Practice bullets

B

Bill Daniel

New member
I need more trigger time on my target rifle but don’t want to burn up all my SMK’s in doing so. Any one know of a source for inexpensive jacketed .308 bullets? I am about out of the 168 grain blems I bought a while back.
Thanks,
All the best,
Bill
 
My target rifle is a Savage model 12 FTR in 308. My practice rifle is a Savage model 12 FTR in 223. Much cheaper ammo and the same rifle. The biggest difference is the recoil. I also put time in on in on 22lr. Their are cheap ways to practice. Powder Valley is where I got my last big batch of SMKs.
 
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I don't shoot 308, but RMR (Rocky Mountain Reloading) Has good prices on everything I've used and the quality is great.
 
Have you checked out Hornady?
For my 7mm rifles i use a lot of their SST. Cost effective shooting. Cheaper than Ballistic Tips, same poi, same powder charge. Accurate enough out to 500 yards. (I just haven't tried them further).
They do have a Match bullet comparable to Sierra, and quite in expensive.
 
If your handloading I have found that the Hornady 168 Match BTHPs shoot very near to the SMKs of the same in Sierra. Very minor POI change but accuracy wise its very close. They usually run 20% cheaper in all quantity amounts but really shine if you buy by the 500s. MidwayUSA is having huge discounts on both brands so might be worth the look. My pet load with 168 SMKs works the exact same as the Hornady load in BTHP and only difference is seating cause slightly different bullet shapes. Now I would still back down powder charge 5% and work back up to ensure this for saftey but mine ended up exactly the same using OCW method...YMMV. ( Barnes Match Burners also work well and cheaper just harder to find )
 
I looked at all the usual suspects, but for jacketed bullets I don't find much encouragement. You used to be able to import 168-grain Match bullets at a good price, but now PRVI is selling for about what Sierra is at Graf. No real luck anywhere else, either. I suspect the tarrifs have had a significant effect on anything made of metal. Mid-South's bulk Monster Match brand is more than Hornady 168's and I would trust the latter first.

Since the cost of the metal seems to be such a big factor, I would take a look at giving up matching recoil and point of impact and just get some 100-grain half-jacket or 110-grain carbine bullets and load them over Trail Boss or even Unique or some such and just figure out the difference in POI if you don't want to change your sights for fear of forgetting to change them back later.
 
Get the best bang for your buck, I am seeing interesting result with the Horandy 168 ELD,
I get them from wherever the price and shipping is the least. SMKs don't go on sale so its the blemish or Hornday.

That said, I don't shoot for accuracy to a POA, I shoot for groups. If its off POA, I can put it on POA if I want. If its on the paper I can see and not mixed with another group, I shoot the whole 5 to 10.

You just want to know if you and the load are grouping, you can adjust the scope if you need to or leave as is for the main event bullets.
 
I'm a benchrest shooter , been shooting the same rifle for many years , my one an only . I only feed it Sierra 168 gr MK . Round count is important , practice on form with snap caps . I try to make every round count a barrel only has a certain amount of accurate life . I'm on my second barrel close to third . Only feed it what shoots best . As another post answered a 22 for trigger time is a good idea when not shooting center fire .
 
I have found Nosler Custom Competitions are almost identical to SMK's in the most of the common weights .264 caliber. Never tried then in .308 but they are a cost effective and accurate alternative to SMK's and Bergers
 
If you happen to take a drive through Missouri, stop at the Sierra factory store in Sedalia. They dip then out of a steel drum and sell by the pound.
 
Glad you found something OP. This is the very reason why I'm going to start casting. Figured it would barely be worth my time for pistol bullets, hence why I've always just bought them. But the savings on rifle bullets, and being able to make everything I'll shoot for the year in an afternoon? Totally worth it. Even if I do have to shoot reduced loads (I shoot heavy for caliber bullets in rifle mostly, so I really don't have to reduce so much).
 
I don't shoot match kings a lot anymore but as I recall the price was about the same as reg cup and core bullet's! When I did shoot match kings in a rifle, they were all I would shoot in that rifle!

edit Need to add. If your load was developed using SMK's and your shooting really small groups but you switch to something else to practice with. How do you know if it's the bullet's of you when the group's come out larger?
 
Thanks to all. My thinking, right or wrong, is to work on my basics as to shooting technique and the beginnings of load development with the blems. Then I will try to perfect the load for my rifle with the SMKs and chase the tightest group.
The Norma blems are the same weight and I believe similar bc.
Thanks again,
Bill
 
Took 5 rifles to the range today. Savage FTR in 223 and 308, AR in 223 and 308 and a bolt action 22LR. Put 5 shots over the chrono in the FTRs and ARs to get average speeds. Moved to the 500 yard range and practiced head shots. 20 in each rifle. Got boring really fast. Moved to the rimfire range. Must of shot more than 100 rounds. Had metal at 50, 75, 100, 200, 250 and 300 yards. Scope maxed out on the 200 yard metal. The 250 was fairly easy using Kentucky elevation. The 300 yard wasn't loud enough to hear or see move. Time for a better scope for the rimfire. The 22LR was more fun and taught me more than the other 4 rifles combined.The 22LR has the same drop at 300 yards that my 308 has at 1000. Cheap practice.
 
Never shot long range in civilian llife , shot LR in the service , with scopes you can use a system called bracketing worked really well , look into it .
 
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