Powder valley factory seconds

[TroyMN]

Does anyone have any experience shooting this.
".308 175 GR HPBT "
They cannot say what manufacturer makes them. Has anyone bought some they say factory seconds I'm not high master shooter by any means, but hope for .5 -7 MOA. Just wanting to know if I should try some there only $111 for a box of 500
Troy

 

[watercam]

Last time they offered these Sierra was advertising factory seconds direct from their factory at the same time - you just had to pick them up in person. Pretty sure they are Sierras.

 

[7stubby]

Most likely they have either cosmetic blemishes (example: water spots, finger prints, discoloration, etc.) or doesn't meet the strict accuracy requirements of the manufacture (example: shoots 1.75" instead of 1.5" or under at 200 yards).

 

[jdb]

I copied this from the Sierra site. I thought the "please weigh and measure" part was worth posting.

Please note the following - Factory Outlet inventory is constantly changing and no guarantees are made as to product availablity. Bullet seconds are sold by the pound and are limited to 100 pounds per bullet and a total of 300 pounds per day per person. There is a limit of 25 pounds of mixed bullets per day. Bullet seconds are for private consumption and not for resale!! Factory seconds may include blemished bullets and mixed bullets, so please weigh and measure each bullet prior to loading! Prices on list do not reflect Missouri sales tax. Factory seconds must be picked up in person and will not be shipped.

 

[snert]

I bought a pile of 168 when they were advertised. I plan to use them in a service rifle, not national match, so it really does not matter if they are not pefect. I err on caution when I load for the bolt gun that has more accuracy potential and us non-blems.

It is all in what you are willing to accept. I do not see a terrible issue with them. i do note a little length difference, using a Redding Instant indicator that measures off the land bearing point. Nothing huge, and nothing to worry on in serivce rifle

 

[TroyMN]

Thank you for the feedback. I picked up 500 hopefully they'll shoot just great.
Troy

 

[perkbilt]

I bought 1000 of them. They appear to be Sierra. I randomly weighed about 150 of them from each box and a scale accurate to .01 grains. EVERY bullet weighed 175.4. There may be a stray that weighs different, but just digging a handful out of each box those were my results.
I looked a bunch of them over wearing a Optivisor @ 4x and all I saw were what appeared to be water spots. No jacket deformation was spotted in my sampling.

Measuring to the Ogive, I saw no more than .001" on any of them. Those results match what I have seen on the "GOOD" bullets.

As soon as my new Rock Creek barrel is fitted I will do ABA testing with Factory Sierra and these PV Seconds. I hope they work well.

 

[Gary in MD]

I recently bought 1000 of the .224" 55 grain spbt seconds from PVI. They appear to be Sierras. About 50 percent of the bullets appeared to be perfect, the other bullets had lead tips that were not formed perfect. They had a little extra lead hanging on them that was easily picked off. After going through them and "cleaning up the tips", I think they will be fine. I didn't weigh them, they will be shot at varmints.
Gary

 

[jlow]

I bought 1000 of them. They appear to be Sierra. I randomly weighed about 150 of them from each box and a scale accurate to .01 grains. EVERY bullet weighed 175.4. There may be a stray that weighs different, but just digging a handful out of each box those were my results.
I looked a bunch of them over wearing a Optivisor @ 4x and all I saw were what appeared to be water spots. No jacket deformation was spotted in my sampling.

Measuring to the Ogive, I saw no more than .001" on any of them. Those results match what I have seen on the "GOOD" bullets.

As soon as my new Rock Creek barrel is fitted I will do ABA testing with Factory Sierra and these PV Seconds. I hope they work well.

Sorry not to be combative but your data about "measuring to the ogive" and seeing no more than .001" difference is a bit hard to believe:

My experience with factory Sierra 30 caliber 175s has never been that good i.e. base to ogive of 0.001”. I did a study with a random sample of 25 bullets (NOT SECONDS) last year and this is what I found:

Average – 0.6597”
ES – 0.020”
Max – 0.6755”
Min – 0.6550”

In the same study I measured bearing surface length from the same bullets:

Average – 0.4981”
ES – 0.0195”
Max – 0.5130”
Min – 0.4935”

This is why I always sort Sierras.

 

[jonbearman]

I bought the 168's and with alittle work with sorting they will and do shoot pretty decent.Would I use them in a match,thats debatable.

 

[chevytruck_83]

I purchased bulk 175 sierra matchking pulled bullets and even though they have visual defects I have been more then happy shooting them out to 300 yards. The only time out with my sako trg I was able to hold just about half moa at 300. If they are sierras I would give them a try. Definitely check shipping on the 500 175 grain bullets. It can be pricey. If you can buy new 175 matchkings and eliminate shipping u may not be to far behind. Or try Hornady 168 grainers. They are cheap good shooting bullets.

 

[savageshooter86]

Bought some of the factory seconds 155 Palma. Let's just say I sorted by bearing surface and for 1000 bullets I had at least 20 different sub lots that were sorted in 1 thous increments. And high to low varied over 45 thous.

Measured a few base ogive and they varied as much as 40 thous!!

So any type of precision shooting I would not feel confident shooting them unless you spend hours and hours sorting and measuring.
**And I had over 20 bullets that were 338 caliber mixed in!!! That could be very dangerous if I had not spotted them

 

[243Mendoza]

I bought 1000 175 seconds from PVI. Weighed about 300 and they varied by at least 0.5 gr and measured ogive to base has a spread of .010 at least.

 

[jsthntn247]

Bought some of the factory seconds 155 Palma. Let's just say I sorted by bearing surface and for 1000 bullets I had at least 20 different sub lots that were sorted in 1 thous increments. And high to low varied over 45 thous.

Measured a few base ogive and they varied as much as 40 thous!!

So any type of precision shooting I would not feel confident shooting them unless you spend hours and hours sorting and measuring.
**And I had over 20 bullets that were 338 caliber mixed in!!! That could be very dangerous if I had not spotted them

How did you measure ogive length?

 

[savageshooter86]

Bearing surface was measured with Buhay tool. Base to ogive was measured with bullet comparator.

For reference,I just sorted my new Berger 185 and I had only 3 thous variation in bearing surface length and base to ogive were less than 3 thous on the few I checked

 

[perkbilt]

I bought 1000 of them. They appear to be Sierra. I randomly weighed about 150 of them from each box and a scale accurate to .01 grains. EVERY bullet weighed 175.4. There may be a stray that weighs different, but just digging a handful out of each box those were my results.
I looked a bunch of them over wearing a Optivisor @ 4x and all I saw were what appeared to be water spots. No jacket deformation was spotted in my sampling.

Measuring to the Ogive, I saw no more than .001" on any of them. Those results match what I have seen on the "GOOD" bullets.

As soon as my new Rock Creek barrel is fitted I will do ABA testing with Factory Sierra and these PV Seconds. I hope they work well.

Sorry not to be combative but your data about "measuring to the ogive" and seeing no more than .001" difference is a bit hard to believe:

My experience with factory Sierra 30 caliber 175s has never been that good i.e. base to ogive of 0.001”. I did a study with a random sample of 25 bullets (NOT SECONDS) last year and this is what I found:

Average – 0.6597”
ES – 0.020”
Max – 0.6755”
Min – 0.6550”

In the same study I measured bearing surface length from the same bullets:

Average – 0.4981”
ES – 0.0195”
Max – 0.5130”
Min – 0.4935”

This is why I always sort Sierras.

Typo on that post. Typing isn't mys strong point. OGIVE variance was .010" not .001"
I always sort by length too. The only bullet I see with very little difference are Bergers.

 

[searcher]

I bought enough of the 168's to wear out the barrel on an M1A Super Match I use to shoot mostly steel out to 1,000 yards. Doing load development, I put on a high-powered Nightforce just to see what was what. Getting your 1/2 M.O.A. should be absolutely no problem, assuming your rifle likes them and is up to the task. They seemed to have variances not unlike most other match-grade bullets, short of the customs, some Bergers and the Lapua Scenar L bullet.