What’s the best factory ammunition and where do I get it? Long range 1000 yards. Not sure if they’re even calling a 1000 yards, long range anymore.
As for best, only trying different factory offerings in your gun will you know.
Lots of online choices. My friend uses Norma a lot, with good results.
I’d go to bass pro or order online. They have a good selection and I get good military discount and membership rewards $$ just buying my everyday stuff.
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For me personally Hornady ELD-M 140, 147gn, RWS Target Elite worked great, although I would give the Federal Gold Medal a try
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The 140grn and 147 grn ELDMs will absolutely do the job. If you have the funds, consider the Berger 153.5. If you go with Berger, keep the brass to potentially reload in the future.
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Berger and Lapua are probably the best in general, but your rifle may shoot something different, better. However, no serious competitor I know doesn’t handload. Top quality factory ammunition is very expensive and can usually be exceeded by handloading at less cost.
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not to mention consistency
I shoot 139 lapua scenar
if you look into prs matches there are some interesting trends including more use of “factory” ammo. the 2025 champion actually used ammo loaded by Eagle Eye Ammo. There are several companies loading factory ammo that can win champions if you can do your part.
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If you want to hit something with precision at 1000 yards using a 6.5CM, I suggest trying a Berger 153.5g bullet. It retains its velocity and gets there faster than any other bullet. That bullet has also produced the highest level of precision I have shot. Ammo is offered by Berger but you may find that bullet factory loaded elsewhere by checking your favorite online stores. If you are not trying to win a national match, but shooting steel, I’d suggest trying the ELD 147g bullet loaded in a variety of ammo. Consistent powder charge and seating depth is critical for 1000 yard precision so I suggest trying ammo from various manufacturers and use the one that shoots best at 1000 yards in your rifle. You will likely find that ammo produced for match usage will shoot better because of the consistency from shot-to-shot.
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I also found this to be true.
Berger cannot be beat, but Hornady ELD-x and ELD-M are a close second.
In the competition I shoot, .Mid and Long Range F-Class and 600 yard Bench rest no-one shoots factory. The boutique factory loaders are loading using techniques very similar or identical to hand loading. If you can afford to have someone else load your ammunition, by all means, it’s your money, go for it. PRS doesn’t require the same level of accuracy to be competitive and each rifle is almost a law of it’s own. Also as conditions change loads may need adjustments to maintain best accuracy.
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Anyone try Prime ammo?
Shot some 3 round groups at 100 today. With Sako TRG 136g. I believe it’s decent for factory ammunition.
Great Group ! The problem I had with factory was consistency from one box to the next . And thats why I got into reloading . The components , Powder ,bullets , primers , brass , you can control and keep things the same. With factory you don’t know what you’re getting from box to box . But really good group . I would venture to say if you reloaded for precision those types and better groups would happen quite often . It looks like the gun and you are capable . Good luck .
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There is a fellow who writes a PRS blog that did a big factory ammo test about 4 years ago. While not current, it’d be a great place to start. One of his latest blogs was about how some of the top PRS shooters are having their ammo assembled by custom or semi-custom factories to your specs.
1000 yd shooting is a good poke, and I’d recommend becoming proficient at 600 yd before going further, but ammo and rifle are only one part of success.
I have a 6.5 Creedmore barrel that wouldn’t shoot any factory ammo well. It is a 30" 1.25" 8 twist Brux. I tried at least six types of factory stuff that I had sitting around. None worked.
Then I loaded 10 new Lapua cases with 140s from Mead Industries. They all went into one ragged hole that was small enough to impress me. So I shot 60 more of that combunation to the same effect.
I began to suspect that the Hornady Match 140 ELDMs might be too short. I pulled the bullets almost all the way out of the cases, and reseated them to the same overall length as the Mead Industry cartridges I’d built in the Lapua cases. Their new COL was measurably longer, but fit in an AICS magazine. They shot just fine that way. The difference was stark.
Last weekend I shot a few handfuls of Sierra 142 Match Kings in the same barrel at the same longer COL and they shot stunningly well.
My two Creeds both have a favorite CBTO and were smithed by two different gunsmiths. Both have Brux barrels in the same countour and one has just a slightly longer chamber so rounds from the other with a slightly shorter base to Datum Line won’t always fire in the longer chamber. I have to keep the ammunition separately labeled. One shoots best with Berger 144 Hybrids jumping at 0.005" and the other with a 0.015" jump. Both are single shot F-Class rifles so magazine length is not a concern. You seem to have found your rifles sweet spot as well.