280AI Factory Loads...what gives?

[MikeWestman]

Before I even received my APR Classic Hunter, I joined this forum to read as much as I could about this caliber. I can't reload right now so I'm stuck using factory ammo for the time being. Y'all had me convinced that the Nosler Trophy Grade 140gr AB was the cat's meow, so I found some and stocked up. Well...it shoots like crap out of my rifle. 3" groups!!! Of course I blamed the rifle first and started looking for loose components, suppressor, scope, my rest...NOPE...it was those 140 gr bullets (which I now have a bunch of). This weekend I tried a box of Hornady Precision Hunter 162gr ELDX and shot 0.875" at 200 yards! Nothing fancy, just prone with a rest in my back yard and I'm under an inch at 200. NOW I'M HAPPY...but what gives? Why such a huge difference between the 140 Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond and the 162 Hornady ELDX? I have a 24" 1:8 Brux barrel with a Banish30 suppressor. Is the twist too fast for the lighter bullets? Something's whacky but I don't have the experience to even guess. I do know however, that I've found something that works well and I'm sticking with it.

 

[adk hunter]

I love chocolate ice cream.
I'll eat vanilla but not my favorite.

 

[med358-boise]

I would say nothing is whacky. Each rifle is a law unto itself. Sure there are certain factory loads that in general shoot very well in most rifles (such a Federal National Match 308 168) but the operative phrase is most.

At one point, I had 5 308s wins. They all shot Fed National match 3/4 MOA or better and 4 of them shot Fed Copper 150s great right around .85 MOA but the one that didn't shoot the Fed 150s well was the most accurate with Fed National Match (1/2 MOA) and shot 2 different handloads in the .6s.

If the Noslers don't shoot well, sell them off and stick with the Hornady. Read my signature line about internet statistics. It's just not a good idea to assume that because factory ammo shot good in 10 rifles it's going to shoot good in yours.

 

[FEENIX]

Before I even received my APR Classic Hunter, I joined this forum to read as much as I could about this caliber. I can't reload right now so I'm stuck using factory ammo for the time being. Y'all had me convinced that the Nosler Trophy Grade 140gr AB was the cat's meow, so I found some and stocked up. Well...it shoots like crap out of my rifle. 3" groups!!! Of course I blamed the rifle first and started looking for loose components, suppressor, scope, my rest...NOPE...it was those 140 gr bullets (which I now have a bunch of). This weekend I tried a box of Hornady Precision Hunter 162gr ELDX and shot 0.875" at 200 yards! Nothing fancy, just prone with a rest in my back yard and I'm under an inch at 200. NOW I'M HAPPY...but what gives? Why such a huge difference between the 140 Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond and the 162 Hornady ELDX? I have a 24" 1:8 Brux barrel with a Banish30 suppressor. Is the twist too fast for the lighter bullets? Something's whacky but I don't have the experience to even guess. I do know however, that I've found something that works well and I'm sticking with it.

Like anything else, YMMV. Since you are not reloading yet, you are at the mercy of how the factory ammo is loaded and what shoots well from your rifle. Sometimes, even the same ammo in different lot# numbers makes a huge difference. Here's an example in my 6.5 CM using 125 Winchester Deer Season XP at 200 yards.

 

[captrjc]

I have a Rem 700 adl chambered in win 270 that I got on a trade deal. The deal came with 10 boxes of 140 gr Nosler ballistic tip ammo. It shot them at minute of barn. It was terrible like throw the junk in the garbage terrible. I finally had some time to mess around with it and I measured the throat and it was pretty dang long. I pulled those bullets out of the case .250 a quarter inch… it still was like .070 off the lands and that thing still to this day is a 3/4 minute gun and better if I haven't had 80 cups of coffee.
After that I took off the plastic stock and got a carbon fiber one, had the barrel threaded and added a nightforce rail, rings and scope. It's one of my favorites even standing next to my customs.
Not everything is plug n play, sometimes you gotta earn it.

Btw I have a Weatherby backcountry 2.0 Titanium in 280 Ackley that shoot's just about everything well, just as a couple others I've had. Most of the time it's a plug n play cartridge. Try messing with the COAL a little bit. On the 700 I never tried anything else because it was very good on the first try but who knows….. if I tinker some more it might become a quarter minute gun…. Hahahah… now I'm going go and mess up a good thing and waste 2 day and lots of ammo. It's all part of that grass is greener thing!

 

[wilehunting]

Harmonics and barrel vibration. Back when Browning made the B.O.S.S. system it came with recommended starting settings for different bullet weights as a way to match the barrel vibration to the bullet for best accuracy. It looks like you only tried two factory loads, one shoots, one doesn't. Use the 162.
.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Your rifle doesn't like the Nosler ammo.
Sell the remaining Nosler ammo.
Buy Hornady ammo.
Problem solved.

I would never buy 5 boxes of 1 ammo without testing it first. I would have bought 1 box of 5 different ammo types to see what shot best for MY gun. Then go buy all you think that rifle will ever need to make sure you have the same lot for the life of the rifle.

 

[birddog 68]

Once you start reloading you will understand that you can't force a rifle to shoot what YOU want it to.
I have tried to force my opinion on my rifle but in the end it's the boss, not me.
Trial and error is the only way to find out what your rifles preference is and I agree with lance that I would never go out Willy Nilly and buy that many boxes of ammo without trying one box beforehand.

 

[Teri Anne]

Before I even received my APR Classic Hunter, I joined this forum to read as much as I could about this caliber. I can't reload right now so I'm stuck using factory ammo for the time being. Y'all had me convinced that the Nosler Trophy Grade 140gr AB was the cat's meow, so I found some and stocked up. Well...it shoots like crap out of my rifle. 3" groups!!! Of course I blamed the rifle first and started looking for loose components, suppressor, scope, my rest...NOPE...it was those 140 gr bullets (which I now have a bunch of). This weekend I tried a box of Hornady Precision Hunter 162gr ELDX and shot 0.875" at 200 yards! Nothing fancy, just prone with a rest in my back yard and I'm under an inch at 200. NOW I'M HAPPY...but what gives? Why such a huge difference between the 140 Nosler Trophy Grade Accubond and the 162 Hornady ELDX? I have a 24" 1:8 Brux barrel with a Banish30 suppressor. Is the twist too fast for the lighter bullets? Something's whacky but I don't have the experience to even guess. I do know however, that I've found something that works well and I'm sticking with it.

The longer you are in this game, the faster you learn that every rifle is different. If you have two identical rifles side by side the chances are that they will prefer different ammunition. Shooting factory, you are stuck with whatever the factory loads, thus stuck with whatever happens, large groups or small. You will also find variables in different lots of factory ammo that can change the performance of a rifle. I have often had one lot shoot great, then the next box is from another lot and it shoots for crap. Factory ammo is a crap shoot.