I had originally posted this question in the equipment forum. I did not recieve any remarks and so I am posting it here to see if this may a more appropriate forum.
My team recently purchased 3000 rounds of Hornady 168 grain Amax Tap replacing our dwindling supply of 168 grain Federal Sierra match grade BTHP. All of us are finding a marked difference in reliability and accuracy compared to the Federal Sierra. We have had two training days since buying the new ammo and the Hornady is not punching the same ragged hole as the Federal did. The round also seems to burn hotter and produce more powder fouling that the Federal. We are cleaning our guns after about ten rounds and the powder fouling is greater than with the Federal. We still have some of the old Federal and can put three rounds touching at 100, clean the rifle and then have the Hornady average a minute.
I was told the Hornady was a better round than the Federal due to the documented over penetration of the Federal. The documentation we looked at showed snipers shots that went through the target and then continued through walls and cars and other things that could have seriously injured hostages or bystanders. We looked at both the Hornady and the Blackhills and decided in the end to try the Hornady.
I was trying to find out if anyone else has seen this kind of difference when switching ammo or could we have just picked the one bullet or lot # that does not like our rifles. We use Remington 700s in 308 in case that is an important fact in any responses. We are trying to decide what our next move should be as we have never made a purchase like this or encountered this as a problem. Some of our thoughts or options are if we should call and ask Hornady for another lot #, move to the 155 grain or accept that 1 minute of angle is the best you get from this type of ammo.
My team recently purchased 3000 rounds of Hornady 168 grain Amax Tap replacing our dwindling supply of 168 grain Federal Sierra match grade BTHP. All of us are finding a marked difference in reliability and accuracy compared to the Federal Sierra. We have had two training days since buying the new ammo and the Hornady is not punching the same ragged hole as the Federal did. The round also seems to burn hotter and produce more powder fouling that the Federal. We are cleaning our guns after about ten rounds and the powder fouling is greater than with the Federal. We still have some of the old Federal and can put three rounds touching at 100, clean the rifle and then have the Hornady average a minute.
I was told the Hornady was a better round than the Federal due to the documented over penetration of the Federal. The documentation we looked at showed snipers shots that went through the target and then continued through walls and cars and other things that could have seriously injured hostages or bystanders. We looked at both the Hornady and the Blackhills and decided in the end to try the Hornady.
I was trying to find out if anyone else has seen this kind of difference when switching ammo or could we have just picked the one bullet or lot # that does not like our rifles. We use Remington 700s in 308 in case that is an important fact in any responses. We are trying to decide what our next move should be as we have never made a purchase like this or encountered this as a problem. Some of our thoughts or options are if we should call and ask Hornady for another lot #, move to the 155 grain or accept that 1 minute of angle is the best you get from this type of ammo.