djh935

I want to tighten the groups on two of my rifles. I was wondering if anyone had ammo recommendations to start my experimentation with.

Kimber Montana .308

Browning A Bolt Gold Medallion 300 win mag (original-not the II)

the best groupings I have found for the Kimber are with Barnes triple shocks at 100 yds and core lokts for the Browning.

I know rifles can be very picky as to their favorite ammo but I have to start looking somewhere!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated-thanks

Topgun 3006

That's an impossible question to answer. Each rifle has it's own like and dislikes. You'll just have to literally "buy the bullets" and try a bunch to find out what each likes the best. What kind of groups are you getting right now with them?

djh935

My browning groups around 1-1.5 inches at 100 yds and the kimber is at 1.5-2inches+ (so far a very disappointing rifle).

I understand I can not get a definitive answer, I was just hoping for suggestions as to a good starting point to begin looking/experimenting.

Cabelas alone has over 30 different types of 308 ammo and 20+ types of 300 win mag. If I buy one box of each to experiment at let's say $40, I am looking at a cost of over $2000. I am probably naive, but is everyone really spending over a $1000 per rifle to find the best ammo? Or with some good suggestions, can that field be dramatically narrowed? Thanks again for your help!

jeepkid

That's probably about all you'll get out of the Kimber unless you handload. They aren't known to be tackdrivers, especially the Montana.

The Browning at 1" isn't bad, you might try a couple different bullets to see what happens.

What scope, rings, bases and what type of rest are you shooting from?

redgreen

I don't know what you are shooting out of the 300, but try the heavier offerings starting at 180 grain. The Federal blue box might be what you are looking for. The 190, 200 and 210 grain is my preference for the 300.

Bullcamp82834

The most accurate factory ammo I ever shot..... various rifles, various cartridges.......was the Federal Premium load using Sierra BTSPs. (I think they were GameKings)

That was a while back.
Not sure if they even sell that load anymore but it was a shooter. My .308 (Mod 7, 20 in.) shot them as tight as it would shoot Federal match rounds.

homers brother

I know that I don't spend that much. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I can't recall in some 38 years of shooting centerfire rifles picking up a box of factory hunting ammo and not having it produce groups adequate for hunting at the ranges I typically encounter.

And, dare I even admit it, in my youth I even mixed Federal, W-W, and Remington factory loads in my pocket. I know, the horror. Is that a Core-Lokt, a PowerPoint, or a Hi-Shok I'm about to send at that deer?

Just my opinion, but the ONLY realistic way to fine-tune ammunition to your particular rifle is to reload. That's why I do it today, not because it's any cheaper (it often isn't). If you're not yet to that point, you're really just stuck with what's on your dealer's shelves. Luck being what it is, you'll find a box that your rifle likes and go back to pick up some more and it'll all be gone.

There are only a couple of calibers in my battery that I obsess over accuracy with. Those get driven past 300 yards frequently (targets and varmints only - I don't hunt big game much past 200 yards). For those few calibers, there's a need for more precision. There's also a need for me to practice more past 300 yards. I really don't worry much about anything else.

Bullcamp82834

Amen...
Hand me a grab bag of various rounds that fit my rifle and I'll bet you the rifle that I can get any one of them into a deer's lungs at reasonable range.

Sheridan

I always start with remanufactured ammo with the appropriate bullet construction for my use.

Often I find my rifles like Hornady's bullets.

CalHunter

I used to carry a Colt Heavy Barrel 20" barrel AR-15 while on Patrol and experimented with Federal's Gold Match and American Eagle ammunition. At the time, the Gold Match was around $15/box and was designed for matches, Olympics, etc. The AE ammo was $3-4/box and was for plinking, etc.

I was lucky enough to attend the SHOT show in Vegas that year and spoke with Federal's reps about how the 2 kinds of ammo were both super accurate in my rifle. The rep told me they use the same assembly line for both types of ammo (reduces costs from 2 assembly lines to one) and the only difference was in the bullets used--everything else was the same match quality. I've never forgotten that business decision that Federal had made and have never had bad ammo from them. FWIW, I would also recommend Federal ammo.