Hornady Steel Match .308 155 gr

everypenny

Hey Guys,

As promised I said I'd throw up a few words on the Hornady Steel Match .308 155 gr Ammo that's now available here from some RFD's including Duffy's of galway at Shoot.ie (http://www.shoot.ie/hornady-steel-match-308-155gr.html)


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Hornady claim that the round is exactly the same as a normal Match round (Percussion cap, powder and Boat Tail Hollow Point) with the exception of the casing which is made from steel rather than brass. This they state dramatically reduces the price.
http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win-155-GR-BTHP-STEEL-MATCH

I've read a few reviews on these and have seen good and bad. One of the issues people said they had was that they were getting hang fires so that after pulling the trigger the firing pin would strike the percussion cap and the round wouldn't go off.

On a few other websites people were saying that you should stay well clear of these rounds because of it. But I take a lot of what I read with a pinch of salt (especially seeing as the fella who said he'd had a problem had put "hundreds of thousands of rounds" through his barrel!)

I sourced the rounds for €52 for 50 rounds, which seeing as I was paying €46 for 20 Remington Premier Match 168 gr was an absolute bargain. It meant I was spending €1.04 every time I squeezed the trigger rather than €2.30.

But the value would only be worth it if the round was accurate so today I went to zero the round and true it on my Ballistic Calculator.

I was firing them out of a Remington 700 VLS in an AICS stock with a 6-24x50 Vortex Viper PST FFP scope.

The first three rounds out of the barrel....


This was at 100 meters and I was massively surprised at the accuracy and the consistency.

To true the ballistic calculator (iStelok) I fired at 330 meters. It told me my correction would need to be 2.2 mills but my group told me I only needed 2 mills. So after correcting the mussel velocity I fired another 3 round group and she was spot on with sub MOA groups. And then out to 587 meters and again she was on again.

For a quid a round this was good!

I didn't have any problem with miss fires and all the percussion caps were struck well and evenly.


There was no deformity of the steel casings at all.


And just in case you think it might have been a fluke my brother did the exact same with the Steel Match .223 in 55 gr with similar results.


All in, I couldn't rate these rounds highly enough.

The recoil was very manageable and lower than the Remmy Premier Match and I don't think that all this could be accounted for in the 3 gr difference!

They do a number of different rounds including the .308 165gr BTHP, a .223 55gr hp and a .223 75gr BTHP.

These rounds get a thumbs up from me. Cost very good, accuracy excellent, recoil superb, consistency brilliant.

Try em and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Everypenny.

sprocker spaniel

good rounds , great price ....

Holdover

Cheers, I never saw the steel cartridge cases before now, really seems to make a big price difference

Cass

I see Duffy's are out of stock and after ringing a few dealers they either do't have it or are out too.

One told me that Hornady are still limiting the amount of ammo that ends up in Ireland (or at least their Irish suppliers do) so waiting on a few call backs to see if they can be gotten, in .308. Most actually had the ,223 stuff.

everypenny

Murrays in cork are 6 weeks. Cork Angling said they didn't have them. There really has always been a problem getting a consistent supply to ireland of ammo in larger calibers like the 308.

Hopefully enough of a demand will rectify this.

Cass

The problem, as it was told to me, is not demand but supply.

Over a year ago Hornady stopped a large amount off various ammo lines. They also reduced exports on other brands that they continued to produce. The issue we have is nothing actually gets shipped directly to Ireland. It goes to suppliers/distributors in the UK and is then shipped to us. So we are literally the last link int he chain. It basically means we get the leftovers.

This means, as you said, that the supply is not consistent. So you find a round that works and have the option of buying a large quantity (nearly bankrupting you in the process) or buying a normal amount and running the risk of not having more so having to start all over on another brand.

Hopefully it's a simple case of a new brand coming in and dealers not getting a large enough supply to see how sales go. However if the issue is with supply then it's beyond the dealers. I'm expecting a call tomorrow from a dealer to see if he can source the ammo and in a large or consistent quantity.

everypenny

Let me know how that goes. It would be interesting to hear what he says.

What are the laws on a kind of Dallas Buyers Club for ammo in Ireland?

Cass

I've actually done something similar in the past with .22 match ammo.

I bought 10,000 but only had 2,000 on my license. So i bought them, kept them in the dealers and took out 2,000 at a time. The next time i was not as flush so he got them in for me and i bought and took out a few thousand at a time.

Like guns you can buy as many as you like it's the license that limits what you can possess. If we had a few lads that wanted X amount of each then a "group buy" could be organised. I tried this a while ago for A-max but only one other lad ended up going ahead despite he interest from many others.

everypenny

I've heard of that before with storing it in an RFD.

Would it be worth a try now? Do you still have to order it through an RFD or can you just store the excess there? It could still be a moot point however if they're not going to ship it to ireland.

Cass

With the .22lr it was a case of having to store them at the RFD because of the amounts. However i've 1,500 on both .308 licenses so in essence i could buy and keep 3,000 (60 boxes) by myself.

That aside it'd be more a case of location. Which dealer would suit from a buying, storing point of view?Any dealer would be happy for the custom and with such a large order they would happily buy it from wherever they could. However no point in picking a dealer in Cork for me or a dealer in Dublin for others. No one would fancy a 2-3 hour drive to pick up their ammo, and then have to do it again if their license only allowed a small limit.

In reality the two options would be:

• Group buy and everyone take their allotted amount with them when it arrives. Lets face it the most anyone would really want is 2-300. Even if it's more most lads could manage up to 500 as their licenses should allow it.
• Group buy and choose a dealer for the lads that cannot take what they bought to have it stored in. Or make arrangements between lads for one to hold the other lads ammo if their license amount allows. For example i could hold my ammo, and a few other lads ammo if they live close to me. You could take your ammo and a few other lads that are close to you.

I'll wait to see what the dealer comes back with tomorrow. I'll also call another dealer friend of mine. He has a habit of getting stuff when others cannot.

Cass

everypenny wrote: »

I've read a few reviews on these and have seen good and bad. One of the issues people said they had was that they were getting hang fires so that after pulling the trigger the firing pin would strike the percussion cap and the round wouldn't go off.

Was talking with a couple of friends that have used these and they said that they experienced misfires, not hangfires.

After pulling the trigger the round did not fire. They waited a minute in case it was a hangfire then ejected the cartridge. The primer had a strike mark on it. One lad had 8 of these in a box. Now i never asked if he tried it again or not, but it is a worrying actor.

It's a case of having hard primers, which can be "overcome" with a strong and good strike of the firing pin, but that differs from gun to gun. Also, and this is only my opinion, but as the cases are steel Hornady are probably using a "stronger" primer as their regular ones may fire when being seated. This could be leading to it. Of course the more obvious answer is lower quality primers leading to more duds.

However one lad did say that despite the misfires he was impressed with the accuracy of them. He fired it through a 30" barreled rifle at 800 yards and achieved between 4 to 5 " verticals at 800 yards. Not too bad at all for a factory round.

I was given the name of a dealer with some so i'm calling him tomorrow to see if there are any left. As said above there are a good few with the .223's left, but few if any with .308's in stock.

everypenny

Well I can't speak for them, but I put another dozen down range yesterday out to 700 meters and they were spot on.

I don't know if the firing pin on a Remmy 700 strikes harder than others but I'd say that if Hornady thought they were having a failure rate of 16% (8 out of 50) that they'd be flying an expert over to see wtf was happening with the ammo/rifle.

Word of mouth can kill a product. I'm having no probs with it so let them keep making it.

Cass

I don't know either. I'm just going on what lads are telling me. Now the same lad has bought another 4 boxes so i doubt he is that upset with their performance. Plus it could have been a misfire and the second time round it went without a hitch. Plus he is not using a Remmy so you could be right on the different strike forces of different brands of rifles.

It wouldn't put me off getting them. In fact i'm trying to source them but even Duffy's are sold out and every where i ring has only the .223 left or none at all. I might get better luck going further afield, but at this point i'm looking at 2+ hours of driving to find a dealer if he does have them.

everypenny

Did you come across any down my area? I could do with another fifty! :-)

Cass

Have not rang that far south. As said even if they have any it's not worth my while traveling a few hours. For the fuel money i'd use i could just save it and buy regular Hornady or other match ammo.

1jay1

Ive tried these also in .308 out to 800yds and found them great, .5MOA.
I went through 2 boxes and found them very consistent, I did have a few misfires (4 or 5) but for the price I was very pleased.
I was shooting a Savage Model 12 FTR and the misfires looked like soft strikes as there was a clear difference between them and fired primers.
I just ordered 2 boxes .223 from Duffys to try out.

everypenny

1jay1 wrote: »

Ive tried these also in .308 out to 800yds and found them great, .5MOA.

I just ordered 2 boxes .223 from Duffys to try out.

Don't think they'll fit in the 308. :P

Im very impressed with them i have to say.

Cass

everypenny wrote: »

Don't think they'll fit in the 308. :P

Yes they will, at least half way down the barrel. Case and all.

But it'll be the first and last time you fire one. Think .410/20 bore in a 12 gauge.

1jay1

LOL......I probably should have mentioned I plan on trying them in my Tikka T3 Tac ".223"
I'll let you know how I get on with them.

everypenny

Cass,


Any joy in sourcing these yet?

Cass

None.

I've found a couple stocking the .223 stuff, but none in .308 so far. Seems as soon as they got them lads were buying in the hundreds and replacing stock is not easy. Very popular round.