Most consistent Factory ammunition

Other than rimfire, It's been a while since I fired any factory ammo, but there was a time I shot a fair amount of Federal Premium Match 308 with 168gr HP bullets. In my rifle, it was superb for a factory round. So much so, I tried their 165gr Sierra BTSP loading, and it too was excellent.

Edit: Just read the above, and I agree, the Federal TMK would be a good choice in the 308.

If I had to by hunting ammo it would be Berger,Nosler, Norma

Try sako ammo, research the projectiles well and you"ll be ok.
Plus side is the brass is equal to the best in the business so you'll be able to refill them many times over when your loading equipment becomes available.
308 ammo usually chrono's to match box top figure.

Pick your caliber and go to YouTube....watching 5-6 videos can cut the list of possibilities....BUT MAN...has the quality control gone to SHEEEEEIT on many brands. I've had a number of friends this year purchase new rifles and factory ammo to get the brass started and come out to mount the scopes and site in here.....thank God I reload...one box of factory Nosler 30-06...4 shells were dented so bad couldn't chamber them...the Fifth had the projectile fall out on the table taking it out of the box ..on the 4 dented...I went to pull the projectiles and all 4 -I pulled out with my finger tips....out of the 15 shot for brass...ES was 153 fps and group covered 6+ inches ...Hornady 5 misfires, Elly .22....4 misfires...and on and on.....***
Nosler did send a cheque but offered no explanation....
Now...Hornady Precision Hunter 6.5 creed shot amazing 4 YEARS AGO with a 10 shot group in .225.... however that was 4 years ago but I would definitely give it a try....could be the easy button....just me hope it helps... good luck!

Looks like a can of worms here!
I'm just going to read and watch!!

StoneCold said:

I find myself in a position to use factory ammo this year. After a recent move a couple surgeries, etc etc...I don't think I'll have time to set up my reloading stuff and get a load ready before hunting season.

My main question is: What factory ammo has been the most consistent velocity wise giving a good ES / SD ?

I have pretty much sworn off of Hornady's factory loadings as I have chronographed multiple calibers and loads and the velocity spread in a single box has been up to 125 fps. Usually at 100 yards they seem to shoot ok...but for me at 550 yards the verticle starts to get hard to account for.

Looking for suitable hunting ammo - not afraid of match bullets for that use. I think a few are now loading hornady bullets too. Just want to spend wisely and get decent ammo from the start. Once I chronograph it, group it, and verify it, that will determine my ethical range for it. Hoping for at least 500 yards this year out of factory ammo.

Or am I worrying too much about it?

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Velocity spread as much as 125 fps from the same box ???
What Hornady ammo and cartridge ?
Same rifle ?
I don't even see that much with different Lot Numbers.

There is a lot of variation in what you can get in factory ammunition, especially based on what you're willing to pay.

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2025/07/05/best-long-range-ammo-for-those-not-reloading/

I'm not a fan of factory ammunition. One of my concerns is that even if you find something that shoots well in your rifle there is no guarantee of lot to lot consistency between different boxes of the same thing from different lots. I once watched a video where the host pulled the bullets from three different boxes of Hornady ELDX Precision ammo and showed the loads were three different powders with over 100 fps difference for nominally the same thing.

For a .308 Win, you might also consider Blackhills ammo as an option. I remember reading that was what Chris Kyle used in his personal GAP .308 after leaving the service. My GAP-10 can get 1 MOA out of the cheap Norma .308 ammo I bought on sale years ago so as others have said, Norma is worth considering too.

The earlier advice to consider limiting your hunting range to something less than 500 yds will probably help in achieving your objective of finding factory ammo at a reasonable cost that is serviceable.

I have had Black Hills ammo and was NOT impressed but from what I understand, if you're "somebody", they'll custom load for you it will compare to anything anyone produces. That was likely the deal with Chris Kyle.

Berger ammo by far in my experience.

The new Barnes harvest that's loaded with the TGK is incredibly good and affordable. $35 per 20 at Walmart.

VTbluegrass said:

Berger ammo by far in my experience.

The new Barnes harvest that's loaded with the TGK is incredibly good and affordable. $35 per 20 at Walmart.

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Wait... Wait.... Barnes has produced factory loaded ammo with a Sierra Tipped Game King bullet? Say it ain't so... LOL
https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/barnes-new-harvest-ammunition/543565

MagnumManiac said:

I have been extremely surprised and happy with Barnes factory TTSX ammo. Consistent speeds, keeps 10 rounds under MoA, what could be better.
With the Barnes TTSX 165g 300RUM load, it was within 25fps of box listed speed, the 180g TTSX 300RUM load was 200fps low, but, the accuracy was better than the 165g TTSX.
Other ammo I have had good results with are Norma, Lapua and Sako.
Had a good batch of Sellior and Bellot, then bought a different lot# and it fell apart…

Sierra ammo is very good, if you like match grade stuff for hunting.

Cheers.

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How much does a box of 300 RUM ammo cost there?
Thanks

Factory Ammo
I have had Good, Bad and Ugly from every manufacturer I have tried. Just have to be Lucky and hope your barrel and setup likes what you choose.
Barnes, Berger, Norma, Nosler

Earnhardt said:

How much does a box of 300 RUM ammo cost there?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Last box cost me $115AUD for 180g TTSX. Shoots under MoA in my SPS. Bought both 180g TTSX and 165g TTSX, same price for both per box.

Cheers.

Rabid Fish said:

Velocity spread as much as 125 fps from the same box ???
What Hornady ammo and cartridge ?
Same rifle ?
I don't even see that much with different Lot Numbers.

Click to expand...

I'm not trying to open a can of worms here. A quick google / youtube search will show multiple people expressing the same thing about Hornady's wild velocity spreads, different primers in the same box, different powders in the cases of the same box etc. Hornady is also the 7mmPRC downloader remember....didn't change the box number, didn't tell anyone until called on it etc. I love Hornady bullets generally. I can't say I'm in love with the way they are handling their business lately though.

Mine had different primers and velocity spread of 125 fps in the same box, same day, same rifle, Hornady 147 Eld-m "Match" 6.5 creedmoor. That same day...140 eld-m "match" had a velocity spread of 75 fps in the same rifle. Magnetto speed chrono.

I just purchased an athlon chrono so I can get a greater sample size of velocities.

There are several brands mentioned multiple times here now. From looking into Norma they may actually get close to the box's stated velocities as well. I don't really care that much what the average velocity actually is, as long as it is reasonably consistent and meets my minimum velocity at the ranges I want to shoot at in my conditions.

Looks like 400 and under for me this year - maybe less. I'm good with that.

Thanks for all the replies!