Best .308 Off The Shelf Ammo

[COlineman78]

I usually hunt muzzleloader, but didn't tag out this year and heading up next week. I have a Remington 700 5R Milspec .308 that I am going to bring up and was wondering what recommendations people had for an off the shelf hunting round. I have a ton of mil surplus FMJ and other than that the only other round I have shot out of it so far is Federal Match. If anyone could provide a drop chart their recommendation that would be even better.

 

[tstowater]

I see that Barnes and Nosler both offer loaded ammo that would meet your needs. Also, you can go to the Berger bullets website and find several companies such as The Hunting Shack (HSM) that would load Hunting VLD bullets in there lineup. Don't know the drop information, but the Barnes TTSX, Nosler Partition and Accubonds and the Berger Hunting VLD bullets will all kill elk. I know that there are some preferences with various shooters and I will leave that part to you. I've used Nosler Partitions with great success on elk and the Accubonds and VLDs are well liked also.

I would suggest getting a couple different loads and use the one that shoots better in your gun. Good luck.

 

[COlineman78]

Looks like Nosler provides ballistic and drop info out to 500 yards on Cabela's. Thinking Nosler 165gr Acubond may just be the ticket. Not exactly cheap, but on such short notice it'll do the trick. I need to get set up for reloading 308 ASAP (223 only right now). Still cheaper than my .300 WBY which I will also be bringing for stalk hunting cause my B&C medalist stock makes it almost impossible to shoot off-hand.

 

[6mm Remington]

The 165 gr. Accubond will serve you very well. You should be able to find it loaded in Federal or the Nosler factory loads. The Partitions are fantastic as well.

 

[NEhunter]

Running Nosler 165 grain accubonds this year in my .308 with decent groups out of a browning xbolt.

 

[COlineman78]

I'm thinking they're going to be the best bet. May pick up a box of Federal Vital-Shok just to try out and see if my rifle likes them better for some reason and try to make it out to the range this Sat to verify the provided drop chart (out to 300 since thats our range max).

 

[Jackelope]

I'd be sure to at least try the accubonds and the partitions. Federal Premium offers both.

 

[COlineman78]

I'd be sure to at least try the accubonds and the partitions. Federal Premium offers both.

I agree, just don't quite have enough time to mess around too much. I think I'm just going to have to get 2 boxes and whatever works best get sighted in and drop verified and pick up another box of it to hunt with. May also be restricted to whatever I can find locally, but between all the stores around here I ought to be able to find a couple different boxes to try. Does anyone have experience between the partitions and accubonds? Do you see different performance for the same load (ie should I try both Partition and Accubond in Nosler loads or try Accubond in both Nosler and Federal loads).

 

[husky390]

The Barnes Vortex 168gr TTSX shoot great out of my Ruger American Compact. Good luck to you this season.

 

[5MilesBack]

Does anyone have experience between the partitions and accubonds? Do you see different performance for the same load (ie should I try both Partition and Accubond in Nosler loads or try Accubond in both Nosler and Federal loads).

I shoot a lot of 175gr Partitions out of my 7mag, but I load up 165gr Accubonds for the .308. The Accubonds will retain more weight as the Partitions tend to lose most of their front end. As far as terminal performance......they'll both kill equally well.

 

[airlocksniffer]

On the cheap side I've always had good luck with Core Lokt PSP.

 

[COlineman78]

Well, I figured I'd post an update on what I found. I bought a box of Nosler Ballistic Tip 165 and Barnes Vortex 168gr TTSX. Now, just a reminder: I shoot a Rem 700 5R Milspec, so not your average hunting barrel with very different rifling than normal. I have tried Federal Sierra Match Kings and they do not shoot great.

The Nosler was the worst ammo I have ever shot. So much so that I thought it may have been me and had my buddy who is ex Marine Force Recon (Spec Ops): scout sniper trained. The result: 2 shots 8" apart one at 1:30 and the other at 7:30. This confirmed the results I was seeing and I know have half a box of the most expensive ammo that is only good for making noise.

On to the Barnes. At 100 the Barnes was more accurate in azimuth but still a lot more elevation in my groups than I would like. It performed better for my next groups at 200 and I am plenty confident in my range to be able to hit an elk out to at least 400 but the performance I am seeing would not make me want go past 500.

The funny thing is the my box of mil surplus 147gr M80 FMJ rounds are far more accurate. I am easily sub-MOA with them. I would be very interested to break out a chrono and compare the velocities to each other and the specs on the box. I know that the only way that I am going to get the performance I want is by hand loading, but I didn't expect such poor performance out of such a high end load as the Nosler.

 

[BARichardson]

Ur mil surplus stuff is gona be a slower more general load.. ur hunt ammo is pushing on the gas a bit to make the energy down range. I have had good accuracy luck with the Hornady superformance ammo in the .308 so I would def. say give it a try (Ive had 2 5Rs as well and it was sub moa out to 600) If you have the means to reload I would get urself 168gr. Berger VLDs and play with the H4895 powder im able to push that 168 VLD 2870fps with a 24" barrel.. and was banging the 1200yd gong the other day

 

[Beastmode]

Well, I figured I'd post an update on what I found. I bought a box of Nosler Ballistic Tip 165 and Barnes Vortex 168gr TTSX. Now, just a reminder: I shoot a Rem 700 5R Milspec, so not your average hunting barrel with very different rifling than normal. I have tried Federal Sierra Match Kings and they do not shoot great.

The Nosler was the worst ammo I have ever shot. So much so that I thought it may have been me and had my buddy who is ex Marine Force Recon (Spec Ops): scout sniper trained. The result: 2 shots 8" apart one at 1:30 and the other at 7:30. This confirmed the results I was seeing and I know have half a box of the most expensive ammo that is only good for making noise.

On to the Barnes. At 100 the Barnes was more accurate in azimuth but still a lot more elevation in my groups than I would like. It performed better for my next groups at 200 and I am plenty confident in my range to be able to hit an elk out to at least 400 but the performance I am seeing would not make me want go past 500.

The funny thing is the my box of mil surplus 147gr M80 FMJ rounds are far more accurate. I am easily sub-MOA with them. I would be very interested to break out a chrono and compare the velocities to each other and the specs on the box. I know that the only way that I am going to get the performance I want is by hand loading, but I didn't expect such poor performance out of such a high end load as the Nosler.

Just food for thought but you can take another 308 and it will shoot incredible groups with the nosler loads. Every rifle is different and shoots different bullets differently. I wouldn't say the nosler or any other company puts out a bad factory round, they just put out a round that your gun doesn't like.

Good luck in your search lineman!

 

[greyghostnw]

might be worth trying federal premium trophy bonded tip if your gun like them that is....... a bear claw design that is also nickel plated, case and bullet, polymer tip etc....ive tried all mentioned and then some. good luck... even with all mentioned, barnes, nosler etc lot to lot shifts zero in my guns. all factory ammo is a pita.....

 

[COlineman78]

Ur mil surplus stuff is gona be a slower more general load.. ur hunt ammo is pushing on the gas a bit to make the energy down range. I have had good accuracy luck with the Hornady superformance ammo in the .308 so I would def. say give it a try (Ive had 2 5Rs as well and it was sub moa out to 600) If you have the means to reload I would get urself 168gr. Berger VLDs and play with the H4895 powder im able to push that 168 VLD 2870fps with a 24" barrel.. and was banging the 1200yd gong the other day

Looks like the claimed Muzzle of the M80 is 2700 and the Barnes are close to the same while the Nosler is a touch higher at 2800. Unfortunately today was my only range day before heading up on Wednesday. I plan to eventually get some 308 competition dies and get to loading them as well. Some good info for a starting point for load development, so I'll keep that in mind. I already use H4895 for 223, so thats probably what I'd go with. 5R is a pretty unique rifling and I doubt many factory rounds are made to shoot well out of it. I will def pick up a box of superperformance at some point; just kinda stuck for this trip and as I said don't hunt rifle much. Wish I had a range out to 1200. Closest one I know is 600 and my club range is only 300 and the lawyers made us take out the gongs because they think it's a fire risk.

Just food for thought but you can take another 308 and it will shoot incredible groups with the nosler loads. Every rifle is different and shoots different bullets differently. I wouldn't say the nosler or any other company puts out a bad factory round, they just put out a round that your gun doesn't like.

Good luck in your search lineman!

Yeah, I'm sure there are plenty of guns that shoot the Nosler rounds well, just not mine. I have had this issue with my AR in that its a 24" bull 1:8 twist and few factory loads have enough velocity behind them to shoot well other than mil surp 5.56 and white box 5.56 (5.56 spec allows for higher pressure than 223) and Black Hills 75s shoot like absolute crap out of it. I'm sure I'm running into a similar problem here in that it's a different barrel length and/or rifling than most other 308 on the market. I also brought my 300 Wby to the range to check my zero on that: dead on and I haven't shot it in years. But they have an advantage in that they make and control everything.

 

[DoubleDown]

I vote for Australian Outback 165gr sierra game king. I had best performance from Ruger American Predator 18'' pipe. 100yards from sand bags.
View attachment 30336

 

[5MilesBack]

If I'm not mistaken, the Match Kings and Ballistic Tip's are thin-jacketed bullets. I personally would never use those on an elk. For elk I want a bullet that will penetrate anything at any angle. You're better off sticking with a TTSX or TSX, A-frame, Partition, Bear Claw, Accubond type of bullets. The last thing I want is to hit heavy bone and have the jacket blow apart before the bullet can pass through the vitals.

But the good news.......I rifle hunted elk for 25 years and the longest shot I ever took was probably right around 225 yards. So you don't have to shoot real long on elk.

 

[COlineman78]

If I'm not mistaken, the Match Kings and Ballistic Tip's are thin-jacketed bullets.

Ballistic tips are a hunting load similar to Accubond I believe, just less weight retention due to no bonding. I would never use a match bullet on game as they're designed to kill paper not animals. If I really didn't care about using the right bullet I would just use the milsurp, but a 147gr FMJ is not really something you should be shooting at elk. I agree that you shouldn't have to take long range shots, but it's nice to have that option.

 

[COlineman78]

I vote for Australian Outback 165gr sierra game king. I had best performance from Ruger American Predator 18'' pipe. 100yards from sand bags.
View attachment 30336

Just read a review that this ammo damaged someone's firing pin because the primers were too hot and bursting through the casing. I would keep an eye out for this and check the primers on your spent brass.