iteachsurfing 50 Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 What is the Most Powerful Ammo the .308 can handle ... Safely? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wolfox 0 Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 What is the Most Powerful Ammo the .308 can handle ... Safely? Anything yo can buy in a box or battle pack is going to be alright. Commercial producers make ammunition to work in most actions, most weapons, with a wide range of tolerances. So go buck with whatever you can find out there. I on the other hand reload my own ammo and pushed to limits of the .308 quite a bit and without appreciable wear, danger or problems. You will have to work pretty hard to hurt your Saiga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iteachsurfing 50 Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 What is the Most Powerful Ammo the .308 can handle ... Safely? I on the other hand reload my own ammo and pushed to limits of the .308 quite a bit and without appreciable wear, danger or problems. You will have to work pretty hard to hurt your Saiga. What do ya think of this stuff? https://www.hornady.com/shop/Ammo_LMHM_popup.htm 165gr. with a muzzle velocity of 2880 at 3038 lbs. Are your reloads anywhere near these numbers? Can the S-308 take it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 (edited) Hornady Light Magnum ammo seems to be a big NO-NO in semi-autos. From the link you provided above... **Light Magnum and Heavy Magnum ammunition is not intended for use in semi-automatic or gas operated firearms. Other than that, pretty much any US factory (SAMMI spec) or NATO spec ammo is fine. If you reload, I would not tinker with "max" loads, especially with heavy (> 180 gn) or really light (< 130 gn) bullets and really fast or really slow burning powders. Your rifle may hold together, but it'll really beat up your lock work unneccessarily. Keep pressures on the moderate side. Edited April 17, 2008 by macbeau Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 If you are wanting to push the .308 to the limit - forget the S-308 and get a STRONG bolt gun. Something like a Savage 110 or Reminton 700 or somthing similar... The S-308 is the wrong platform for this - just to see just how fast you can get a .308 projectile going... The Saiga's work well within Sammi / Nato specs... They may or may-not do well outside that, but that is treading on dangerous ground and not something the members here (for the most part) condone.... If it's safe in a FAL / L1A1, it's okay.... If not... Think twice or sell your rifle to me before you "test" it... (not after) Macbeau sends.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wolfox 0 Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 What is the Most Powerful Ammo the .308 can handle ... Safely? I on the other hand reload my own ammo and pushed to limits of the .308 quite a bit and without appreciable wear, danger or problems. You will have to work pretty hard to hurt your Saiga. What do ya think of this stuff? https://www.hornady.com/shop/Ammo_LMHM_popup.htm 165gr. with a muzzle velocity of 2880 at 3038 lbs. Are your reloads anywhere near these numbers? Can the S-308 take it? I would steer clear of this stuff, this ammunition looks like it will be best if used in manual bolt operated rifles. Too much gas pressure will tend to slam the bolt and beat up the rotating locking mechanism. Though for the record, Federal Hi-Shok in 165gr. performs exceedingly well in these rifles @ 2700 FPS at the muzzle. (If memory serves correctly) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
buckandaquarterquarterstaff 5 Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 Can you specify what particular problem there is with the standard 308? I'll bet there's a 30 cal bullet that can solve whatever you perceive the problem to be without extra pressure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jugrunner 0 Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 The South African surplus stuff shoots great in mine !! ... It's kinda mild for the NATO stuff ... I haven't run any thru the chrono yet but I'm guessing 2500 fps ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 You want 308 to have more power? Don't dick around. You can wear your gun on your face. Get a bigger caliber. There are 30.06 Saigas if you want to stay AK. If you want semi-auto, and don't care if it's an AK, you can get pretty much anything you want from the 308 you think is inadequate, all the way up to 50BMG in a semi auto gun. Want a 30 cal boomer? AR 10 in 300 WSM. It looks like an oversized M16. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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