New to .308... Help me with advice

[COBigJohn]

I would like your advice on ammo for the .308 I am picking up tomorrow.

A Ruger American Hunter will be in my hands before noon tomorrow. I have a Vortex 6-24x scope that will be mounted on the rail.

The purpose of this gun is 2-fold... #1. Range shooting steels out to 1k yards. #2. Prairie Dog fun..... 200-500 yards.

I want a single load that will do it all, which means (probably)... I need the best for 1k with a .308. I understand that different guns will play different with various ammo... But I want advice, as I don't want to blow a ton of dough on experiments that won't pan out.

Should I go straight to a 175gr HPBT? I hear a lot of folks talking about the 168's.


......

 

[Reelamin]

Lots of threads try the advanced search. Get the velocity and bullet others are getting and run your own chart at hornady site free

168's match fed rem and win run about 2650 fps with a 24" barrel. My 180 real data I don't have with me just remember the 168's.

Good luck and enjoy it.

 

[jpd676]

Shooting 1k with a .308 is not easy, especially due to the wind. The guys that are doing it well typically are loading. I would pick the highest BC you can get, if you are shooting factory ammo. I think the 175 would be a good place to start. The 168 was designed for 300 yard shooting; it does well but probably not a good choice at 1k. I shoot 208's in my .308 and run out of gas around 950 yards.

 

[Recon$$]

Go 175 if you are stretching it. 168 will do you well inside 600.

 

[songdog204]

168s out of my 20" Rem SPS Tactical are a deadly combo to 650yds. I haven't shot it much past that.

 

[Mike D Texas]

That's asking a lot for a 308 and I love the 308.

 

[Recon$$]

That's asking a lot for a 308 and I love the 308.

You'll be alright but Mike is right. Definitely will test you but it's not outside the realm of reasonable but will take trigger time. Will make you a better shooter for sure. I have extensive time on .308 you'll enjoy it at those ranges and it will test you.

 

[alaska]

165 Gr is great in the 308 win
I do not suggest 168 Sierra Match Kings for hunting The new 165 Sierra GameChanger would be a excellent choice along with the 165 Gameking HPBT with IMR 4064. 1k yard shooting is best with the 300 Win Mag. 6x24 scope is a lot of scope for a 308 Win.

 

[rustyshackleford]

If you're buying factory look for loadings with modern bullets. I love Sierra but their 168 and 175 SMK would be my last choices. Look at hornady 168 ELD or 178 BTHP, 168/175/185 berger, 168/175 Sierra TMK. Your gun is bound to like at least one of those and they are offered in factory loadings. You might even get lucky and your rifle like superformance loadings from hornady. The 308 will do what you ask but you need to be more diligent in your bullet selection. If you want a realistic idea go run some numbers in JBM trajectory simplified.

 

[rustyshackleford]

Shooting 1k with a .308 is not easy, especially due to the wind. The guys that are doing it well typically are loading. I would pick the highest BC you can get, if you are shooting factory ammo. I think the 175 would be a good place to start. The 168 was designed for 300 yard shooting; it does well but probably not a good choice at 1k. I shoot 208's in my .308 and run out of gas around 950 yards.

What 208's are you running at what velocity that they run out of gas at 950?

 

[xsn10s]

I shoot my 168 gr CC or SMK out to 1230 yards. 175 gr Bergers or SMK are better for 1k. For varmints I prefer a 22 cal or 6mm pill. But I've used 125 bt for rock chucks. If I were force to today I'd try a 110 vmax. But I don't know how well they do at 500 yards.

 

[Janno05]

If you don't reload, it's a great time to start with this rifle. I know you are wanting to keep it to one load for target and 1k, but I would suggest you get a dedicated prarie dog round (I suggest a 125gr tnt, very accurate and a great value) and then use a heavy bullet for 1k.

You didn't mention which vortex you are using, but if the rail that comes with the ruger isn't a 20moa rail you are going to be on the extreme end of elevation. The 6-24 pst has 65 moa of adjustment, and Strelok is showing 38moa for 1k with a 175gr smk.

 

[Calvin45]

Read an interesting article where they were using the 195 TMK in a 308. Although that's already getting heavy for the .308s capacity, for 1000 yard shooting it actually did notably outperform any of the 168-180 grain offerings.

 

[alaska]

The 308 win was originally for 300 yard target shooting at Palma using 155gr bullets. Later the 168gr was used. The military adopted the 168 MK in M852 and later the M118 and later then 175MK in the M118LR. In my 308 Win 20" the 150gr Accubond Nosler makes a excellent 300 yard caribou gun with IMR 8208.