Originally Posted By: woodguruI went a bit extreme trying a ridiculous number of HMR's, I was buying premium quality rifles and scoping them, then trying as many as 14 types of ammo in them at the range to identify which one each rifle shot best....
The results were way different than I'd have expected. While many of the rifles like an Anschutz 1517MPR w/Elite 4200 8-32x were capable of 1/2 to 1/4 inch groups with the ammo they liked best, the ammo the Anschutz didn't like would be an inch and a half at best and 20gr FMJ would be no better than almost three inch groups.
Each rifle has ammo it shoots best with, that said the Winchester and Remington premium rounds shot well out of everything and best in many. The Anschutz if using it's favorite half inch cartridge was deadly on ground squirrels out to 200 yards, but if I used ammo that grouped no better than an inch and a half at 100 yards I'd miss half the shots out beyond a hundred and fifty yards. It was the ammo missing, not me or the rifle.
Many people don't seem to care about beyond a hundred yards pinpoint accuracy, but if you do you need to figure out what shoots best and buy that several boxes or even bricks at a time.
^^This
Every rifle is different. My 17 HMR like the 17gr Vmax from Hornady. Shoots sub MOA at 100 yards, and it opens up to about 3-4 inches at 200 yards, on a clear day with no wind. Not that I'd use it that far, it's mostly a 50-100 yard gun, maybe 120 or so at most. But it still hits the target out to 200 yards consistently if needed.
