Hot New Trends in Ammo

Black Hills

Gold (New Loads)

For 2007, Black Hills has added three new loads to its top-shelf "Black Hills Gold" line of rifle ammunition, featuring high-consistency quality control, and elite high-performance brand name bullets. These include a .243 Winchester with a 95-grain Hornady SST at 2,950 fps velocity and 1,836 ft/lbs of energy, a .270 Winchester with a 130-grain Hornady SST at 2,950 fps velocity and 2,512 ft/lbs of energy, and a 7mm Remington Magnum with a 154-grain Hornady SST at 3,000 fps velocity and 3,077 ft/lbs of energy. The entire Black Hills Gold line now includes 25 individual loads in chamberings from .223 Remington to .300 Winchester Magnum. Visit .

Brenneke® Classic

Magnum 16-Gauge 2 3/4-Inch Slug

The 16 gauge is enjoying a resurgence in popularity because it has more power than a 20 but less weight and bulk than a 12. Brenneke's new Classic Magnum slug in 16 gauge features the H-type disk, which reduces deformation and improves accuracy up to 50 percent. Five-round groups under 2 1/2 inches at 100 yards are common. At the same time, its 3.53-square-inch frontal area generates 2,309 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, overcoming the lack of power that limits ordinary sabot designs. It performs well in smoothbore barrels as well as rifled barrels, although rifled barrels deliver the maximum accuracy. The felt wad helps keep barrels clean. Visit www.brennekeusa.com.

Federal Premium Vital-Shok Barnes Tipped Expander Slug

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There's no disputing the outstanding performance of the Barnes Expander shotgun slug. For accuracy, weight retention and expansion, it is the slug hunter's choice. New for 2007, this heavy hitter is now available with a polymer tip. The new Tipped Expander option provides a higher ballistic coefficient for outstanding downrange ballistics and enhances expansion at longer ranges. The Barnes Expander shotgun slug is available in 12-gauge (2 3/4-inch, 3/4-ounce) and 20-gauge (3-inch, 5/8-ounce) loads, both rated at 1,900 fps. These slugs are designed for use in fully rifled barrels only. Visit .

Federal Fusion (ATK)

Federal's new Fusion brand is expanding this year with offerings in four additional calibers — including three Fusion Lite options that provide terminal energy with half the recoil of standard velocity loads. These are the .270 Winchester 145-grain Fusion Lite, at 2,200 fps; the .30-06 Springfield 170-grain Fusion Lite, at 2,000 fps; and the .308 Winchester 170-Grain Fusion Lite, at 2,000 fps. New full-power Fusion offerings also now include the .338 Federal 200-grain Fusion, at 2,660 fps. Plus, slug hunters will welcome the addition of a line of Fusion Sabot slugs in both 20 gauge and 12 gauge — a 20-gauge 3-inch, 5/8-ounce Fusion Sabot Slug; a 12-gauge 3-inch 3/4-ounce Fusion Sabot Slug; and a 12-gauge 2 3/4-inch, 3/4-ounce Fusion Sabot Slug. Finally, blackpowder hunters can now take advantage of Fusion's unique technology with the addition of three .50-caliber Sabot bullets (.45-caliber projectiles) — a 240 grain, a 260 grain and a 300 grain. Visit www.federalcartidge.com.

Hornady's .308

Marlin Express

Chemistry and geometry come together in the .308 Marlin Express, which offers devastating long-range performance along with high-tech propellants, optimized case geometry and a highly refined 160-grain Evolution bullet. The .308 Marlin Express is an extension of Hornady's LEVERevolution line and combines Hornady's revolutionary FlexTip technology with a profile similar to match bullets. New technology in the jacket/core construction offers extraordinary expansion, deep penetration and high weight retention. Combined with the most advanced propellants that deliver exceptional velocity at conventional pressure, the .308 Marlin Express is the pinnacle of performance from a .30-caliber lever gun cartridge, all with less recoil than the .308 Winchester. Visit www.hornady.com.

Lightfield Hybred

EXP Slugs

Lightfield Ammunition's Hybred EXP slug system is available in 20 gauge and 12 gauge, with the 385-grain 20-gauge slug launching at 1,502 fps with 1,929 ft/lbs of energy, and the 546-grain 12-gauge slug launching at 1,454 fps with 2564 ft/lbs of energy. The Lightfield Hybred EXP (Maximum Expansion) cartridge projectile has a two-sided sabot that keys to four tabs on the slug itself. When the shell is fired, the pressure pushes the wad forward, locking the slug and sabot together, and forces the locked sabot/slug assembly to expand to the full barrel diameter and spin together as one unit. Just like a badminton birdie, the lighter wad, or "shuttlecock," stays attached to the slug while in flight, giving the projectile stability while supersonic and prevents shockwave deflection when the projectile becomes subsonic. Upon impact, the maximum expansion of the soft lead slug (essentially a .62-caliber bullet in 12 gauge) produces devastatingly lethal results. Visit www.lightfield-slugs.com.

Remington

UltraMag Power

Level Ammunition

For 2007, Remington has made the flattest-

shooting, hardest-hitting .30 caliber in history into the world's most versatile cartridge. New Power Level Ammunition allows you to incrementally tailor the performance of your rifle and ammunition to match your intended game species and hunting range, similar to the way shotgunners use 2 3/4-inch, 3-inch and 3 1/2-inch loads. The point of impact between Power Level loads stays within 2 inches out to 200 yards, so you'll have little to no scope adjustment when changing Power Levels. Power Level 1 performs identically to the .30-06, the caliber that's dropped more deer than any other. Power Level 2 has ballistics that mirror the .300 Winchester Magnum and .300 WSM — ideal for elk, mulies or whitetails at extended range. Power Level 3 is for the biggest, toughest game at extreme ranges, and at 200 yards delivers 485 ft/lbs. That's more energy than the .300 Weatherby Magnum, and 28 percent more energy than the .300 Winchester Magnum or .300 WSM. Simply put, never before has one cartridge offered this kind of versatility. Visit www.remington.com.

Swift Scirocco

210-grain .338 Bullets

Swift Bullets now offers a .338-caliber 210-grain Scirocco that is ideally suited for the popular new .338 Federal cartridge, and it really makes a long-range big-game taker out of the .338 Winchester Magnum, the .338 Ultra-Mag, the .340 Weatherby, and others in this class as well. The Scirocco features a shape that is becoming known for unequaled velocity and energy on target at extreme range with the least wind deflection. One secret to this bullet's game-taking effectiveness is the unsurpassed jacket wall thickness for a high level of integrity. The other is a lead core welded to the thick jacket by virtue of a proprietary bonding process. The thick base also ensures that the bullet withstands the high-pressure thrust and acceleration from big-cased and high-intensity cartridges without excessive deformation. At the same time, the polymer tip and sophisticated jacket design ensure positive expansion at extreme range. Visit www.swiftbullets.com.

Winchester .30-30

Ballistic Silvertip Load

Winchester Ammunition has introduced a new .30-30 Winchester 150-grain Ballistic Silvertip load in its Supreme line of the rifle ammunition. The bullet was co-developed with Nosler and sets new standards for performance in this historic cartridge. Like other Ballistic Silvertip bullets, the new .30-30 150-grain bullet has a silver polymer tip and Winchester's patented Lubalox coating. The blunt bullet nose is designed for use in tube feed magazine guns like the Winchester Model 94. The new load has a muzzle velocity of 2,390 feet per second and muzzle energy of 1,902 ft/lbs. The bullet was designed with white-tailed deer in mind and will expand at a wide range of velocities, delivering the knockdown and penetration needed to reach the vitals of deer or other medium-sized big game. Visit www.winchester.com.