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.