FYI, check your factory ammo

[Turpentine21]

I ran into this a few years back with 30-06 Corelokts. There was roughly 250fps difference. Federal and Winchester tend to be a bit closer to published values. Not dead on as that would be difficult to duplicate but reasonable anyway.

 

[Turpentine21]

Last time I was at the range with my lab radar, I had 3 different people ask me if I could "see the bullets hit my target with that big orange camera"---- and these are supposedly enthusiasts who pay annually for membership and drive 45 min to an hour to get to this range----- I've also seen guys before ml season shoot a 24x24 target at 50 yards and the 2 shot group was about 6" spread and way low right--- then here the comment "that will kill an elk at 200 yards" ,,, some guys just don't get it
And I was shooting at the 700y range, the guy next to me was shooting at 200yards--- he saw my target from 700 yards and said "that group is pretty large, mine is much better" ( I was printing a .38moa group that day at 700y)-- but he felt because his 200 yard target was physically smaller in size he was better than me.
People are stupid and I usually don't talk much to other people at the range unless I find someone like minded

My son helps me set up sporting clays courses for a private club and then will help me work the shoot. He helps me instructing some as well and he traps a lot of big registered events. He tells me all the time, Dad, I know I'm supposed to respect my elders, but some of these folks are so ignorant its mind boggling.

 

[snox801]

There is very few factory ammo loadings that match the numbers, some are low by 200fps+ and others are faster by 100fps.
Who hunts without verifying drop first?
Your thread sounds peculiar to me.
Would you shoot unverified reloads and expect the manual to be correct?

Cheers.

Literally everyone who buys a leupold scope in Michigan. It's the bane of me. These dorks show up with a custom turret for the cds with info off the box and look you dead in the face and say they are good to 800-1k yards cause the dial goes that high. Thats who.

 

[.300 Dakota]

I ran into this a few years back with 30-06 Corelokts. There was roughly 250fps difference. Federal and Winchester tend to be a bit closer to published values. Not dead on as that would be difficult to duplicate but reasonable anyway.

Well, the "certified" ones are 250ft/s slower. That's better than 400! Same 90+ ft/s spread. Avg this time was 2913. Fastest was like 2965 and was the first out the barrel, though a couple others were close. I sent them the data. All I got back was an email today telling me I had a box of ammo on the way originating in Minnesota somewhere, I think it was.

I'm guessing since I told them I found the ammo to be acceptable for my uses and thought it grouped well (8 of 9 were in about a 1 1/4" circle with 1 flier about an inch out in left field - 3rd shot of the string - not an extreme in velocity either way), they decided to reward me with a new box of it. I'll verify that one, too.

 

[Turpentine21]

Well, the "certified" ones are 250ft/s slower. That's better than 400! Same 90+ ft/s spread. Avg this time was 2913. Fastest was like 2965 and was the first out the barrel, though a couple others were close. I sent them the data. All I got back was an email today telling me I had a box of ammo on the way originating in Minnesota somewhere, I think it was.

I'm guessing since I told them I found the ammo to be acceptable for my uses and thought it grouped well (8 of 9 were in about a 1 1/4" circle with 1 flier about an inch out in left field - 3rd shot of the string - not an extreme in velocity either way), they decided to reward me with a new box of it. I'll verify that one, too.

Knock 'em out. I'd be interested in seeing the numbers. 25 years ago I had a Ruger Tang M77 in 270 that shot really well with their 130 corelokts out to 440 yards. Most of the deer I killed then were 225 yards and under. I shot what I could afford and we killed a lot of deer. I wish I'd had the equipment to measure those loads.
The 30-06 I was zeroing was a Ruger ultralight with a 20" barrel. That thing kicked like a pack mule. You pretty much had to be mad at it to shoot it. Anyway I expected 100 fps or so deficit for the short barrel but nothing like i saw. I also remember the extreme spread was huge. Sort of like a "Box of Chocolates" you might say. You never know what you're gonna get.

On the other extreme 90 degrees plus is a regular occurrence at the start of our deer season and during our depredation hunting period. I've seen several examples of Hornady Superformance ammo stick in the chamber to the point the bolt needed to be opened with a dead blow mallet or assisted by a fiberglass rod down the barrel.
I'm a half *$$ gunsmith on good days and live in the equivalent of Bum Fire Egypt with no real gunsmith close so I often have folks bring rifles to me with the bolt stuck.