Pulled down some Nosler factory loads- loaded by a blind man??

[LongBomber]

Pulled apart a couple boxes of 26 Nosler 129LRAB factory loads today, bought 4 boxes for a screaming deal just to tear down for the brass. I shot 5 rounds in my rifle just to see what they were like, velocity varied 94fps (3395 to 3489) and grouped about 2moa. The 129's in handloads never really shot that well in my 26, but no where near that bad.

Measured the powder charge in 20 rounds as I pulled them apart. 1.3gr variance! 84.4 to 85.7gr. That would explain the speeds.
Measured the BTO on the last 20 rounds, there was a .015" variance in length as well.

Anyone ever pull down some factory loads and find that kinda variance?

 

[sedancowboy]

Sounds typical to me, That is why I reload. However there some smaller custom loaders out there that do a good job. I understand the Berger factory loads shoot well but I have not tried them.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Hahaha. The factories load by volume, not weight...that is the reason for the variance.
They also use a load that in THEIR test barrel gets the desired ballistics with the LEAST amount of powder, you know, less costs less.
Have seen factory/military stuff that is berdan primed get single digit ES/SD. So not all mass produced ammo is bad in that regard, depends on the rifle chamber and barrel in question I guess.

Cheers.

 

[codyadams]

I pulled apart some 30-06 165 grain federal fusion ammo, because when my buddy used the velocity listed on the box to try to adjust to hit steel at around 600 yards, he was like 6 feet low or something crazy. Then I chronoed them for him.....2300 fps average. Weighed charges, 56.7 grains average, about a 1 grain variation. So roughly an appropriate charge for your common 06' powders, but they had to of used the wrong powder. It's a good thing they went way slow burning instead of way fast.....they would have been blowing guns up.

I called Federal and told them what I found with the lot number. They didn't offer to replace the ammo or do any kind of refund or any form of reimbursement, and they said since it wasn't loaded over pressure creating a saftey issue they didn't feel a recall was neccessary. But it's ok to advertise your ammo 500 fps faster than it is really going.....

Perhaps the CS representative I got was just a lazy jack wagon, but I won't buy anything federal for my rifles. I handload everything anyway.

On a side note, I do pull apart every factory round that I put in my personal carry pistol, ensure that there is a proper amount of powder in them, and reseat the bullet. I have come across factory handgun ammo without powder, sometimes there is enough pop to lodge the bullet in the barrel, disabling the gun. Don't want that to happen in the case I draw my gun to defend myself. In my duty ammunition, I weigh every round whole to ensure there isn't a significant variation. So far with Winchester T series, I haven't had to ever cull any out.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I bought several boxes of Nosler braand 30 Nosler ammo on sale at Midway. The ammo cost LESS than brass was selling for. I shot some of the ammo with mediocre groups. The bullet jump was fairly long so I decided to pull the bullets (160 AB) and reseat them about .050" (IIRC) closer to the rifling. BINGO the factory ammo now shoots well under MOA.

 

[LongBomber]

Thats why I picked this stuff up as well, it was 1/3 the price of brass. The 140 accubond load worked well for me when I pulled them and set the depth to .020" off the lands.

First time I measured any of the powder when pulling down loads, was surprising to see that much variance.

I bought several boxes of Nosler braand 30 Nosler ammo on sale at Midway. The ammo cost LESS than brass was selling for. I shot some of the ammo with mediocre groups. The bullet jump was fairly long so I decided to pull the bullets (160 AB) and reseat them about .050" (IIRC) closer to the rifling. BINGO the factory ammo now shoots well under MOA.

 

[YZ-80]

Doesn't surprise me. Nosler hired Stevie Wonder in 2018. He didn't like working the 26 ammo production line. Coworkers reported that he was very superstitious about it. He was later reassigned to range testing where he seems to have found a niche.

 

[Backcountry sports]

Pulled apart a couple boxes of 26 Nosler 129LRAB factory loads today, bought 4 boxes for a screaming deal just to tear down for the brass. I shot 5 rounds in my rifle just to see what they were like, velocity varied 94fps (3395 to 3489) and grouped about 2moa. The 129's in handloads never really shot that well in my 26, but no where near that bad.

Measured the powder charge in 20 rounds as I pulled them apart. 1.3gr variance! 84.4 to 85.7gr. That would explain the speeds.
Measured the BTO on the last 20 rounds, there was a .015" variance in length as well.

Anyone ever pull down some factory loads and find that kinda variance?

That's the second time tearing apart ammo and found a powder difference up to 2 grains off wonder why

 

[markopolo50]

Nothing long range but I bought 6 boxes of Hornady Black Box 450 Bushmaster 250 gr FTX. Sighted it in at 100. Tried it at 200 and got a 6" "pattern". At best was 1 !/2" at 100. Couldn't get anything close to what some friends were getting with the same gun, a Savager Wolverine. So I chronographed the last 8 and got quite a spread. 1917 to 2315 fps. I contacted Hornady and sent the 4 full and 2 empty boxes. Now I wished I had pulled a few bullets and weighed the powder. All six boxes were the same lot number. Haven't any results yet from them...

 

[jdyoung]

Have I pulled apart factory loads ? Yup, I have.
I picked up a book in a truck stop Used Book Shelf 30 some years back. Precision Handloading by John Withers, published 1985. Paid $2. He calls attention to "the difference between handloading, and reloading'' One of his techniques specified is using factory ammo to form a basis for your beginning handloads. From this, I made it a rule when shooting a firearm for the first time to use factory ammo. Since then I pull apart 5-10 rounds and weigh , measure and average everything as directed in the book.
Powder is a bit difficult to remove as it maybe somewhat "caked" or remaining particles get lodged in any burrs from the flash hole etc.
I have never found that much variance in powder weight. Bullets are another thing though. My thought is that the more popular bullets become, the more difference there is from base to ogive and therein bullet weight.
My "guess " is either high demand, or keeping production costs low, ( speed up production), resulted in the error.
I purchased some Winchester 270 wsm ,150 gr loads, 5 boxes. I found that 4-7 rounds out of 4 boxes had loose bullets ( lot numbers the same except for one box). The bullets wouldn't pull out, (the crimp and cannelure prevented that), they were just able to be turned in the necks, some moved in and out a 1/32". I notified Winchester via email . When I confirmed to them what the problem is...…... Silence.
I haven't taken these apart as yet.

 

[30BR]

Creedmoor Ammo is pretty tight; they run their ammo line at half speed to be more consistent. They just don't make all the calibers...

 

[Ingwe]

It's pretty amazing to see that much of a difference. I wonder if say the Federal Premium line would be more consistent?

How things have changed since I got into reloading and began to educate myself. I used to just read the velocity and trajectory off the box and go by that.

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Try measuring the concentricity of some factory loads Its the reason handloading isn't going anywhere Buy the factory stuff to breakdown and use the brass and bullets.

 

[del2les]

Sadly, this is far too common. There are some fairly good factory loads out there, especially in a few of the match rounds, but there are few hunting/varmint/defense rounds I would ever seriously consider using. Like others, I have purchased varied cheap, clearance and surplus ammo to break down components or plink, and what you and others are describing is no surprise.

For many years, several of my rifles and handguns have never tasted a "factory" round, for it just doesn't make sense to own a well tuned, precision firearm then feed it junk food. YMMV