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"Choice" Ammo

YoungGun

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
657
Location
Bozeman
I tried a box of Choice Ammunition in 7mm Remington Magnum, loaded with 168gr Berger VLDs since I haven't found time to do any reloading this summer, and HSM's Trophy Gold load with the VLDs is basically a hybrid unicorn/sasquatch as far as rarity goes right now (This is not a thread for debating VLD's versus other rounds- I know they can be polarizing, but they go where I want them, and I've never lost a critter when using them or had meat destruction issues).

The $85/box price tag was and is, a hard pill to swallow, but I figured I'd give them a go since they advertise themselves as producing premium "handloaded" ammunition, plus it supports a Montana business with them being based out of Victor, much like HSM being in Stevensville.

My rifle is a Tikka T3 Superlite, and I typically shoot 3 shot groups, as the thin barrel heats up pretty darn fast, but I figured a 5 shot group was only fair to really test the ammo. With factory HSMs, my rifle will group around .6 MOA for 3 shots, and maintains under 1 MOA for 5 shots, but certainly spreads out on the last shot. The rifle is pretty omnivorous and shoots pretty much any factory ammo of decent quality around .75 MOA or better as long as I do my part.

I shot the Choice loads through a chronograph and with the Tikka's 24.5" barrel, got average velocities of 2903, with an extreme spread was 37fps (2883 on the low end, 2920 on the high end). For reference, the HSM loads in the past averaged 2980fps with about ~20fps on the extreme spread, depending on the box.

My rifle is zeroed to be 3" high at 150 yards with my loads, so the shots being where they are height-wise was expected. Point of aim was the upper right corner of the brown square. My first three shots were all touching, although not cloverleafed. The fourth shot hung in there, going a touch low, and the fifth was about .75" left of the fourth shot. Could have been me, could be the barrel heating up to some degree. All 5 shots were taken in a matter of 2 minutes, and I was shooting in a gravel pit with direct sun, so the barrel was hot as hell by the fifth shot. Measuring the groups, my first four shots were .68", and with the fifth thrown in, the group spreads to 1.35".

Thoughts-
-I can't believe how expensive ammo has gotten: I need to start reloading, as it's worth the time for the money I'd save alone, since I have the components on hand.
-Extreme Spread could be better.
-The Choice loads have the Berger seated a bit deeper than the HSM loads. I didn't measurable, but it's noticeable. From my experience, my Tikka prefers less jump, so this could be better for my uses IMO.
-I'll give Choice credit for having ammo in stock, as well as loading some more "obscure" factory offerings, like .223 and .243 WSSM, .280 AI, .264 Winchester etc.
-I probably won't buy another box, but I don't regret trying it. I've got 15 leftover, and won't have any issue using them for hunting at reasonable ranges.

Choice 168 Berger.jpg
 
Check out copper creek cartridge, bought some of their reloading stuff but their hand loaded ammo is about $15 cheaper. Totally agree ammo prices have gone crazy.
 
Components prices are equally nuts.

Looks like those will do the job out to 500 yards if you can do your job and environment cooperates. A couple of big ifs.
 
As a quick aside, this is an example of a load my rifle does NOT like. Factory load with Swift Sciroccos at 100 yards. Good bullet as a component, and I wouldn't hesitate to load them myself, but my guess is the seating depth is yucky to the Tikka.
Remington w Swift Scirocco.jpg

Side story- I had a college buddy who wanted to get in to hunting, and bought a rifle which I helped him dial in prior to the season using some Core-lokts or the like. My buddy printed 1-1.25" groups all day with it, and set a hard limit to 200 yards for his first hunt, which was responsible for his experience and what not. So I go to take him out, and we get on a 150 class whitetail. 150 yards, shooting prone, should be easy money. We're going to be eating backstrap this weekend! First shot sails into Narnia. Second shot does the same. The buck is confused, but not as confused as me. Buck fever? Loose scope? The buck is moving now, and when he stops at 160 for one last shot, clean miss again. The hunt is over, and I start trouble shooting. Long story short, the buddy had found a box of .270 ammo from his Grandpa and decided to use that for his first hunt. I couldn't believe there was that big of difference, but it hardly grouped on a pizza box at 100 yards. Thankfully, the only wounds that day were to my buddy's spirit, and not the buck. Good lesson, and I think about that a lot when I hear arguments for certain cartridges being better because you can find a box of ammo anywhere on the planet for them. Convenient, yes, but I'm sure there are people who blindly use whatever they get their hands on without much thought.
Combine the difficulty of finding ammo in the last two years, the price point of much of it, and the desire by many to shoot longer and longer, and I'm sure there are animals being wounded and maimed due to simple negligence and not knowing your rifle, your load, or your own limits with the two. Suffice it to say that I have 17 rounds that will be finding their way to a friend with a 7mm Mag for them to try, as these don't even make it into the "coyote" bin. Hopefully they shoot better for them.

Meanwhile, the same morning, same rifle, same conditions- just shooting a load that the rifle found much more preferable.

Federal w Berger Hunter Hybrid.jpg
 
I read a deal by a whaco years ago about sighting in his rifle. he goes out every day and fires one shot at a target. He figured that one shot was all he needed! I'm actually a three shot tester. I doubt many animals are gonna give me more than one shot but my magazine hold three!
 

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