Super-Duper-Whamo-Ammo

langenc, when you consider airfare and license fees for an elephant, plus the cost of the guide, the ammo costs are insignificant. :)
 
My only use of store bought super premium ammo was Federal Gold Match 168 grain HPBT for my M1 Garand, because I didn't want to fire hunting ammo through it and hadn't bought dies yet. It grouped into an inch at 100 yards and shortly thereafter killed a doe. I knew it wasn't a hunting bullet, so I eventually came up with a handload using a Sierra 165 grain HPBT Gameking that also shoots into an inch, and haven't spent another dime on factory hunting ammo since.
I think the essence of the question is in the original post. Too many people chasing after push-button expertise, and willing to spend money to avoid the necessary time required to acquire any actual skill in the process.
 
Ive bought a bunch of factory stuff recently for my '06. i generally get what is cheapest. I have found that the federal fusion shoots great, lots tighter than the hornady custom shop box i bought(1/2 off cause it was missing 5 rounds) and the hornady is normally 2x the price.
 
The original idea behind this post was to find out how many deer hunters use, or have tried Super-Duper ammo. Apparently not too many.

As far as hunting elephants or cape buffalo there's not much of that around here. The decoys are too large to fit in a pirouge.

Hunting and shooting skills come with time and practice, not with how much your ammo costs.

In this age of instant gratification I feel that this Super-Duper stuff is just good salesmanship. It's just another way to get the consumers money.

If you reload, you know that you can make ammo superior to this stuff.... If you don't, you may purchase it hoping for a edge that may not exist.

Truly, like everything else in this world, Caveat Emptor.
 
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I use to reload for my 2 rifles some years back but with hunting now you have less rifle and more time with a bow, then black powder and shotguns and rifles are short changed in many states now. I had one rifle rebarreled 8 years ago and used hornady's heavy mag 139gr sst ammo for break in. Turns out it shot 2" 400 yard groups, with the new 28" kreiger barrel velocites where just over 3400 fsp. Best of both worlds with factory ammo. Went back and bought 4 boxes more and just bought 5 box's of the newest loads. At a range the new ammo shoots so close to the old it just down matter. Just killed off the last of the old hornady stuff. Even my 308 with georgia arms 125gr bt at 3000f.p.s. or darn close nothing seems to have changed there for 14 years. Buy some and it also prints just as well with out any scope ajustments. I don't shoot my rifles much anymore and never had the groups and f.p.s. out of reloads i get out of these to factory loads. Now if i shot alot??
 
I just recently started reloading. But for 20 years used the off the shelf federals from Walmart at $15/box.

Guess what? The deer never knew.
 
I'm not a fan of super duper ammo. I really see no need. Last fall I took my elk rifle (Model 70 270 win, 150 Hornady pushed by 50 grns of 4350) not a hot load but I dont like if for deer. My grandaughter had my 257 roberts. I shot a doe with the 270 and above load, neck shot that damn near took its head off. All with cheepie components. I dont think it would have been any deader with barnes or noslers.

As far as my heavy guns. I shoot cast bullets in my 416 Rigby and 458 Win. I make my own jacketed bullets for my 375 H&H.

I dont believe you need fancy high price bullets, you can always shoot even the big guns cheaply.

But hey, to each his own. Somebody is buying them.
 
How do you buy a custom bullet for a rifle it never been shot thru? Just myself I think a truly custom bullet is one you made up yourself for just that rifle. The best brass for it, the best working pimer for it, the best working powder for it,and the best bullet for what your going to use it for. Of course the best and correct c.o.l. for the bullet your using or the one that gives you the best groups. The cost of that .416 ammo is alot cheaper than going to Africa to shoot a elephant. But it sure was fun the play around with, and blow a 350 pound black bear over the bait pile. In the base of neck, and out the rear quarter, without to much of a mess.
 
First, I don't understand why someone would have someone else sight in there rifle. Takes away from the experience. Why don't they just give you the rifle and have you kill the deer for them too. Something tells me they don't skin the deer either:rolleyes:
As for the top shelf ammo, I played with that years ago. The green and yellow box stuff works good for me.
 
Why would anyone have someone else sight in their rifle? The answer is fairly simple. They doubt their ability to do so properly. In most cases this doubt is never openly stated, but in a few it is. So they let someone who is more skilled get their rifle shooting in the black.

It's been my experience that many hunters can't hold a 4 inch group at 100 yards from a rest. Many shoot worse than this. The reasons for this lack of ability are many, sight picture, trigger control, lack of practice and on and on. They're looking for an edge. Letting someone more skilled at shooting zero their rifle may give them that edge.

Enter the Super-Duper-Whamo Ammo. The mythical ability of this ammo is widely touted on TV shows and in magazines. Ah ha, another edge!

I have an edge, or two.........Bang.......Instant gratification.........Well, maybe not......

You don't have to skin what you don't kill.
 
Why would anyone have someone else sight in their rifle? The answer is fairly simple. They doubt their ability to do so properly. In most cases this doubt is never openly stated, but in a few it is. So they let someone who is more skilled get their rifle shooting in the black.
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I would have to say that a person who cannot hit a target in a controlled environment, rested, etc, will have much greater difficulty doing so while confronted with unanticipated variables encountered in the field, and as such should be discouraged from walking afield with a firearm. It is a fool's mission for them to believe that any component "of superior quality" will give one any edge without having the basic skills required to actually hold the crosshairs on the black.
 
I have bought and hunted with premium factory ammo several times. The main reason I did was the ammo was discounted to the point it was about the cost of the bullets alone. The factory ammo accuracy with the same bullets I was reloading proved to be adequate. Maybe not quite as good as my loads but definitely good enough to do the job. i also do a fair amount of scope mounting and sighting in customers' rifles and for this I use the cheapest factory ammo I can buy. I wouldn't think of using my handloads in an unknown rifle. My liability would get dropped quicker than a hot rock. I've ceased to be concerned when a shooter leaves his rifle for me to sight in and doesn't even ask what type of ammo I used to sight it in. I started putting a hangtag on that tells what ammo, range, and suggests the owner testfire.
If a whiner returns for another such job, I require he provide the ammo he intends to use.
 
The original idea behind this post was to find out how many deer hunters use, or have tried Super-Duper ammo. Apparently not too many.
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When You say "Super Duper Whamo Ammo", are You meaning Premium or Magnum?

One thing I definitely did/do is spend the extra dollars on premium components. I prefer 110 gr. Barnes TTSX and 150 gr. Norma Oryx, and my stock of rifle bullets shows it (my entire stock of rifle bullets are .277" for .270 Win.). I have a few other brands and weight, but my time is short, so I'll post again later, a list of my entire stock of rifle bullets, to show You what I mean.
 
SDWA

I have purchased a box of several different types, some were as much $1.75 a round, I plan to see how they shoot out of my weapon then start reloading the best several until I find the Magic Formula.

As for the Zeroing, I don't know if I could, ethically speaking, give that gun to someone who can't shoot good enough to get it where they want it and allow them to fire it at a creature. Not any of us are perfect but that sounds like recipe for missed and wounded animals?

"Give a man a fish, teach a man to fish"
 
funnie this should come up the week i get my new rifle :) while at the gun store they tryed soo hard to sell me the super duper whamo ammo i ended geting a box of fedral a box of rem and a box of win in all the rifles i have sighted in i have never had a problame wirth the cheapo stuff all i do is find what holds tightest groups and work from the by deconstructing the 15 left in the box mesure all the powder indivdualy the in mass work out a avrage and start from there :D has allways worked for me i am not the worlds biggest reloader soo i dont go into the fully custom stuff close enuf is good enuf for me

cheers damo
 
I still find the ones I make the best. You can do so much with them. But like everyone is saying it does not matter if you cant shoot. That is why when I got my wife into deer hunting we done alot to practice, and still do. You can see the confidence in her. She knows only to take well placed shots, and knows if she does get good shot placement it's a dead deer. She knows that rifle inside and out. But you need to be able to hit what your aiming at, and be confident in your ability. There are know doubt some real good factory stuff being made, but it wont help you be a better shot.
 
I bought premium ammo for a rifle I was lent to hunt with. I was unfamiliar with it and wanted the benefit of higher quality.
I am getting involved with handloading and would use the "semi-premium" bullets like SST and BT because of their superior BC. I would use premiums like Scirocco Bonded, TSX, AccuBond, or InterBond were I using a minimal caliber for the task or were I hunting a tough or dangerous critter.
In my hanguns I've always used the premium stuff.
 
I ask the hunters

When I help out at the check stations, I often ask deer hunters what ammo their using. When they first came out, the Failsafe was pretty popular, then too same for the Nosler Ballistic Tip for reloaders, and the Win-moly equivalent, the Ballistic Silvertip.

With the jump in ammo prices, I'm seeing a lot of guys saying, "Remingtons from Walmart, plain old Winchesters, cheap Federals, etc" I believe prices are driving guys back to std bullets.

Very little brass on the ground at the public range near home, either.
 
Very little brass on the ground at the public range near home, either.
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I talk to people just about everywhere I go. A few months ago at the range, I spoke to an older guy who saw me scrounging brass. He told me that the government wants all range brass picked up and thrown away or destroyed...they don't want it reloaded. I CAN NOT tell You if his words were simply "hear-say" and not valid, or if it was right, but like You, BamaRanger, I have seen very little range brass. I HAVE, however, heard it "jingling" in the trashcans at the range...and I can NOT tell You that I haven't tumbled range brass that was obtained from said trashcans, either...:D

My stock of Barnes, in addition to all of the others, are in the list below. All are for .270 Winchester (.277"), as the venerable .270 Winchester cartridge is my "bread and butter"...

*11 boxes of 50 Barnes 110 gr. TTSX
*2 boxes of 20 Barnes 150 gr. MRX
*7 boxes of 50 Barnes 130 gr. XFB
*3 boxes of 50 Barnes 120 gr. Banded Solids
*3 boxes of 100 Norma 150 gr. Oryx
*2 boxes of 100 Sierra 90 gr. Varminter HP
*4 boxes of 100 Sierra 135 gr. MatchKing
*1 box of 100 Hornady 130 gr. Interbond
(Not all of these boxes are full, of course :D)

I "invested" my money this way when things were financially superior to the current times. The Barnes TTSX and Sierra Varminter have been the most accurate and not finicky.

Another piece of info, for anyone who may not know... The Barnes TTSX and TAC-TX are the exact same bullet, as well as the TSX and TAC-X. Same bullet, different label, different price.
 
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