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L579 .308...steel cased ammo?

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Azazel

Member
This may well be sacrilege to even ask, but how okay would it be to run steel case ammo (Tula, Wolf, etc.) in my Forrester .308? Like mild blasphemy? Or like "you are going to ruin your chamber"?

Just looking right now, I've found a couple of places that have brass cased FMJ .308 for only a couple of bucks more per box than steel cased ammo, but I was wondering for the future if that proves not to be a reliable thing to find.

I don't mind spending $1, $2 even $3 a round on hunting ammo. At most I am maybe going to put a box of that through a rifle in a year between sight in and actually hunting. However, I'd like to take my rifle to the range a few times a year. I certainly don't have any delusions about putting 100, 200rnds through it in a range session like I do my 22lr, but I wouldn't mind putting a couple of boxes through in a session and not worry about how I am going to put my kids through college after that exorbitance.
 
No, the steel cases themselves won't hurt your rifle. However, there's always the possibility that some steel cased ammunition might be loaded with corrosive primers, so if you do use any ammunition with questionable primers be sure to clean your barrel immediately after your shooting session using the proper agents to neutralize the corrosive salts (look that up online).

But consider this: The steel cases are throw-aways. Once-fired brass cases have some value which probably exceeds the difference in price between the brass-cased and the steel-cased ammunition. You might want to think about that.

But you might also want to do some price shopping. "Ordinary" Remington CorLoct, WW Power Point, or Federal ammunition loaded with conventional cup-and-core hunting bullets is fully as effective on game you would hunt with a .308 (mostly deer) as the more expensive "premium" ammunition. It will likely be just as accurate, or even more so, than the "premium" loads. I suspect that you'll find this "ordinary" ammunition to be very little more expensive than the paramilitary FMJ stuff. You'll spend more money on ammunition resighting for the different ammunition than if you simply pick one brand and weight of hunting ammunition and shoot that exclusively.
 
At least how I am looking at it right now, I've got about a 2 month window in which I can use my rifle for hunting, well the .308 anyway (I can use my 22lr for small game in about a 4 1/2 month window). That means 9 months out of the year I can put cheap ammo through it, if it won't harm the rifle, and then a few weeks before hunting season switch to the expensive stuff. By expensive, I don't mean Hornady A-max bullets or anything like that, I just mean switch from a cheap, maybe $12-15 a box FMJ non-corrosive cartridge, or even $9-11 non-corrosive steel cased cartridge to a $18-22 a box PSPBT round. I don't have much experience with hunting bullets, other than what I've used in my muzzleloader, but from all that I have read, soft points tend to hold up a little bit better a very short ranges than hollow point or ballistic tip bullets. Since most of my shots are probably going to be less than 100 yards...I'd rather reduce the chance of the bullet blowing up if it hits a shoulder or something.

If I put 100 rounds in bench shooting a year, that saves $50. That is 2 1/2 boxes of inexpensive hunting bullets for sight in, which I suspect I only really need 5-10 for sight in.

Saving brass is certainly a thought and will have more bearing once I start reloading at some point, but I'd imagine I'll have a fair amount of spare brass even with mixing in some steel case ammo (if I do). If I reload I doubt I'll ever get steel case ammo as soon as that starts, just because powder, reused cases and inexpensive bullets probably cost as much or even a little less than steel cased ammo.
 
I know lots of people who spray this stuff out of their semi-autos, but no one who shoots it from their quality bolt-action hunting rifles. As such, I have no idea how accurate the stuff is compared to proper brass-cased hunting ammo. I shoot all year long myself, and even handloading isn't cheap these days so I see why your are thinking along these lines. But my vote is to buy brass cased ammo, save the brass, and start rolling your own. The good folks at Lee make it less expensive than you might think to get started. And don't worry too much about bullet construction. No hunting bullet fired from a .308 won't kill a Maryland whitetail.
 
And those Cor-Locts do get the job done. Jees, my first "for the money" 3-shot group through a Sauer 202 7mm mag was with those and all three shots were touching at 100yds. The rifle continued to shoot <3/4" all day long with what I can only describe as fierce nonchalance. I only used the Cor-Locts because it was the cheapest 7mm I could find with a Gander Mtn gift card.

I've hunted with Cor-Locts many times, but I'm more of a Federal guy. But, hey, you can pick up decent .308 hunting ammo pretty cheap.

Not sure if I get the 'why' of shooting steel out of a Sako. Not that it would hurt it or anything. $35.00 per box and up for the fancy .308 stuff doesn't sell me either.
 
Is it heresy? I would say so.
Should you do it? That is something only you can answer. Is the savings on ammo worth running low quality Russian or Ukrainian steel cased ammo in your expensive and hard to replace rifle?

Personally this is why I hand load. After the initial cost of tools and supplies and their amortization after all these years I only have to worry about finding the time to roll my own. Quality isn't ever in question and cost is not nearly as painful. Sorry if that was off topic but it was my solution to the same problem and I regret nothing about the decision.
 
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