I know this question has probably been asked many times, but I couldn't find the thread. What kind of hunting ammunition does the M305 like? I don't reload, nor do I plan to anytime soon, so factory ammo it is. I may be going for deer in the fall. The rifle is designed for FMJs, so I assume that hunting rounds would also have to have a solid tip, to avoid being deformed while chambering, but I have no idea. Any thoughts?
Hunting ammo for M305
- Thread starter Paul_M
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I hunted with mine last year and I used 150 grain soft points. Every time I chambered one then later unloaded it the lead got scraped away on one side, after doing this for a few days some of the bullets looked pretty funny, but they still shot sraight. I don't know if it adversly affected the bullet performance as I only shot a few stumps and tree's.
Soft points are fine to use but stick below 168 grains for any bullet type. A couple of 180 grain bullets every once in a while should not hurt it but the rifle was designed around the 150 grain bullet. You stand a chance of bending parts with the heavy stuff.
Winchester Supreme 150 gr. Fail Safes. Hit about two inches higher at 100 M then Portugese (SP ?) NATO FMJ Surpluss. They have a solid hollow point tip and work well on deer. Expensive ammo but you will have no failure to feed problems.
I would think that any deformation would affect the bullet's aerodynamics and trajectory, especially at longer ranges, so no deformation at all is ideal. I know about the bullet weight issue - I usually shoot the 147gr FMJs, either Winchester white box or the Portuguese milsurp from Districorp. Any specific suggestions? (Thanks Runt). I want to avoid buying many boxes of expensive ammo that I may not use, so I'll try the 2 top suggestions I get here. Thanks nutz.
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Paul_M said:I would think that any deformation would affect the bullet's aerodynamics and trajectory, especially at longer ranges, so no deformation at all is ideal. I know about the bullet weight issue - I usually shoot the 147gr FMJs, either Winchester white box or the Portuguese milsurp from Districorp. Any specific suggestions? (Thanks Runt). I want to avoid buying many boxes of expensive ammo that I may not use, so I'll try the 2 top suggestions I get here. Thanks nutz.
Don't worry about the tip - it's basically a non-issue. The base of the bullet has a much bigger impact on the bullet's accuracy. If you're going to be using the rifle for deer, you'll probably be restricting your range to around 200 yards (just given the limitations of the rifle with any ammo).
I've had very decent results with Remington soft-point ammo (150 grain), shooting out to 200 yards (with iron sights). Definitely accurate enough for any purpose you might think of. Czech S&B ammo worked very well, too, however, I'm not sure how good their soft point ammo expands on game (so I'd suggest the Remington 150's for deer).
Once you get into reloading, try the Sierra 165gr Game Kings.
"...factory ammo it is..." You'll have to try a box of as many brands and bullet weights as you can to find the brand(s) your rifle shoots best. Any good hunting bullet will do. 165's give the best accuracy and are suitable for deer sized and bigger game.
The point doesn't matter for accuracy. The bullet's base does.
The point doesn't matter for accuracy. The bullet's base does.
Last year while sighting in mine for deer season I used FMJ's 147 gr winchester white box. Zero'd the rifle at 100m and good to go. I had 5 rnds of SP federals left so I fired them off. All hit in the 5 o'clock low position. 3 inches right of and 3 inches below bullseye. No surprise.
I next laoded the Win. Supreme 165 gr. Ballistic tip that I was going to hunt with to check and adjust zero. No adjustment needed. They were all hitting bullseye or as close to it as you would want(considerering all variables).
Nice surprise to find out white box FMJ's hit the same zero for my rifle as my deer hunting ammo.
I next laoded the Win. Supreme 165 gr. Ballistic tip that I was going to hunt with to check and adjust zero. No adjustment needed. They were all hitting bullseye or as close to it as you would want(considerering all variables).
Nice surprise to find out white box FMJ's hit the same zero for my rifle as my deer hunting ammo.
