Answers to Federal amo and BOSS

[bigbuck270]

Last week I posted two questions one asking about BOSS and POI and the other about federal being worth the money. Here are the facts. Last Friday I went to the pit with my Browning .270 A- bolt. I set the BOSS to 6.0 the setting Browning recomended. I cheaped out and bought the cheap Winchester CXP2. They were half the price of the Federal Premium. After we sighted in the scope, we had a 3 round group that was touching and centered on the windage line. I traced around them with a dime and there was still clearence. I' m sure you are all saying " yea right" but I hate to admit I was just the witness. Mainehunt was the shooter and he will agree.

In summary, 1. I will never purchase Federal again. For me its not worth the money. 2. If you have a Browing with BOSS and it is loose or changes your POI will change dramatically. Thanks for the help!

[Danny45]

The BOSS is a great devise and it really helps with dialing in your groups, regardless of the ammo you buy. The fact that you didn' t have to fine tune the BOSS with the Winchester ammo is amazing. Usually, you have to fine tune it, and the factory recommendations are just that, recommended starting points.

Now, will your next box of Winchesters do so well? Chances are, no. You may have to tweak the BOSS settings to duplicate that group. Why? Because when a ammo manufacturer makes ammo, it will run a particular caliber/weight combo, then move on. When they come back to make more of that particular caliber/weight combo, they have to reset their machines. That' s why there is usually some difference between " lots" of ammo. Accuracy fanatics will find a round that their rifle likes, and purchase as much of it as they can, but only if the lot numbers match.

Here is the beauty of the BOSS. No matter what, you can dial the BOSS in to get the best groups with your ammo. It' s not as simple with rifles that don' t have a BOSS on them. Even with a BOSS, you may get ammo that your rifle just plain doesn' t like. The BOSS is not a solve all. It will improve your groups even with " bad" ammo, but maybe not to the point that you want. In other words, you start off shooting 6 inch groups, fine tune with the boss, and the best you can get is 1.5" groups. Not very good, but certainly better then 6 inches, right?

Now, to your question about Federal. Some ammo brands/models are more expensive than others due to their manufacturing process, or the bullets or other components they use. Federal is very good ammo. They take great care in the manufacturing process and try their best to duplicate each round, from lot to lot. Some other manufactures do the same thing with their premium ammo lines. Like Winchester Supreme, Remington Premier, etc. But, your rifle may, or may not like any of those, even with the BOSS.

Your chosen ammo should perform well. But if you notice that bullet performance is not what you wanted, then you' ll have no choice but to change ammo. If you select a manufacturer that uses premium bullets, like Nosler, Barnes, etc, you' ll pay more for it.

[mainehunt]

Hey Bigbuck270,
Thanks for the credit. That' s the best three shot group that I have ever fired. One problem though,
The gun is your' s and not mine

By the way, I want to put my dial calipers on that group, judging by the 1/4" graphing on the target, I think the group is less than 3/8" center-center.
The sweet trigger pull surely helped
MH

[Superpig]

The reason for purchasing Premium ammo from any manufacturer is to match the correct bullet to the game you are hunting. If you are only hunting whitetail or mule deer just about any factory loading will do the trick if you choose an appropriate bullet weight. Premium ammo loaded with controlled expansion bullets is usually not the most accurate ammo for any particular firearm. If your rifle is as accurate as stated with the Winchester ammo, I would stick with it for deer. If you move up to elk or moose I would spend the extra money for a Premium loading with a controlled expansion bullet. Do not turn away from premium ammo because you have had good accuracy success on paper. At least wait until you have tried it and had good results on the game animal you are hunting.

[mainehunt]

Up here in Maine, there hhave been thousands of Moose killed with " cheap" factory ammo bullets. Doesn' t take a great bullet to kill a moose. They stand and look at you while standing in the road half the time.