Black Hills Ammunition is introducing a .308 Winchester loading featuring a 175-
grain Sierra Tipped MatchKing bullet, with a polymer tip.
Ammunition is like gas for a car; without ammunition, a firearm makes a great paperweight, but it doesn’t accomplish much else.
This year, the top ammo manufacturers have been able to crank out some new cartridges even while working almost non-stop to keep up with the demand for existing ammunition.
Reports from the field, by the way, seem to indicate that retailers have more ammo on their shelves than they had early last year.
Federal (federalcartridge.com) offers a 10mm Auto Vital Shok load with a 180-grain Trophy bonded bullet that leaves the muzzle at 1,275 fps.
The bullet has a heavy jacket for controlled expansion and deep penetration.
Federal also offers a 325-count can of .22 Long Rifle called the Fresh Fire Pack, introduced at mid-year. This one comes with a plastic lid to reseal the can after it is opened, and the ammunition inside stays protected. The rounds are loaded with 36-grain plated hollowpoints.
The news from Winchester (winchester.com) is good, with a pair of new .45 ACP loads in the new Win 1911 series, and some new entries in the Match series, a .223 Remington SHOT Show 2014 Preview New ammunition entries for 2014 announced with a 69-grain boattail hollowpoint, a 5.56mm load with a 77-grain boattail hollowpoint and a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 140-grain boattail hollowpoint. Both of the .45-caliber rounds have 230- grain pills, one an FMJ and the other a JHP.
In addition, Winchester offers two new 12-gauge Lok’d & Lethal loads for pheasant hunting. There’s a 2¾-inch shell and a 3-incher, both available in No. 4, 5 and 6 shot.
Remington (remington.com) has announced new HyperSonic bonded ammunition is available in seven popular calibers, including .223 Remington/62-grain, .243 Winchester/ 100-grain, .30-06 Springfield/150- and 180-grain, .300 Winchester Magnum/ 180-grain, .308 Winchester/150- and 180-grain, and .270 Winchester/140- grain.
This being the 75th anniversary of the Core-Lokt ammunition family, Remington is making a big deal of that, but also cranking out new loads in the Hog Hammer rifle line, in seven calibers from .223 Remington to .450 Bushmaster.
ProGrade Hog Grade ammunition is available in 14 different calibers and 28 different loadings for rifles and handguns specifically for hog hunting.
For shotgunners, Remington’s Hypersonic steel loads will include new selections in 10-, 12- and 20- gauge.
On the rimfire front, Remington is increasing production of .22 Long Rifle ammunition this year, and is offering rimfire ammo in larger quantities, including a 525-round value pack and a Bucket ’O Bullets containing 1,400 rounds.
Black Hills Ammunition (blackhills.
com) has announced new rifle loads for the 5.56/.223 Remington and the .308 Winchester. The .223 Remington features a new 77-grain Sierra Tipped MatchKing bullet with a polymer tip. The .308 Winchester has a 175-grain Sierra Tipped MatchKing bullet, also with a polymer tip.
Loaded for smaller-framed shooters, the new Custom Lite series from Hornady (hornady.com) is rifle cartridges are loaded with either Hornady SST or Interlock RN bullets. Rifle calibers include a .243 Winchester with an 87-grain SST, a .270 Winchester with a 120-grain SST, a 7mm-08 Remington with a 120-grain SST and a 7mm Remington Magnum with a 139-grain SST.
There’s also a .30-30 Winchester with the Interlock RN at 150 grains, a .308 Winchester with a 125-grain SST, a .30-06 Springfield with the same 125-grain bullet and a .300 Winchester Magnum tipped by a 150- grain SST. There is also a Custom Lite 20-gauge game load with a 250- grain FTX slug.
For turkey hunting there’s a new 20-gauge entry in the Heavy Magnum Turkey series. It’s a 3-inch magnum with a 1-3/8-ounce charge of No. 5 nickel-plated shot.
Nosler (nosler.com) has introduced the .26 Nosler, a big game round that soars with a 129-grain 6.5mm/ .264-caliber AccuBond bullet. It has a reported muzzle velocity of 3,400 fps and a flat trajectory. In addition, Nosler is introducing a .270 Winchester with a 150-grain AccuBond Long Range bullet in the Trophy Grade Long Range ammo line and adding a .22-230 Remington with a 64-grain Bonded Solid Base and a 26 Nosler with a 140-grain AccuBond in the standard Trophy Grade line.
Nosler Defense is adding two new loads, a 6.8 SPC with a 90-grain Bonded Solid base bullet and a .308 Winchester with a 168-grain Bonded Solid Base bullet.
Buffalo Arms (buffaloarms.com) builds black powder cartridges using handcast bullets from Bitterroot Components, in a variety of handgun and rifle calibers, including .44-40, .45 Colt, .45-110, .45-120, .38 Long Colt, .38-55 Winchester, .40-60 Winchester, and several metric calibers.
There are also shotgun shells in 12- and 20-gauge, and smokeless ammunition for metric and non-metric calibers.
CCI (cci-ammunition.com) is unveiling the Troy Landry signature series rimfire loads including a .22 Long Rifle mini-mag round that comes in boxes of 300. It has a 36- grain copper plated hollowpoint bullet with a muzzle velocity of 1,260 fps.
There’s also a .22 Magnum Maxi-Mag with a 40-grain jacketed hollowpoint moving out at 1,875 fps. The Suppressor .22 LR round has a 45-grain lead hollowpoint and a subsonic velocity of 970 fps at the muzzle.
Designed specifically for hog hunting, ProGrade (progradeammo.com) Hog Grade ammunition is available in 14 different calibers and 28 different loadings for rifles and handguns, ranging from .223 Remington to .44 Magnum. There are nine different grades of ammunition from ProGrade, and they cover all the bases from defense to trophy hunting.
Red Army Standard ammunition brand loads are now available from Century International (centuryarms.com). Selections include a 5.45x39mm with a 69-grain FMJ bullet, a 7.62x54R with a 148-grain FMJ, a 7.62x39mm with a 123-grain FMJ and a 9mm Makarov. All four calibers are non-corrosive, and the steel cases are coated with polymer or lacquer. Century also is offering new Hot Shot Elite ammunition, loaded with brass cases in 5.56x45mm, 7.62x51mm and 9mm with either 115- or 124-grain bullets.
Two new loads are being introduced this year by Wolf Performance Ammunition (wolfammo.com), including a 6.5 Grendel with a 110- grain projectile FMJ featuring a Bimetal Jacket. This is a Berdanprimed cartridge that cannot be reloaded. The second load is a .223 Remington FMJ with a 55-grain copper jacket bullet with a muzzle velocity of 3,240 fps. It features a reloadable brass case.
