rifle,ammo choice

[Kentuckymilitia-93]

Ive got a new place to hunt this year and can reach out as far as 2000 yards but thats not realistic, Now ive got a savage model 110 E bolt action w/4x12x40 deerfield scope and a remington woodmaster model 742 semi auto w/tasco 3-9x40 scope both 30-06, the farthest ill be shooting is probably 600 yards, so my question to you guys is which off the shelf ammo would you recommend for my application? gun)
ive also got a New england survivor .308, 35 remington and access to a winchester 270 is yall have a better suggestion, i know the 35 is way outa the question.

 

[liltank]

Black Hills Gold Ammunition 270 Winchester 130 Grain Hornady SST Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=712325Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition 270 Winchester 150 Grain Sierra GameKing Boat Tail Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition 270 Winchester 150 Grain Nosler Partition Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition 270 Winchester 140 Grain Nosler AccuBond Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

Hornady Light Magnum Ammunition 270 Winchester 140 Grain Boat Tail Spire Point Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

Hornady Custom Ammunition 270 Winchester 140 Grain SST Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

Hornady Custom Ammunition 270 Winchester 130 Grain SST Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

These are the ones I would be interested in for 270. I thought I would offer some examples.

In 308 and 30-06 you could use anything from 150 grains up using Sierra Matchking bullets, Nosler Partions, Hornady SST's, Hornady A-Max, Nosler Accu-Bond, Soft point Boat tail (boat tail important for ballistics at long distance), Hornady Interbond, Hornady GMX, Nosler E-Tip, Barnes Triple shock TTSX.

Stick with companies like Black Hills, Federal and their premium bullet line, Hornady, and Nosler custom loads. All of these are specialty loads for long distance shooting. To get a drop chart you will need to shoot various yardages to 600yards to get your dope, or shoot through a crony to set up drop charts. Even if you do set up a drop chart you'll need to shoot those distances to verify your chart.

If you plan to go farther than you will have to look at projectiles in the 175 plus grains to have enough poop to knock things down.

Hope this helps.
Tank

 

[Kentuckymilitia-93]

For the 30-06 im looking at federal vital shok 180 grain with trophy bonded tip longest shot ill be taking is 500 yards it gives me a ballistics chart out to 500 yards is this worth trusting? It says that this particular round will drop 8.4" at 300, -23.9 at 400 and 47.7 at 500 this sound right to you experienced LRH's?

gun)

 

[roninflag]

shoot some groups at 500 yards with the 270 and 30-06

 

[fmajor]

Hey KM-93

First things first: Find a *bullet* or 2 or 3 w/a good reputation (eg LilTank's list) and buy a box cartridges of each. Don't blast 'em all in one day, but take your time slowly over a couple of days at the range to see how they perform in *your* gun.

This is because your barrel/chamber will prefer one over all the others - kinda like my kids choosing breakfast cereal - they all do the job, but Cocoa Puffs are my boys 1st choice every time. In factory loads, for some reason i've always had good results from Federal regardless of what i was choosing and for whichever firearm i was using, but YMMV.

It'd be best if you could buy 'em locally. This is for when you find the one brand that really sticks 'em together nice and tight you can go back and buy every box they have with the same (and this is important) *LOT NUMBER*. With the big manufacturers, i think there is less variability so it's not as critical, but still important.

After you've bought 10 or 20 boxes, return to the range and set up groups comprised of 3 or 4 or 5 cartridges and establish your 100 yd "zero". Make sure your windage is dead-center at 100yds so you can next concentrate on your elevation to learn *true* trajectory in *your* rifle and then forget what all the nice, glossy ballistics tables talk about (OK, i'm partially kidding there...). Then shoot at 200, 300, and on out to your *likely* max distance and become profoundly comfortable shooting each distance.

You probably don't do this, (but i initially did!!!), but try getting used to adjusting your optic for distance and not using holdover unless you have mil dots which can be very convenient for this IF you know their corresponding distance ratio's. Otherwise holdover can work but, imho, it's better to know your trajectory and corresponding optical adjustments (given that your optic has a high level of repeatability).

I hope this is helpful, not too much, and certainly *not* condescending - i don't mean it to be!

frank

 

[Kentuckymilitia-93]

picked up the federal vital-shok 180 grain i listed earlier and at 400 im shooting 5 rounds in a group size of 2x2 and at 600 yards 5 rounds in a group size if 5x4, using kestrel and a ballistics calcultor though. Zeroed at 200.gun)

And fmajor i got 10 boxes all in the same lot number. You broke my bank account lol.

 

[happylilcuss]

Dont overlook the winchester xp3 or the accubond ammo. We have had unbelievable success with this ammo. Especially the xp3. If you can find a box of the winchester fail safe I actually prefer them over the others. I know most people dont like the winchester ammo but I have been very very impressed with it.

 

[fmajor]

Ohhh - sorry about the broken bank account.... However, when you're knocking down those deer you'll save $$$ at the grocery store. Just remember to put that $$$ back in the bank instead of spending it on beer celebrating your successes!

Congrats on your find though - it can be very trying to get highly accurate "off-the-shelf" loads for a particular rifle. However, all good things in time and your ability to shoot long-range will do nothing but improve as you perfect your basic marksmanship skills.

 

[nothenpersonal]

picked up the federal vital-shok 180 grain i listed earlier and at 400 im shooting 5 rounds in a group size of 2x2 and at 600 yards 5 rounds in a group size if 5x4, using kestrel and a ballistics calcultor though. Zeroed at 200.gun)

And fmajor i got 10 boxes all in the same lot number. You broke my bank account lol.

Have you ever tried the federal fusion bullets? 165 grain, They shoot like a monster in my 308 and my 300, and they will shoot out too an easy yardage of 600 even with my 20 inch barrel. .

 

[MontanaRifleman]

picked up the federal vital-shok 180 grain i listed earlier and at 400 im shooting 5 rounds in a group size of 2x2 and at 600 yards 5 rounds in a group size if 5x4, using kestrel and a ballistics calcultor though. Zeroed at 200.gun)

And fmajor i got 10 boxes all in the same lot number. You broke my bank account lol.

I'm guessing you shot these groups with your Savage and deerfield scopes? And 2x2 means 2 inches by 2 inches? If so, that's 1/2 MOA accuracy out to 400 yds and better to 600 yds, and you're doing as good as me with my Sendero's with Nightforce scope and carefuly handloaded ammo. I would say you're good to go... Time to move up to the next level

Mark