Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Favorite non-premium factory ammo?

i would add Hornady American Whitetail to the list. I don't know how I forgot about that when I mentioned the Federal stuff.

When they were more available Winchester Power Points did great things.

After some apparent C/L failures I got away from using the Remington 180 grain in my '06. I use I/L for deer and Partitions or elk, sheep and antelope in the '06.

In .243's, 6.5's, and .308 Winchesters I load mostly Hornady for deer. Of these, he .243 has been used the most. Hornady 100 gr I/Ls have ruled here.

95 grain Federal Fusions from my 243 are accurate and effective on deer sized game. I used to love the Federal High Energy 180 grain Partition from my 30-06. Wish they still made it. I couldn’t duplicate it.

Federal Fusions , Hornady American Whitetails and Winchester Deer Seasons all have been used by me with great success when I'm not rolling my own. All are decently priced. Which one I choose depends on how my rifle likes them. Have also used Fed blue box, Rem Coreloks and Win PPs. Deer are not hard to kill.

I tend to favor Hornady if I am more interested in brass harvesting. FED Fusions probably give me the most consistent best groups. In the end though its just really what that particular rifle likes best.

I always liked Federal blue box, worked great before I loaded my own.

I just did the same about a month ago, saw a sale of 270 Win and '06 Norma Whitetail sale for $21 and $24 a box so I bought them for the brass. Did the same quite a few years ago with 270 Win and 280 Rem RWS with the H Mantle and ID classic bullets for $17 a box...wish I'd bought more.

Fed red box .280 has done the job.

It depends on the rifle for me. Some factory ammo will group extremely well in one and not another. But with some trial and error you can find the one your rifle shoots best. Federal blue box, Federal Fusion, Hornady American Whitetail have worked well for me. I have 270 that really likes 130gr Fiocchi Field Dynamics. It shoots it better than anything else.

When I get a new rifle I test at least 5 or 6 different types of ammo in it. Its easy to tell the winner, but for each particular rifle it's usually a different brand of ammo. It might take some time but the results are worth it.

What's factory ammo?

Last week I helped a guy check the zero on two of his 7 mm Rem Mags with his Remington factory ammo. At 100 yds we couldn't get one rifle to keep two consecutive shots within 3" of each other and the aiming point.

When we were done, I laid down prone and shot 3 shots that you could cover with a quarter, with my handloads, in my rifle, at 200 yards.

I bought my first centerfire rifle, a .30-06, in 1967 and have been handloading for it and all of my other rifles, pistols, and shotguns ever since. Many of my guns have never had a factory round fired through them.

Federal Blue box works for me.

Used coreloks for may years. Just switched to norma whitetail when I found a good deal. Shoots great in my rifle.

I’ve killed 2 moose with federal blue box. Caribou and several big bears with core lokts. You can spend a lot of $$$ on loaded ammunition for no reason other than marketing people brainwash you to .

Well then his rifle or scope is a POS, something is loose or that rifle just hates that particular ammo. Just about every rifle in my safe will shoot sub MOA with one factory load or another and some will do it with several different brands and bullet weights/styles.

I've downed many mulies and whitetails with 170 grain Power Points. 30-30 is a keeper! - Sherwood

Whatever brand shoots the best groups in a particular rifle and has an appropriate bullet design for the intended purpose.

Remington 100gr Core-Lokt in a very finicky .243 Weatherby rifle. Everything else is premium ammo or my handloads. If you can't get a rifle to shoot sub moa with factory ammo it needs to belong to someone else.

Back when I used factory it was always blue box.

I used remington corelok green box ammo for decades. More recently I been giving Norma whitetail a shot in my 270.
At my ranges they both work to my satisfaction.

Federal fusion works well for me.

I have a Marlin 336 that I bought new….a 1992 that will put 3 on a 3/4” square at 100 yds with Hornady 160 gr LVR ammo….with handloads or factory don’t make any difference. Out to 200 yards will take whitetails down and probably a little further, amazing bullet in a 30-30.