CM and did not find a significant difference between Hunter and Match. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other cartridges that Hornady is having issues with, but the 7 PRC was so heavily marketed that it was noticed. I have not tested Federal, but at least in the 7 PRC, they seem to be able to meet the box-listed velocity.

 

[nmacgyver]

OK, this is all good confirmation even if it is a huge bummer! I'll be looking at trying some Federal stuff and really thinking about jumping down the rabbit hole of reloading myself. Thanks for the info!