by TGM staff
Ammunition for firearms is like gas for a car; you won’t accomplish much without it. And if you haven’t been shopping for or reading about new ammunition, you may not know about all the changes taking place in that segment of the industry. There are a quite a few new and pioneering companies that have entered the ammunition marketplace in recent years and months. And there are a lot of new materials being used to fabricate both projectiles and cases.
This year, various companies have unveiled some great new loads and in some cases, new families.
For example, Hornady (Hornady.com) has announced Hornady BLACK ammunition, featuring high quality brass, primers and propellants. Loads are available in .308 Winchester/168-grain A-MAX or 155-grain A-MAX; a 7.62×39/123-grain SST; .450 Bushmaster/250-grain FTX; .223 Remington/75-grain BTHP Match; 5.56mm/62-grain FMJ or 75-grain Interlock; 6.5 Grendel/123-grain ELD; 6.8mm SPC/110-grain V-MAX; .300 Blackout.110-grain V-MAX or 200-grain A-MAX; 12-gauge 00 buckshot.
Hornady also has new Precision Hunter ammunition with ELD-X (Extremely Low Drag) bullets in the following loads: .270 Winchester/145-grain s; 7mm-08/150-grains; .280 Remington/150-grains; .300 WSM/200-grains; .300 Weatherby Magnum/200-grains.
Another Hornady offering is the Match line with eight new loads ranging from .223 Remington/73-grain ELD to .300 Winchester Magnum/178-grain ELD.
Black Hills Ammunition’s Gold line of ammunition will feature the new Hornady ELD-X and ELD-M bullets in a number of popular calibers.
Of course, when a new bullet is introduced, other ammunition manufacturers make good use of it. For example, the folks at Black Hills Ammunition (black-hills.com) are never satisfied to rest on past successes. They are always striving to improve and keep on the lookout for new technology. When their friends at Hornady discovered ways to make already excellent bullets better, Black Hills wanted to make full use of that new technology.
Using new ELD-M (Extreme Low Drag-Match) and ELD-X (Extreme Low Drag – eXpanding) bullets, Black Hills has upgraded their Gold rifle lineup with the highest BC bullets available. Flatter shooting, longer range, more effective, all manufactured with the loving care you’ve come to expect from the Black Hills. From .260 Remington to .338 Lapua, you now have a lot of great new choices with increased performance.
Speer (vistaoutdoor.com) announced its new Gold Dot G2 ammunition for handguns. It features a hollowpoint bullet designed with a shallow dish rather than a deep cavity. This ‘dish’ is filled with a high-performance elastomer that enhances the expansion process upon impact. The result is uniform expansion and more consistent penetration.
The new Gold Dot G2 passes the FBI protocol test and thanks to the bullet construction, the problem of jacket separation is virtually eliminated.
SigSauer will be introducing new match grade rifle ammunition in several popular calibers, as well as new 9mm pistol ammo with V-Crown bullets.
Sig Sauer (sigsauer.com) is introducing HT hunting ammunition with all copper projectiles in .223 Remington and .308 Winchester. There’s also a subsonic .300 Blackout round and new 9mm offerings with 124- or 147-grain V-Crown bullets.
Nosler (nosler.com) has some new ammunition entries in the Trophy Grade, Match Grade, SSA and Varmageddon cartridge lines.
There are two new 33 Nosler offerings including a 225-grain AccuBond and a 265-grain AccuBond Long Range, plus a .30-06 load with a 168-grain AccuBond Long Range pill and a .308 Winchester pushing that same bullet.
Nosler will be offering new loads in their Match Grade, Trophy Grade, SSA and Varmageddon lines.
In the Match Grade line there’s a new 26 Nosler with a 140-grain projectile, a 28 Nosler pushing a 168-grainer and a 33 Nosler topped with a 300-grain bullet. All of these feature the Custom Competition bullet.
For fans of the 7.62x39mm round, Nosler is introducing a load with a 123-grain bullet in the SSA family, and varmint hunters should warm up to the .223 Remington load with a Nosler 53-grain Tipped Varmageddon.
Federal (federalpremium.com) has announced the Gold Medal Grand shotshell for trap, skeet and Sporting Clays. There are ten 12-gauge offerings, all in 2¾-inch hulls, featuring a two-piece wad with SoftCell technology and a rigid PrimerLock head.
There’s also a new 6.5 Creedmoor load in the Fusion line. It pushes a 140-grain boattail bullet with a skived tip for long-range expansion.
These are just some of the new ammunition offerings for 2017 that will be introduced at the SHOT Show in January. You can expect to find many more on dealer shelves as the year progresses.
