Factory Ammo Load Data?

[Alphadawg]

I am new to reloading and I don't have a "need to know"question, it is more of a "cool to know" question: Is factory ammo load data available to the general public? For example; if I like shooting Winchester .40 S&W 180 gr over Remington ammo of the same caliber and bullet weight is there any way for me to find out what primer, powder, powder charge, and bullet were used?

[steve4102]

No, not only will you not find their Load data, in most factory ammo you will not be able to obtain the powder they used either. Factory ammo rarely uses Canister Grade powder.

[aiming fluid]

Welcome Alphadawg:

You cannot get the powder factories use but there are many comparable powders out there. If there is a brand of bullets/ammo that you really like then shoot them out of your favorite firearm over a chronograph, then duplicate the load with your own components. In my experience factory ammo is nothing special and easily duplicated.

[jmr40]

In my experience factory ammo is nothing special and easily duplicated.

Actually easily bettered. I load for hunting rifles. With my 30-06 and 308's I can easily beat factory speeds by a considerable margin while staying well under max loads. And get better accuracy to boot. I can only match the 300 WSM factory loads for speed, but have improved accuracy.

I'm not really concerned about the exact powder factory loads use. If my handloads can safely match or beat them for speed and give me acceptable accuracy I'm a happy camper.

[buck460XVR]

In my experience factory ammo is nothing special and easily duplicated.

Yep. While the exact recipe and powders may not be available, all one needs to know other than the projectile, is the velocity of the factory load and either match that by info from your manuals or by shooting over a chrony. What one finds tho more often than not, that small variances from factory ammo velocities, may make a big difference in accuracy from one's guns.

[Bart B.]

Trying to duplicate factory ammo is a waste of time in my opinion. Close is good enough.

Especially when their test barrels typically produce higher muzzle velocities for a given round than it will produce in commercial and service rifle barrels.

And when several folks shoot the same rifle and ammo chronographing each shot, it's common to have up to an 80 fps spread in average muzzle velocity.

[nemesiss45]

Yep. While the exact recipe and powders may not be available, all one needs to know other than the projectile, is the velocity of the factory load and either match that by info from your manuals or by shooting over a chrony. What one finds tho more often than not, that small variances from factory ammo velocities, may make a big difference in accuracy from one's guns.

you'd also want to take note of the OAL, and probably try find a powder with a burn rate to that will give you a similar charge weight. otherwise the barrel harmonics could give you a less accurate load than the one you are trying to imitate.

personally, I don't care to imitate factory ammo. if I like a particular bullet's characteristics, I'll choose it, then find the right powder and charge weight to get it to do what I want.

[Alphadawg]

Thanks for all of the responses. I'm much more interested in trial and error from my own loads to zero in on accuracy. I was just curious to know if the factory load data was available. Thanks again.

[buck460XVR]

Originally posted by Alphadawg:
Thanks for all of the responses. I'm much more interested in trial and error from my own loads to zero in on accuracy.

....as it should be.

Most of the time when folks want to duplicate a factory load, it is because they are getting the terminal performance they want from the projectile used in that factory load, and duplicating the factory velocity, should duplicate the terminal performance. This is especially true with ammo intended for SD. Again, in many cases, small variations from factory ammo specs will result in better accuracy, and this generally trumps any small variation of terminal performance.