Best Factory Ammo for L579?

[mathp]

I have an L579 (No. 926xx Forester on Barrel, Sako 243 on top of barrel just past stock) that I inherited from my father. I have been shooting Hornady Custom 100 gr BTSP and think the accuracy or consistency could be better.

What factory ammo do you guys use in this rifles for Whitetail and how accurate are they? It will save me a lot of $ trying to shoot every bullet out there!

Thanks,

 

[stonecreek]

There is no way to tell which factory ammunition will perform best in a given rifle. The .243 is a particularly difficult example.

Due to widespread popularity of the .243 and it having been chambered by about every manufacturer on Earth, some of which seemed to have a hard time following SAAMI specs, .243 ammunition tends to be woefully underloaded -- and underpowered ammunition usually tends not to be particularly accurate. Most 100 grain factory loads I have chronographed run in the 2700 fps range when the original specs called for 3050 fps.

A couple of manufacturers, Hornady among them, produce "extra velocity" ammunition which comes closer to the original factory specs (and is generally loaded with a full case of slower powder, making it typically more consistent in velocity and accuracy). You might try one of those loads, but you'll pay a premium price for the privilege. Depending on what you wish to accomplish, plain old Remchester PowerLocts may do about as well as any.

By the way, what kind of accuracy are you getting currently?

Incidentally, I don't mean to indict all factory ammunition as inferior. I bought a Sako L57 .244 a little while back and got six boxes of Remington 6mm (new designation for the .244) with it. The performance of this ammunition, both in terms of chronographed velocity and accuracy would be hard to beat, and since I have six boxes of it I haven't even bothered to handload any ammunition for my .244. The same is true of a Browning .270 Auto in which Remington factory 130 grain ammunition yields excellent performance.

 

[misako50]

Mathp- I recently got into a "sale" on some Winchester factory ammo that is called Supreme Elite. The bullets are a polycarb tipped Nosler (I believe) and are 95 grains. These shot lights out in both a Forester and a Finnwolf. Both rifles are pre's and have the same twist. These are "Lubalox" coated bullets. I wouldn't like to shoot these for a great number of years as they are very pricey if you can find them at all. Retail is around $40 a box. FWIW- I weigh my bullets when I reload and find great discrepancy in some of the bullet brands that "were" old stand-bys but are very popular now, as well. I find the older bullet lots I have are more consistent in weight by far than the newer bullets.-Misako

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Like Stone said, there is no way to predict what ammo your rifle will like the best. Some rifles will shoot great with the cheaper stuff & some will like the premium stuff. The only way to find out is to shoot it. That's why reloading your own ammo is a much better & CHEAPER way to go. Plus, you can make better ammo than you can buy. If you only shoot a few rounds a year just buy some and try it. Once you find the stuff it likes your costs will be minimal.