By Mark V. Lonsdale – STTU

For shooters who do not have the time or inclination to hand load, Federal’s Match Grade ammunition has long been the staple diet for many of those shooters. Back in the 1980’s, when Federal Match ammo came in red and white boxes, the 168 grain Sierra Match King (SMK) was first choice for our sniper training and the standard by which we judged all sniper ammunition. While its thin jacket and integrity through barricades was less than ideal, the accuracy and consistency was superb.

This has continued to today where we still use the Federal Gold Medal Match (GMM) 168 grain as out baseline standard for .308 Win. rifle evaluations. I have also been using the 168s for 600 yard competition shooting with no complaints.

Tac Ops Lima 51 .308 Win. sniper rifle with Leupold Mark 8 scope 

The introduction of the Federal GMM…