308 Training/Practice Ammo Recommendations

[rottenit]

Hi,

Im looking for some guidance on practice ammo.

I more than likely will only have access to a 200yd range at the moment. My rifle is a R700 SPS Tac 1:10 @ 20”. So far I’ve been shooting 168gr Atomic reloads but I need to switch ammo the atomic stuff is pretty scary (2 cracked necks in 1 box) I’ve tested the following ammo:

147gr Privi – Shoots all-over the place at 100yd
168gr Atomic Match Reloads – “good” ammo so far its what ive zeroed my rifle in with shoots well at 100 & 200
175gr buffalo bore reloads” only shot 5 good group at 100 shoots low

So I’m looking for something that’s relatively easy to get right now until I can find some primers and start working up hand loads. Ive been looking at the XM118LR and the 168 hornady match at SGammo. Either seem to be a better choice? Ive read some positive and negative reviews on the XM118LR.

Thanks!

 

[maccrazy2]

Federal gold metal match 168's shoot great in just about everything and normally run about $20 a box

 

[RobertB]

I stay away from the superformance but I love Hornady factory ammo. Choices there are 155, 168 or 178 amax or BTHP. Federal Gold Metal Match is also great and its' made with 168 or 175 Sierra Matchkings with myself likeing the 175 SMK way more than the 168. Black hills make great ammo to but for price look at SOuthwest Ammo. Their times are usually a ways out but it always seems to be good ammo when it comes in. I just got another 1K rounds sent to the house. If only shooting to 200 yds then most any ammo with the 268 SMK should be perfect. Look at ultramax I think or maybe the Prvi match loads. But if only a buck or two apart I would stick with black hills, federal, remington or hornady in match offering.

 

[EchoDeltaSierra]

I (and a couple of other's who I've been shooting with) have been having quite good results with Federal. I'm currently running XM80 147-grain and get decent groups (for cheap plinking ammo) at my local 100Y and 200M ranges. I do set up to larger stuff and have the known distance adjustments logged for the different ammo I shoot. Also, I've had really good luck with Federal LE ammo using the 168 gr. SMK bullet; these are available for a pretty good price from my local LEO supply shop.

 

[blair]

FGMM 168's
FGMM 175's
SWAmmo 175's
McCourt 175's
Copper Creek 175's = all great options
M118LR is pretty good too.

 

[blair]

Federal gold metal match 168's shoot great in just about everything and normally run about $20 a box

If you can find it at $20, that would be a deal - the best I've seen lately is about $23/20rd

 

[EXTREMEPREJUDICE]

As mentioned, Southwest Ammo deserves a look with quality offerings at competitive prices. I have no affiliation with them but had had quite a bit of success with some of their "group buy" deals.

 

[scimitar2]

Practice with what you will shoot for real. Learn how that round behaves from your rifle otherwise you will be learning false lessons with your practice.

 

[RobertB]

I know some people don't mind swapping up but I don't like to do it. If I have 3 different types of ammo I split them up between 3 rifles. I like to order my ammo by 1K rounds a time so I will have a consistent diet for my rifle. I don't like learning on load and then oops. I'm out of that, now I ned to re zero and start learning it all over again. Right now I have 3 .308's that are set up differently and my choices are 168 AMAX for one and FGMM175 for one and SW 175 Match for the other. And I have seen very similar results between the last 2 mentioned. I don't put cheap ammo through my rifles and I always want the same thing all the time.

One reason I think this is important is that if you want to shoot longer ranges and have good first round hits then you need something consistent that you can take out day after day mounth after month and learn the effects of environmental changes. If your always swapping loads then you have no idea. My buddy only shoots168 SMK but out of differnet makers. He likes them because all his different brands shoot at the same zero. I tell him that that's not bad but all will have slightly different M.V.'s. Therefore, he cannot tell the difference on his turret for different days/loads. He always has to shoot, adjust off of it, then go from there. If you notice,military snipers are given onen load. There are differnent lots between that same load that can have variance but if they want to really learn that rifle and round they have to have a very consistent combo to put to the test in different climates.

FInd something good and stick with it if all possible. I will be worth it in the long run. You will also have rounds to shoot whenever you need them if you do that.

Good luck!

 

[cav1993]

Several hide vendors as previously mentioned
Pick any of them and youll likely be pleased
Fcs (andrew mccourt) rolls great stuff
Josh at copper creek
Southwest

Factory ammo i often use
Black hills 175
Fgmm 168 or 175 agree prices higher than they were before, palmetto state armory 24-25 /box when you can find

 

[GHatfield]

Give Josh at Copper Creek a shout. I have been shooting his 175 SMK with great results.

 

[gstaylorg]

Copper Creek currently appears to have some of their "gas gun" .308 ammo with 175 gr SMKs, but it may not be around long. I have some of CC's 77 gr .223 ammo and it is very good. Southwest ammo also has great stuff, but it's anyone's guess how long your order will take to arrive; I've currently been waiting since 5/28 for .308 ammo. Quality ammo at a reasonable price sounds great, but if you can't get it in your hands to shoot it for months, it's not worth very much.

My recommendation would be to use one of the ammo search engines like Gunbot (GunBot find 223 5.56 AR-15 ammo in stock) to find some reasonably-priced FGMM 168s or 175s. Either one should shoot reasonably well out of many different platforms. You could probably find some to tide you over while waiting on an order from CC or SW. For example, Palmetto State Armory recently had FGMM 175s on sale for $22.99/box. They're currently out, but you can definitely find it from time to time if you spend some time looking.

 

[rottenit]

Thanks everyone!

Tons of good info here!

I ended up buying some of the 175 Copper Creek from a forum member so that should get me going while I try to hunt down primers.