.308 Ammo Questions

G

Guyon

New member
Well, I took the plunge and bought my first bolt action--a Remington 700 ADL in .308 Win. Got it for $279 ($303 with tax). A steal in my opinion.

I waffled back and forth between .308 and .30-06 for some time, but finally went with .308 for several reasons: I don't reload (yet). Cheap, surplus ammo more available. Shorter action. Slightly less felt recoil. And last (but not least), a lot of shooters here recommended the .308. Art claims this cartridge works better in the shorter 22 inch barrel. If I do start to reload, I'm sure a .30-06 will be in the future, but as for now, I think the .308 will make a fine hunting rifle.

I do have several questions about ammo:

1. What factory load would you shoot in this rifle for white tail deer hunting?

2. Where can I find this military surplus ammo for target shooting that everyone has mentioned?

3. Let me make sure I have this straight. You can shoot the miltary surplus stuff (7.62 mm NATO) in a bolt action without a problem. But you shouldn't shoot a .308 Win cartridge in a military rifle? Because of different pressures? Is this right?

Thanks to everyone for the advice so far.

------------------
Guyon
NRA, GOA, & TFA Member
Protect your RTBA!!!

[This message has been edited by Guyon (edited November 16, 2000).]
 
1. Most any brand, with 150-grain bullets. You can play around, of course, to see which works best in your particular rifle. However, for hunting accuracy, there *usually* won't be enough difference to matter.

2. You're gonna have to hunt up the catalogs, and/or browse through Shotgun News or The Gun List. Websearch "ammunition". And, some folks here will chime in...

3. This only affects handloaders: The case wall of military brass is slightly thicker than civilian brass, so the inside capacity is slightly smaller. A max load in civilian brass will be a bit too max in military brass. The simple cure is to cut back around two, maybe three grains weight of powder on the load when using military brass. And, in general for the .308, folks have mostly posted here that their most accurate handload is a grain or two below max, anyway.

Enjoy!

Art
 
I have had very good luck in my M700 using standard Winchester 150 grain softpoints-groups under an inch at 100 yards, and Wal-mart has their hunting specials for around $10 per box at this time of the year. Hornady and Remington green ammo does very well. In fact, I have to search around to find a load which won't work around an inch to 1.5. You may want to get the 30-06 later on, but there is little an 06 will do that your 308 won't. Generally speaking, max handloads are about 100-200 fps apart, and I would like to meet the animal who could tell the difference in a killing shot between the two cartridges. If you plant the bullet where it needs to go, you get to eat! If I thought the shot was iffy with a 308, I would't feel comfortable with an 06 either.
 
I have the same rifle--Rem 700 ADL in .308

FWIW, in general, mine shoots better groups with 180gr. bullets than with 150 gr, and smaller groups with factory ammo than with surplus. Can't tell you which kind of surplus--I just bought the cheap brown box from the gun store.

Current source: www.cheaperthandirt.com has British '80's surplus for $3.99 per box of 20. I'm going to get some, but haven't shot it yet.
 
Dang, that sounds like a killer deal on a rifle. Kinda makes me wonder about my Savage loyalty.

You can get 1,000 rounds of Berdan-primed mil-surplus at J&G in Prescott, Arizona for $150. Other places as well.

I'm a .308 fan myself, and had the same difficulty choosing between .308 and -06 for my first bolt gun. Now, given that I already have a .308 rifle already (two, actually), iffin I wuz to get a more powerful cartridge I would jump over the .30-06 and over to something more whumpish like a .300 Weatherby, .300 RemMag, Ultra Mag etc, etc, (I haven't figgered it out yet). And then there are several >.30 cal cartridges that *may* demand that I buy them, a few years from now...

Rick

[This message has been edited by RickD (edited November 16, 2000).]
 
The Hornady 165gr BTSP, stock #3045, is a superb big game bullet. I've taken 14 deer with it, in 30-06. It is accurate and hits hard.

A buddy of mine who used it in his .308 Winchester model 70 Featherweight recommended it to me. He took many deer with it himself. I think he used either IMR 4064 or 4895 powder.
 
I can recomend the Windchester 180grain silvertips I am not sure you can still get them, I bought several boxes some years back.They always open up fast and have good penetration.I do not recomend the 180grain Rem.corelock in 308Win for deer.I have seen too many clean pass throughs that did not open up,As a result they did not kill very fast.I believe they must be designed for heavier game,But the slivertips have never failed me at any range from 20yds to 300yds on deer.
 
Ammo

Guyon:

Answers to your questions:

1. I just bagged a 137 lb 4 pointer whitetail buck up in Northern Michigan (LP)this week. I used a Winchester 150 grain SP round. Its their standard hunting cartridge in .308. I shot it with a Winchester Model 70 XTR Featerweight. The rounds are very accurrate as they zeroed well at the range. I have also used Remington's 150 gr SP also.

2. Get a Shotgun News and shop around.

3. I've never had this problem reloading .308 for my Model 70 nor my M1A. But I did have a problem not sizing the neck correctly. The rounds would work in the M1A (which has a MILSPEC chamber which is slightly larger than a SAMMI Chamber which I assume the Model 70 has)but would not chamber in the Model 70. I went back and oulled the rounds and lowered the sizing die until the cases came out correct and would chamber in the Model 70.

Take care

Fred
 
That might be wrong.

I believe the ammo that Blackamos is referring to is actually called CAVIM. Not Calvam. It is Venezualan ammo and is pretty good stuff. I bought a 1000 round case when I bought my M1A. I have reloaded it as well and it works great.

I also made the mistake of not sizing the .308 right for my Rem 700, but they worked fine for the M1A. When you are using them bolt guns, they get mighty picky.
 
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