Thanks to all for such a great recommendation!!

Went out on the 4th and completed a bucket list dream of mine since i was 40 years younger. I have always wanted to shoot out past 300yds and have never had the opportunity. I have owned one bolt gun but never really had a lot of confidence in it. So, I started reading the forum after becoming more interested in buying something that would give me more confidence in longer shooting. It has taken me a few years but I have finally acquired a rifle that I know will sure enough shoot. Now I know all things are relative with such a comment but for me and what I have wanted to try since I was a teenager, I feel that I have hit the lottery with this Cabelas model 12 that you guys turned me on to. I knew that I would not be able to put much into a rifle and scope but after reading for months and months and catching the sale just right I pulled the trigger on a 308 and then put a Primary arms 4-14 on top of it. I did not really know what to expect and since I do not reload anymore, I searched for some store bought ammo that I thought would give it a fair chance. Many commented that the Perfecta at Walmart was good practice ammo so I tried it and few different others and sure enough my 100yd groups were best with the perfecta.
So Tuesday I was able to shoot at 500 and 600 and wow what a treat for me. My rifle shot 2 out of the 3 shots on the edge of the 3 inch bullseye with the others within a 5 inch group! Like I said, I know that it is all relative to many factors as to real precision shooting but I was absolutely delighted. The real bonus after shooting every shot of 7 within 6 inches was moving the target to 600 and shooting 3 consecutive shots in a 6 inch square.

Thanks forum members for your expertise and willingness to share with those of us who want to learn. This was really a long long desire of mine and now I hope to continue learning and hopefully getting to shoot more and more.

If you have any suggestions for factory ammo that I can get for hunting, then I'm all ears. I have a few boxes of the Perfecta left but its only good for head shots:D

Awesome to hear man. I wasn't involved in the help but glad you're enjoying it.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Congrats on the new rifle. Check Palmetto State Armory as they have Sierra 308 on sale at around 15.99 a box quite often

thanks spearjunkie, will do and I appreciate the tip

Target factory ammo....

The best Long range target ammo usually costs a bit more than the average hunting ammo. Out to 600 yards the Federal Premium 168 or 175 matchking is great. Applied Ballistics munitions ammo is top notch (any of their 308win offerings), same with Prime ammo.
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Deer hunting factory ammo..........

For hunting deer within 500 yards I like the Federal Fusion 180 gr. It's very accurate with excellent terminal ballistics on deer. The 165gr Fusion is just as good, and if the deer are no bigger than 150 lbs it's also good to 500 yards. The Fed Premium 165 gameking is also extremely accurate and good for 500-600 yards.

If you want to take shots to 600 yards on deer, I would check out the Fed prem. EDGE TLR 175gr.

I've ALWAYS had great accuracy with Federal PREMIUM ammo no matter the cartridge, hence why I recommend it. The Federal blue box stuff is a hit or miss.

The Federal Fusion is surprisingly very accurate and costs less than other premium ammo. It might be the best option in my opinion. If you're not happy with it's accuracy (every rifle is different), then try the others I recommended, one of them will shoot very small groups in your rifle, guaranteed.

That goes with my 7mm I no longer have (nor do I hunt). We were scrambling to load up for a Caribou hunting trip, I was sure I had 20 reloads but the box was empty.

Short of time the decision was screw it, off to the store, get factory 7mm. It just happed to be Federal Premium and it was on sale so I got two boxes fro the price of one ( extra and in case I had sight in issue.)

Off to the range for the mandatory sight in, I don't remember if I had to move it but 3 shot groups of 1.5 inches and that was the best that gun did with reloads.

And it was, am I really going to setup the reloading stuff for all of 10 shots a year? (I was not in a good place to do it but could have fudged it enough to do so) Nope, Federal Premium after that.

Don't get me wrong, I target reload now, but I have the room and time (mostly) but I was impressed with the Federal. Good to hear its still a go to.

Congrats. Nice shooting. My brother picked up a savage 10 fcp recently. After shooting 100 rounds of plinking Ammo I reloaded for him, he purchased 4 boxes of different ammo for his 308. Settled on FGMM 175 smk. Put 4 rounds in a dime @100 yards. The others didn't come close. He is waiting on FGMM edge TLR 175 gr. Just coming out. Try the smk. Think you will like it.
https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/amm...y-hitting-308/

If you really want to have fun, get back into reloading. It's a great feeling to develop loads specifically tailored to your gun and you have a great gun for it.

I sure wish I could get back into reloading and believe that day will come but for now the suggestions and comments you guys are giving are really giving me peace. No more than I am able to shoot at this time in life I will be absolutely ecstatic to find a soft nose or hollow point that will allow me to go to the stand with confidence. I am really happy with this rifle and will continue to fine tune it and learn more about moving the turrets. I am new to anything over 300 so I have a lot to learn but am really encouraged at this point. You guys have really steepened my learning curve.

Looking at that review I posted the link to, that 175 gr Federal TLR mushrooms good at 900 yards. Am hoping they will sell the bullet for reloading.

bear thanks for the link, that really looks interesting. picked up a box of Federal Gold Medal with the Sierra Matchkings in 175 and will give them a try when it cools off a little