Ammo manufacturers, does it matter?

mummel

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Im looking on ammoseek for .243 cartridges and dont know names like Fiocchi, Perfecta, Prvi Partizan, TR&Z, Seller & Bellot, Ten Ring etc.

How do these manufacturers compare to say Winchester, Federal or Hornady? Does it matter or is ammo ammo. Thanks.
 
I am a little suspect with unknown vendors in general. I mostly handload now for rifle but still buy for pistol and shotgun. I can say fiocchi is my go to pheasant shell and have also had decent experience with Fiocchi .223 vmax for prairie dogs. Haven’t heard of the other 3.
 
I've only ever even heard of Privi and Fiocchi. Most of the Privi and Fiocchi ammo I've seen is probably best used for plinking.
 
Fed, Hornady, Win - they actually design ammo with hunting in mind.. Maybe the others do too and I just don't know about it.

I've see some Win ammo that I really wouldn't shoot at an animal.
 
I think a book could be written based on that question alone, but in general..............
Ammo is ammo in that any factory produced 243 ammo should function in any rifle chambered in 243. The quality may vary widely between them though. I haven't fired factory ammo in a hunting rifle in 20 years but if it were me, I would stick to well known brands such as Remington, Winchester, Federal, Hornady, etc. Keep in mind that every rifle tends to favor a particular bullet type/weight combo relative to accuracy. Chances are you can buy a box of Remington Corelokt from walmart and have acceptable accuracy and a very capable hunting bullet. If time and budget allows, you should try multiple brands to find what shoots the best in whatever rifle you end up with.
 
If I have ever had to buy factory ammo I would buy it based on the bullet brand
 
Im looking on ammoseek for .243 cartridges and dont know names like Fiocchi, Perfecta, Prvi Partizan, TR&Z, Seller & Bellot, Ten Ring etc.

How do these manufacturers compare to say Winchester, Federal or Hornady? Does it matter or is ammo ammo. Thanks.

Fiocchi, PPU (prvi partizan) and sellier and bellot are all pretty common over here. I was just talking to a guy recently who uses ppu for hunting and showed me some retrieved projectiles from sambar. They honestly performed pretty well for such a cheap round!

It might be controversial here but I don't personally find the cheaper factory win, fed or hornady to be any more impressive over the aforementioned euro makers.

Then again I'm of the opinion that ammo is one of the cheapest parts of the hunt and the only thing that actually comes in contact with the animal so it's worthwhile to buy quality.

I believe i recall you saying you wanted to hunt elk possibly with your new rifle someday. If you're committed to the idea of a 243 I'd be buying good ammo.

So in short yes it does matter what you use, I would argue projectile choice can be more important than calibre at times.
 
So in short yes it does matter what you use, I would argue projectile choice can be more important than calibre at times.

100% agree, if I was buying factory ammo for hunting... and especially if I was going to be pushing into larger game these would be my two choices.

https://shop.nosler.com/nosler-ammu...-winchester-90-grain-lead-free-ammo-20ct.html
https://www.swiftbullets.com/pages/high-grade-ammunition

I found that I can get cheap ammo to group close to premium ammo and use that for target shooting and then only shoot premium for hunting. A box of 20 will last me at least 2 years.
 
PPU (prvi partizan) is of Serbian manufacture. I have some of their .25-06 and .270 Win cases and they seem to be ok. Did some looking online before buying and some say they are a tad softer than maybe Winchester or Remington cases. I expect that Lapua and Norma are top shelf. Got some Norma cases coming. Only factory ammo I've purchased in the last 30 years was some .243 stuff.

I did for chits n giggles order some Quality Cartridge cases with the 6.5-06 A Square headstamp just to have some.

6.5-06 https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/695?

.25-06 https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/12632
 
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These companies all make some pretty good cartridges. Fiocchi, S&B and PPU are probably among the top as far as quality. But I have only ever used most of these for general plinking and for my surplus rifles that I don't reload for. Most of these are manufactured in Europe, so it's easier to find cheaper "metric" cartridges from these companies.
As far as hunting, just stick with the standard Remington, Federal, Nosler, etc...
 
Federal Fusion or Federal Blue Box. Cheap and effective for factory ammo. I handload for my .243. TTSX or E-tips.
 
I've been using different brands and it was all the same. Frankly speaking, I think that it doesn't matter at all. I've been buying only expensive, branded ammo. I have tried a lot of them, and finally, it was all the same. I've been really disappointed, and since then I am buying ammo only from BulkMunitions. They have really good prices, free shipping, and a very wide choice of ammo for any type of guns. Really, if you're looking for some ammo, I would recommend this store, it's really nice and cheap. I am very satisfied with it.
 
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Go to all the gun store's in your area and see what is there. Probably Win, Rem and Fed in about every one of them. You'll also find some of that other stuff in a couple places. Stick to what you can find!
 

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