Norma Whitetail .308 150 Warning

[Liberty]

After hunting this morning we decided to do a little shooting and brought the chronograph out to test a new pistol load. When that was finished, we thought it would be a fun idea to shoot our factory .308 loads. First we shot Norma Whitetail 150 308 since that is what the Remington 700 with a 20 inch barrel was sighted in for. First shot was 2400 fps even. I though the battery must be dying, so we went in the house and got another battery. 2nd shot was 2440, 3rd shot 2426. We then shot Prvi 150 and got 2667. We shot a 150 Power Point that measured 2764. That rifle was re-sighted in with Power Point. The Norma will deliver 1 hole groups at 50 on my pistol range, but the velocity was shockingly low. The Power Points gave a 3/4 inch group, but it would at least kill cleanly at 200. The Norma did recoil less, but I hadn't noticed it before since we usually don't shoot more than one brand in a session. I'm not trying to trash talk. I'd just hate to maim a game animal. The ammo was bought at Academy back when it was new and on sale for cheap.

 

[Ruger#3]

After hunting this morning we decided to do a little shooting and brought the chronograph out to test a new pistol load. When that was finished, we thought it would be a fun idea to shoot our factory .308 loads. First we shot Norma Whitetail 150 308 since that is what the Remington 700 with a 20 inch barrel was sighted in for. First shot was 2400 fps even. I though the battery must be dying, so we went in the house and got another battery. 2nd shot was 2440, 3rd shot 2426. We then shot Prvi 150 and got 2667. We shot a 150 Power Point that measured 2764. That rifle was re-sighted in with Power Point. The Norma will deliver 1 hole groups at 50 on my pistol range, but the velocity was shockingly low. The Power Points gave a 3/4 inch group, but it would at least kill cleanly at 200. The Norma did recoil less, but I hadn't noticed it before since we usually don't shoot more than one brand in a session. I'm not trying to trash talk. I'd just hate to maim a game animal. The ammo was bought at Academy back when it was new and on sale for cheap.

Please post lot number of your ammo if possible. I’d call customer service with that lot number.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Meh. .30-30 at about 2200 has probably killed more deer than everything else put together.

 

[JustUs4All]

My thinking is that a 150 gr .308 at 2400fps at the muzzle should have enough energy at 200 to cleanly kill deer. If it is indeed one hole accurate, I would give up more speed for better shot placement.

 

[Ruger#3]

Meh. .30-30 at about 2200 has probably killed more deer than everything else put together.

Agree, not worried about wounding deer. The ammo is advertised at over 2800. If the performance don’t satisfy you, call them.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Agree, not worried about wounding deer. The ammo is advertised at over 2800. If the performance don’t satisfy you, call them.

Yeah, that’s false advertising, assuming the chronograph was accurate, but if it was hitting accurately, that’s plenty enough juice to kill a deer cleanly.

 

[trial&error]

And the 22lr box says it's dangerous 1.5 miles away. I'm assuming the tested this off the top of Mt Everest. Most factory 308 that I've clocked was around 2600 depending on bullet weight.

 

[Jester896]

2400 fps is slow. Keep in mind that the same load in a 24-26"(advertised length probably) barrel will be 80-100 fps difference probably out of a 20" barrel. I would expect a 150gr to run over 2650 in a 26".

I'm pretty sure it will still kill a deer at 200 yards.

 

[lampern]

Treat it like a reduced recoil load

 

[furtaker]

If that ammo is advertised at over 2800 then that is ridiculous.

A chronograph will tell you the good, bad, and ugly about a cartridge. I've seen some factory loads that clock way under advertised speed but I've never seen one 400fps under.

 

[menhadenman]

I got a case of that stuff from PSA about a year ago. Shoots great in my 20” T3X 308… pretty sure I have speed noted somewhere but it was really accurate. I’ll see if I have it written down.

My 175 gr 308 handloads are slow… I think 2500ish. But I was spanking rocks at 700 yards last week. I’ve heard that a slow hit is better than a fast miss

 

[Jester896]

my old .308 like them a little slow...can't tell you how many times I have walked 100 yards to see it almost went in the same hole as the other...then I started trusting it...learned to trust it at .45 at 1K too...might have been me throwing it off

I know...I kinda missed the .5 dot with that 3 shot group

 

[Jester896]

looking at their site...they used a 24" barrel and at the muzzle...not 10' out...was 2822 fps. Their drops are figured off of a 75 yd zero. Might be a little skewed from what others do.

The Winchester shows 2820 fps at the muzzle and I didn't see a barrel length. They zeroed at 100 yds.

i'm not sure I would use 50 yards to measure group size

so the Winchester are roughly 60 fps slower than advertised from the 20" barrel

yep I would shoot them an email or make a call to get their view

 

[sleepr71]

That’s odd. I would be worried about insufficient velocity to create adequate bullet expansion..especially at longer distances! Be curious as to how they answer this.

 

[Big7]

The issue is not whether or not it will kill a deer. Technically, you can do that with a sharp stick.

The issue is 2400fp.

That's roughly 200fps slower than it should be in a 20 inch barrel. That's the issue.

EDIT: Even 300fps.

 

[Liberty]

Please post lot number of your ammo if possible. I’d call customer service with that lot number.

 

[bighonkinjeep]

So how far out are you setting up the chrono?
They are showing muzzle velocity at 2822 but velocity falling off to 2488 at 100 yards even with their slick 24" test barrel.
I too have been getting really good accuracy with it.

 

[Liberty]

I appreciate y’all’s comments. I’m not going to contact Norma for anything other than FYI to them as well. We have just over a box left that will get used for range fun one afternoon. I just wanted to let you guys know what I was getting on my chronograph in case you have your rifles loaded with that ammunition. That particular 700 is one of the “bad years” rifles and is a 2” gun, but it has been a handy youth rifle. The chronograph was set at around 7 yards.

 

[Jester896]

That box label shows it is slower than the site by 30 fps

 

[ScLowCountry]

If you would have never chronographed it, you would have been raving about how accurate it was. 150 grain bullet traveling at 2000 feet a second will kill a deer in a heartbeat. Sometimes we overanalyze things. It is a shame if it's advertised that much faster. However, the deer won't know the difference