milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

[tolnep]

bought the rifle about 2 months ago and have been trying diffrent ammo.

168 gr FGMM 1/2 MOA at 100 yards, not quite so good at 200 and 300 but still pretty good.

i bought some 7.62 FGMM 175 and it performs not as well at 100. At 300 im still uncertain. I have not shot it other than at 100 and 300 yards.

there happened to be a guy with a chrono available on the 100 and i shot both types of ammo. though the box said 2650, the 168 gr chrono'd at 2600. oddly the 175 chrono'd at 2650 though the box said 2600 (and yes we double checked these by testing more than once). the 7.62 has the 'unpolished brass' look.

my questions are these:

1. is the difference between 168 and 175 to be expected at 100 yards? is this due to the 1 in 11.5 twist of the rifle?

2. should i expect the 175 to perform better at longer ranges (say 600 yards?).

3. i would like to test other ammo if 'match grade' is available for purchase somewhere (suggestions). I plan to get into reloading but that comes later. So suggestions? and what ammo for what distance?

4. are there suggested bullet weights (say 168 or less) that perform better as opposed to heavier bullets (say 175 or more) for this rifle due to its design?

thanks for replies.

 

[justinbaker]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

try the hornady superperformance 178 HPBT. its on sale right now at brownells for $25

 

[gstaylorg]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

Black Hills makes pretty good stuff; 168 and 175 SMK projectiles like the FGMM. I've also had good results using Hornady's 168 A-Max load out of a 24" 5R 11.25-twist. If $$$ is not a huge issue, you won't find a better commercial load than these for that particular rifle, particularly past 500 yd:

http://www.appliedballisticsllc.com/Munitions/ABMTactical.html

I regularly shoot these out of my Hospitaller (24" 5R barrel, 11.25 twist, 2725 fps MV) and they are as close to a handload as you'll find in commercial ammunition.

 

[targaflorio]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

FGMM is the standard. Their 7.62 is ballisticaly identical to the 308 win. Annealing is unpolished and primers have a little crimp is all.
The reversing of mv between bullet weights is wierd. Shoot the faster one.
Your twist is perfect for this bullet weight.
168 and 175 will run almost identical to 600 yds, then the momentum of the bigger bullet will resist wind drift and bullet drop a little better.
You got good suggestions on ammo. SWAmmo runs identical to my load of 43.5 grs of Varget.
1/2 MOA with factory ammo out of a factory gun is awesome. You should be thrilled. Hand loading to equal that performance would be a good short term goal. Then you might try to make it better, but not everyone can exceed FGMM performance.

 

[MWTBDLTR]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

+1 on black hills, good stuff... Other than that start hand loading

 

[ranger1183]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

I had a great deal of luck with Hornady Match ammo loaded with the 155 grain A-Max. It was also some of the least expensive match ammo available.

 

[montgomery627]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

+1 for the Hornady Superformance Match

 

[Mountain Shooter]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

Call Pete Pi at CorBon. His 175gr MK load rocks. Just ask anyone that shot the Allegheny Sniper Challenge fully sponsored event. 20" 308's will get to 1200 yards!!!!!!!!!!!! That is at our 3000 ft elevation. All 30 FN spr rifles shot less than .5" test targets with his ammo. Call Pete..It also works in several other 308 rifles. One factory 5R loves the stuff. PM woodlanddude on here and get his thoughts.
the 5R is his rifle.

 

[Bob munden]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

The federal 7.62x51 open tip match can be bought for under 20 a box and shoots very well out of the rem 700 5r. i was shooting that stuff till i started to reload. oh and the cases are not bad to load except the crimped pocket but once those were done im up to my 12th reload on them. good brass

 

[Bob munden]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

i called sierra to find out what the heaviest bullet they would suggest for the 1 in 11.25 and they said you could shoot up to 200g which seemed to heavy to me at least so i loaded up some 190 smk and was amazed! my 168 smk load would shoot under 1/2 inch at 100 and around a inch or just under at 200 then i made a couple loads for the 190 smk with a couple types of powder. was not happy at all until i shot some imr 4064 with 40.5 g of powder and cci 200 primer set just off the lands and was shocked. 3 five round groups 1 group was 1/4 moa at 200 and the other 2 groups shot .698 and the last group was .754. all i can say is that rifle with the right load will shoot!

 

[red6actual]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

Surplus M118LR is not bad if you can find it, I have good luck with it out to 1000M, Federal Gold Medal is also a good choice.

 

[sobrbiker883]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

Southwest Ammunition 175gr.

Surplus M118 that is cheaper than match ammo is usually "special ball" not real M118LR.

 

[caseyru67]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

1. No-other than POI(point of impact. 2.Yes-600 is about max for consistant accuracy from 168's, beyond beyond 600, 175's. 3. Pallmetto State Armory has good prices on FGMM. 4. When you reload you can try 155's.

3/4 to 1/2 is what you should expect from factory loads in your 5r. Sure some get better but that is the average. I bedded the action in mine and accuracy improved maybe 1/4 with reloads.

 

[red6actual]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

Got to be lucky I guess and stumble on the deal, I have found a bunch of real M118LR for less than the cost of Federal GMM.

 

[fdkay]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

If the rifle shoots .5 moa at 100, it should do likewise at 200, 300 and so on.
As long as it hasn't gone transonic, it should maintain the same level of accuracy (wind of course has a big say).

As far as velocity, don't worry about what the box says, worry what the chrono says. As far as it being slower in your rifle, ammo companies have long been known to fudge their figures to the high side, they also tend to use 26" test barrels. You are also shooting a factory tube, albeit, one of the better factory tubes.

If you are truly getting .5 moa, you should be very happy. That is a good shooting factory rifle.

 

[5RWill]

Re: milspec 5r 308 24 inch barrel which ammo to try?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sobrbiker883</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Southwest Ammunition 175gr.

Surplus M118 that is cheaper than match ammo is usually "special ball" not real M118LR. </div></div>

This ^ southwest makes some accurate stuff, Black hills also makes quality ammo.

Out to 600 either will work i doubt you'd see a substantial difference from either. Though past 800yds the 175s are usually going to pull ahead. It depends on which 168gr we're talking about really. There are some that will perform out to 1000yds, though finding them in factory ammunition is either going to be expensive or hard. Considering factory ammo I would just go with the 175s so when you do stretch out to 1000+ you wont have to switch or worry about anything.

I've shot 155s-175s in my 5R and it has grouped all of them at or a tad over 1/2 MOA. I'm not sure whether the 11.25 twist is just a sweet spot or what but so far i've yet to find a load the rifle wont shoot. 155s have some decent BCs and the ability to launch them around 2800-2900fps helps greatly in distance, there are trade offs though. Your shots will be more susceptible to wind with the light pills.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: fdkay</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If the rifle shoots .5 moa at 100, it should do likewise at 200, 300 and so on.
As long as it hasn't gone transonic, it should maintain the same level of accuracy (wind of course has a big say).

</div></div>

This as well, the further the distance, the more it's going to become shooter dependent rather than rifle dependent. As Fdkay said if the rifle is accurate which i believe it is, it's up to you to ensure the accuracy downrange.