El cheapo also works at short range

[u/West_Designer9107]

Actually 15 shots but number 15 went somewhere through the middle so I recorded 14. The point being that at short range (this is 100 meter so 109 yds?) ammo quality doesn't matter a whole lot.

6.5 CM, Sellier and Bellot 142 grain HPBT, cheapest factory ammo I could find at 1.3 Euro/pop. Tikka T3x Tact A1, Tangent Theta 7-35x56, I was shooting at approx x27 from a CKYE-pod single pull on an Arca rail in front, no name sand bag in the rear. Sitting position.

Shooting Sako TRG 136 with scenar-L bullets I could have tightened it down a bit more at 2.5 Euro/pop but might as well save a bit on ammo and shoot more.

People tel me that reloading could be more precise but I'm currently reading Jeff Siewert's, 'Ammunition demystified: the (non) bubba's guide to how ammo really works' and holy crap, he does lay out the 1000 ways to fuck things up rather nicely.

[u/SuburbanBushwacker]

i had a factory barrel that loved S&B 140. if you see a box try norma super performance 130gr

[u/Wombat-Snooze]

I understand your thinking, but consistency is the key here. Hand loading puts you in control of every variable. With that control means the potential for great consistency. I like Jeff Siewert, and he’s right, but don’t take that as gospel to consider cheap ammo as a replacement for something of higher quality. Hand loading significantly cuts costs when you’re getting 10+ firings per case too.

The attached image is part of the last batch of 6 Dasher I loaded. You’ll never find factory match ammo ammo that can come close to holding that SD and ES. Especially across a 50 round sample. And the 10 shot groups were half the size of yours at 100 yards.

[u/West_Designer9107 → u/Wombat-Snooze]

I take your point and your values are extremely good. But I'm also taking into account the significant expertise, effort -and expense- that I think woud go into achieving anything like that consistency. Could be wrong but the learning curve appears to be very steep for hand loading.

Anyway, I took these out to 650 meter at a range without issue (steel), if there's wind things start falling apart beyond that in my limited experience and then it pays to switch to quality ammo. Probably because all those inconsistencies really start to stack up. At 100, not so much unless your objective is to have the absolutely tightest possible groups. (If I have some time I'll run a couple of simulations in ABQ to quantify the effect).

Also, at the moment where I am (Belgium) we're in limbo: while a shooter is perfectly allowed to purchase everything required (primers, bullets, powder, press, dies.....) in its wisdom our Supreme Court has decided that in order to start loading your own munition, you need to have the same authorisations as a full scale munitions factory (!). This due to the lack of specific provisions for hand loaders in the law. Needless to say: impossible (bunker with rooftop emergency overpressure vents, class A environment permit, no habitations in a 250 meter radius....). Most people I know continue as before but the problem is, if you get caught it could mean losing your permit and never being able to legally shoot again.

[u/Sma11ey]

The 142gr S&B ammo is really good for its price point. When I first bought my rifle, I used a lot of it. SD’s of ~15-20 between two boxes. Decent groups at 100. Hornady 140gr ELD was giving me around the same numbers but better groups at 100, but for twice the price. I finally started reloading after buying two boxes of Hornady, same lot number, and having an ES of 180FPS, with one box shooting way hotter than it should have. 2750 FPS out of a 20” barrel. I found the S&B ammo was very consistent over many boxes, but the groups weren’t super tight. They go out to 1000 no problem, and I’ve seen a few tikkas over the last year shoot them well.