.30 caliber do it all bullet suggestions

[rdsii64]

When it comes to long range shooting of any kind, a bit of research will turn up which brands and types of bullets are best suited for a particular task. For a long time my go to bullet for all my shooting was the 175 grain berger VLD. It can kill game efficiently and hold the 10 ring on a NRA F class target. Since I am now the sole income provider in my household I need to reduce how much money I spend on my hobby. Thus begins my search for a less expensive do it all bullet.

What I am looking for is a .308 caliber bullet that will do four things.

A) it must stabilize and deliver adequate speed from a 12 twist 24 inch barrel
B) be of sufficient construction to kill dear size game at a maximum range of 500 yards
C) be accurate enough to hit the ten ring on an NRA F class target at 1000 yards.
D) It must be cheaper than the Berger VLD.

 

[winmag]

Im thinkin a 165-168 gr in a quality bullet would do nicely. Nosler, or Hornady maybe considering price, Hornady is about 1/2 the cost. I dont own a 308, so Im goin out on a limb here. I own a couple 30 cal's (30-06 & 300wby)but I cant give any hands on for the 308win. Sorry, all I can offer is an educated guess on this one.

 

[tackb]

try the 168g amax in 308 ? if it shoots well in your rifle it will do everything you require , very well ! either buy tap ammo or load them over around 45grains of varget (find what your rifle likes ) works well for me.

 

[theodore]

Cabelas price list per bullet- 30 cal in 165/168 grainer

hornady sst- .27
hornady a-max- .30
sierra hpbt- .31
ballistic tip- .42
VLD- .43
accubond- .48
hornady GMX- .64

+1 for sst.

hornady flat out denies a-max as hunting bullets.

Good luck.

 

[Oliveralan]

2 things, 1) buy your bullets from powdervalleyinc, 210 vlds - $37/100
or shoot 178 A-maxs, they are under $30 a box from powdervalley and i have taken almost all game i've killed with them and they work great.
If you use the search function, there was a thread a little while back discussing the A-max for hunting, a lot of people share the same results I do.

 

[tackb]

I use the amax for hunting deer and believe me it is absolutly fine for that in actual fact it is superb and this i know from hundreds of deer i have shot from 30yds to 540yds , here in the uk we are restricted by a stupid regulation that treats bullet heads two ways expanding and non expanding and we can't use hunting bullets (expanding) for target shooting which makes it pretty tricky to practice which is essential for the humane taking of game so the last thing we need is for hornady to put on the amax box that the bullet is suitable for hunting it would instantly ban it's use from competition !

so those of us in the know will continue to practice and hunt with the same ammo ?

ps, if anybody from hornady reads this, thanks , don't change a thing!

 

[Autorotate19]

Sorry not trying to hijack the thread but why do they care if you use hunting bullets for target shooting?

 

[rdsii64]

I use the amax for hunting deer and believe me it is absolutly fine for that in actual fact it is superb and this i know from hundreds of deer i have shot from 30yds to 540yds , here in the uk we are restricted by a stupid regulation that treats bullet heads two ways expanding and non expanding and we can't use hunting bullets (expanding) for target shooting which makes it pretty tricky to practice which is essential for the humane taking of game so the last thing we need is for hornady to put on the amax box that the bullet is suitable for hunting it would instantly ban it's use from competition !

so those of us in the know will continue to practice and hunt with the same ammo ?

ps, if anybody from hornady reads this, thanks , don't change a thing!

It looks like I may have found a new bullet. Here I can get 1000 178 grain Amax's for 260.00 plus tax and shipping.

 

[tackb]

ovastafford, there is no restriction on the purchase of 'target' bullets but any bullet classed as expanding have to be entered on your certificate in the same manner as a round of ammunition. if your not familiar with the uk licensing system it will seem totaly crazy in fact i am and it still seems crazy ! but over here we have to ask how many rounds we want to purchase in each calibre and taking a 308 for example you may only be granted 200 rds so if you buy a box of 100 expanding heads that leaves you 100 rounds left to buy and if the police come round and do a spot check and in total you have 200 and 1 rounds they can and will revoke your certificate ! oh and i choose 200 rounds because many people i know have that limit? can you imagine how difficult it is to develop a load for you rifle ? buy 100 heads , load some of them up , try them and they dont shoot? what do you do with the 70 heads you've got left because now you've used up 70 of your 200 allocation ? do you throw them away ? do you sell them ? do you just stick them in a draw with a view to trying them in another rifle one day and hope you don't get a spot check? do you see my point?

how about this ? if your rifle makes less than 4500j energy it's fine but if it makes more then EVERY time you fire this on a military range you have to take a test at 200m which is recorded and records kept and then it needs to be taken again the next morning before you can shoot even if it's the same rifle, scope and ammo ? this little beauty was invented by our own NRA who have different rules for themselves by the way! this all has to be witnessed by a high muzzle energy range conducting officer of which i'm one, i still have to do it as well despite shooting for 25years.

I would urge all shooters to stand together and resist any further nonsense regulations .

 

[tackb]

oh , i found no real performance difference in my 20 inch 308 between the 168 and 178 grain amax a bit more barrel may help though?