Guess I need a .308

21 flavors of 308 Absolutely nothing in .243 .270 .30-30 .30-06

1 type of 7mm rem Mag $63 a box

Plenty of Creedmoor,
350 legend
.450.

It's not Public holding. Something bigger is going on

Stores aren't getting it in

as I understand it Lake city still makes some of the 308 so that increases capacity and it is popular enough that it gets made all the time

while the 270, 30-06, 243 . 30-30 are seasonal runs they get made and bought up


they are always making 308 to feed the global conflicts, target shooters , military training , LE training , the capacity to make it is so much larger

Everyone needs a .308 regardless

good positioning that everyone should have the 3 nato calibers 9mm, 5.56/223 , 7.61x51/308 as well as a 12ga and a 22lr
that is a good start any way

^^^^ Amen! I have always defaulted to308 and it is now paying off

330

Literally leaving cabelas now, they have plenty of those calibers in the shelves

I sold my only 308 15 years ago or longer. It was a 15" encore pistol.

I love 243, 7mm-08, and my 260. But I'm serious thinking about buying the boys 308s' maybe bolt guns maybe that AR 15 sizes ruger 308

Well I have a $100 gift card and I called 3 cabelas that are within a 150 miles of me and 7 mm Rem mag & don't have 243

The facination with all the newest coolest slightly different ways of propelling the same lead has come back to bite us.

I don't say amen all that often but this time .... yup amen to that sentiment

Check these sites for 7mm

Ammo Seek 7mm Rem Mag

I use Ammoseek to track down the cheapest prices on the net

330 ... you should learn and get the equipment to roll your own. In times like these it is a good thing to fall back on even if you predominantly use factory stuff. ...... In a pinch, I can use the 308 round nose bullets I use in my 30-30 in my 30-06 or 308 or even the lighter ones I have for the 30 carbine. Powders, and primers are interchangeable , so just keep a few hundred rounds in a box for each caliber and the rest in components so you can make whatever you have used and keep yer stock up.

Sweet. Use that giftcard and have them ship it.

Went to sportsman's after they were well stocked as well. Local dealer too. I was looking for grendel ammo. Found some at the local dealer

Oh man, I am a convert to .308! During the depths of the most recent ammo shortage, it was the first legit big game hunting round that came back on our shelves. I've purchased 2 .308 rifles in the last coupla years. They are cheap and easy to shoot, less meat damage than Mach 3+ magnums, and we have lots of higher end hunting rounds on the shelves right now. We can't mail-order ammo up here, so that's a hurdle you may not have. Our load of choice now is Barnes 168 TTSX, factory ammo. By the way, I am interested in watching how the Army's new 6.8x51 mm round develops into the civilian market.

Everyone should have a good 308. I finally picked 1 up about 6 years ago just to have.

I don't believe Cabelas ships ammo...but I'll check.

I might save the card and put a .308 on layaway

Ahlman's in Morristown MN has .243, 6MM, 30-30, 30-06, 270 and 7MM.
Was there at 1PM today.
It's on the shelf waiting for you with a sign that says "In store no limits on Ammo. Buy now or forever hold your peace!!"
I got 6 boxes of Federal .410. Was shocked to see it.

Sad part is, I can buy all those calibers at Walmart here in Iowa and none are legal for deer except the 350 and 450. They just sit on the shelves.

Sure glad I got the stuff to do my own. But I been wanting a new rifle guess I will get a 308.

I was accidentally in Dunham's in Bemidji today and they had all of that. I never looked at prices.

Every one should reload!

Serious question, how much does a guy need to shoot to make loading for rifles pay for itself? I shoot less than 100 rounds of centerfire rifle ammo a year at $1-2 per round. I see the advantages of being able to work up a load the rifle likes but to shoot "minute of deer" on 100 rounds I just don't see loading as all that profitable.

I have no idea where the break even point is these days with current prices. I can tell you my equipment had saved me 100x what it would have cost me to buy loaded ammo over the years. But I used to shoot thousands of rounds each year. So my stuff owes me nothing and still saves me $ with every pull of the trigger.

I don't shoot like I used to and components have been hard to get the last few years. I still have a nice stock of everything I need but fill sorry for those that don't.

You can get intry level single stages kits with everything you need tobget started for under a few hundred bucks. My first kit cost me 79$. Added dies, powder, bullets, and primers and I was off loading. Loaded over 20k rounds on that press before the linkage broke.

Honestly I don't think I ever saved a dime loading my own ammo. I was just able to shoot a lot more for the same price. It's fun and there is something about being able to experiment and get exactly what you want.

My first loads were for 270. My first group was 5/8 of an inch. Pure dumb luck of a load but it made a believer out of me.

2 hour trip...looks like a Maybeee road trip in the near future
Thanks

if it was just about killing deer , and not marketing , or silly state caliber restrictions most people would probably just run 308win in a lot of places.

stupid laws have created nearly as many calibers as marketing x , y , or z gains on distance , speed or trajectory gains

To me it was about availability. Is it cheaper to handload? No, can I have ammo available for me at any time I need it? Yes, provided I have, or can find the components...which are sometimes more readily available than factory ammo. I pulled the trigger 2 years ago, and am not sorry. We don't shoot very much either, but I can work up some rounds anytime I want.

My Favorite...and more importantly my Rifles and one pistol in .243
Prefer these




If I switch I buy several box's and check 3 shot groups for any point of impact changes. Which there usually are

Hornady used to make a "Light Magnum" load for 7x57 that was loaded with a 139 grain Interlock. I had an old Ruger 77 that loved them but then they quit making them. I would guess that was 25 years ago and possibly even longer.

I saw the first half of your sentence also true at a Runnings in Soo Foo. What sort of blew me away was that there was very little spread in bullet weights for those dozen+ offerings, running from 147 to 165 grain. Nobody had any 125 grain, although I've seen it at Scheels before.

I've been shooting .308 since 1981 for my deer/antelope rifle but quickly dumped the heavier 150 grain bullet for a lighter one for a little faster pop on open country, especially on moving targets. After some experimenting, settled in on a 125 gr Speer getting pushed by 43.5 grains of IMR 3031. That has been upgraded to a 125 Nosler. Supposedly, the round is doing about 2900 fps at the muzzle but I've never graphed it to be certain. I've had plenty of pile 'em up where they stand to only a few yards down the road sort of kills. Then again, I'm typically not hunting in the woods.

I haven't been deer/antelope hunting much over the past few years so decided to move my zeroed round to a fmj bullet and starting buying "white box" Winchester 147 grain 7.62x51. I was pleasantly surprised at my brother's "range" that the rifle sighted in for the 125 Nosler pretty much didn't need to be redialed for the WW 147 fmj. I was happy...

Local Wally-by-Golly had 3 chamberings in stock.

.350 Legend
.450 Bushmaster
.308 Win

I don't know a single soul that owns one of the first two.

It's how it is here x actly

Kinda looks like wide gates leading down a narrow path.

I know a guy who had a MAS-36 barreled in 450 bushmaster they use the same case head
he already had an AR in 450 IA guy , he loves his 450s its the hardest hitting strait wall he can use

.243

7mm

Fortunately I have too many rifles chambered in: 22lr all the way to 450 lott; so having a alternative rifle to shoot isn't a problem. The past 5 years has led me to ensure that I have at least 100+ rounds in each chambering. The last couple years has really been expensive to maintain those levels of inventory, not to even talk about finding availability.

All across Wisconsin the .308 and 5.56 are widely available,. 30-06 if you can find some you better grab it. .22-250, .243, 7-08, and many others just aren't available on the shelves.

I dread the shortages that will occur if the government decrees that non-lead bullets must be used for all hunting.

If someone has a place that stocks LRPs I'm all ears.

My Wife and Sis n law were going east to Rice lake WI. Area I tagged along to buy ammo. One box of 7mm rem mag @ 75 bucks available...no .243win of any kind.

I'll have to go South to a place mentioned ^^^

I need to find some cheap 308 brass.

I only have 38 or 39 mixed brass .308 from my Shooting range. But if that would help you- send me your address. I'll mail them to you Scuba. NC

Cabelas has some .243 in stock, not the Federal, but Sig, Hornady, Sierra and some others and they ship to your house, have done it lots of times.

maybe not the cheapest but I have ordered from them before back in early 2020 there was more than 250 in a bag
they do free shipping and have a 15% off currently
https://bisonbrass.com/308-win-7-62-brass-pieces-500ct/

Cheers Pete just ordered 500 of them

22-250 is what I have trouble finding

We when to Coyote Days this year, on then way back we called probably every sporting goods/gun shop within a 75 mile wide corridor along I-80. The responses ranged from sympathy to boisterous laughter. Many of the responses were they had not seen any 22-250 in the last two years.

Glad I bought a few extra .22-250 years back but I'll buy more if they are ever available, Winchester white box 45gr HP.

330 did you check if cabelas will ship?

I could not today
I plan on it though, Thanks.

I bought 2 box's of Federal Blue box today- After Mn.tax and shipping it was $80.51.
Straight from https://www.federalpremium.com

I can buy every caliber you listed around here. Stores are getting it in, your fellow outdoorsmen are just snatching it up as quick as it hits the shelves. Either that, or the corporate buyers for stores in your area are less than stellar.

Here's the "Myth" assuming that because it's in "Your location " that it must be available all over the USA...well...we'll.... ITS Not.

I was aWal-fart Sporting Goods Manager for 19.4 years and I understand Wal facts inside operations ...plus the Dept manager who took over for me after my Stroke and I left in 2010 She and I are friends. Since March 2022 only one box of 10 .243 s have been shipped and Sold at store 2367 Pine City. And zero 7mm Rem Mag.arrived.

The Fellow outdoorsmen Customers are not snatching up What Is not being shipped Gauranteed.


Ammo is available Differently Regionly...

I dont believe it ever was hoarding .Government is behind it somehow

I actually enjoy reloading my own. I have many different calibers, some oddball which is hard to find ammo for. I also load for a few buddies too. I just use the cheap RCBS single stage press I got for Christmas 30 years ago. I did upgrade to a digital scale and few other things through the years. I just ordered 11 pounds of powder yesterday so components seem to be coming back.

It has been near 2 years since I have seen any 6.5 grendel, 6mm rem, or 25-06 on the shelves at the local academy. 25-06 has made its way back on the shelves but not the other 2. Even checking online for the calibers I need are useless. Everything is out of stock. Funny how 5.56 and 9mm are the 2 easiest calibers to find around here. I guess its the ammo manufacturers catering to AR and 9mm owners with the White House continually threatening to ban them.

Some years back when my kid got his discharge from the Marines, at the recommendation of his "gunny", he bought himself a 308 in a tactical setup. Wanted to use it for long range target shooting, hunting and maybe some prepper prep. More as a joke, I asked him then if he had bought any primers to go with it.....as without ammo all he had was expensive club to wave around when it hit the fan. Like most, he was content to rely on factory. Always has been available, always will be.....right?

So the world turns.......he is now residing overseas.........I'm holding his piece for him.........and I get interested in shooting it. Down to 1 box of ammo........I go shopping.......local gun shop does not have any 308? But regional BPS does. One full isle of ammo piled full of anything you want. Any caliber.....any amount. Piled full. A year goes by and that is now down to a couple boxes of 22lr birdshot. That was it.....and nobody had any idea when it was coming back....if ever. It was about then that I remembered my own advice about the value of a gun with no ammo. It was about then I decided it was time to start reloading again.

Since then, have managed to pull together equipment for at least five calibers and enough components to last a lifetime. Mine and his if he goes easy on spraying up hillsides and such. If one has anything but a common caliber......the ability to roll your own is good idea........perhaps going to essential at some point in the not too distant future.

But as for that 308........when it comes to ammo.......first to come in.......last to run out........and reloading components in abundance. It is one of life's essentials.

As for 308 brass, now and then Midway runs a deal on Lake City pull down brass. Brass that had been loaded, but for whatever reason, had the bullet pulled and powder dumped. Has not been fired.......so not blown out like some once fired in a machine gun LC brass is. Needs to be resized or at least neck sized, but comes with CCI 34 magnum primer. Cost was about 50 cents per piece in a box of 500. One of those will last a while.

If not that, then Starline 308 brass is widely available and works well. That was 46.5 grains of Varget under a Hornady 150 flat base Interlock and new, unfired Starline Brass. That was beginning and end of my load development using Varget.

Not only is ammo common, but there are also many different loads available.


270s are great. They’re popular, and they’ve been used to take an unbelievable number of deer, but... ammo choice is very limited, even when it’s available.


On the other hand, you can get anything from full metal jacket tracers to ballistic tips and everything in between with 308s. Brass case, steel case, 20 round box, 10 round stripper clips, army surplus, bulk crates, you name it, and when ammo is scarce on the shelf, there’s a decent chance 308 will be available somewhere.


308, 9mm, and 12 gauge are good ones to have for sure, because if you can’t get ammo or load your own, a gun isn’t very useful.

A .308 will be in my future....just not right away

I have bought 3 cases of 6.5 CM in the last week just because the ammo was cheap.

Scheels in Grand Forks had probably a 100 boxes of .243 100 grain on Friday..

It looks like Scheels still has some somewhere and will ship it

https://www.scheels.com/p/federal-p...29465-3006A.html?cgid=ammunition#start=8

For no more than you shoot you could get basic manual equipment without a huge outlay of cash. I won't lie, some reloading tasks are slow and tedious when done with budget manual tools... But if you're only doing 20 rounds it isn't too bad. And you can produce some darn accurate ammo.

I started out loading .300 Win Mag with the Lee Hand press... Think it was less than $50 for the press. Not real fun resizing magnum brass with it, but it made ammo that was more accurate than what I could buy.

I started loading more calibers, some in volume so I upgraded a lot of my equipment. But if I were still only loading one or two calibers at low volume (especially something like .308) I would probably still use a lot of the budget manual tools.

A reloading manual, decent press, a good set of calipers, and an accurate scale will get you pretty far.

Mike

Its not so much about profitable that being able to have ammo at all. I have to admit that I shoot some not so popular calibers like 454 cas, 458 SOCOM, 223WSSM and others tat are not easy or very expensive to buy. Not that even becomes profitable. For what a case of 223WSSM would cost, I can buy a reloading setup and some components. I try to keep a good stock of components on hand ... then it does not really matter what I am shooting as I can fill the empties back up at relatively little cost. I have to admit that I tend to shoot a lot more than 100 rounds a year...... 100 rounds would about get me through an enjoyable afternoon on my range at home.
Another theory I have is that people develop a flinch when they pull the trigger due to ammo prices these days.

I'm glad you got some shipped straight from federal

And for reference, at current prices, the cost of consumables (primer, powder, bullet) to load a 20 round box is around $17, up from $15 a year or so ago. Primers and powder both took a jump. Add in the cost of brass for fair comparison to a loaded box, and cost is between $25 and $30 per box. Brass ought to reload at least 5 times.

Powder, bullets and dies to reload just about any caliber are now routinely available. Large rifle primers still limiting factor for now. Brass either spotty or abundant, depending on caliber. An example would be 6mm Rem. Despite it being around for close to 60 years......with a large base of rifles........brass and ammo for 6mm Rem has all but dried up.

I hope I am understanding you correctly but with current component prices are you saying it costs $25-30 to load your rifle ammo?

Costs about $17 for bullet, primer, powder.

If you have to also buy brass, that is another $10 per box or 50 cents per piece for new brass. Included that for comparison, as a box of factor ammo includes bullet, primer, powder and a piece of new brass.

for 308
currently my bullet is about 29.99 per 100 30 cents each
my powder is running about 42 a pound about 26 cents a round
primers are about 9 cents a round currently but not so easy to find

so a fairly premium round costs 65 cents or 13 dollars a box of 20 and that doesn't include new brass like a new loaded round would.

if you go with a nicer bullet yet it could easily go 17 dollars a box + your time

a loaded store bought round comparable to my 13 dollar a box 308 would run me 30 dollars

it is sort of sad , 3 years ago my cost was 45 cents a round for the exact same round. funny how inflation keeps looking like 30% across the board on nearly everything I buy.

Folks, don't be mislead by our friend Pete
On paper his numbers will tell you that you are going to save money if you get into rolling your own. let me tell you that is a MYTH . Its like left over bacon. No such thing. Once you set a foot on that slippery slope that is hand loading, you are doomed. For starters you will end up shooting a lot more ( well its so cheap now right )
Then you find out that neck turning is not something you do, looking at the backside of a pretty girl. You will end up building a rifle, just because you found a weird looking piece of brass at your local range and wonder how that will shoot. You will spend days loading and shooting trying to make old great grandpa's 30-30 shoot sub MOA. You will snatch up rifles and pistols in the weirdest calibers at your local gun shop because no-one else wants them as ya cant get anything to feed them with anymore. You'll start getting into things like annealing and reforming brass to make the ammo for those weird chambering. The list goes on and on. You'll buy things like chronographs because you'll want to know how fast that round you just fabricated really is. It will turn you into a ballistic nerd

So if someone tries to lure you into reloading because you can save some money by doing so. Walk away ... no run ... run as fast as you can away from that ballistic nerd or you will be assimilated

1000% truth.... yes you can ware out a barrel just working up loads and trying/playing with different combos..

It's a slippery slope if you lack self control. Back to search for the best action to build 2 358 hoosier rifles for the boys on. Public land legal 2500fps with 180gr bullets and can easily make brass from 358 win and 308.

I didn't say you would save money , I said you would save money per round

before I started reloading if I shot 400 rounds of 9mm , 1000 of 22lr and 20 of 30-30 and 30-06 it was a big year

when components were readily available 2011 to 2019 I was more like 3-4K 9mm 1000+ 223 , 100 30-06 , 150 30-30 ,3K 22lr and then 308 once I got into that 400

if I could find primers under 80 dollars a K right now it would be higher but 2022 is about 2K 9mm ,300 223, didn't shoot any 30-06 or 30-30 this year , 200 308 and 3K 22lr

it takes about 300 to get into a decent setup and 70 a caliber to add dies and trim tools

unlike Scuba I have standardized more after starting to reload to use the most common brass so I have a free or nearly free source of it
I have a few people that give me their 223/5.56 brass , at competitions which I guess I pay to get into I ask if I can pick up brass when they say yes I have my mesh bag in pocket to collect up a bunch.
cleaning up at the range gives me more brass than than I know what to do with some times I need to get around to sorting again some day.

so money saved no , shoot way more , yes

it beats other addictions like drinking or smoking your money away

Pete did you see the smiley face at the end of my post ??? Don't make the mistake of taking me all to serious As you know, in the hand loading world there is always more than one way to kick that cat.

yes I saw the smiley face

don't take me to serious either

I tell people , I don't have a mean bone in my body so if it sounded mean I was just being miss understood for my poor writing skills.

See That?

I don't take myself serious for the most part, so I don't expect anyone else to di it either

I was telling my cat that about myself, the cat told the dog and we all laughed

My cat don't give a hoot as long as she can watch what she wants on TV

I have a cat that looks almost exactly like that named Walter mine has a touch more of the tom cat face he was snipped later in life.

I have one of those too. He keeps clogging up the sink