Expensive rifles and cheap ammo

[scrolllock]

I don't know if I call this post a rant or bit of sour grapes or what but here it is

Went to Little River yesterday and there was a bloke there with a tonne of cashs worth of gear on the table.

He had a Tikka in the MDT chassis with a brake, and with one of the Leupold Tactical scopes, a Savage 110 BA with one of the same scopes I think, everything in pelican cases and a bunch of other gear. Probably $10,000+ between the two.

Then for all that he's got boxes of PPU soft points stacked up on the table

Left me scratching my head, all that then use cheap hunting ammo. I didn't go and look at this targets but he couldn't be getting anywhere near the most out of those rifles with that ammo, right.

None if my business what he does but seems like a waste of time and money to me.

Rant over I guess Just thinking out loud.

[wrenchman]

he could be geting good groups from them or they might be hand loads that were just put back in the same box...

[Octane]

Could be either of the above.

I've seen my share of people who think expensive rifle = good shooting though, I'll say that.

[tom604]

what ever shoots in his gun could be running it in or as others have said, hand loads ,making brass

[scrolllock]

Fair enough.

Stupid post really I suppose.

Leaping to conclusions just cause it irked me for some stupid reason

[Korkt]

Who knows.

Some guys don't want to reload by feel better about spending big money on a rifle.

If it makes him happy, who cares.

[RealNick]

Could have been 'breaking the barrel in' with some cheap ammo as some shooters like to do.

[Steve1110]

Just a beginner shooter here but what I have heard from every experienced marksman is that shooting is at least 70% about ammo. I used a sako finfire II .22 and Colt M2012 .308 syn coyote. If I go with cheap ammo, why waste over $6000 on a rifle and $3000 on a scope.

[Prios]

It's a combination of all factors.

Cheaply produced ammunition that has inconsistent weight projectiles, powder charges, case capacities etc. will be of low accuracy regardless of the rifle quality.

A poorly designed or manufactured rifle won't shoot tight groups even with high precision/consistency ammo.

Even high quality ammunition may not shoot well in a high quality firearm if they do not align. Wrong twist for the projectile, barrel harmonics don't line up with it etc.

The ammo he was using may have worked great for all you know, can't say without seeing the groups obviously.

[Herdsman]

To each their own..... Ignore that bloke and shoot your best

[SendIt]

Properly developed hand loads will always be the most accurate.

Personally I agree if you've spend $5k on a bench setup not putting the effort into reloading makes it a bit of a waste.

To each their own, might make him happy enough to just have the expensive rifle.

[headspace]

I've seen that sort of thing myself, new shooter walking into a gun shop and they load him up with all the crap in the world then he's only got enough money left from cheap ammo. We had a bloke come out one day and he's got it all stainless metal, high end composite stock adjustable cheek piece etc but could not hit a bull in the bum with a bass fiddle. I think the first thing to go was the muzzle brake, it was on a 243W.

[cooker]

I think the first thing to go was the muzzle brake, it was on a 243W.