Accuracy good but velocity sub-par!
I shoot long range, 1,000 plus yards. I purchased 25 boxes of Federal Gold Match 168 gr SMK. I received the shipment in 2 different lot numbers. While the accuracy was pretty good out of both lots, 0.68 MOA at 200 yards for lot #1 and 0.79 MOA for lot #2, no wind of course, the velocity out of my stock Remington 700 Mil-Spec 5-R 308 Win. was way low! The measured round, averaged of 20 from each lot, were 2548 fps for lot #1 and 2572 fps lot #2, at 72F, 92% humidity and 0 ft for altitude (sea level). The extreme spread was over 120 fps! The advertised velocity is 2700 fps and I expected around 2650 fps to 2620 fps. While this may not seem such a big deal, it is the difference of 41.7 MOA that I should have been able to dial in for 1,000 yards, as opposed to 44.9 MOA that I actually had to dial in for field conditions at the place and time I was shooting! It also added 0.25 MOA to my spin-drift! The extreme spread made it virtually impossible to hit deer sized targets at 1,000 yards with any consistency. I will be going back to Black Hills Match as the ammunition is much more consistent and of better quality than what I have experiance with the Federal Gold Medal Match!
