It’s tough to get a hunter to try new ammo. Like trucks and camo, brand loyalties run strong–and I’m no different. For a long time, I’ve been a fan of the Precision Hunter ammo. It’s always performed well for me, and the last deer I shot took one round from my 6.5 Creedmoor and dropped in its tracks at 422 yards. So, I’ve stuck with it for the last six or seven years and have been happy so far. But this year, I’m going to mix it up and try something new.
Background
For some time now, MeatEater and SIG Sauer have been working together to develop a new line of premium hunting ammunition. But we didn’t just slap a new logo on something already in production. This ammo went through tons of development, feedback, and testing before it hit the shelves.
In fact, the lineage of this ammunition can be traced back even further. In 2020, SIG was selected by the U.S. Army to produce cartridges for the military’s Enhanced Sniper Rifle weapons system. This was no small feat since the military had very demanding performance benchmarks that the rounds had to meet.
One of those benchmarks was extremely consistent velocity, which is measured using a metric called "standard deviation." Standard deviation (SD) refers to the consistency in a bullet's velocity from one shot to the next. While most hunting ammo I’ve shot has an SD between 15 and 30 feet-per-second (fps), handloaders chase single-digit numbers, with a sub-10 fps being very good. So it’s a huge deal for a factory round to hold a single-digit SD, and that’s exactly what these sniper rounds had to deliver.
Which brings us to 2024 and the new SIG Platinum Hunter ammunition. This ammo is based on the technology developed for that army round, so it’s held to exceptionally high performance standards.
The Ammo
The Sig Platinum Hunter ammunition will initially be available in six go-to hunting cartridges: 243 Win, 270 Win, 300 Win Mag, 30-06, 6.5 Creedmoor, and the good ol’ 308 Win. Each round is loaded with the legendary Nosler Accubond bullet, renowned for its uniform expansion and solid performance on game, both big and small. Cases are nickel-plated for corrosion resistance and smoother action cycling. There’s also waterproofing between the bullet and the case, which is something not many other hunting cartridges offer.
All that to say–this stuff is built for hunting in the harshest conditions out there.
Performance
We think this is excellent hunting ammunition–we wouldn’t put our logo on it otherwise. But I personally don’t take ammunition into the field unless I’ve tested it thoroughly, which is why I’ve been shooting the 300 Win Mag offering for the last few months.
To get straight to the point, the Platinum Hunter ammo works as advertised. In range sessions shooting over a Garmin chronograph, I’ve achieved single digit SD’s with my SIG Sawtooth delivering a three fps SD. The other two rifles I’ve shot it with have performed similarly and produced SD’s in the 3-5 fps range.
Velocities were also on par for the 300 Win Mag with an average of 2982 fps out of a 24-inch Proof barrel.
Accuracy can depend a lot on the rifle and the person pulling the trigger, but this ammo has performed well in that category. The Sawtooth delivers .5 MOA groups like clockwork. My other 300 Win Mag rifle didn’t care for the 180-grain bullets (it usually likes the 200+ grain projectiles), but still delivered accuracy around 1-1.5” and consistent velocities.
Conclusion
SIG’s new Platinum Hunter ammo delivers everything you could ask for in a premium hunting round: rock-solid performance, excellent accuracy and speed, and a bullet with a proven track record. It also doesn’t break the bank. The cost for most calibers is only $59.99 a box, with the 300 Win Mag coming in at $74.99 per box.
Click here to check some out for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.
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