Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles How much does brand matter?

In some rifles it doesn't make much difference what brand bullet is used, I get the same level of performance in .204 Ruger rifles using Barnes Varmint Grenades or Nosler BT Lead Free bullets. Same with .223 Remington. However each rifle is a custom using high end match barrels from Shilen or Pac-Nor, especially the polygonal rifled barrels from Pac-Nor.

What I did find is that the primers make a big difference in any given cartridge and load. The photo below shows the same load and rifle with the only difference is one used the Winchester Small Rifle Primer, the other used the Federal Small Rifle Match Primer. Of course the degree of inaccuracy of the larger group wouldn't matter much to a ground squirrel as it turned into biological landscape paint.