Factory Loads vs Hand Loads

[roysclockgun]

OldMan wrote : "Of all the guns I now own, I think the 22 rimfires are the only thing that has ever seen a factory cartridge."

Same for my battery of firearms. Recently I hand loaded some 150gr. 30-06 cartridges for an acquaintence and in partial trade, he gave me forty rounds of new, factory Rem. 30-06 with 180gr. Cor-Lokt bullets. I pulled all the bullets. Chamfered the mouth of all cases, inside and out. Checked the weight of the propellant to assure that all were the same and reloaded the bullets to be just off the lands of my rifle. Just could no abide shooting tailor mades!
Steven A.

 

[hubcap]

Actually, buying factory Win. Rem. or Fed. ammo on occasion can give you interesting insight on factory velocities in your rifle. I will use this type of data for reference only and a few laughs. Most of the time factory ammo is below there advertised velocity. But the info can give the handloader a base line velocity to shoot for. Sometimes its not easy to match factory velocities. Factory 30:30 170 rem coreloks run 2320 fps in my marlin 336. It took me some time to find a load that would match that. Hornady FTX 160 ammo is another one that is a challenge to actually match. So once in a while I find its not a bad idea to check on the factory stuff. The info can be usefull. I shoot large caliber rifle once a week , year around. I still think I,m probably saving a buck or two making my own. Wow, some of the premium ammo at the store is 40 to 50 bucks a box. That ain,t gonna get for me. :roll:

 

[caribouhunter]

i started reloading a year ago for economy reason, and because i was not satisfied from factory offering in the 300 ultramag.
i ended up getting 3 times the accuracy ( .5" instead of 1.5 at best)
for 30$ a box of 20 instead of 70$
for my wife's 260 it's 14$ instead of 30$
yes i shoot a bit more but i still save a lot. probably due to the calibers.
a 30-06 shooter would save less.
i bought the lee anniversary kit with friends. it's mounted on a moveable
bench. so i reload what i need for a good while and lend them the kit when they need it so they can do the same. it was about 120$ each
so it's already been paid for.

 

[caribouhunter]

i started reloading a year ago for economy reason, and because i was not satisfied from factory offering in the 300 ultramag.
i ended up getting 3 times the accuracy ( .5" instead of 1.5 at best)
for 30$ a box of 20 instead of 70$
for my wife's 260 it's 14$ instead of 30$
yes i shoot a bit more but i still save a lot. probably due to the calibers.
a 30-06 shooter would save less.
i bought the lee anniversary kit with friends. it's mounted on a moveable
bench. so i reload what i need for a good while and lend them the kit when they need it so they can do the same. it was about 120$ each
so it's already been paid for.