best Ammo for CZ 550 in .308

bang

Hi everyone , just moved from a Ruger .270 to a S/H CZ550 in .308, and without having to go through every possible round out there does anyone have any expierience which round would be best. Brand /Grain

My first objective is to pass the Hcap on saturday so something for 100 m paper.
any advise appreciated .

Thanks

Jonty

Fusion 150gr soft points are a good round, but you know yourself you may test a fex boxes. Remmy accutips are too dear.

Whats the groups you have to fire in the HCAP? Why change from .270?

bang

Thanks Jonty, will try them ,
trying to narrow down what doesn't suit it really as I will only have one day to practice with it , usual delays in the swap over with my Sgt.

Saw the .308 in a dealers and liked the look and feel , also had a moderator already fitted , which was my next move on the .270 , no other reason really

Googled same question and got a forum in states with all sorts of ammo makes , so no help there really.

Another guy recommended power shok. from his personal testing with the same model

As for groups for HCAP I think its 3 shot 4" group at 100m prone
then sitting or kneeling at 60 m
and standing at 40m

Not that difficult , more worried about my gun and right ammo for it , dont want a box of flyers.
No practice shots allowed on the day.

ejg

Definately start with lapua scenar 167gr for target (HCAP) these shoot very accurate out of most 308 rifles. (Don't use them for hunting)
Hornady have a 168gr target round that works well too.

Fusion soft points can be hot and cold, some batches good others not.
I had one batch that shot 1" at 200m and another that shot 2" at 100m, the heads where seated differently.

As a soft point the lapua mega 150gr shoots quite well out of most 308s.

Just practice plenty before going. For practice get a few boxes 150gr UMC reminton.

Buy the way, a chap around here just bought a new cz 243 and shot 1/4" groups with standard soft point ammo. Nothing wrong with CZ.

edi

bang

Thanks Edi.

Jonty

[QUOTE=ejg;60811476Fusion soft points can be hot and cold, some batches good others not.
I had one batch that shot 1" at 200m and another that shot 2" at 100m, the heads where seated differently.[/QUOTE]

I know what you're saying. I guess I've been lucky. It helps if you can buy in bulk from one batch of ammo

rowa

for actual deer shooting go for something light in the 130gn range i'd say , when i first got my .308 the only ammo for game i could buy was 180 gn softpoints no one had anything else , so i bought them , very accurate through the rifle , but absolutely destroyed any deer i shot with them and so i stopped using them and waited for a lighter load .

ejg

Rowa, I'm convinced the following happens,
light soft bullet at high speed mostly leads to fragmentation and huge damage which is wanted when vermin shooting. This is mostly combined with less penetration.
The heavier slower bullet will normaly create less damage and penetrate deeper, but... a very soft bullet design could fragment stronger and create more damage.
Also if one hits bone going in will lead to bone fragments being accelerated to bullet spead and create huge meat damage.

High speed also creates more hydraulic pressure, who doesn't believe this should just compare a rabbit shot by a 22 subsonic 40gr bullet and a 40gr bullet out of a 22-250. The rabbit will just explode with the high speed center-fire.

I think for deer shooting two things are important, choose the bullet for the job and that will match the speed that it will be at when impacting.
Secondly, only shoot shoulder shots when a tough slow bullet is used.

Jonty, my first batch of fusion where great and I used them for a season.
The bullet is possibly one of the best deer bullets, they expand like on the brochure and the five or six I recovered had between 84 and 94% weight retention. No other bullet brands I recovered looked that well mushroomed or had that much left over weight. Pity the next batch just didn't work for me anymore.
edi

rowa

i believe you are largely correct ejg , but the heavier bullets are designed i think for elk and moose in scandanavian countries and america the lesser weight bullets are designed for deer sized game , it was christmas time when i got the rifle and of course i was desperate to shoot some deer with it ,the 180 gn bullets were all i could get apart from ball so i used them , i heart shot a sika at about 50 yards and the damage was unacceptable .

i think we both know reloading is the answer , tayloring the load to the exact job in hand .

ejg

Bang, sorry for missusing your thread.

Rowa, normally the big advantage of the 308 is that there is so much ammo choice on the market that one can get by. Our gun shop would not have a great selection either, best is to phone around.
Just two pictures of retrieved 150gr fusion bullets, interesting is that one was under 100yds, one hit heavy bone, and one was rib case heart lung 250yds. All expanded very well and lost little weight. Damage was not too high in relation to shot placement.
edi

Hezz700

ejg wrote: »

High speed also creates more hydraulic pressure, who doesn't believe this should just compare a rabbit shot by a 22 subsonic 40gr bullet and a 40gr bullet out of a 22-250. The rabbit will just explode with the high speed center-fire.

Agreed ejg

Its called "Hydrostatic shock" and the ammount of energy transfered depends greatly on the weight, mass and velocity of the projectile.

bang

ejg wrote: »

Bang, sorry for missusing your thread.

Rowa, normally the big advantage of the 308 is that there is so much ammo choice on the market that one can get by. Our gun shop would not have a great selection either, best is to phone around.
Just two pictures of retrieved 150gr fusion bullets, interesting is that one was under 100yds, one hit heavy bone, and one was rib case heart lung 250yds. All expanded very well and lost little weight. Damage was not too high in relation to shot placement.
edi

Absolutely no problem , all very informative, i have managed to get

Fusion 150g
Lapua Scenar 167g
Federal power Shok 180g
Winchester supreme 150g
Remington accutips 165g

i'll see how that goes on thursday, see which suits best.
Thanks for all the suggestions and info.

rowa

i agree ammo choice was part of the attraction with the .308 for me , everything from cheap military ball ammo for 10 euro a box to proper deer rounds to ammo for animals the size of wild boar and elk /moose and proper match grade ammo , i don't think i'll ever change caliber again , to me its ideal .
one problem i encountered was you'd zero the rifle with a particular brand of ammo and go back to buy more and it'd be gone and maybe never seen again .
like i said relaoding would be ideal but the way things are ain't gonna happen any time soon .
best of luck with the hcap

bang

After a practice session the fields , the Fusion 150g rounds seem to come out the best ( didn't get to try all the different brands I had as was happy with the Fusion.)
That bore out in the HCAP on saturday.
couldn't have been a better day, great setup, first time there .
only wished i knew that if your taking the HCAP and ring them quoting your number you can go and zero your rifle on the range and get some practice in, before the HCAP exam day.
I've never stepped on a range in my life before so it was all new , cant complain though all went well.





A fresh target per shooter would have been nice too, probably too expensive and time consuming .
Bang

ejg

Bang, well done.
Did you fellas get the cert there and then.?
We are still waiting for ours, years later.
edi

bang

ejg wrote: »

Bang, well done.
Did you fellas get the cert there and then.?
We are still waiting for ours, years later.
edi

On the spot when we finished . along with a safety leaflet.
Bang