First Hunting Rifle .308 cal - factory loads for starting out

[Ds J]

Keep the brass, and stick to that brand for 80 or 100 shots. Then you have a good base for reloading. The consumables for 100 - 120 reloads will set you back roughly the same as two or three boxes of ammo.

Simply ask on the forum - someone close to you will show you the ropes and allow you to use their equipment.

Practice, practice, practice!

[Messor]

Being good at shooting comes from hundreds of hours of shooting.
If one can afford that with factory ammo from the shelf in the year 2023 then money aint your problem.

If money aint your problem , buy any ammo you want.
If money is a problem, but you still want to shoot, practice with the cheapest ammo you can find, then for hunting get a packet of 150gr Sako super hammerhead, they retail for much cheaper than people think, shoot flat enough for plains and is bonded for bush, plus the brass itself is of really good quality.

[John87]

Thanks for all the advice. I will look into the smaller magnification scopes and a better rail. I don't intend to hunt 30 times per year so factory ammo will be my thing. I will check each round, which was mentioned, and bite the bullet, pun intended, to test and get them to the tightest group I possibly can. Appreciate the responses from each.

[tcbc]

Being good at shooting comes from hundreds of hours of shooting.
If one can afford that with factory ammo from the shelf in the year 2023 then money aint your problem.

If money aint your problem , buy any ammo you want.
If money is a problem, but you still want to shoot, practice with the cheapest ammo you can find, then for hunting get a packet of 150gr Sako super hammerhead, they retail for much cheaper than people think, shoot flat enough for plains and is bonded for bush, plus the brass itself is of really good quality.

This is my go-to recipe in Canada. Sako Superhammerhead 150gr , 2805 fps out of a Tikka Tx3 .308. & Swarovski 3-10x42. Most of the time I carry it on 3x magnification, only lift magnification in marsh or grassland. And a MPBR of between 50 to 250 yards. Keeps things really simple.


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[kayaker]

Some advice on the optical equipment you are looking at.
One of the biggest problems we experience every year is hunters pitching up with too much scope. A 6-24x50 FFP scope in any make is too much scope for bushveld hunting. FFP scopes are great for target shooting and long range hunting, they are a bad choice for bushveld hunting. At the lowest magnification the reticle becomes so thin that it is difficult to see, especially in shade or against thick brush. Add to that that 6x is already marginally too high for bushveld shooting.
The exposed target type turrets on the Vortex Tourex are another potential problem on a hunting scope, especially one used for hunting in thick bush.

My advice would be to buy a 3-9x40 scope from a proven manufacturer. Spend the scope money on quality rather than fancy features that are more of a hindrance than a help for your needs.

Buy and fit decent scope mounts and rings.

.

^THIS^

I use a 4-16x FFP scope with tactical reticle for .22 PRS and unless you have a bright day, with a high contrast (white, orange) target the reticle is very hard to see below 8x. My own preference for rifle that is going to get carried a lot, with active stalking etc. is a scope with no bigger than a 40mm obective lens. Mid-range variables with approx. 2 or 3 x on the bottom and 9 or 10x at the high end seem 'boring' these days but they work well, and can still be used for range training at pretty long ranges. Don't get conned into a big tactical scope for hunting unless you are doing alot of voorsit, bakkie shooting, culling work etc. Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36, 3.5-10x40, swaro Z3 3-9x36 etc are all outstanding scopes for acceptable prices (not cheap, but not exorbitant either).

[Toxxyc]

3. 1MOA is completely adequate. In fact, 2MOA would be fine at <100m for species you mention.

2MOA is 2MOA, doesn't matter what distance it's shot at. If your rifle shoots 2MOA at 100m, it'll also shoot 2MOA at 10m, and 2MOA at 500m.

I, for one, am not happy with a rifle shooting 2MOA. I had one and I always had this gnawing feeling that, should I edge my target, and the rifle today decides to shoot that 2MOA toward the edge of said target, there's a large chance I'm going to be missing. I eventually replaced that rifle with one that shoots where I aim, and with that, I'm comfortable taking targets at virtually any distance you can find in the bushveld.

I agree with other points made, except the bullet weight. I'd not shoot a 180gr bullet from a 22" .308. I think a 165gr is more suitable. To me, the silencer is a good fit, but the bipod is not. The scope it also overkill, if you are looking at 100-200m shots. If you've got your heart set on a FFP scope, get one with smaller magnification. I had my heart set on a FFP scope (for a few reasons that might sound silly to some, but I liked them), and ended up with a 4-14x44 scope and it works REALLY well out to medium range.

Keep in mind it's very hard to build a rifle that's suitable to bushveld hunting AND long range shooting. I tried, and I got somewhere in the middle, but it's not really perfect going either way (although it does work well).

Also, if you're going to try and reach longer ranges, you are going to have to reload. Finding a factory round that'll pair perfectly with your rifle to allow you to take long-range shots is going to be a very long, very expensive and very frustrating process, simply because factory ammo is loaded to fit all rifles, all magazines and all chambers, while still providing decent performance and reliability. As such, you'll experience often extremely long jumps, which is usually not a good direction to step in for accuracy.

[Stef1274]

2MOA is 2MOA, doesn't matter what distance it's shot at. If your rifle shoots 2MOA at 100m, it'll also shoot 2MOA at 10m, and 2MOA at 500m.

Yes, 2MOA at 100m is also 2MOA at 10m or 500m. But 2 inches at 100m is not 2 inches at 10m or 500m. In your reply it kinda sounds like you think I meant something else.

[Toxxyc]

Yes, 2MOA at 100m is also 2MOA at 10m or 500m. But 2 inches at 100m is not 2 inches at 10m or 500m. In your reply it kinda sounds like you think I meant something else.

I added the troll pic for a reason :P

[Stef1274]

I added the troll pic for a reason :P

Aah, I see :)

[tcbc]

2 MOA hunting rifle acceptability is a concept from last century. Many hunting rifles were cut down military rifles where 4 MOA or worse was acceptable. And a hand built Rigby or similar, built on Mauser actions was expensive and rare. And gave 1.5 MOA.

Many states in USA still limit deer hunting to shotguns, and the majority of deer rifles in the 1950’s would have been lever action 30 30 ‘s. As these rifles were replaced by bolt actions in the same caliber, so did accuracy improve. As scopes became commonplace, so did the need for accuracy improve.

Only in places where longer shots were called for, and animal wounding became less acceptable, did the need for accurate rifles improve. To a certain extent, I think South Africans ( and countries where longer shots are needed), were ahead of the shooter mass, in demanding more accurate equipment. In the USA, before the fashion of Long Range shooting started, it was really only Prairiedog and F-class and benchrest shooters who were doing long range shots. I took a successful 185 m shot at a deer this season and my companions and guide were saying “long range shot”! I just said, “you should come to Aliwal North sometime”.

My point is, 2 MOA is Ok at close range, bush shooting where shot placement isn’t critical. Get it into the heart-lung area and you won’t look very far. But you can also ruin a shoulder as well like that. Lots of animals have been killed with 2 MOA rifles (and worse). But as hunts get reduced to a weekend once or twice a year, and hunters are less acclimatised and wounding means cost and loss, we need better rifles. They create confidence and certainty. In my view a modern 308 with 150 to 168gr ammo and a 3-9 x40 decent scope is about perfect for a 1 rifle biltong hunter.


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