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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Help Choosing My First .308 Rifle
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<blockquote data-quote="jtkratzer" data-source="post: 626612" data-attributes="member: 40885"><p>Here's what I'm seeing, and it sounds like me less than 3 months ago. I wanted a rifle to hunt with, that be effective on deer-sized game out to 500 yards or so. I had every intention of reloading (I wasn't at the time, everything is now set up except for the dies, which will be in on Wednesday).</p><p></p><p>If you're getting a hunting rifle, for the most part, expect hunting rifle accuracy. Match ammo will be better than mass production, but it still won't be specific to your rifle, it will just have tighter tolerances than lead tipped hunting rounds. And the match ammo most likely won't be the ammo best suited for hunting to provide you the expansion you need to destroy tissue/bone/organs.</p><p></p><p>If you can pinch pennies for a while, you really should consider reloading, even if you're going to go with the .308. You can reload ammo customized to your rifle and produce much better results at a fraction of the cost.</p><p></p><p>I bought a Remington Model Seven, 20" stainless, in .260 Remington. I wanted a flat shooting gun and felt no need to get anything bigger for the range and terrain I hunt in. .260 is a very popular round for 1,000 yard shooting as it holds more velocity and energy and drops and drifts less than .308 at 1,000 yards. It also has less recoil. .260 factory ammo (and rifle) choices are limited, but that doesn't mean you couldn't do something in .243 or 7mm-08.</p><p></p><p>The price you pay for match ammo will be fairly steep and may only give you marginal accuracy/consistency gains in your factory rifle.</p><p></p><p>I just got back from the range with my little Model Seven and found a load that put 3 rounds into .244" at 100, pushing a 129 gr Hornady SST (not a match bullet) at 2897 fps. Gun is stock other than some bedding work on the stock and gunsmith worked the trigger.</p><p></p><p>I'm not really trying to dissuade you from the .308 selection. If you're not going to reload and tailor ammunition to what your rifle likes, regardless of caliber, you might be better served to spend more money on a rifle that's going to shoot better than basic deer rifle. A .308 is going to have a lot more factory ammunition makes and bullet make/weights to choose from to see what works best, but you will likely not find ammo that will be as accurate as handloads.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jtkratzer, post: 626612, member: 40885"] Here's what I'm seeing, and it sounds like me less than 3 months ago. I wanted a rifle to hunt with, that be effective on deer-sized game out to 500 yards or so. I had every intention of reloading (I wasn't at the time, everything is now set up except for the dies, which will be in on Wednesday). If you're getting a hunting rifle, for the most part, expect hunting rifle accuracy. Match ammo will be better than mass production, but it still won't be specific to your rifle, it will just have tighter tolerances than lead tipped hunting rounds. And the match ammo most likely won't be the ammo best suited for hunting to provide you the expansion you need to destroy tissue/bone/organs. If you can pinch pennies for a while, you really should consider reloading, even if you're going to go with the .308. You can reload ammo customized to your rifle and produce much better results at a fraction of the cost. I bought a Remington Model Seven, 20" stainless, in .260 Remington. I wanted a flat shooting gun and felt no need to get anything bigger for the range and terrain I hunt in. .260 is a very popular round for 1,000 yard shooting as it holds more velocity and energy and drops and drifts less than .308 at 1,000 yards. It also has less recoil. .260 factory ammo (and rifle) choices are limited, but that doesn't mean you couldn't do something in .243 or 7mm-08. The price you pay for match ammo will be fairly steep and may only give you marginal accuracy/consistency gains in your factory rifle. I just got back from the range with my little Model Seven and found a load that put 3 rounds into .244" at 100, pushing a 129 gr Hornady SST (not a match bullet) at 2897 fps. Gun is stock other than some bedding work on the stock and gunsmith worked the trigger. I'm not really trying to dissuade you from the .308 selection. If you're not going to reload and tailor ammunition to what your rifle likes, regardless of caliber, you might be better served to spend more money on a rifle that's going to shoot better than basic deer rifle. A .308 is going to have a lot more factory ammunition makes and bullet make/weights to choose from to see what works best, but you will likely not find ammo that will be as accurate as handloads. [/QUOTE]
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Help Choosing My First .308 Rifle
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