There is no more popular long-range cartridge in the world than the 7.62x51mm or .308 Winchester.
Whether on the shelf in its .308 Winchester flavor or the 7.62x51mm version, this cartridge has been in use since the 1950s, and it has carved out an enduring reputation with hunters, target shooters, the military, and law enforcement.
This legendary little cartridge still offers the same excellent ballistics and is still available cheaper and more readily than any other round in its class.
We’re going to go over a little history, followed by our favorite ammo picks.
But since ammo supplies are tight, here are some choices that are in stock:
THE QUICK LIST
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Best Hunting Ammo
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Most Affordable Hunting Ammo
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Best Varmint Ammo
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Editor’s Pick
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Best Match Ammo
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Most Affordable
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Best Budget Match Ammo
.308 / 7.62x51mm Ammo In Stock
Table of Contents
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How We Tested the Best .308 Ammo
The Pew Pew Tactical editorial and writing staff have extensive range and field experience behind various rifles and platforms. We’ve used a variety of ammunition in that time, and our experience covers competition, law enforcement, military, hunting, and plinking.
We’ve run through thousands of rounds to land on the recommendations on this list. We use these picks when we test and review guns, and they have been selected based on availability, cost, performance, and reliability.
Best .308 Ammo for Hunting
1. Federal Premium Vital-Shok 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip – Best Hunting Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Great terminal performance
- Excellent accuracy
Cons
- Expensive
Federal’s Premium Vital-Shok line is one of the most popular game rounds around, and for good reason.
The .308 Vital-Shok offering comes with a 165gr Trophy Bonded bullet with a polymer tip for superior aerodynamics and controlled expansion.
I’ve gotten a few big whitetails and numerous hogs with this round, and I’d trust it for any medium game.
2. Remington Core-Lokt 150gr Soft Point – Most Affordable Hunting Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Solid terminal performance
- Time-proven design
Cons
- Affordable in terms of hunting ammo
Remington’s Core-Lokt line is a favorite of whitetail hunters, especially in the Southeastern US, where we don’t have those long 400+ yard shots to worry about most of the time. Core-Lokt ammo has been in widespread use for decades and may have very well taken more game than any other bullet around.
The 150gr soft point round is perfect for mid-sized game at close to mid-range and is relatively accurate, even without the polymer tip.
It’s also a good bit cheaper, and it is fairly common to see it on sale from time to time.
3. Barnes VOR-TX 130gr TTSX Boat Tail – Best Varmint Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Good velocity
- Outstanding expansion
- Accurate
Cons
- Expensive
- May lack penetration on large game
Sometimes the bigger number isn’t always better. Those who primarily hunt varmints like coyotes will enjoy the extra velocity and faster expansion offered by lighter bullets.
The Barnes 130gr VOR-TX tipped TSX bullets are built just for that, speed and lethality. We have experienced excellent terminal performance combined with excellent accuracy. These will bring home the bacon – as it has for our editor many times.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that these are exclusively for small games, though. The 130gr TTSX is excellent for harvesting whitetail deer and other medium game, as it delivers rapid and violent expansion without overpenetration and wasted energy.
Best .308 Ammo Target Shooting
4. Federal 168gr BTHP Gold Medal Match – Editor’s Pick
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Great accuracy
- Many guns are accurized with this round in mind
Cons
- None
Federal Gold Match is one of the best match loads on the market. These rounds use Sierra Match King bullets that produce outstanding factory-loaded accuracy. Many firearm manufacturers use this specific round as their accuracy benchmark for factory ammo.
I’ve been about to get half-MOA groups with this ammo with the right rifles; that is mighty nice off-the-shelf ammo!
What’s your take?
5. Hornady Match 168gr ELD Match – Best Match Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Excellent ballistic coefficient
- Outstanding accuracy
Cons
- Expensive
Hornady Match ammo is one of the most popular target rounds out there, and the 168gr ELD .308 offering is fantastic for stretching the legs on your .308.
This is my go-to factory load if I need to quickly pick up something for some range time where I actually care how I do.
I get sub-MOA groups out of this with a good rifle, and I would be happy to make use of these high ballistic coefficient bullets in a match if I didn’t have any handloads.
Best .308 Ammo for Plinking
6. AAC 150gr FMJ-BT – Most Affordable Plinking Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Affordable
- Reasonable accuracy
Cons
- Only available through PSA
Since the COVID-induced ammo shortage, .308 ammo increased in price across the board considerably and has taken its sweet time coming back down.
Finding ammo under $1 a round can be tough, but Palmetto State Armory has you covered with their AAC line of ammo.
Their standard 150gr full-metal jacket boat tail ammunition runs clean and gets the job done at a reasonable price.
7. Prvi Partizan Match 168gr HPBT – Best Budget Accuracy Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Affordable for match ammo
- Good accuracy
Cons
- Can be harder to find in stock
PPU Match is decidedly better than normal plinking ammo and is much closer to the good match-grade stuff, but at a price that is still affordable.
Finding cheaper .308 ammo that uses rounds heavier than 150gr can be tough at times, but luckily, PPU has a reasonably priced 168gr loading. Think of it as the poor man’s Federal Gold Match.
If you want to practice your match shooting without spending true match ammo money, this is your guy!
8. PMC Bronze 147gr FMJ-BT – Best Plinking Ammo
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
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Pros
- Decent accuracy
- Widely available
Cons
- Limited to 147gr
PMC makes solid ammo in almost any caliber, and the PPT team is a huge fan of their Bronze line and frequently uses their ammo to feed our handguns and ARs.
Their .308 stuff is no different. We have found it to be great for plinking, and it has produced good groups for us for the price.
Final Thoughts
That’s all she wrote, folks. These .308 rounds are more than good enough to get you started.
We tested a lot of these ammo choices when we did our Aero Precision M5 Review, so if you want real-world shooting of these .308 rounds, take a look!
If you try any of these, make sure you let me know in the comments below! And if you have another factory load you prefer, make sure to drop that in the comments as well.
Latest Updates
May 7, 2024: Removed Magtech 147gr M80. Added Barnes 130gr VOR-TX TTSX. Added data detailing how we chose the ammo on this list, added supplemental data to each product with more information, and changed the organization of this article.
44 Leave a Reply
Simple gun safety idea? I'll play nice here. If they were stupid enough to pass such a law, who would be crazy enough to enforce it?
This was intended to be a reply to 'jshtragman' post below, whose post advocates for a firearms serial # database in America. Sorry for the seemingly off-topic post. -BK
All the big western 'democracies' have used registration of firearms as a step towards implementing complete bans, as in Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, etc. where citizens have been disarmed and are now at the mercy of tyrannical globalist governments. Implementing an overt firearms serial number database (as opposed to the illegal covert databases already existing from electronic purchase transaction records, BATFE databases of Form 4473 images, other) would have virtually zero effect on Mexican cartels' ability to source arms. This is simply another tactic on the road to confiscating Americans' lawfully owned firearms. Cartels have billions of dollars in income and can source weapons worldwide, such as the heavy machine guns and recently discovered cache of RPGs on the border attest to. At most it would have a temporary and minor effect on the cost of arms for the cartels, while trashing Americans' hard-earned and besieged constitutional rights.
Have shot thousands of PPU match ammo at long distance in my Gap700. For the money it cannot be beat, prefer heavy than 168 at a thousand. Yes there is better match ammo but most people cannot shoot as good as there rifle, scope and ammo can do.
I've been shooting .308 for decades, literally... mostly in Rem700 models of some sort but also in Savages and AR10's. The Black Hills .308 ammo is some of the most accurate you can buy. That said, for plinking I highly recommend military surplus rounds. You can usually find 100-1000 rounds locally on sites like arms-list. It lasts forever and if you just want to sight in and you don't have a laser with you or you want practice going from 100 yards to 500 yards (where most lasers aren't visible), mil surplus rounds are the way to go. You can always shoot the more expensive stuff when you want to show off your leet sniper skills to the boys at the range.
On a side note... saw my first legit military surplus subsonic 300BLKs available at a local gun show recently. Here's to hoping we see more of that on the market.
Mexican authorities allege that tens of thousands of US-manufactured guns are trafficked south across the border each year, providing drug cartels with easy access to massive arsenals used to fight each other and the Mexican government. Some estimates put the total at over half a million weapons each year....BBC News.............America's ATF is barred by NRA sponsored legislation from having a computer gun serial # registry. Which is why the ATF rarely if ever catches and prosecutes America's thriving gun traffickers.....
Simple gun safety idea. Opposed by.................gun lobby
What the hell does that have to do with this article? I’m not disagreeing, your comment is just off topic.
Check out Barnes' 168gr Vor-Tx ammo. According to Barnes it will expand as low as 1500fps with best expansion at 1700fps and up. Very deadly on large game at fairly long range as far as monolithic copper bullets go.
I cannot see Hornady, Norma, Winchester as ex of other reputable manufacturers, any reason for that? I’m using a .308w ,Winchester xpr
Thanks
Thank you for confirming my suspicions. This is the last year that my M1 Garand will be seeing deer camp. There is a M1A loaded with the Archangel stock in 308 on order for next year. My days of trudging through the woods are over so I set up a shooting bench to watch the logging road in case a deer decides to come across. Few locations provide a 500 yard shot but some reach 700 yards. I was debating on 6.5 Creedmoore but your article makes me think that 308 would be every bit of what I need. My nephew will go completely wild when he finds that Garand under the Christmas tree. He is turning his hobby into a business venture and I know the Garand will be kept as a prize jewel.
For my money, no better factory load than the Federal Premium 165 gr.
with the Sierra Game King. I have shot 3 and 5 shot groups under 1 moa.
out of my Remington 788, at 100 yards.
Check out "TRUEVELOCITY", composite cartridges??? What!? So I had to check it out. This stuff is good, a bet salty in price. We can talk about sub MOA and stuff, (some people, not shooters, think they are doing sub MOA at a indoor range (25 yrds), I just LMAO). So real life, not some game on TV. 62 yrs old (eye balls not as good as they were) Ruger PR, good glass, I am shooting just + MOA, and I mean JUST! No bullshit! I have shot sub MOA with this, but for me it is "about one " MOA. FYE I am doing 5 rounds I need to drop to 3 rounds. Just to much$.
Hi Mathew
Well written and appreciated, just getting to grips with my recently purchased a ruger precision rifle next gen 111. Loving it.
Back of to my local gun shop this week to see what ammo they stock .
Thanks for all the info .
My the 308/7.62x51 over any the 6.5 Creedmoor or any other cartridge; it’s all about availability, if you go out, you find .22, .223/5.56, and 308/7.62x51 calibers a lot. Two 308/7.62x51 builds.
great
I’ve used the Remington 180 grain, Core Lokt BTSP load for years. I shoot a Tikka M55 Custom Deluxe I bought while stationed in Germany in 1984. Tried other loads through it, none have proved to be as consistently accurate. I took an 8 point MO whitetail 8 days ago with one shot at 260 paces from the ground blind. The buck crumpled, kicked once, and was done. Works for me.
I intend to hunt with with a bullet weight between 170-220gr (in accordance with your recommendations). How important is it for me to use that same bullet weight when zero-ing my optic?
I’d not only use the same weight but the exact same bullet.
I have a 9.5” 308 pistol with a 1:7 twist and wonder if the 168gr IMI I use in my Mossberg MVP for hunting will be ok to use.
I have a question,I bought am AR 10 308 1/10 twist with a 16.5 barrel,I've that a heavier grain is better for a shorter barrel, between 168 and 180,before I found this out I bought a few boxes of 150 grain,would it do anything to the barrel if I shot them to get rid of them
The barrel will be totally fine! The 150gr ammo might not stabilize at longer range, but no damage to the rifle will occur.
Thanks,so basically you should be concerned about the twist when it comes to the weight of the bullet no matter the length of barrel
Technically speaking, it's the length of the bullet that matters most for twist rate. But for general use, weight is what people go by. It's kind of like how mass and weight are the same things in beginner science, but in higher science, it's totally not the same thing.
Barrel length is not super important for stabilization, really a bullet only needs about an inch of rifled barrel to get enough twisting force.
All of that said -- yes, weight is what you should be looking at when considering twist rate!
The only reason u use heavier bullet out of shorter barrel is for better terminal ballistics. If ur just shooting to shoot then it’s fine
I am interested in drop pr feet. If I zero at 50 ft. what is teh rise at 100 ft then 200 then 300. We should be going down soon so what drop is at 400 to 600????
Whatever you shoot, I don't recommend Aguila .308 150gr FMJ. Scoped in two .308 rifles (RAP and a Savage Axis). The Savage indents seemed good, but MAY be a little light, but the indents from the Ruger all seemed like normal hits.
I'm not a hunter, but have been asked to advise a new shooter on the best round for elk (not deer) hunting in northern New Mexico. He bought a Ruger American in .308 and plans to take an elk next hunting season. I am merely helping with scope and ammo selection. Would any of you hunters object to Hornady Precision Hunter .308 in 178 gr ELD-X? The published statistics show it runs at 2,600 FPS and delivers 2,672 ft. lbs. of energy. He has limited funds and I don't want to spend his money trying a bunch of different loads to see which one his rifle prefers. My idea is to use the heaviest .308 round suitable for hunting. All comments, suggestions, and criticisms welcome.
Thank you for a great article. I just bought a Weatherby Vanguard 20" barrel. I noticed you never mentioned the Hornady SST. On another site I read where at close range they can blow up. Do you agree with that? I'll buy the Federal that was your first choice. From one of the other comments it sounds like the SST isn't the most accurate anyway. At least from his gun. Your thoughts??
I love Hornady American Gunner, Black, ELD Match, and more - but I've never had their SST ammo do well for me. 6.5 Creedmoor, .308, 6.5 Grendel, none of those in SST have grouped well.
“My Chosen Plinking Solution For All Situations”
MCPSFAL.
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I have a PSA, AR-10 in .308 Win/7.62 NATO with a 20" heavy stainless barrel. After having shot five different brands of factory hunting ammo, all in 150 grain loadings, I have found Remington Core-Lokt to be the most accurate in my rifle. This ammo gives me sub-moa groups at a little more than 3/4". Next is Winchester Power Point and then PPU soft point. Both of these yield sub 1.5 moa 3 shot groups. Next was Federal Non-Typical which gives me right at 1.75" and, lastly, Hornady SST Superformance came in right around 2 inches at 100 yards. Also, for whatever reason, the Hornady ammo made noticeably bigger holes than all other ammo in the paper target. My barrel is 1:10 twist.
Hi David - PPT Editor:
Thank you for posting this very informative article.
Please recommend the best plinking & defensive ammo for an AR10 Pistol, specifically:
Sig Sauer:
Item Number: P716-12B-PSB
Caliber: 7.62 X 51 mm NATO or .308
Overall Length: 30.2 in / 767 mm
Rifling: 1 in 10" / 25.4 in 254 mm
Number of Grooves: 6
Barrel Length: 12.5 in / 317.5 mm
Features:
Short stroke pushrod operating system with 4 position gas valve
Precision Armament M11 Severe-Duty™ Muzzle Brake
Thank you.
Kind regards,
David McNulty
Every rifle is slightly different, but I would start with standard Wolf Steel cased .308 for cheap plinking, or PMC Bronze if you want cleaner ammo and are willing to spend a bit more to plink.
Defensive/hunting ammo I go with Remington Core Lokt.
Hope that helps!
Thank you, David.
I shoot the Sako TRG M10 and really must mention the best rounds I've discovered for the 26" .308 barrel are Sako's own 168gr HPBT "Racehead".
They can spread a little on very cold days so I just keep them in my jacket on the range, but if any greater than a very consistent 1/4-MOA spread at 100yds then I'm analysing why.
Great article. Learned a lot.
Btw, no jungle in Korea.
Great article - thanx... I'm nowhere nearly as experienced as you, but I've been having pretty good luck with bulk-buys of "IMI Systems" offerings (in other calibers too). [Midway, Palmetto, A+ Ammo] It's made in Israel (for a long time now), and anyone with any experience at all with products from Israel knows it's usually pretty good stuff even at the baseline. Might give it a try... I also just read an article (in G&A, I think) about a new "budget" .308 from Mauser that sounds very interesting for $700 list. Those on a budget (who isn't) in the market for a bolt .308 might want to look into it. Engineering, and its rationale, are impressive... Thanks again for the nice review...
I have a Precision 308 and shoot it frequently with the match 308 ammo.. I just need to find a longer range to see how well it will shoot at some distance. My M1A also shoots well with the same ammo. Pat
Not a funny trick to pull....I'm not even 1/2 way into my first cup of coffee this morning, so I could be wrong.....buuuuut..... The pic of the empty brass doesn't look like our beloved .308.
Good eye! 7.62x54r is in fact not 7.62x51. Corrected the image, thanks!
Almost any .308 bolt gun is good for 1 1/2 MOA with most factory ammunition. The round is uncannily accurate. And good .308 bolt guns are plentiful and cheap, their former owners lured to more exotic junk by hacks and merchants.
The next step is learning to load for it to bring costs down and advance both rifle and rifleman’s capacity. “Soup can” plinker rounds are ideal for developing offhand skills at moderate ranges and can be made for a few cents a shot. Superb midrange target rounds can be made for less than a quarter and the developing rifleman will achieve 8-ring or better consistency from formal and impromptu positions out to five hundred yards. Point blank range with hunting loads good for any North American game short of really big bears is close to two hundred yards and killing energy is good enough for elk at four hundred.
The point to all this is that the .308 is the 21st century “rifleman’s rifle” in all respects. The adage says, “beware the man with one gun”. For all the foregoing reasons, that’s the .308. Get yourself one, only one, and not some space age fire-power job. And learn it. Well. And become that rifleman you always wanted to be.
My Remington 700 P loves Federal Premium Gold Medal March 168 gr. BTHP. Actually the rifle shoots better than I do! Lol. Sub MOA is routinely easy
Just came across your web site while researching the AR .308s and have toughly enjoyed reading your articles. Can't add anything now but maybe later. Also, I have been shooting a Ruger M-77 .308 seems forever and is my go to rifle for any game animal in the contiguous US. Thanks