Have to keep looking and have a little luck. I was in Columbus last weekend and Northside Pawn had .308 surplus for $499.00 for a 1080 crate. I do not have a .308 so I did not research much but it was 20 round packs in a wooden crate.
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.308 Stockpilers....
- Thread starter HerkyBird
- Start date
The only way I can afford to shoot .308 regularly is with the help of a reloading press.
For a battle rifle, you can find pulled M80 bullets and surplus powder. From there it's brass and primers. The primers are fairly consistent in price regardless of caliber, and brass is where you have the biggest variation in cost. If you don't mind processing brass you can find fired military brass for a deal as well. Also, if you let your friends with .308s that don't reload know you'll take their brass, they're usually willing to help out. My cost for "battle rifle" fodder minus brass costs is about a quarter a piece. I've accumulated brass over time and try to avoid having to purchase it (and shoot it out of a fairly brass friendly rifle).
For match ammo, if you're shooting out of a bolt gun or precision gas gun, the cost goes up a little for the better bullets and match primers. Don't be afraid of blemished sales for bullets or wait for specials. For instance, Midway has blemished 168gr SMKs for $99/500 right now. That's about what regular, new FMJs are going for. I average about .35-40 cents a round for my match grade .308.
If you do you part, you can get your costs down to the point of being comparable to the equivalent in .223 (ie range fodder for range fodder or match to match).
For a battle rifle, you can find pulled M80 bullets and surplus powder. From there it's brass and primers. The primers are fairly consistent in price regardless of caliber, and brass is where you have the biggest variation in cost. If you don't mind processing brass you can find fired military brass for a deal as well. Also, if you let your friends with .308s that don't reload know you'll take their brass, they're usually willing to help out. My cost for "battle rifle" fodder minus brass costs is about a quarter a piece. I've accumulated brass over time and try to avoid having to purchase it (and shoot it out of a fairly brass friendly rifle).
For match ammo, if you're shooting out of a bolt gun or precision gas gun, the cost goes up a little for the better bullets and match primers. Don't be afraid of blemished sales for bullets or wait for specials. For instance, Midway has blemished 168gr SMKs for $99/500 right now. That's about what regular, new FMJs are going for. I average about .35-40 cents a round for my match grade .308.
If you do you part, you can get your costs down to the point of being comparable to the equivalent in .223 (ie range fodder for range fodder or match to match).
I reload for accuracy at about 40 cents a round...which is pretty much the same as cheapest plinking ammo you can find.
I know it depends greatly only the rifle, but generally, out of something like a GSR, how many times can I reuse brass?
I pick up some here and there. For example, I was looking at a Rossi 308 and 20 gauge combo single shot a few days ago and was very interested but wasn't sure. I was trading into this so I asked if he had any ammo to add. He replied, "I have a few boxes." When we met to look at each others weapons, he told me that he found three boxes of factory loads (about $70 to $75 worth). That sealed the deal. I was only into the whole package for about $150. I love the 308 round and have done several deals such as this.
I was going to put in a plug for them also. I shoot their ammo all the time. It's good stuff.
I know I'm about to get slapped for it, but I shoot Monarch. 9.99 a box at Academy for FMJ. 50 cents a round and sometimes they put it on sale for 40 cents a round. That's about as cheap as reloading. I don't have anywhere to shoot further than 200 yards, so I can't comment on accuracy at long distances. But last time I was out, I put one through a quarter at 100 yards right after sight in. No rest, just the bipod. And I handed it to a friend who had never shot a rifle before (and had just purchased his first pistol from me earlier that day). On his second shot, he puched a hole in a quarter too. So it's plenty accurate for me. At least as good as the Winchester White Box I had been using at twice the price.
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I should be getting in some pulled m80 bullets and that will get my reloading cost down to about $0.28 per round.
