162 ELD X Precision Hunter ammo???

aramarine6

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Apr 22, 2010
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139
So on my last weekly pilgrimage to the local cabelas I found a box of Hornady Precision Hunter ammo on the shelf. And since I just purchased a 700 Sendaro in 7 rem mag I figured I'd take a closer look. Now I don't know if I'm the only one that does this but I always shake factory ammo cartridges to see how filled they are with powder. I was surprised at how little there was in this particular box of ammo. I shake a lot of factory ammo and this by far seemed to be either a screwed up batch or it is loaded very light for a 7 rem mag. Now I typically reload for all my guns but I like to shoot a few boxes of factory ammo through the gun just to see how it does. I didn't purchase the ammo and I'm wondering if anyone else has shot this ammo yet? Maybe I'm just crazy but something didn't seem right about the amount of empty case capacity. Maybe I'll just buy it and pull it apart to see whats the deal.
 
I've noticed it before on different ammo. But defiantly worth trying. Sometimes they are surprisingly accurate. Like all factory stuff it's probably a bit soft but who knows. Only way to know is to chrono. I've had superformance loads completely flatten primers. And those had lots of room left in the case. Never know what powder they are really using.
 
Brand spankin new Savage 116 7mm Rem mag 24" sporter barrel:

PH 162gr ELD-X 10 rounds ave. speed 2816 E.S. 47. Best 5 shot group 1.5"

HSM 168gr Berger vld 10 rounds ave. speed 2859 E.S. 56. Best 5 shot group 2.5"
 
I tried the Precision Hunter Ammo in a custom 7MM Rem Mag with an 9 twist Obermeyer barrel. Was not impressed at all. The ammo first off looked very oxidized dull etc which only tells me their isn't alot of care in the production process. The 162gr ELD-x was seated extremely deep -.01 (one hundredth off). The ammo of not concentric at all in fact most runout was in excess of ten thou. The ES was +50 fps. It grouped ok 1" at 100 yards - hardly "precision". Worst of all though was I am only getting an average velocity of 2830 fps which is lame out of a 7rem mag with only 162 gr bullet.
 
I ran a box thru my CCR 7Rm 26in benchmark #5. 2919fps 49 ES over 5 rounds. Accur was ****, right at 1 min. This rifle will shoot hand loads and factory Barnes 140 ttsx' into stupid *** little groups .25 easy all day! I was pretty disappointed after all the hype surrounding this new ammo.
 
My experience is starting off good. I'm setting up a 700 BDL 7MM Rem Mag for a friend, stock rifle except for bedding job and trigger work. Zeroed at 200 yards. It was hot, 2 rounds at 200 1" ctc. Took it to 450 yards (put in 2940 fps from the box, put that in ballistic app) again 2 rounds because of heat, 1.5 ctc point of aim point of impact. Next time out l will chrono.
 
At this point I'm not going have time do develop a hand load for hunting this year, so I'm looking for a replacement factory load. Might give this a try anyway, even though it seems the reviews are generally poor.
 
what are you hunting for. I would not mind hunting with hornady eldx out of my sendero
 
White tailed deer in Wisconsin. Pronghorn in Wyoming fall of 2017. Hopefully I will have a load developed by then. But just in case I'd like a quality factory ammo choice.
 
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