Absent in Market Place - Vol 2

[WesternMagHunter]

Ran into a great deal right before elk season here in Big Sky country. Sportsman's Warehouse had the Weatherby Meat Eater special edition on sale in both 300 Weatherby and 300 Win Mag. Having a 300 Bee I thought the 300 Win Mag would be a great choice. Got this beauty home and tested it with some cheap off brand ammo and it shot 1.5" groups fairly easy. So, I though with a week to go before the season opener I better find some higher grade ammo and try it. We have several great retailers in my area and I was hoping to find a box or two of Nosler 300 Win Mag in 180 AB. I went to four retailers and found one box! Back to the range for more testing and I was totally let down with the Nosler factory loads. My groupings went from 1.5" to almost 2.0 inches. Too, these were the most expensive factory ammo on the shelf at $89 dollars, I was expecting a lot more for the money. Disgusted, I decided to perform an experiment. I tore down the remaining 17 cartridges and I found that the powder charge (a flake powder) varied 2 grains and upon close examination the bullets looked like the blems that I purchase from the second hand store. I felt like I had been taken. Next day I went with the wife to the local super Wally and I went the hunting section and there on the shelf was 2 boxes of Federal 300 Win Mag in power shock for $35.00 per box. I thought maybe this might be step two in my testing. Back to the range and I was positively surprised. Now my groups were down to .75" and I felt this was good enough for my hunt. Curious, I tore down the remaining 17 cartridges and was amazed that the powder charges were within .2 grains (powder charge made me think this might be RL 22), COAL was within .001 and no blems on the bullets. Great factory ammo for the price. First and foremost I will always be a reloader who looks to improve on what exists. However, this experience has shown me that the most expensive box on the shelf can easily be outdone by something for a lot less. Hopefully, the chosen ammo will aid in making a successful hunt, and if so I will post pics.

Best,
Western Mag Hunter

 

[xphunter]

I hope Nosler picks up their game between not putting out much, High Cost, plus some quality control issues I have heard from others.
That being said, each barrel is unique to what it likes, versus does not like.

I am not justifying/defending the ammo you got from Nosler in anyway, I am just saying that another rifle may shoot that same ammo great, in spite of it's inconsistency's.

I have a total custom rear-grip 6.5-06 specialty pistol.
Built by Darrell Holland. Krieger barrel.
Darrell and I would be competing as a team, in a LR 3-day roving tactical match that same year.
That barrel hated every match bullet (various powders) I ran through it (including one custom bullet), till I tried the 140 Hornady A-Max.
Then it went to drilling holes at short and LR.
We took 2nd place. I did the LR shooting with my specialty pistol and Darrell shot an AR for the Mid-Range targets. We both shot traditional handguns for the pistol targets, which went out to 50 yards.