Has anyone chrono’d the gold box 75 grain PPU loading since they rebranded again? I remember once upon a time, it was regarded as a “go-to” budget defense/hunting load (with members like Skypup having excellent results on hogs) and then Bluefalcon tested some of the newer stuff out of a 10.5” barrel and the velocities seemed to nose dive versus when it was in a green box. I bought a couple of the gold boxes a few years ago, and I was contemplating on using them for whitetail this year out of one of my 16” rifles.

The original lot of PPU 75 grain match ammunition had a very low muzzle velocity, but it was quite accurate for a budget load.  After I posted an article on the original lot, Prvi increased the velocity of the load, but many people reported a decrease in accuracy.  

The terminal ballistic properties of the original lot with the low velocity were very good, for a budget load.  I might do some testing of a recent lot to see how it compares.








Privi Partizan 75 gr OTM

Velocity:  2468 fps from a 16" 1:7” twist barrel

penetration in bare ballistic gel: 12.6"

neck length:  0.8”

maximum temporary cavity: 3.2” at a depth of 4.7”

recovered diameter:  0.36”

recovered length:  0.15”

recovered weight:  30.1gr

percentage of fragmentation:  60%

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A friend just tested this:

16-in barrel 1:7 twist

PPU 75gr HPBT Match Green Box: 2600fps
PPU 75gr HPBT Match Blue Box: 2611fps
PPU 75gr HPBT Match Gold Box: 2432fps

5-shot averages, shot back to back so environmental variables are almost identical. They neutered the gold box. Similar % drop in fps on a 14.5 1:8 barrel from Green/Blue to Gold.

Edited to add: I believe green -> blue -> gold was the progression on when PPU released these, but am not 100% on that.

Yeah, this is what I was afraid of. Also why I’m using the 16” barrel with this ammo for potential whitetail duty instead of the 10.3”. I should still have decent terminal performance within the ranges I hunt, even with a 2,432 FPS muzzle velocity. Hopefully Molon will post his results as well, but it looks like the gold box might be a no-go for shorter barrels for hunting or home defense.

Ouch that's a drop.  I've had great luck, with consideration of what PPU 75gr is, and I've still got a few thousand reloads loaded with the 75gr PPU component which was pretty darn good price wise way back when.  Pretty much my go to for running and gunning hogs at the ranch - my reloads that is.

Thanks for your gracious offer, but I already have some on the way!

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The original lot of green box had a muzzle velocity of 2462 FPS from a 16" Colt barrel, so it looks like they just reverted to the original velocity.  After I posted my article, they increased the velocity of the green box, but then people started to report a decrease in accuracy/precision.





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