A day at the range with my 270. (Factory ammo only)

[CarpetBagger]

Got my new VX-III mounted up on my stock 270 Remington 700 SPS Stainless with no modsand took off to the range to see how good some factory ammo would treat it. Gun season coming up and i have been collecting some factory brands toexperiment within my 270 before the WV opener in just 2 weeks!!!

I had a box of Remington Core-Lokt PSP
A box of Federal Powershock
A box of Winchester Super X
A box of Hornaday SP
A box of Federal Fusion
Box of Federal Premium Nosler Partition
All in 130gr

Results:
I sighted in the rifle with the Reminton Core-Lokt cause it was the cheapest out of all the ammo i had. Once I had it dialed in at 50yrdsI moved it out to 100. The Core-Lokt at 100yrds had about a 3in group. Switched the the Super x and got a consistant 2.5in group. Federal Powershock actually shot low at 100. Nosler Partition had about a 2" grouping. ThenI shot the 130 SP by Hornaday. I achieved a grouping of less than 1in at 100yrds 1.4" high. Experiment over! I didnt even get into the box of Federal Fusions. I was pretty satisified since the Hornaday SP only cost about $20 per box. I really cannot see any reason to use reloads in this gun since the only reason i was getting any movement in my shots was probaly more my fault than the gun. Very very happy hunter right now.

Nice thing is I have 3 boxes of Hornaday SP too...that should hold me over for quite sometime.

[doubleA]

Good to hear that CarpetBagger. I wish that more folks did the same to actually see how different factory loads can shoot. In some cases the premiums are out done my a cheaper round. It comes own to what your particular rifle likes to digest and you found the Hornady to be the best in your case.

[Pawildman]

You may want to check those results again just to prove that is a uniform, repeatable result with your gun. If it is, I'd check the lot number of the ammo and be sure to get enough of that lot number to last you a long time...
Good luck, and good shooting, too!!

[CarpetBagger]

Yea after some let downs with other ammo in the past im sold on the hornaday bullets for this particular rifle. You really do have to spend some time and money on looking at factory loads to see what you will get. All of the bullets i shot would kill dont get me wrong, but if you want to take a 200 yrd shot its nice to know you are hitting perfectly to do so. I really love this rifle and it has become my primary firearm for whitetails, i just got alot more confident in this with the grouping. Point and shoot with no hesitation on where your bullet might fly is a great advantage when you line up on a trophy...Ive made my share of poor shots that killed and just dont want to make too many. You owe the animal the respect of a clean quick kill.

[ShaggyPA]

Thanks for posting CarpetBagger. I'm thinking of picking up that same rifle with a Leupold VX-II.

[CarpetBagger]

Shaggy, Very honestly I was wishing i had bought the Tikka 270. I was just alot more familiar with the Remat the time and decided to go withwhat i knew. The rem is very nice no frills, light, and fits perfectly in my hands. Every gunsmith knows how to work on a Model 700 if needed. The Tikka is pretty much a sako right out of the box with sub moa accuracy. My friend has one in 300Win Mag and its a sweet shooting cannon. WhenI get a new 300 win mag or 300 wsm im going to get the Tikka.

Remington 700 is the Chevrolet of hunting rifles operates great, has a decent action, and puts meat on the table.This is by farthe best groupingI have ever got from a stock rifle with factory loads.

I was going to buy a Zeiss Conquest scope for this gun too, but Leupold has been so great to me in the past with customer service that i vouched for the VX-III and it is awesome.

Very happy with this 270 rifle. Ive already put 4 deer down with it with 4 core-lokt 130shells beforeI upgraded the scope and tried the different loads...now it just gets easier.

[kelbro]

Your experiment is only valid if you shot one shot at a time of each type in a round-robin fashion.Think about it, maybe your barrel just got 'broken in' or it shoots better fouled or after it has warmed up. I'm not just speculating here, I have seen this too many times.

I would bet a dollar to a donut that if you really cleaned that barrel and tried it again in reverse order, the results would be different.

[bronko22000]

Kelbro has a very valid point. I've done the same thing with my handloads. Have a group that is shooting good the go out the next time and shoot some more of it and it isn't so good. Take out the ones that didn't shoot so well the last time and they are punching ragged holes.
I would try what he suggest as long as you have the ammo. You can set up one of them Remington targets with the center target and 4 corner targets.
Have a piece of paper on the bench so you know what ammo to shoot at what target and randomly select cartridges and shoot them at the appropriate spot. This should give each load an equal opportunity to prove itself. And will definately tell you which one is the most accurate. I would say a minimum of 5 shot with each load. (10 would even be better).
BTW, I don't doubt the 270 as an excellent round. I have one that was my 'go to' rifle for the past 40 years. I've taken game from literally point blank to way out there without any difficulty.

[TreednNC]

my 700 loves the Fusions

[CarpetBagger]

Kelbro, Im glad your brought that up...When i came home I cleaned the gun with very limited residue on the pads (i only took about 20 shots in my previous day) Monday I went back to the range. This time i brought the cleaning kit to the range....I started with the fusions now. 1st one flew a little high, 2nd one settled in. 2" groups at 100 shot 5 of them. Swabbed the barrel let it cool down put in the Winchester Super X shot 5 of them 2.5in groups at 100. Cleaned and next load, Hornaday SP probaly ended up about 1.25" on the furthest apart from one another.

Dont get me wrong...all of these would kill, but ill stick to the one that gives me the tightest groups.