Surplus 308

[bratch]

Gonna get some more 308. Do you prefer the Lake City that ammoman has or the South African that Aim has?

 

[Zak Smith]

I highly recommend the Australian F4 ball if you can find any.
Of the two you mention, I would always choose the US-made LC vs. anything imported.

 

[Father Knows Best]

I don't have any experience with the South African stuff, but I've heard good things about it. I just bought 900 rounds of it from a buddy, though, so I should know more soon.

I also have 500 rounds of the LC from Ammoman that arrived a few weeks ago. I haven't shot any, yet. It looks pretty good, but not great. I haven't observed any major problems with the LC from Ammoman, but I did notice that the bullet seating depths varied quite a bit. On some, the cannelure was almost completely outside the case mouth, on some it was completely hidden, and on others it was somewhere in between those extremes. It is loose-packed, and the headstamps are a mix of 02, 03 and 04. Loose-pack generally means it is from a lot that failed QC inspection. IIRC, the best lots go to the troops in the field. The second best still get boxed but are used for training. The stuff that fails both levels gets loose packed and finds its way into the surplus market.

My favorite so far has been Portuguese surplus. Unfortunately, I'm down to my last 100 rounds of it, so I'll be shooting the South African and LC soon.

 

[nhhillbilly]

I have shot of alot of the S.A with out any problems. It has been good ammo.

 

[Luchtaine]

The Austrailian f4 ball stuff is pretty much all gone from what I can tell I have searched quite a bit I love it still have 960 rounds of it. But as far as the SA stuff goes I am about to order some my friend went through 140 rounds of it without a hitch in his m1a.

Sportsman's guide has portugese right now though. Unfortunatly for me its linked and I am pretty sure that means I can't have it since it is in a ammuntion feeding device that holds more than 10 rounds (linked 200 round lots). California....

 

[LooseGrouper]

I had a problem with South Af .308 FTEs in my M1A Socom. Not saying everyone does, or every batch of ammo. Just anecdotal food for thought.

+ 1 on the Aussie.

 

[Luchtaine]

My friends m1a Standard Loaded had failures to eject on the portugese (brand new out of the box first time he fired it). I have the same exact M1a and its run swimmingly on aussie and some of his port to see if it was the ammo.

no failures on the SA like I siad that would be rounds 201-340 on that particular M1a

 

[PAC 762]

I love hirtenberger, but haven't seen it for sale in years.

 

[Abominable No-Man]

Avoid the Indian stuff. It's sealed with tar, and it will screw up your gun.

S.A. is good, Aussie is good, U.S. Surplus is good (although hard to find these days).

I think the Shotgun News had some good deals on S&B ammo- it's new manufacture, too.

 

[m39fan]

I've had excellent luck with the South African, everything I own loves it. I've also had good luck with the Port and even the Pakastani from Sportsman's Guide. On the Pak ammo, just think of it as Wolf in a brass case - it's reliable, battle accuracy but not target, relatively dirty and smelly but RELIABLE. Haven't tried the Aussie or Hirt but I know A LOT of guys on Gunboards and FALFiles swear by both. The only LC I have had was the "Training Only" ammo a reseller had awhile back. The dates were all over the place with a few crushed necks, AO length varied GREATLY and most were grungy. Seemed to be floorsweepings from the last reload session @ LC!!!!

As has been stated, avoid ANY ammo made in India. ALL the years/lots of Indian seem equally bad. Rifles HAVE blown up with Indian ammo. Double charges, missing charges, crimped/crushed necks, AO length issues, duds and my favorite - the "click-BOOM" (think flintlock on a bad day). I guess I would have to say they could be used as training ammo. The large amounts of duds would tell you quickly if you are developing a flinch!!!

HTH,
Mike

 

[HankB]

South African and Aussie both work very well in my STG58 - this may be an exception to the norm, but the SA seems to be a tad more accurate than the Aussie in my rifle.

 

[bcbr]

308

We neeeedd a group buy and some decent 308 surplus.
I am up for 3000 rds.

 

[varoadking]

South African and Aussie both work very well in my STG58 - this may be an exception to the norm, but the SA seems to be a tad more accurate than the Aussie in my rifle.

Seems to be the case with all 9 of my .308's as well. I've got about 3,800 rounds of it on hand - 3,000 of it is the '81 date stamp and the balance is the '79 date stamp. It's been great stuff...

 

[MechAg94]

I will chime in also. The South African I have has worked well in my M1A Standard. It is in good shape also in those sealed bags. I liked getting that big can of sealed bags.