Hintenburger Ammunition - Anyone used it? - Is it any good?

FrenchieBoy

Well-Known Member
Sorry Moderators, I have put this in the wrong section so I will put it in the Ammunition section. Maybe you could delete this post for me. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I've started running a little low on the Norma .270 ammunition that I got cheaply so I need to start thinking about some new ammunition. I've come across some Hintenburger 150g SP ammunition in .270 at what seems like quite a reasonable price (£15 per box) but I have never heard of or about Hintenburger Ammunition before. Do any of you guys out there use it or can anyone enlighten me on if this ammunition might be worth a try at that price please.
I should add that most of my shooting nowadays (With the .270) is mainly fox but there is always a reasonable chance of Roe on my permissions plus I do get occasional invites to go out "Park Culling" for Fallow, Reds, Sikas etc.

Your thoughts and opinions as always are most welcome.
 
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Sorry Moderators, I have put this in the wrong section so I will put it in the Ammunition section. Maybe you could delete this post for me. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I've started running a little low on the Norma .270 ammunition that I got cheaply so I need to start thinking about some new ammunition. I've come across some Hintenburger 150g SP ammunition in .270 at what seems like quite a reasonable price (£15 per box) but I have never heard of or about Hintenburger Ammunition before. Do any of you guys out there use it or can anyone enlighten me on if this ammunition might be worth a try at that price please.
I should add that most of my shooting nowadays (With the .270) is mainly fox but there is always a reasonable chance of Roe on my permissions plus I do get occasional invites to go out "Park Culling" for Fallow, Reds, Sikas etc.

Your thoughts and opinions as always are most welcome.[/QUOTE
I have used this ammo but in 223.It was a 50gr soft point and shot extremely well.I suppose you will have to buy some and see if it shoots well in your rifle.
All the best
dave
 
OH! NO! NO! NO!

Do be aware that on some HP brass the flash hole is considerably smaller than the commonly used size on all American and everybody else's European brass. Not Berdan I'm mistaking here but HP Boxer brass.

I have BENT the rod on a set of Forster Bonanza 270 Micrometer Dies by mistakenly trying to de-cap HP .270 Winchester brass. As despite my years of experience I had forgotten all about this little "foible" of HP brass. And as soon as I done it I remembered that I had done exactly the same thing...in the same calibre but different dies...about twenty years before.

BEWARE!!

I hope despite the maybe over melodramatic tone of my posting that I have at least saved you a bent de-capping rod! If you don't reload it's not a problem as it is good ammunition BUT maybe a decade at least old! But no-one will thank you for the empty cases...unless they don't know this "foible".
 
I shot a couple of boxes of Hirtenberger about 35 yers ago. The only thing i remember is they shed the bullet core and i just found the bullet jacket inside the deer. I think they were 150grn in .308.
 
I have used the 9mm Luger and the .308 Match, both very good. The 9mm is probably the best I have ever used for those handguns. You have to be careful with the 9mm, as they also make a +P+ for locking breech submachineguns, like the HK MP5 and the Colt AR in 9mm, which is 115-gr bullet at over 1500 fps.

The 110 and 115-gr 9mm bullets are flat nose, truncated cone, designed to open fully, not richocet ( for police work in urban settings ), penetrate windshields, but not penetrate too much wall board.

I shot a wounded deer on the move, jumped at about 25 yards, one shot in the heart and it was DRT. So I am hoarding what I have left. I had about 100 rounds of Hirtenberger match ammunition which shot very well. I have not seen any in years.
 
Can't say that I have seen that make imported into the U.K. for at least 20 years so I would guess that its possibly old stock. Hirtenberger used to have a very good reputation, their target .308 ammo was what the NRA sold for a few years.

I reloaded several hundred ex NRA .308 cases that I was given and never had any problems with small primer flash holes but that was .308 and not .270 so Enfield's warning could very well be worth being aware of.
 
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Can't say that I have seen that make imported into the U.K. for at least 20 years so I would guess that its possibly old stock. Hirtenberger used to have a very good reputation, their target .308 ammo was what the NRA sold for a few years.

I reloaded several hundred ex NRA .308 cases that I was given and never had any problems with small primer flash holes but that was .308 and not .270 so Enfield's warning could very well be worth being aware of.

They are advertised on Kirklees Guns web site!
Does anyone know if there is there any way of telling what age the stock is by any markings on the box please?
 
They are advertised on Kirklees Guns web site!
Does anyone know if there is there any way of telling what age the stock is by any markings on the box please?
My Hirtenberger .308 was all in plain brown cardboard boxes with a white or red label. Inside the flap was the date, which is also stamped on the case head, like "87" for 1987.
 
Hunting ammo seems unavailable at this moment. They were loading Nosler Partition bullets and the ABC bullet. The ABC bullet was some kind of monometal bullet, only having a slight bit of lead in the front part of the bullet.
 
My Hirtenberger .308 was all in plain brown cardboard boxes with a white or red label. Inside the flap was the date, which is also stamped on the case head, like "87" for 1987.


Thanks for that information Southern, it was exactly what I was asking for - Very helpful!
 
They are advertised on Kirklees Guns web site!
Does anyone know if there is there any way of telling what age the stock is by any markings on the box please?

Looking at the RUAG website it doesn't list Hirtenberger in their product line of hunting ammo at the moment. http://www.ruag.co.uk/categories/5-hunting

However the company is mentioned here http://www.ruag.com/ammotec/hunting-and-sports/ and looking at the Hirtenberger website suggests that they entered into an agreement to produce ammo for RWS in 2003 though the majority of their munitions are for military applications and are mortor or tank rounds.
It certainly would appear that the ammo that Kirklees is selling may be older stock that is unless a new line has been introduced by RUAG and they haven't updated their website yet.
 
Last night, I remembered that I have an ammo can of Hirtenberger 147-gr NATO ammunition, packed 20 to a box, and a few softpoints. I will dig it out and take photos of the boxes and headstamps.

Don't worry about ammo being old. I am still shooting 7.62x51 from the early 1970s that is really good.
 
The first part is not entirely true. Yes, it's true that RUAG bought Hirtenberger in 2004?, at which time all production of hunting cartridges was halted. But - a few years ago Norma introduced a new line of ammo - Norma Hirtenberger Line. These loads are made with same bullets and same specifications as old Hirtenberger loads, but it is new ammo and readily available in my country. Bullets, that are factory loaded by Norma in this brand of ammo are Nosler Partition, Nosler Ballistic Tip, Sierra Game King, Sierra Pro Hunter, Sierra Varminter and Teilmantel Spitze. Here is proff of this - RUAG's official site:
HIRTENBERGER by NORMA

Hirtenberger is an Austrian company and it's hunting ammo line was highly regarded in my country, the quality was on the same level as RWS. They also loaded the legendary ABC bullet. ABC stands for Avcin Bullet Cartritge. It was developed by Slovenian constructor France Avcin who then sold the patent rights to Hirtenberger which factory loaded this brand of Ammo. It was one of the first monolithic bullets ever made, presented to hunting community in 1971, far ahead of Barnes and other newer monolithic bullets of this time. True, it had a little bit of lead in front part (similar to GROM bullet), but as the constructor Avcin said himself, it could also be filled with plastic or with nothing at all, but since lead was the standard of that time, they decided to fill the hole with lead.
Many hunters who used this ammo from Hirtenberger for decades, still claim that this was probably the best bullet they ever used. Most of it's features could be compared with latest monolithic bullets - but some 40 years ago!!!. It was accurate, not sensitive to any barriers on it's way to target, never fell apart, always achieved extreme penetration with reliable blood trail, it was universaly effective on either small or large game and it produced little meat damage. When RUAG bought Hirtenberger this legendary bullet from Hirtenberger, ceased to exist. Anyway, it was a great bullet, far ahead of it's time.

Hunting ammo seems unavailable at this moment. They were loading Nosler Partition bullets and the ABC bullet. The ABC bullet was some kind of monometal bullet, only having a slight bit of lead in the front part of the bullet.
 
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Sorry Moderators, I have put this in the wrong section so I will put it in the Ammunition section. Maybe you could delete this post for me. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I've started running a little low on the Norma .270 ammunition that I got cheaply so I need to start thinking about some new ammunition. I've come across some Hintenburger 150g SP ammunition in .270 at what seems like quite a reasonable price (£15 per box) but I have never heard of or about Hintenburger Ammunition before. Do any of you guys out there use it or can anyone enlighten me on if this ammunition might be worth a try at that price please.
I should add that most of my shooting nowadays (With the .270) is mainly fox but there is always a reasonable chance of Roe on my permissions plus I do get occasional invites to go out "Park Culling" for Fallow, Reds, Sikas etc.

Your thoughts and opinions as always are most welcome.

Buy it ! I got some a few years ago in 6.5x55. Very accurate and cheap. £15 a box sounds like good value.
 
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