What are you guys getting in 20" barrels with factory ammo?

Please list ammo, and if it's in a custom or factory tube. Thanks.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most people shooting factory ammo do not chronograph it. I do know Chad has done some testing on factory ammo for comparison.

2 lots of Hornady Black (140 BTHP) and 143 ELD-X hunting ammo was running 2540 and 2560 fps in a 22" CM. Box said 2700 fps. Customer paid me to chrono loads and come out to the range to verify why his data was so off. That was why. I run my 140 grain ammo at 2750-2780 fps, depending on barrel lengths. So, there's a lot of velocity lost with the Hornady ammo I've seen. Sure, it's $1 to $1.20 a round, but at a cost of lower speeds, ball powder, and factory ammo velocity variations. For the weekend warrior it may be fine. For precision shooting and getting the full potential of the round, the factory ammo is very lacking.

All I can report are hand loads.

AntonChigurh has a 20" CTR and has chrono'd some loads, maybe he'll weigh in or you can PM him.

Did the box say 24" barrel too, cause the website does. Might not have got the 2700, but 24 inches should have been pretty close

The box never says what barrel length the velocity is at, that I have seen. Maybe on-line. But in this 22" barrel, you should be getting a lot more than 2540 and 2560 fps with a 140 grain.

Don't you figure 2" would equal about 100fps? If so i would think that 2560 would be pretty reasonable considering differences in barrels

20-25 fps per inch, not 50.

Have you chronoed that out with the barrel lengths/bullet weights listed?

Yes.

162 gr in a 20" 7mm-08 2640 fps MV.
162 gr in a 24" 7mm-08 2720 fps MV.

Cool, thanks for the reply. I chrono a lot of my loads, but don't have a 6.5 CM, so i have never chronoed one of them out of any barrel length, much less 2.

Good info. With so many new 6.5 loads, was wondering if they were loaded to specs.

Passing on info I received on another forum....

6.5 Creedmoor
Hornady 147 ELD-Match factory- 2638 fps avg
Black Hills 147 ELD-Match gold- 2600 fps avg

47.1gr RL26 under a 147 ELDM in Hornady cases @ 2.860" COAL, CCI 200- 2767 fps avg

21" 8 twist Brux #4 contour with a SRT XL Ti .30 can.

How much you want to bet?

6.5 Creedmoor, factory Hornady ammo, Krieger barrel w/ suppressor, 21" chopped to 16.5", with a Magnetospeed. 10 shot strings spaced evenly.

6.5 Creedmoor
20" Bartlein 1:8 twist
100ish round count when I chronographed these loads

Hornady Precision Hunter 143 ELD-X: 2580 fps mv

Hornady Match 147 ELD: 2630 fps mv

I’d bet the farm. You are one person. He said most. I guarantee that MOST people do not chronograph factory ammo.

Sneaky you beat me to it.

26" Criterion Barrel 6.5CM
Hornady 147 ELD Match Factory Ammo averages 2705 for me

That's two of us, i know another and he's getting ~2665 in his custom 24" barrel

I guess I would make me factory ammo chrony guy #2. I do every time.

I guess I'm #3. I chrono everything I shoot. I reload for 19 calibers, but with every "new" firearm I acquire, I buy a couple boxes of factory fodder to play around with and season the barrel. I'm a lot more interested in how accurate the loads are than what they 'graph at, (since I'm a "shorty shooter," rarely beyond 200 yards) but it all goes into my logs and I like comparing notes.

In other news.... you still haven’t contributed anything constructive or useful to this thread.

Ok, the ES is so large on factory ammo that it’s almost pointless to chrono it. MOST people who shoot far enough for this to be relevant hand load.

It does appear some do to get a general baseline before they start loading.

I’ve never heard of a cartridge that will gain 50 ‘/“ of barrel.

I was simply suggesting there might not be much data available.

What’s the point of chronographing factory ammo? The 20-25 ‘/“ holds across the board factory or hand loads.

If this was not constructive or helpful please advise. I will continue until I get it right.

I do enjoy an intelligent debate, so I'm going to take a stab at refuting this statement....

Hornady 140 ELD-M factory box ammo, 16.5" barrel, 10 shot string unedited:
High:2560
Low:2502
ES: 58
SD: 18.6

I do most of my shooting at the furthest perceived effective hunting range for my particular rifle/ammo. For this rifle, it's 600 yards:
1 mil = 21.6"
Lowest (2502fps)- 4.4 mils = 95" up
Average (2534fps)- 4.3 mils = 92.9" up
Highest (2560fps)- 4.2 mils = 90.7" up
My measured extreme spread of 58 fps makes my POI +/- 2" of the average MV.

Taking it on out to 1000 yards just for the fun of it:
1 mil = 36"
Lowest (2502fps)- 9.9 mils = 356.4" up
Average (2534fps)- 9.6 mils = 345.6" up
Highest (2560fps)- 9.4 mils = 338.4" up
The same measured extreme spread of 58 fps makes my POI +/- ~10" of the average MV.

Of course, you'd have to factor in the inherent accuracy of the actual gun you're shooting on top of these figures, but that is independent of variations in velocity. At 600 yards, the difference is completely negligible for practical field application, and the idiot behind the trigger will probably cause more error than that anyhow. At 1000 yards the +/- 10" is definitely going to make a difference, but there's a pretty good chance a bad wind call will play just as big a role. But taking the extreme spread is the worst case scenario, if you focus on how many shots were close to the average that error tightens up a bit. Of course, I wouldn't be able to make any of these conclusions if I didn't have a chronograph to gather empirical data. I won't argue that most folks never go through this trouble, you're right about that. What I will say, is that for a guy with limited resources and time, it's probably smarter to buy a Magnetospeed and find some good consistent factory ammo instead of reloading if you're starting from scratch. It allows you to spend your time and money where it matters.... getting behind the gun and shooting more.

I agree almost 100%

Except my math (which could be wrong) has .2 Mills at 600yds being 4.3” not .43” I’m going by memory and working in my head so honestly I could be off.

Still viable for hunting but marginal. I do agree factory ammo and time behind it is way better than no ammo or time.