RRA LAR-8 308WIN-- Looking for good factory ammo besides Fed or Black Hills.

[OttoVonMog]

I've just recently purchased a RRA LAR-8 in .308 with a 1:10 twist 26 inch heavy barrel and Leupold Mark 4 ER/T 8.5-25x 50mm M1 Mil-Dot scope. And I curious if anyone has a suggestions as to factory ammo that will give me about 1MOA at 500-800yards? I love Black Hills Ammo in my .223 Remington bolt gun but I cannot seem to find either Black Hills or Federal Premium in .308 win in either 168grain MK BTHP or 175grain MK BTHP's (my number one choice). So I've been looking at stuff like: Atomic 168grains NOLSER Comp BTHP's , ASYM 175 MKs , Nosler Comp loads in both 168gr and 175gr configurations (obviously their Match BTHP) , and I've even considered the Steel Match ammo from Hornady in 155 BTHP( my last resort really)...

There are a couple of reasons I want to find a good factory load: 1) I'm just breaking in the rifle, so load development seems to be a bit of waste at this point to me. That is until I get at least 100rnds down the bore. 2) I'm not set up just yet to reload the 308win. 3) curiosity as what sort of accuracy I can expect from the RRA platform before I blue print it and tweak it a bit. They claim 1 MOA at 100yards--however, I seen most reports claim it is more like .75MOA factory loaded or better at 100 yards. I would like see if the gun is around .75 MOA out of the box. If that is the case I think with proper handloads I should get about .5MOA before blueprinting the action. But the problem is my go to brand of Ammo Black Hills (Federal is my backup choice) seems to be on back order for the bullets I want.

So I've selected those other makes. Personally, I've never had much luck with nosler bullets in my .223. The accuracy is okay but not like Sierra's. So I'm leaning towards the ASYM brand because of the 175grain MK's being loaded. However, I'm curious to see what the Nosler competition bullets are like-- I've never used them before. I found Sierras worked well and never ventured far from them. The Hornady 155 Steel Match is just a lark really- I think a 155gr BTHP at 2610fps is way too slow for 800yard shooting. It needs to be up in the 2800 or 2900 range to buck the wind-- but I am still curious how they might work in the rifle at the closer spectrum of 500-600 yards. From running JBM's ballistic program I already have a good idea of wind deflection and drop at box posted velocities. That is another thing I'm curious about will the 26 inch barrel in a Gas-Operated Semi-auto mv as compared to the stock 24 inch test barrels and bolt actions...

So if anyone has any experience with the bullets I speak of please give your thoughts. I'm also open to any good AR-10 loads for the .308win in general for when I decide to handload for this gun. I'm especially curious if anyone has tried the Berger 185 Target Juggernaut and 215grain Match Hybrid Target in an AR Platform rifle. I would guess both of these are too long for Magazine loading but, would work in single loading applications? If you have any other promising loads for the round I am more then willing to listen to them.

 

[MrMajestic]

I've had good success with HSM ammo and they have a large selection of .308's.
http://www.thehuntingshack.com/catalog/retail/ProductList.pdf
Good luck in your endeavors!

 

[Drop Port]

I've had good success with HSM ammo and they have a large selection of .308's.
http://www.thehuntingshack.com/catalog/retail/ProductList.pdf
Good luck in your endeavors!

+1 Without Black Hills and FGMM this is where I would be looking

 

[OttoVonMog]

I've had good success with HSM ammo and they have a large selection of .308's.
http://www.thehuntingshack.com/catalog/retail/ProductList.pdf
Good luck in your endeavors!

+1 Without Black Hills and FGMM this is where I would be looking

Thanks for the help.

 

[OttoVonMog]

I've had good success with HSM ammo and they have a large selection of .308's.
http://www.thehuntingshack.com/catalog/retail/ProductList.pdf
Good luck in your endeavors!

Well, I want to see what the gun can really do while I collect all the parts for proper reloading. Thanks for the help. I've heard of HSM Ammo, but, I've never seen a dealer locally for it. I will have to check them out more carefully.

 

[masterblaster1]

Never used it but gets good reviews on Snipercentral. I would just go with Southwest Ammo. Barrel break in I use cheap dirty Russian ammo.

 

[OttoVonMog]

Never used it but gets good reviews on Snipercentral. I would just go with Southwest Ammo. Barrel break in I use cheap dirty Russian ammo.

I know some like to do as you do with cheap ammo for the break in. But, well I've sort of spent a lot on this setup with the Leupold ER/T MARK 4 scope and I've just found a range that has up to 800 yards. So I'm really excited about taking it out and really testing it. I'm just waiting until late winter/spring to chunk down on the dies,bullets,powders and so on to reload with. However, until then I really really want to get a good feel for gun and how it handles out to 600-800 yards. So, if I were going to handload right away as you probably do-- I would do as you would do just break it in and move on. However, I've also never reloaded for a gas-gun before. This is my first AR Platform rifle so I'm doing a lot research on the proper loads for the gun. That way I waste less time and money with loads that will just never work in an AR.

So you wouldn't have any suggestions for a good load in an AR rifle would you? I'm interesting trying the 185 Hybrid Target Berger Projectiles as soon as possible. But I'm not sure if they will even fit in the magazine.

 

[navyrad8r]

Otto,
FWIW, I would to your break in and zeroing with M118LR. This will give you 175 gr bullet data and some good LC brass to hand load and tinker with until you figure out what bullet/ powder combination your setup likes. Plus the LC will hold up to gas gun punishment and is available. hope this helps,
cheers,
Doc

 

[Minesweeper3433]

http://www.freedommunitions.com/
There 118 remake load is excellent and very affordable. I bought 400 rounds recently for 380 shipped on GB and it shoots exactly as good for me out of my 308 as the M118LR that I had left over. even to the same point of aim as each other. Plus it is lake city brass. Just reloaded with 175 grain sierra.

 

[OttoVonMog]

Otto,
FWIW, I would to your break in and zeroing with M118LR. This will give you 175 gr bullet data and some good LC brass to hand load and tinker with until you figure out what bullet/ powder combination your setup likes. Plus the LC will hold up to gas gun punishment and is available. hope this helps,
cheers,
Doc

Well they don't have the 175 MK's I would like-- but I like your overall idea-- so what do you think A-Max 178 in the .308???

 

[navyrad8r]

I don't see why that wouldn't work brother...the 175 otm bergers are worth looking into as well in my opinion. the m118lr I shoot (issued) does use the 175 smk. If I am not mistaken the AMU is running 185 juggernauts through their m110s. but i remember speaking to one of their guys and their m110s are pretty tricked out to shoot at the 1000 yard line. not sure what they have done, but am pretty sure the gas system has been worked over. good luck on your research please share your findings.
cheers,
Doc

 

[OttoVonMog]

I don't see why that wouldn't work brother...the 175 otm bergers are worth looking into as well in my opinion. the m118lr I shoot (issued) does use the 175 smk. If I am not mistaken the AMU is running 185 juggernauts through their m110s. but i remember speaking to one of their guys and their m110s are pretty tricked out to shoot at the 1000 yard line. not sure what they have done, but am pretty sure the gas system has been worked over. good luck on your research please share your findings.
cheers,
Doc

About the hornady's ammo I just have never had any good luck with them as well. I've tried a couple of different bullet types including the A-max in the 52gr in my .223rem. So I was curious what people had experienced with the A-Max's in 178grain offering in the .308Win. I was curious as to what they were like in the AR platform.

As for the heavier bullets I read in an article somewhere about 10 years ago that the Springfield M1A had gas-system issues with bullets greater than 175grain. So I was curious if the AR's showed any issues with bullets in the 185 to 215range besides having problems fitting in the magazine. That was my only curiosity.

So thanks for the information.

 

[navyrad8r]

I am guessing that the guys are single loading them juggs if they are using them. have to look at the diagram and the bullet base might be pretty deep in the case to make "mag" length. In my service rifle I did use the 80 amax for my 600 yd load but not at mag length. It worked quite well too. My gun never liked the 75 amax at mag length or any degree of "stretched". I sent you a PM and we could chat on the phone about heavy bullets and M1as. that would make for a different posting.
cheers,
doc

 

[its only light]

Hsm makes great ammo

The new asym ammo is good as well

 

[OttoVonMog]

I don't see why that wouldn't work brother...the 175 otm bergers are worth looking into as well in my opinion. the m118lr I shoot (issued) does use the 175 smk. If I am not mistaken the AMU is running 185 juggernauts through their m110s. but i remember speaking to one of their guys and their m110s are pretty tricked out to shoot at the 1000 yard line. not sure what they have done, but am pretty sure the gas system has been worked over. good luck on your research please share your findings.
cheers,
Doc

Thanks for the help. I will have to get some more information on the M110's gas system.

I plan on shooting the Berger 175grainers--but aren't they on back order like every other quality bullet right now? I checked out Sierra's website, Berger's website, Hornady's and so on-- all seemed to be trying to fill present orders for bullets. So, that made me laugh a little bit. I feel like I bought boat and the lake has dried up. Well, hopefully it will get better by the late winter early spring-- so I can reload and shoot my own ammo. Right now I just wanted some instant gratification and to get an idea of what the rifle can really do. That seems goal seems to be an extremely hard prospect to achieve on short notice.


Again thanks for all the help.

 

[OttoVonMog]

For "commercial" .308 ammunition, you won't find anything better than the Applied Ballistics 175 Tactical load. FGMM and Black Hills aren't even close. Loaded in Lapua brass, it uses the Berger 175 gr Tactical OTM bullet, which has a better BC than the SMK 175, and it can definitely make a difference at longer range with the velocities you're likely to see from any commercial .308 load. I believe this load was developed using a LaRue OBR gas gun, so it might work well in yours. Only problem is that following the buy-out of Applied Ballistics munitions by Berger, it's been impossible to get for several months. You might want to keep it on your list for the future, however. It's pricey, but worth it if you don't roll your own.

FWIW, I have some of the ASYM 175 SMK load coming next week just to play with and see how it performs out of a 27" bolt gun. This gun shoots the AB 175s remarkably well, so I want to see how the ASYM load compares. It's also pretty pricey, but if you search around a bit, it can be found for just a little more than the average price for a box of FGMM 175s. Another plus is that it comes in Lapua brass, for when you start reloading in .308. If you're interested, I'll post the results here after I test it.

I've never heard of Applied Ballistics before. I hope to be shooting my own hand loads by middle of March. However, given the fact that I've now noticed that even the bullet manufactures are low on quantities of bullets-- my goals could be unattainable. So I will keep all my options open. Yeah I would love to hear how the ASYM 175's work in your rifle. So post away the results.

 

[OttoVonMog]

Hsm makes great ammo

The new asym ammo is good as well

Thanks for tip on HSM... I've never seen it sold where I am.

 

[OttoVonMog]

Applied Ballistics LLC is a company started by Bryan Litz, the chief ballistician for Berger Bullets. Earlier this year, Berger took over the Munitions part of Applied Ballistics and ammunition production/sales have been temporarily suspended while the admin/sales side of things gets worked out. Eventually, it will be sold via several online vendors such as Brownells. Their 175 load is about the closest thing to a handload you can buy commercially, very good ammunition. I'm looking forward to trying out the ASYM and will post the results here.

Good to know. I hope you can give a full report on the ASYM ammo--I would be most curious to find out how it performs.

 

[OttoVonMog]

Has anyone tried out the Norma USA Match loads yet? I would prefer 175grain Sierra MK's but 168's at 2720FPS at the muzzle isn't anything to laugh at. I worked up a JBM Ballistic Drop Chart for the load and it was still supersonic at 1132yards. I only plan on shooting 800-1000yards so this should be perfect.

I cannot wait to get out and field test this rifle-- the Leupold Mark4 ER/T 8.5-25x looks so nice.