308 Factory Hunting Ammo

[RyC]

Had an interesting discussion this morning at Gunwarrior this morning.

First some background. License came through last week. Rifle is a Howa 24 inch heavy barrel stainless (1 in 10 twist). Did the recommended Howa break in process in December (20 rounds).

Now I have a hunt at the end of the month and was not expecting the license to be approved by then. Anyway I have little time and lots to do before the end of the month.

We started talking about factory loads and ammo as I currently have no preference. My initial thoughts on finding a load was to get 3 boxes of different ammo brands in the 165 - 168g and see which groups the best. I chose this as the middle of the road option. We normally take some Blesbuck and the odd Blue Wildebeest.

The guy at Gunwarrior suggested another route and that is to select a good brand and then take 150 - 180g and see what the rifle prefers. Thinking about it this also makes sense.

What route would you suggest?

[Toxxyc]

1:10 twist will stabilize a 180gr bullet, and the 24" barrel might be long enough to actually get the speed you might want. I'd actually recommend finding a friend or someone who loads a .308 and see what they have. Often guys have small leftover bits and bobs of bullets, and you can build a few loads to play with. Factory ammo is damn expensive to "figure out" with.

Ask around, someone will be able to assist you with some older cases and a few bullets to play with. You can get introduced to loading as well, which is a whole new ballgame (but in my opinion a LOT of fun), and you'll almost certainly get a better load for your rifle as well.

When I bought a .30-06 new, I also tried factory ammo. All the kinds people said "should do great". The box that worked the best was S&B 180gr rounds, and they grouped around 70mm at 100m, best. I was a bit worried because nothing would group from my rifle.

I then loaded a few rounds, just cheaply, right at the start of the loads with a few "throw away" bullets. The first load was under 50mm, and it got better from there. Less than 50 rounds in and I had my load sorted - bullet, power, load, the works.

[BBCT]

I've had a Howa 308 heavy barrel for about 14 years. It came with a 24 inch barrel that I shortened to 20 inches to make it a bit handier and allow it to fit in the rifle case without having to remove the suppressor. 10" twist.

I also chose 165 grain bullets as the "middle of the road" option that would be able to do everything and have fired mostly handloads but now and then I have put some factory loads through it and it does seem to like the 180 grain loads. I've been too lazy to develop 180 grain handloads because the 165's work fine and I've still got enough of them but it does look like 180's would be a worthwhile exercise. If I was starting from scratch with what I now know, I would probably first develop a load with 180's for most hunting and thereafter a 140-150 grain load for springbok and target shooting. Load dev is a lot easier these days with software assistance than it was when I first worked up my loads.

[Capt. Yoda]

Buy a pack of 165gr SBC bullets, container of n540 powder a pack of what ever primers and find 50 or a 100 cases and ill load you a batch of ammo to get started.

[RyC]

Buy a pack of 165gr SBC bullets, container of n540 powder a pack of what ever primers and find 50 or a 100 cases and ill load you a batch of ammo to get started.

Thanks for the feedback and generous offer. Once I have some doppies I will definitely take you up on your offer.

After much reading I think the one manufacturer multiple grain option first is a good option. I hope to find a weight that my rifle likes. Once that is done I can experiment with different brands in that weight and / or take up Capt. Yoda's offer.

Range session is booked for Saturday morning. Taking my son with so he can start getting accustomed to the rifle as well.

[tripodmvr]

What brand ammo and bullet weights are you going to shoot?

[HWAdeBeer]

My 2c.
Norma is one of the best ammo brands out there. You have the option now to select premium hunting ammo like the Oryx or a more budget friendly option in their Whitetail series. Never met a Howa that didn't shoot it well.
S&B also performs well. The 150gr SPCE is well made.
On game, shot placement is king.
Die eerste skoot tel die meeste!

[DeonvTonder]

Heard some great stuff about Sako Gamehead Pro ammo. Have a look on youtube at the gunrats channel where they test the tikka ctr vs upr in 6.5cm.
They shot one hole groups with said ammunition at 100 meters.
Maybe worth a try, just my 2c

[RyC]

What brand ammo and bullet weights are you going to shoot?

This might open another kettle of fish but decided for now on Federal Fusion 150, 165 and 180g

[tripodmvr]

Federal ammo has done well in my 30-06.

[AndreVal]

What brand ammo and bullet weights are you going to shoot?

This might open another kettle of fish but decided for now on Federal Fusion 150, 165 and 180g

I have been shooting 180gr Fusion's in my Howa 308 20" since day one and never looked back.
The day I picked up my rifle, on the way home, stopped at a gunshop that was running a special on Fusions with the idea to get 2 boxes of 168's to do the break in and testing. They were sold out of 168's and I bought 2 boxes of 180's. The ammo grouped so well that I never bothered to change.

[BBCT]

What brand ammo and bullet weights are you going to shoot?

This might open another kettle of fish but decided for now on Federal Fusion 150, 165 and 180g

I've heard nothing but good reports about Federal Fusion. Have been meaning to try loading some ammo using Fusion bullets myself. I also like that it's available in all 3 "main" bullet weights used in .308.

I am also a Norma fan but when I got my 308 I decided to stick with a single bullet/load combination for everything. At the time, Sierra Game King 165's were available everywhere and were accurate enough for target shooting, strong enough for hunting and cheap enough for plinking. Norma were just too expensive. As an aside, Norma Oryx typically don't have BC's as good as their competitors which puts some people off but it makes no difference at sensible, responsible hunting distances. Don't be distracted by the hype around BC's.

[Toxxyc]

I couldn't get the Federal Fusion factory ammo to group in my rifle. The hand-loaded bullets do really well though, and it's my go-to hunting load. Very decent performance as well.

[RyC]

Made the decision to use the 150g to get scope zeroed. In the end we used the rest for additional practice.

Results between 165g and 180g where very close with the best group (slight margin) from 180g.

I would be very happy to hunt with either.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

[tripodmvr]

Glad you have been left with a choice between the 2 weights. Happy hunting.

[JF123]

For my first hunting experience I couldn't find any of the usual factory 180gr .308win rounds. Only bonded ammunition I could find was Sako Arrowhead II. Ouch! Never thought I'd pay R60 a shot.

Used 3 rounds to check zero and got a 3 shot ES of 19fps. Grouping wasn't bad, but was not R180 breathtaking. The actual problem I had was high pressure. Sticky bolt and ejector marks. Velocity was around 2580 from a 24" barrel; definitely overpressure.

Anyway, pulled the remaining 17 rounds, averaged the load and subtracted 0.5gr per charge. Used 4 more rounds to check the zero and velocity. This time it was around 2530 (ES 10fps) with no pressure signs. Grouping was great, but that could also be because of the small sample size.

Point of this rambling post is that just because the ammo is expensive does not mean it is good.