Model 11 Hog Hunter .308 Win, Ammo Test

[SUB MOA]

I think many people have a common goal when it comes to shooting, and that is to have a reliable, accurate, and affordable bulk ammo stock. I finished my journey to find the perfect hunting round, and concluded that my gun loved the Hornady American Whitetail 150gr Interlock best.

Now I am on a mission to find an affordable bulk round to stock up on. I based my option off of what I consistently see to be the top 3 most widely available and affordable rounds recently.

MFS 140gr SP
PPU 145gr FMJBT
PMC 147gr FMJBT

!RESULTS BELOW! :director:

Also some Hornady American Whitetail Results are in this thread. Pictures included.

[Sgtdww504]

Keep us posted I'm fixing to by a hog hunter

[big honkin jeep]

Not a hog hunter but I have a pretty nice stable of rifles chambered in .308. The one thing that I have found to hold true across the spectrum is that the 1-10 twist barrels seem to prefer a heavier than 150gr bullet. The 165-168s seem to do very well for me from my 1/10 twist rifles. My 1-11 and 1-12 twist barrels seem to do much better than the 1/10 with the 147/150gr class bullets. I think I would start with something in the 165/ 168gr weights.
As far as factory ammo, The Federal power shock "Deer Thug" 165gr ammo shoots very well for me. Only a little larger group and very minimal POI shift between it and Federal gold medal match in a couple of my rifles.

[SUB MOA]

Oh that's interesting and good to know. So far my 1:10 twist Hog Hunter has been very accurate with lighter 150'ish grain rounds. I haven't shot any match grade ammo yet tho. I guess we shall see what happens.

[SUB MOA]

The results are in. I will repeat this test once more to confirm the results soon.

The reason for this test was to find an affordable plinking/target practice ammo that can be bought in bulk online from multiple sources. The 3 chosen for the test were the MFS 140gr SP, PPU 145gr FMJBT, PMC 147gr FMJT.

I had to adjust POA for each round, because I have my scope currently zeroed for my hunting Hornady round.
I had 3 targets up @ 100 yards, and fired 1 shot of each kind of ammo at each target per evolution, and 10 rounds per brand. The idea is so that all 3 types of ammo are shot within the same barrel temperatures. I fired fairly quickly, about 20 seconds between shots. The barrel was pre-fowled, and I did not clean it between any of the shots.

In summary, 2 out of the 3 did okay. All 3 had no FTF/FTE. The MFS was not accurate at all, but it went bang everytime. I will be dropping the MFS out of this testing. When I get a chance again I will take more time into squeezing the accuracy out of the PPU and PMC Bronze rounds. Hope this gives insight to anyone trying to find the perfect target practice round. My experience with this rifle is fairly limited, but with my Hornady American Whitetail 150g SP Interlock I can achieve a 1" grouping for 3 rounds @ 100 yards. I am yet to try Federal GMM to set a benchmark.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0805_zps1f7433d5.jpg

MFS 140gr SP (10 shots @ 100 yards)
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0809_zpsea11c083.jpg

PPU 145gr FMJBT (10 shots, 2 major flyers @ 100 yards)
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0807_zpsd8195069.jpg

PMC Bronze 147gr FMJBT (10 shots @ 100 Yards, 2 flyers, but 8/10 rounds would've made a 1" group about)
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0806_zps41d718df.jpg

[big honkin jeep]

Man go get some heavier bullets and try em out, I think you'll be very pleased. I'll bet those 3 inch groups will shrink drastically no matter how many shots you send in a group.

[SUB MOA]

Man go get some heavier bullets and try em out, I think you'll be very pleased. I'll bet those 3 inch groups will shrink drastically no matter how many shots you send in a group.

The point for this is to find a cheap/widely available round. I'm fairly pleased with the PMC with how 8/10 of the shots fired were within a little over a 1" group. The other 2 were probably me not doing my job. We are talking about a .65 cent round here. But you are right, I should try a heavier bullet, like the Federal GMM 168gr HPBT (which is pricey). The only other heavier bullet I know of that can be bought in bulk is the Colt 168gr FMJBT, but that can be hard to find sometimes and I am not a huge fan of steel casings.
Does anyone know of cheap bulk ammo's with heavier bullets that I should try out before I commit myself to a lighter round?

[thermaler]

try the atomic 168 nosler custom comp--you can buy it in bulk and it has shot very well out of every 308 platform I've put it through. Your PPU results look pretty darn good to me--that tight group in the center didn't happen by accident. Something else may be going on??

[SUB MOA]

Yeah I did like the PPU as well so I'll be retesting both again and take my time. I felt good about every single shot tho. Those Atomics I have heard good things about but pretty pricey. Not sure I'm willing to spend over a dollar per round for target practice.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

[japollner]

The "Cheap Plinking 308 Ammo" is part of the reason I am going to start reloading once I accumulate enough brass.

The PMC has always shot well for me. I can also find NATO surplus all day for .50 a round locally and it shoots decent enough to plink with.

[thermaler]

The "Cheap Plinking 308 Ammo" is part of the reason I am going to start reloading once I accumulate enough brass.

The PMC has always shot well for me. I can also find NATO surplus all day for .50 a round locally and it shoots decent enough to plink with.
Yeah--that theory is good on paper--until you start looking for good powder and bullets and cases, then the math is not so convincing these days. : )

[Szumi]

I'd pass on trying the 180g Winchester Power points. When I got my 10 FCP-HS, that was the only ammo I could find. I couldn't find cases so I bought the ammo to empty it. Three minute 5 shot groups at 100 or 200 yards.

I pulled the bullets out of the rest of the cases and tried 168g hornady and sierra boat tails. Instant sub minute groups. No fancy tricks. 2.8 COL using varget.

[brasse]

Try the Norma 150GR TAC ammo, cheap and sub MOA in my 10TR

[SUB MOA]

Here's how I did with the Hornady American Whitetail 150gr SP Interlock today @ 100 yards. Didn't have time to test the PMC and PPU again though.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0816_zps27246b0f.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii240/PPPluschakov/IMG_0817_zpscc856bb1.jpg

[WNY_Whitetailer]

That American Whitetail stuff is definitely good enough for deer hunting...

[SUB MOA]

So I went out again today to test both PMC and PPU, and obtained the same results as the first time. The PMC did really well today, it had no flyers and printed a less than 1.5" group @100 yards. The PPU was bit more spread out and had 2 pretty big flyers that were no where near the group.
After 100 yards I went to 200 yards and the PMC blew the PPU out of the water. I didn't get a chance to measure the groups but the PMC would've been close to being a 2" group but the PPU was just scattered.


Could anyone give me insight as to why from a 100 zero, a bullet drops 6" at 200 instead of the 2" written on a ballistic chart? Does my 20" barrel have anything to do with that? I assume that a 2" drop from 200 yards is from a 24"/26" test barrel?

[40bullzi]

Hello fellow shooters! I just ordered a hog hunter in 308 and should be in this week.

a lot of good information here. I will post some info when I get a chance on the new toy. :cool:

[Luke45]

Put a lead lazercast 165gr over 8.2 gr of trail boss if you want subsonic! Sounds like popping a bad of chips and kills hogs with head/neck shots and accurate to about 150 yards

[The_Agent_]

I just picked up my hog hunter and will doing some barrel break in, then some ammo testing for my trip to Florida to get some hogs.

[Oscarflytyer]

Wow - that Am Whtl is interesting!