Savage Axis in .308 - What ammo do you use?

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mhowarth

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I just picked one of these bad boys up from Le Baron in Markham yesterday - $269 + tax.

This is my first rifle in .308 and I'm hoping it lives up to the internet hype. Granted it isn't the prettiest, but it seems to be excellent value. Stock fitment is very good - I've seen some with slightly warped stocks that actually contact the free-floating barrel so I made sure to hand pick a good one from the lot. The youtube trigger job did an excellent job of reducing pull and it has a very crisp break.

All in all I'm impressed with the fit and finish of it, although it will never win any beauty contests.

I was hoping owners of the same rifle might be able to chime in and make some ammo suggestions so I can skip the usual trial and error and go right to the good stuff.

So... When you're at the range and trying to get your groups as tight as you can, what ammo are you using in your Savage Axis .308?
 
Deer load - 165 gr Barnes TSX
Elk load - 180 gr Barnes TTSX

Only 1MOA difference at 100 yards so zeroing is a done in a snap (well 4 clicks).
 
Very Cool. Thanks for sharing guys.

Any one else want to share their experiences?

I was looking at the Hornady "Match" ammo for the bench rest. I'm not into reloading so I'm hoping these will let me get every ounce of accuracy out of this rifle as I can.

Cheers!
 
Every rifle is different. What works in mine might not in yours. Try a few different factory loads, once you find one that you like, buy a bunch of that lot and enjoy. Next step is reloading and that is another sickness.
 
I figured each rifle is a little bit different, but generally some ammo types work better in certain guns from my experiances. A good starting place is what I'm looking for.
 
mhowarth, if you do a bit of snooping on the internet you'll find that the rifling of the
.308 favours a lighter bullet, as compared to a 30.06 which favours a heavier bullet.
Most rifles in .308 prefer a 150 grain or 165 grain at most, where most 30.06 rifles
shoot their best with 165 or 180 grain bullets. If you don't handload, I'd suggest you try
the Barnes Vor-tx ammo, it uses a TTSX bullet and I'd go with 150 grain for your .308.
In my '56 glass bedded Husky 30.06, I'm shooting .5 MOA with their 168 grain bullet.
They're warm loads with lots of snap, and the 150 grain TTSX bullet will penetrate like
a 180 grain Nosler Partition, so you can use the one cartridge for everything you hunt!
 
Excellent! Thanks for the tip

With a twist rate of 1/10 I was thinking a heavier bullet might be the way to go, but I'll give it whirl!
 
mhowarth said:
Very Cool. Thanks for sharing guys.

Any one else want to share their experiences?

I was looking at the Hornady "Match" ammo for the bench rest. I'm not into reloading so I'm hoping these will let me get every ounce of accuracy out of this rifle as I can.

Cheers!
Click to expand...


Not the same caliber, mines a 223. It didn't care for the Hornady ammo. Bulk fed ammo at 100 yards put 4 in same hole with the 5th of by maybe an inch. Without any trigger work. Not bad rifles for the price IMO.
 
I'm itching to try this thing out! I've been out of the country for the last week or so, and I can't wait to get in some range time.
 
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