Which 308 ammo?

[LizardKing]

I've been looking at buying some 308, but the prices are budget breakers for me on most of it. I found that PMC, ATI and Magtech are the cheapest with Winchester close behind. All of these are in the 147-150 gr range. I'll be using this in my AR 10, so steel case is out of the question (rough on the extractor from what I read). Does anyone have any experience with these brands and what's your opinion?

[Bearman202]

I bought military surplus, with no idea who made it. I bought it as 7.62x51, which is .308. DO NOT buy 7.62x54, as that's a different caliber, and most of it is corrosive. The big thing to look at when you're buying ammo is what you plan to use it for. Most military surplus is roundball, which is either jacketed or plain. Not hollow-point or lead-nosed. If you plan to use the rifle for hunting, you need an expanding bullet, at least in Missouri. I bought a bunch of the plain stuff, and it turns out that the rifle I planned to use it in isn't accurate enough to use for serious sniping, so I'm keeping it as a spray-n-pray. (Cetme) If you buy the stuff at a store, either hollow-point or lead-nosed, expect to pay around $1.00 per round. I got it for half that, but again, it was surplus. I got mine from a friend who has an FFL, and he got a deal through a local store. (They cut him a break so he can make a profit on it, and he passes it on to me at a very low mark-up.) You might look around and see if you can find someone.

[Bull]

A guy at the gun store told me that PMC is pretty good. I have shot mainly match grade so far, which is pricey, so I can't help much from experience. However, I just ordered a variety of some other rounds to test it out, but haven't shot any yet, because I have been asking similar questions on The Firing Line, which is a good shooting forum. I hear that the German DAG and MEN is good, so that may be an option, depending on how much you are buying and a few other factors. I haven't made it home to even see the stuff I just ordered. Maybe try here:

http://www.sgammo.com/catalog/rifle-ammunition/308-762x51

[thereisnospoon]

If you are going to be prepared for the future and you believe something extraordinary could happen to the US, I would recommend getting into reloading as soon as possible. It is not hard and there is NO mystery. Reloading saves valuable money that can be used elsewhere for other resources. I can buy a .308 round for ~ $0.45+ or I can make one for ~ $0.25-30+/-. Loading 1000 rounds saves me $150.00+/-

A Lee Loader or RCBS Rock Chucker and a set of dies, etc. is around $150.00, so your first thousand rounds pays for your investment.

However, if that is out of the question, of all the products mentioned above, I believe the Winchester White box to be the best option, just based on my own use. Buy a few boxes of each and run them through your AR10 before making a major purchase to check function and accuracy.

[rice paddy daddy]

If all you need is anti-personnel or practice ammo the South African NATO surplus now on the market is excellent. But if you want to get some, time is of the essence, it will be gone.
Stay away from any Indian surplus, it's junk.

[Rmplstlskn]

I second the South African surplus, very nice 7.62mm ammo. It can be found still if you look at the various gun forums like AR15.com, FALFiles.com, etc...

DAG and MEN are good as well, as is almost all WESTERN European surplus. Beware the Indian and Pakistani, etc...

That is all BALL ammo and will function the best in your AR-10. Soft points and lead nose can have some feeding issues and I have personally seen an AR-10 push in a lead nose hunting round by catching on the extension/feed ramp, which could be a huge over-pressure concern...

Now days, you have to seek out the good deals...

Rmpl

[610Alpha]

Go to cheaper than dirt and put in your zip to find licensed FFL's in your area and then make them your friend and buy in bulk from them (get your hunting/shooting to go in with you on bulk purchases as well) friends ! IMO.

I was looking into actually doing bullet swaging and using that setup to do reloading with the main draw back is the financial cost but the benefits are very precise bullets.

I was looking into also making my own pellets for my air rifle and this was what I was quoted from the proprietor:

CSP-1 press with free reloading adapter kit... $598

LSWC-1-S pellet swage die (specify diameter)... $189 Total = $787

Additional costs:

CSL-2 swage lube..$8

LW-10 lead wire 70,000 grain spool... $39

PCS-1 core cutter for above wire... $69.50

Grand Total = $903.50

Here is how swaging vs reloading presses were differentiated:

To swage pellets for your airgun, there are two systems to consider.
One is the standard reloading press and Pro-Swage die, which is slower but of course if you have a reloading press already, you would not need to buy a swaging press.

The other is the CSP-1 S-press and very fast LSWC-1-S swage die which operates in it.

For the difference between using a reloading press for swaging, and using an actual high power, high speed swaging press, see www.Corbins.com/presses.htm and look at the S-press page.

Basically, the S-press makes it about 300% faster not to mention a lot easier, since it self aligns, self ejects, and has the die facing up, mounted in the ram (rather than in the press head). You can just drop bits of lead into the die, stroke the press, and have a finished bullet gently ejected as the ram goes down. One hand operation, about 400 or so pellets an hour. The weight is precisely adjusted by bleed-off of surplus lead through holes in the side of the die, all in one stroke.

With a reloading press, the die goes into the press head (different kind of die, which costs a little more because we have to build the ejection and alignment devices into every die, rather than building them once in to a special press).

That means you push the lead bits up into the die mouth, hold them against gravity, and raise the punch and ram up to catch them, get your finger out of the way, and swage. Then lower the ram, pick up a mallet, tap a plunger, and catch the ejected pellet as it comes out of the die mouth again. If you want precision weight control also, you would first swage the lead with a bleed punch, to adjust and bleed off surplus volume of lead, then change to the nose punch and form the ogive in a second operation.

The die, being in the press head, can't have holes through its side or it would bleed lead into the threads of the press. (A swage press with the die in the ram has no restriction to prevent bleed off through venturi holes in the die wall).


The dies actually cost less for a true swage press. And the swage press can replace any of the single station reloading presses with a more powerful (200%) and stronger (300%) tool that is also far better aligned (every moving joint has bearings; the links alone use 4 sets of precision roller bearings). It works with standard reloading dies as well as the special swaging dies, using a dual stroke leverage system that gives you either 2 inch or 4 inch travel.

If you want more info PM me and I will send you the link.

[LizardKing]

Wow, lots of good info here. I'm planning on getting 1000 rounds of what will basically be spray & pray, but if I can get some consistency out of it I'd like to dial it in out to 300 yds. After that I'm thinking to get a small amount of 'reach out & touch someone' and see how far out I can get without going optics crazy. The ones I've been looking at are running around .53 a round with the Win white box at .59 a round. My biggest concerns on the cheaper stuff is FTF and FTE situations. The soft/lead nose issue is an interesting point and I'll keep that in mind.

I'd also like to get into reloading my own, so I'll save the brass and keep saving up for a press. Or maybe rethink the quantity and start reloading sooner. I just started reloading shotgun shells, so maybe it's time to move up to rifle. My FFL just started stocking reloading supplies, but the guy who's doing rifle reload doesn't sound real sure about what he's doing yet.

[Patriot Prepper]

I usually shoot Federal Match 168 grain HPBT out of both bolt guns and semi autos. Sometimes I shoot cheaper ammo in my semi RR from Walmart - Federal and Winchester. I also had good results with American Eagle - fairly accurate and also inexpensive when its on sale. I bought 500 rounds of turkish match ammo - 150 grain non corrosive. It shot very well. But it shows signs of too much pressure. I think the Rock River chamber is too tight for that ammo.

I do not reload for the RR or other semi autos, but I do for my bolt guns. I attempt to reload for high accuracy. At a couple hundred yards, you will not notice any differences in your reloading methods, but at greater distances you need to really put a lot into reloading. I measure every charge individually on a scale and it must be exact. Reloading for precision is much slower than reloading for quantity. If you reload for your AR 10 be sure to full size your brass.

[Sech]

http://ammoseek.com/

nice site that will tell you some of the cheapest surplus on the net...

[overbore]

Wow, lots of good info here. I'm planning on getting 1000 rounds of what will basically be spray & pray, but if I can get some consistency out of it I'd like to dial it in out to 300 yds. After that I'm thinking to get a small amount of 'reach out & touch someone' and see how far out I can get without going optics crazy. The ones I've been looking at are running around .53 a round with the Win white box at .59 a round. My biggest concerns on the cheaper stuff is FTF and FTE situations. The soft/lead nose issue is an interesting point and I'll keep that in mind.

I'd also like to get into reloading my own, so I'll save the brass and keep saving up for a press. Or maybe rethink the quantity and start reloading sooner. I just started reloading shotgun shells, so maybe it's time to move up to rifle. My FFL just started stocking reloading supplies, but the guy who's doing rifle reload doesn't sound real sure about what he's doing yet.

Since I reload the M1A and other high use military types, first let me give you the Gold Standard for 300 yards in a gas gun:

41.5 gr H4895, LC case, CCI mil primer, 168gr Sierra JHP. Accurate, deadly and functions. Never ever consider soft point as the lead will screw up the feeding and watch your overall length. I have authored a "Survival Reloading" article that is long, accurate and free. Send me your e-mail addy and it is yours for the asking. Meanwhile, go here: http://www.ammo4guns.com/RIFLE_AMMO.html. I sell nothing but share all.

Laus Deo
overbore

[overbore]

For those two gents who asked for it. I just sent 33 pages of pdf to you. Confirming, since I have about everything from a DL-366 down to an a old Pro-O pacific ( magnum size no longer made single stage) I have found that the C-H three or four station progressive ahs all the benefits of straight line loading plus the speed and accuracy of a single stage.

overbore

[overbore]

Here is another great place to have someone else find the lowest cost ammo, hand -gun or rifle, for you. Enter what you are looking for and it does the rest. Frequent updates.

Laus Deo
overbore

[Elza]

DAG and MEN are good as well,
Rmpl

Be careful of the DAG and MEN. The last batch I got was listed as being