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Is There a Shortage of .308 Dies and Bullets?

2K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Quack Shot 
#1 ·
I purchased a new Remington 700 VTR in .308 and went looking for some dies and .308 150 grain FMJ bullets. Midway USA has both the dies and bullets listed as out of stock/no backorder. I was able to get Redding dies from Sinclair but they back ordered the bullets.

I have a supply of 150 grain Speer Spitzer SP's I use in a couple of 30-06's so I am ok for a while but I thought that .308 dies and 150 grain FMJ bullets would always be in stock.

Is there a shortage of .308 dies and bullets?


Are there a lot of new hand loaders into the .308?


Ed Ward
 
#3 ·
Halfmile:

Thanks for the response.

I went to Midsouth and checked out their inventory. Midsouth has a nice site.


They were "on order" for the 150 grain FMJBT from Sierra and did not list a Speer bullet in 150 FMJ. They did have other .308 bullets available.


I will not be able to reload metallic until June when school is out. I am on "backorder" from Sinclair and, hopefully, they will ship to me in the next month.


I was just surprised at the outage of .308 dies and bullets.


Thanks


Ed Ward
 
#5 ·
Wideners has a lot of goodies. Try Mil Spec bullets for the 308.

The 308 likes the 168 Sierra Matchking, but they may be few and far between right now. The Nosler and Hornady Match 168 work well, but may be hard to find as well. The run-of-the-mill FMJ-BT bullets will not impress you off the bench. They are typically 1.5-2 MOA bullets. Your 308 is capable of much better.

Try segregating your brass into lots by weight as well as headstamp. If you make a batch with weights within one grain, your groups will likely be cut in half.

Try Accurate Arms 2520 for your 308. It is as good a powder for that round as any made.
 
#6 ·
Yes there is a supply and demand shortage for dies and bullets. When the 7.62x51 milsurp dried up a few years ago shooter resorted to reloading. You will get the most reloads from Lapua brass (10) Buy a neck sizer with a shoulder bump for maximum loads on the brass. 2 very good powders for the 168-175 hpbt are Varget and Reloader 15
 
#9 ·
I have noticed that the 168 Grain SMK's are getting hard to find as well. Sinclair's has them if anybody wants some.

My dies of choice are the Lee Collet dies since I only shoot brass that was fired from my 308 Rem XR 100. I really like the neck sizing mandrel on the Lee. The bullet seater is ok. I have a Forster Ultra seater now and I like it much better.

I have actually found some good deals on dies on E-bay. I got a Lee collet die for a .223 and a Redding neck sizing die for my 25 WSSM from E-bay.

Good hunting!
 
#11 ·
I believe due to the Iraq war and the current possible presidential election many shooters are picking up whatever they can. My sources for .308 military bullets dried up. I've shot about everything up. As far as .308 dies I would imagine you could find them at one of the distributors mentioned above. Michael
 
#12 ·
Could be that the bullet manufacturers are holding off as the lead prices drop. What a difference a few months, or even weeks, can make. Can't explain the die shortage. They are on the shelf at most of the local stores and plenty of bullets (if you want to pay the price) as well.
 
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