Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Actual velocity of factory ammo?

Long story, but anyone care to guess, or perhaps you have already done it, what the actual chronographed velocity of Federal Power Shok 7mm Rem mag 150 gr factory ammo is?

We all know what the advertised velocity is, but what do you think they are doing out of my 24" SAKO L61R? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Ted

I'd guess 200fps faster than Remington's load <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I've never chronographed any factory loads, but have read some post/mag articles by people who did.

I've seen where rem's seem to be significantly lower than advertised, and win's were as advertised. The next article was on the .303. Surprisingly enough, the rem's were up to snuff there and the win 180 gr PP factory load was 2100 and some fps. Advertised was 2430.

So who know's?? I have read several times about Federal, and it ALWAYS seems to be as advertised, as did the now extinct Speer Nitrex factory loads.

I have a theory, don't know if it's close to the truth or not.

Factory X receives/manufactures a "lot" of powder. They then load/ shoot charges that give the best accuracy, in certain cals they use the powder in. If best accuracy is a couple hundred feet below advertised, they load it that way. If it is as advertised, they load it that way.


Every shooter is interested in accuracy, and so buys the brand that is accurate. But VERY few of the shooter/hunters (not on this board, but in the general population) have chrony's..............so don't know/care, as long as the ammunition is accurate.

For what it's worth, I chronographed two factory 7mm Mag loads for a friend up in Colorado this summer. The Federal 175 grain bullets exceeded the factory numbers by about 20 fps on the average and the Remington 175s were just about spot on. I was a little surprised because the last time I did this (about 12 years ago) all of the factory loads were a little slower than advertised. My chronograph is a PACT and seems to be at least consistent if not accurate. The Federals were fired in a Remington 700 BDL and the Remingtons were fired in a BAR.

It's tough to tell. I have ran loads from Hornady, Federal, Remington, and Winchsester over the chrony for various calibers and have seen results all over the place. Most of the time they are slower than advertised speeds, but I have also seen factory published figures exceeded. I don't see any certain manufacturer being better in this area than the others, though I never kept any records to verify it.

-Lou

Don't know for a fact but my guess is that the factories use very tight spec test barrels for ammo testing. the typical hunting rifle chamber is not quite so tight and can be a bit loose depending on the age of the chamber reamer. I would imagine that "field test" would on average be a good bit lower. I do need to dust off the chrony and see what some of my factory fodder is running.

A friend Crony'd some 7mm Mag factory ammo it was 162g Hornady from a 24" bbl remington at 2760fps.

He always bragged about his high velocity "flat shoot'n" 7 mag. That little test brought him down to earth.

Just a bit over 3200 fps. No too shabby, eh?

Ted

My experience has matched Lou 270's. Most I have checked have been slow, but a couple have been in the ballpark. For example, Remington 30-06 165's have chronied 2800 + in my 24" barrel, while the 180's were a bit slow, at 2650. (Although I did test that same lot of 180's on a really hot day, and they got up over 2700fps.) All in all, pretty close to advertised.

On the other hand, Remington 270 Win loads have been very slow, with 130's barely making 2800fps. This is from a 22" barrelled rifle that gets 3020fps from the classic H4831/130gr load.

Interestingly, I have chronied several of the short mags for other folks at the range, and all have been very close to specs, regardless of ammo brand.

Older Remington Extended Range .270 Win 140-gr BTSP clocks 3,100 out of my 24-inch Mauser.

I checked some WW power points in my Browning bar's one with a 22 inch bbl and the other with a 20 inch bbbl. the 22 inch gave 2870 the 20 unch gave 2820

What cal??&grain?

A few years back somebody gave me a box of 300 Winchester mag loads. There were around 15 left in the partially used box. I was loading my own and put the box aside. The owner of the rifle dies and the widow gave them to me so I wasn't going to argue. A few years later I found the box. Decided to get rid of them. Decided to unload them. Decided to weigh each powder charge. Power charge ranged from 70 grains to 75 grains. Confirmed that my handloads were better than factor. Of course, I suspect things have changed in factory production over the years. (The box was made back in the 70s.)