Factory loaded .308 match ammo for long range

[CFJunkie]

I think I already mentioned this, but for hand loads.

Your new rifle will tell you what shoots best in its barrel.
168 gr GMM SMKs should perfrom great at 600 yards.

If you really want to reach out further than that, the 175 gr GMM SMKs should perform better ballistically, as long as your barrel likes the heavier weight.
Factory ammo muzzle velocities are high enough to keep the 175 grain bullets supersonic out to 1,000 yards.
The 175 Scenar ammo should also have the same ballistic advantage.

The 155 grain bullets are a bit light to maintain their velocity out that far but they also might shoot really well in your rifle.

I have two .308 Savages - one likes 155 grain bullets better than 175 grain bullets but shoots 168 grain bullets almost as well as the 155s.
The other shoots 175 and 195 grain bullets best. Same length 24 inch barrels. Your barrels will tell you the answer.

As for brass, I use Lapua brass for all my most accurate bolt action rifles.
My experience shows that Lapua brass will last a lot longer than Federal brass (up to 3 times the number of reloads if you are not loading near Pmax) - but it is more expensive to buy.
However, even with the added purchase price, Lapua brass is still cheaper overall when you factor in the additional reloads.

I'm not sure that you would see any difference in the accuracy using either brass in the first few reloads, assuming you learn how to reload for precision shooting.

[jkv45]

Thanks CF.

For starters, I think I'll compare 175gr Federal and Lapua to see what my barrel prefers. My rifle does seem to like 168 SMKs just fine. They went right where they should at 600 yards.

I did study your hand loading results for future reference, but it's a bit over my head at this point.

[Robinhood]

I second 175 FGMM

[jkv45]

I second 175 FGMM

Definitely will give it a shot.

Does anyone recall the regular price of FGMM 175gr, about 2 years ago, before all this !#$%^& started?

[NF1E]

I load most of my own but have found LC M118 LR puts most of the other commercial ammo to shame. 175 gn FGMM is usually available but at the bottom of my go to ammo list.

[charlie b]

My problem was it was difficult to find the military stuff. Never saw a price on the 175 FGMM ammo as it wasn't usually on the shelf around here. Should be close to the 168 FGMM.

I'd try the Hornady ELD stuff. I have not tried the ammo but their bullets do well in my handloads.

[Texas10]

If you put a tuner on your barrel, you can shoot just about any quality off the shelf ammo to equal precision with a simple twist of the tuner. A tuner allows you to tune the barrel to the load, whereas handloading is all about tuning the load to the barrel.