Crap ammo

[ez bake]

I've been more and more disgusted lately by the selection of .308 locally. I've never considered myself disciplined enough to sit down and reload ammo correctly, but I'm getting pretty damn close.

I've purchased several different brands of .308 in the last year (looking for some cheap stuff that is consistent - maybe 150gr), and I've seen almost a full millimeter difference in OAL, incorrectly crimped stuff, different sized brass in the same package, brass that looked like it was necked completely differently in the same package, you name it - I've seen it.

What cheap stuff are folks using to get semi-decent performance our of their mid-range/long-range rigs?

I've shot plenty of the expensive stuff, but if I'm not reloading, then I'd like a semi-decent alternative that doesn't break the bank, I'm trying to find some cheap stuff locally that I can depend on for half-way high quality shooting. Am I stuck with ordering mil-surplus stuff online or what?

 

[ez bake]

I just realized that we have an ammo section that I rarely visit that would be more appropriate for this post. It is... rifle ammo though

 

[mmchambers06]

Does it have to be local?

I've been going through a case of Federal XM80 (149gr.) through my 10FP and it's been alright, definitely good enough for range practice. I mean...most of the time it prints 1 MOA but if I hand pick a few rounds and do my part, it performs better. Get a few 1/2 minutes groups out of it. I don't claim to be a great shot.

For your Remmys with 1-12" twists it might do a little better.

A month or two ago it was $299 for 500 rounds.

 

[DirtyDawg]

Have you tried BVAC ammo? They are a big supplier, and factory authorized loader. They always have a huge booth at the Wanemacher.

 

[gillman7]

Andy, this isn't bad. I haven't measured it, shooting it out of my stock SPS 700, I am grouping 1-1 1/2" groups @ 100 yards. I think a better shooter could do better than that. It burns pretty clean, I have only run about 40 rounds of it so far, so not much history on it yet. Price is right though. Let me know if you want to try some, I will front you a box one day after work.

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8458&dir=18|830|848

It is online, but ships fast, and Widener does not rape you on shipping.

 

[Shriner]

EZ ? Is your OCD kicking in ? Becuse the ammo is not perfect ? does it shoot and stay around 1.5"moa ?

 

[ez bake]

EZ ? Is your OCD kicking in ? Becuse the ammo is not perfect ? does it shoot and stay around 1.5"moa ?

Well, I've gotten some groups as wide as 1-2 inches at 100yds with the same crappy ammo in mine, but in this rig, that's no excuse:

The Broughton/GAP barrel I've got is 1/10 twist and presumably a whole lot better chamber and crown - so it handles the variations in ammo much better than the factory barrel on my son's rig does, but with ammo being so drastically different, it just makes for a crappy day at the range until I break out the higher-end ammo and it calms back down to around 1/2 MOA like its supposed to (or my hunting rounds - which aren't cheap either).

My son's:

[Broken External Image]

...with a factory barrel is the one where this difference shows up as far as 3-4" (I've even shot it from a rest after re-torquing everything to spec and ensuring that is in the B&C stock correctly - same thing as shooting it from the bi-pod). I can almost predict which round is going to be a flyer as they're seated deeper or not as deep as the average in that package.

I'm planning on visiting Steve Baldwin as soon as I can make my way up to OKC again to get the barrel upgraded on my boy's rifle, but that doesn't excuse the crap-standard in .308 ammo that I've been seeing (and its well more noticeable in his rifle, so it just pisses me off more when I buy ammo and take it out of the box and see that its so bad that its noticeable with the naked eye).

This pretty much rules out any cheap ammo at Academy, Dongs, Bass Pro, or Wal-Mart and I'm not crazy about running corrosive stuff through my barrel, so I'm limited by foreign and some mil-surp ammo. SportsWorld doesn't have a lot of really cheap ammo (unless I've missed it).

I guess I'm just disheartened that I can't get decent ammo for a decent price - like Wal-Mart's Federal .223 bulk packs - they group well and seem to be well-made for 40cents/round locally (not as cheap as online, but I can get it locally, its brass-cased and even though its bulk packed - it holds a nice group for me).

Sigh, I guess its online from now on.

 

[Shriner]

Ez have you looked into loading your own ammo? You could load by beachrest standards and get 1/2" moas or better.

 

[shortgrass]

Simple answer, good ammo isn't cheap.

 

[Donald]

EZ,
Looks like you have a nice rig there. You spent all that money for a Broughton barrel, now you want to shoot crap ammo down it and expect wonders? Get real man. Crap, cheap ammo shoots that way. I suggest you lean to handload. Good ammo costs money. I have two Benchrest rifles and my ammo costs about .85 per empty before I spend a bunch of time to make it true. Why wear out that good barrel shooting turds down it?

Donald