DennisS wrote:
OK, Gene, Frank, I'm only an occasional shooter. I've had no experience with anything bigger than .22 long rifle when it comes to rifles. So, no, I don't plan on doing any reloading although a neighbor does reload so perhaps we might make a deal on supplies.
Beyond that, again, I have no familiarity with mfr's to know the value and, if it's an issue, reliability of their ammunition. So I wonder if you or anyone else has an opinion of these offerings -
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?dimensionids=15902The only ones I don't know anything about are the Prvi Partizan, Ultra-Max, and Ten-X.
The others are all well known brands. Buffalo bore specializes in hi-power ammo, as you can see from the advertised ballistics (and the price), and will have noticeably harsher recoil. That extra power could cause some issues with the rifle if you shoot a lot of it or it's an older gun. I'd suggest using something milder, such as the Federal, or Hornady. Remington has a reputation of being somewhat dirty - leaves a lot of powder residue in the bore and action.
Barnes is a lead free bullet (solid copper). Some folks like it, some don't. Made primarily for environmentalists in CA.
Wolf makes a lot of very popular match ammo for competition shooters.
Winchester has been making ammo for a very long time and know what they're doing, likewise Federal who supplies a great deal of ammo to the military.
Now, here's what you need to decide: What will be your expected range, and what game will you be hunting? You need to know that in order to pick an appropriate cartridge and bullet combination based on internal, external and terminal ballistics. Almost an infinite number of choices there. Your rifle may
like a certain brand, bullet configuration, muzzle velocity, etc. better than others. Scoop up as much info as you can about each brand, etc. you are considering and narrow the field down as much as you can, say the top 3. Then buy a box of each and try them out.
Here's some video's you should watch before you plunk down your money. Rex is primarily focused on extreme long range shooting (which you won't be), but much of his advice pertains to any rifle. Start with the first episode and work your way thru. You can skip most of them, but should watch any that pertain to cartridge selection and ballistics. Most are about 30min long, but pretty easy to watch. Take a few notes, some of the vids get pretty technical.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... vDCIcEPxUnA word on reloading. Most reloaders only reload for their weapons for a couple of good reasons. One is a liability issue, for them if a reload blows up your gun, the other is that they typically tweak their rounds for a specific purpose and gun. Your friend may or may not consent to reload some for you, but I'd bet he wouldn't.
PS: Many mfgs now have simple on-line ballistics calculators that will display the typical trajectory of various cartidge/bullet combinations based on your selections. These will vary some depending on your rifle, etc. Here's one from Winchester.
http://ballisticscalculator.winchester.com/