.308 Bullets?

Question

What should I use to target practice with My .308 Ruger M2 M77
What should I use to Deer Hunt with I live in Arkansas so I will have both long and short shots
I just got my gun and it had a Pentax Gameseeker scope on it it is the 3-9x40 it has 4 lines underneath the cross hairs what are they used for
Do you think this is a good scope and gun combo

Answer 1

You should always practice with the same bullet you are going to hunt with.
I use 308 and like the 165 Boat Tail Hollow Point.
Or the 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip for all deer size game.

Answer 2

I have a .308 Ruger 77 with a stainless steel barrel and synthetic stock. I load my own bullets and use 150 grain Hornady SPBT (cat # 3033), with Accurate 2015 powder and Remington 9 1/2 M primers, and prefer Winchester cases that I neck size to customize them for my rifle. I've killed 10 deer with my model 77, and have 4 other .308s, but the Ruger is my favorite .308.
If you don't reload, try Winchester, Remington, and Federal 150 grain soft point bullets. Every rifle is a little different and you should try a few different kinds of bullets before settling on a favorite. I see no need to go with anything heavier than 150 grain bullets in a .308 for deer, but try the different brands to see what your rifle does best with until you start reloading and see what your rifle will really do...
The lines in your scope are for shooting at long range. Sight the rifle in at 100 yards using the top line ( the one that goes all the way across), then at 200 yards try the 2nd line and see where the bullet hits. Then try the 3rd line at 300 yards. Since different bullets have different trajectories, the lines might not get you dead on at the longer ranges, but will be better than guessing the holdover.
You have a good rifle/scope combo, and it will probably shoot better than you expect, especially after you start loading your own bullets.

Answer 3

The .308 is a fine hunting bullet. Rugers are excellent rifles, too.
The lines on the scope are to be used for longer ranges over 100 yd.s. Each line should represent where the crosshairs would be for 200, 300, 400, and 500 yds. The .308 is capable to hit at those ranges. It does take practice as anything would. There are "natural" good shots and there are people that get real good with practice.

Answer 4

My favorite all purpose bullet for my .308 Ruger M2 M77 is the Hornady 150 grain SPBT (cat.# 3033). I load them using Accurate 2015 powder, and can safely use maximum charges in my 77, and it cronographs at 2900 feet per second. My average group for this load is about 3/4 inch at 100 yards. I zero it at 1.6 inches high at 100 yards, and that makes it dead on a little over 200, and 7 inches low at 300 yards.
I have used several different, and more expensive, bullets than the Hornady, but always seem to go back to the Hornady.
It mushrooms well and I have killed about 25 deer with it so far, and have a few hundred in my reloading room for my future hunting.
If you don't reload yet, try Remington 150 grain Cor-Locked bullets.
The lines under the crosshair are for long range shooting. Depending on how farout your target is, you will use a different line to aim.

Answer 5

If you stuff your own, you have an almost unlimited series of choices. For deer, any bullet weight from150-180 grains will do well, and it needn't be a premium bullet. The last deer I'm aware of my little brother killed was with a Nosler 165 gr. partition, in MS but within spitting distance of Desha County, AR. He likes these pushed by IMR 4350 better than the 150 gr. bullets he used for thirty years. Non-premium 180 spitzers may occasionally overpenetrate without setting up. Just find what your new toy likes best for a hunting load, and then try to get a cheapo load that shoots to the same point of impact for paper-punching.
The secondary crosshairs in your scope are supposed to be range-finding things. They're pretty well more trouble than they're worth, and you can safely ignore them. Good choice (and the 270 wouldn't have been any worse).

Answer 6

I'd go with the 150 or 180 grain bullets, but stay consistent. What I've done for targets in the past is use clay pigeons at 100 yards. They're cheap and you definitely know if you hit it.

Is this the guy that was trying to decide between the .270 and .308? Good choice on the .308!!

Answer 7

Pentax makes a good scope and the ruger will make a good hunting rifle.There are many,many weight and type of bullets for the .308. I like the moly coated 168 gr bt that black hills puts out for my particular rifle. Choose bullet type by what you will probably be hunting and try to find a load that matches your requirements. Your rifle will probably be fairly accurate with any load that you choose,but,it depends on the twist rate of the barrel.

Answer 8

I have a great deal of experience shooting competition with an M1A/M14 which is a .308 and have found that a 150 gr Boat Tail HP will goup best in almost all .308guns. Alot of people make the mistake of using a heavy grain bullet without understanding that most guns wont stabilize this bullet will and therefore it wont group as well.

Answer 9

You got a good combo. Practice with whatever you will hunt with. If you just want to plink, use surplus 7.62x51 NATO ammo. Can be found pretty cheap per thousand. Clean your rifle thoroughly after using and re-sight it in with whatever hunting ammo you select.

H

Answer 10

Whatever ammo you choose, you should practice and shoot the same stuff.

I like Remington or Winchester 180 grain.

Miketyson26