Good quality inexpensive .308 ammo?

[desmo]

Anyone have any recommendations for an inexpensive .308 ammo surplus or commercial grade? Something that won't mess up our Savages barrels that's relatively accurate?

I don't have any info on commercial brands that fit this description but I have heard around the forums that both the South African "battle packs" and the Austrian Hirtenberger .308 ammo are the best surplus ammo out there. Anyone have any experience using these or any other discount ammo with their Savage rifles?

[leutherv]

I have had good luck with PRVI Partizan ammunition. I've been shooting 1/2" groups with their 168gr match ammo out of my 10FP, and for $15 a box it's not too bad. I've also done pretty good with their .223 ammo as well.

[Galveston22]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=329954

Prvi shoots .75" out my 10FP

[desmo]

Never even heard of any match grade foreign ammo. Looks like a good find. Too bad it wasn't closer to $10 per box though.....

[Balljoint]

There is a place in Berlin NJ that sells ammo go here http://www.ammoman.com/index.htm will have what you want

[desmo]

Yes, thank you. I've actually purchased from them before.

Just trying to figure out which of the inexpensive cartridges work well with our Savage rifles. I take it the military surplus rounds in 7.62x51 work fine and do no harm to our guns?

Can anyone recommend any non-military surplus, commercial brands that don't cost much? I know of Wolf and Brown Bear but I have heard bad things about both. The best alternative I can find so far is Federal's American Eagle ammo that seems to have good reviews and not cost too much. Also heard mixed things about PMC now that it is under new ownership.

[johndoe3]

I bought a large amount of surplus FN/FAL 1980's era ammo 7-9 years ago and it shoots very clean and is very accurate in multiple 308 rifles. However, it doesn't come up for sale very often. It is in 10 round vacuum sealed plastic units. 308 with 147gr fmj bullets. Berdan primed and not reloadable (it cost me about 0.23 per round at the time). I still have a stash but almost always shoot my more accurate reloads. I also favor the Lake City surplus 308 but probably not at current prices.

308 shooters really need to reload.

[okie2]

how is this for 308 prices
COST TO RELOAD
Relaod 165gr SST RL15 44.gr 2820fps 24: $22.20 a box with new brass
$14.80 a box with once fired brass
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Hornady InterBond $48.60
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Hornady SST $2.29ea $45.80
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip $46.60
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Speer Grand Slam $48.60
308 Winchester 155 Gr. Hornady A-Max $46.24
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Hornady InterBond $48.88
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Hornady SST $46.08
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Speer Grand Slam $47.12
308 Winchester 180 Gr. Hornady InterBond $47.66

[desmo]

Not sure I understand your post regarding cost to reload. Are the prices next to the .308 brands retail? (I hope they are)
I take it yoor point is you should be reloading and not purchasing commercially made ammo.

[brianinca]

Really you're looking at $0.50/rd for non-reloadable surplus (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/1000-rds-308-cal-147-gr-fmj-ammo.aspx?a=604946) or $0.75/rd for decent reloadable Prvi/Wolf Gold (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/wolf-308-win-150-gr-sp-20-rds.aspx?a=459655). Nothing that is going to knock your socks off, for sure, and if you DON'T buy new ammo with reloadable brass at this point, you're making a big mistake.

The South African surplus is good for gas guns and farting around, at $25-30 a battle pack of 140 it was at least safe and not corrosive primed. It's CERTAINLY not worth the $75+ price I've seen it for sale (not necessarily selling) the last couple of years. The M118LR that was available 5 years ago for $10/box was at least good brass, never impressed me all that much given how spendy it was (for the time).

If you want to shoot more and get the most out of your rifle, it&#39;s really time to start reloading. With brass on hand, I figured 3 years ago I&#39;m about $0.42/rd for my 175 Gr SMK based 3006 match loads I shoot in my Garand, now with component increases I&#39;m still at <$0.49/rd and I can&#39;t buy ammo as good as I can assemble. With 308 it&#39;s more problematic, because I&#39;ve bought 8 different flavors of bullets in small 100 piece lots to play around with, but it&#39;s still a huge savings.

If you just can&#39;t stand to reload, prices may be stabilizing and in fact dropping. I won&#39;t do business with them any longer after the "$50 for 50 rds of .380 ACP FMJ", but Cheaper Than Dirt was advertising new Lake City/Federal M193 for $7.19/box. That&#39;s $4.00 down from their overpriced floor that&#39;s held for the last two years. It&#39;s also the first time I&#39;ve seen 556 NATO cheaper online than the 100 rd bulk pack Federal / Lake City at WallyWorld ($39.99). I saw over 10 boxes of that on the shelf last week at my local WalMart, I can&#39;t remember when I&#39;ve seen that much 223 in one place. None of this applies yet to 308, but the pipelines are filling up and that will make everything more reasonable.

Regards,
Brian in CA

PS You can get into reloading with a decent, basic starter kit for $100 and $25 for dies. Add time, components and some modest skill and you will be in business.

[desmo]

I was considering reloading but I&#39;ve heard that the main benefit is not cost savings but consistency in your loads. Since I&#39;m more concerned with cost for everyday range shooting I&#39;m not sure handloading makes sense for me with it&#39;s initial investment and learning curve.

I have found some pretty good deals for cheap/decent quality 308 ammo online. The main problem with this method is the shipping charges add like $5/box (Cheaper than Dirt wanted $20 to ship 4 boxes of ammo via UPS Ground!).

Only ammoman seems to offer free shipping. The only problem with him is you need to buy bulk quantities (500 rounds, etc.) and I only want to pick up 80 to 100 rounds at a time.

[brianinca]

>>>
I was considering reloading but I&#39;ve heard that the main benefit is not cost savings but consistency in your loads.
>>>

Well, no, the cost savings is significant compared to the quality of the ammo being reloaded. For example 175 gr SMK Federal Gold Medal Match is $350/200 at Ammoman.com. So, your handloaded a cartridge that uses the same bullet and has been tuned specifically to your rifle for about $0.50/rd is compared to a general purpose "match grade" commercial load at $1.75/rd. Literally with the purchase of one case of FGMM you could buy the reloading equipment and components to make your own ammunition of superior quality (once you get over the learning curve of reloading).

If you just want to blast away with a semi-auto 308, you are better off just buying the cheapest ammo you can get. I have a LOT of "fun" ammo that has as its primary quality "at least it was cheap!" That&#39;s appropriate food for all the milsurps I have, though I&#39;ve given away several that didn&#39;t meet my expectations even with cheap ammo. I don&#39;t shoot crummy ammo in my 308 Savage, I have more to learn from it and you can learn more and more quickly with quality ammo than with cheap ammo. That FGMM will shoot to 1000 yards at a match, for example.

So, for the cost of your time and the cost of cheap corrosive surplus ammo in quality components, you can shoot top quality/top dollar ammunition out of your rifle.

Regards,
Brian in CA

[Uncle Jack]

I can not look at the title of this thread without asking....How many oxymorons can I make?

Good quality, inexpensive
Good quality, inexpensive .308 ammo
Inexpensive .308 ammo
Good quality, inexpensive ammo
Inexpensive, ammo

What did I miss?

uj

[desmo]

Well I guess I was surprised how much prices have risen in the past few years. Have been shooting pistol mostly and just got back to rifle to discover ammo prices seem to have doubled....

308 ammo was a lot cheaper a few years back. Now it&#39;s become an expensive hobby requiring you to learn the art of reloading it seems.

[Blue Avenger]

I can not look at the title of this thread without asking....How many oxymorons can I make?

Good quality, inexpensive
Good quality, inexpensive .308 ammo
Inexpensive .308 ammo
Good quality, inexpensive ammo
Inexpensive, ammo

What did I miss?

uj
inexpensive, quality ammo

[dsculley]

Take the plunge, get set up and learn to reload, you will never go back.

[Dennis]

Using my brass, Varget, CCI primers, and SMK 175 BTHP&#39;s I am pretty sure cost me around .46 per round to reload!

Just finished a box of 100! Had fun doing it!

There&#39;s still ammo out there that&#39;s close to $20.00 per box of 20!


how is this for 308 prices
COST TO RELOAD
Relaod 165gr SST RL15 44.gr 2820fps 24: $22.20 a box with new brass
$14.80 a box with once fired brass
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Hornady InterBond $48.60
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Hornady SST $2.29ea $45.80
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip $46.60
308 Winchester 150 Gr. Speer Grand Slam $48.60
308 Winchester 155 Gr. Hornady A-Max $46.24
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Hornady InterBond $48.88
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Hornady SST $46.08
308 Winchester 165 Gr. Speer Grand Slam $47.12
308 Winchester 180 Gr. Hornady InterBond $47.66

[desmo]

Just got some .308 PMC 147 grain FMJ BT ammo for $10.96/box on Cheaper than Dirt. Looked like a pretty good deal and I have heard the PMC Bronze ammo isn&#39;t too bad for recreational range shooting.

[Uncle Jack]

PMC generally is not bad stuff. We built the factory for them.

uj

[desmo]

You did? Are they still based in the US or is it Korean/South African made now?

Also picked up a book on reloading so I can start the journey.....