Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR 7.62 bullet

Looking for a good all around AR10 7.62 bullet. I want something that has some decent BC, isn’t crazy expensive and I can use to hunt deer with it if I feel like it and be decent at 500-600 yards.

I was thinking a 125 TMK, 155 ELD, maybe a bit heavier. I have no real biases other than I’d like a poly tipped bullet just to handle the transition from mag to chamber a bit easier.

I had some left over 155 AMaxes I’m going to zero it with but I don’t have a lot of 30 caliber bulk stuff that I could mass load at this point.

Have not used the 155's. I'd think they would be pretty explosive at shorter ranges.

If they are started at 16-18" barrel velocities, the 168 ELDMs are still pretty explosive (but not insanely so) at 100-150 yards. And they still fly well and kill okay at 600. I've used them a bunch in 16" 308s for exactly what you're talking about.

But anything tipped and thin jacketed in the 175gr-178gr weight range should also work well (ELDM/TMK). My inclination would be to err on the heavy side just to keep the speed down and let the fragmentation do the work.

Great point TX. Thanks. It’s an 18” gun so it’s not going to hustle the heavier bullets out too danged fast to hurt them I’d think.

It's a 308, and you are shooting deer.
Gonna have to try to screw up too badly, as long as they kill well,
It's not a failure. If too destructive, try again.


Not trying to derail, but it's the beauty of the 308/30-06 compared to
the highly touted(on the 'fire) tiny bores. You have the tool for the job,
without some fancy bullet or other tap dancing BS.

Nice rifle Scotty. While the bullet I use in my AR10 308 isn't a tipped pill, I believe the 168gr Hornady match is just about perfect in mine. It shoots very accurately and has killed deer as well. I tried the 155 Scenar, but for some reason my rifle liked the 168 Hornady better.


This load generally shoots around 2.5 inches (3 shot groups) at 400 yards.

That may work as well. The Hornady 168 opened up pretty well on deer BSA? I know their 105’s work great. Wasn’t sure about their heavier versions.

125 TMK will do what you want. Use lots of TAC.

155 Skinners. Simply an incredible blend of rugged durability,terminal effects,BC,precision and happy to make the trip from mag to feed ramps. It's the ONLY thing I shoot in my 308 Krunchentickers and they don't suck in HK 91's. Hint.................

That’s on the list. Thank you.



I’m about to fire off some 155 TMKs I’ve got, just cause I have them and I figured why not. Have you used the 125 TMK on animals? Thank you.

I’ve been retaught a lesson I’ve learned long ago and retaught every now and again. Today is the latest.

I’ve got a crap ton of FC cases primed from years ago. So I’ve been dumping 44 grains of RL15. I have been shooting the 155 AMax, 155 TMK and 150 SST through the gun.

I thought I was doing great, getting a few to lump in there then I’d get one wayyyyyyy out and think what the hell is going on. It was doing it with all 3 bullets. I wasn’t looking for bugholes but I had trouble thinking it was that damned bad.

Well, I thought maybe the scope was shot. Swapped the 1-6 SS off my ARC and the 2-12 onto the ARC. I know the ARC shoots well so I decided to try that first. I laid down and immediately noticed a trench about 5-7 ft in front of my firing position.



What a dummy.

I lined up, added another bag to lift it up and hammered out a 1.5” 10 shot with the 2-12.

Went back to the 7.62 and 150 SST with the 1-6 SS on top and plunked them all into a group.

So a good lesson I should know was retaught to me again

Oh well, at least I know both scopes are sound!

Found a decent load to monkey with till I can grab more bullets.

Looking great Scotty. 44 of RL15 is just about right for a 150gr bullet. I'd run 45 in my bolt guns and a little less in my model 100. Looks like a damn good shooting rifle buddy.

It’s not amazing but at least I know the rifle isn’t sick. I’ll look around for some 155 Lapuas or something else that strikes my fancy for bullets. I’m cheap with the ARs. I’d like to shoot a sorta cheap bullet I can load without feeling pinched too much.

I ran the load over the chrono and it went 2627 AVG of 3 shots. Seems about right for an 18” gun. Not sure what else would smoke them out any faster.

Dang, I have a bunch of 30 cal FMJ I pulled, I could have sent you with the swifts the other day. Ha ha. I didn't know you were playing around with an AR10 308 though.. Just for chidts and giggles and I'm cheap too, when it comes to blasting my AR10 308, I loaded up some 150gr FMJ pulled from surplus 1942 military ammo and it shot well enough. My Armalite isn't really a tack driver, but I was surprised it shot less than 1.5 moa with the old bullets:



I hate burning up good ammo in mine.

Scotty, an AR10 308w doesn't have to be "amazing" to get the job done. Ha ha..

For sure.

Took it out two days ago. Wasn’t any big trick wearing out my 8” plate at 500 with the SS 1-6 on top.

It’s a quite handy rifle, for a 308….

Yes, only one so far, a pronghorn last year. More in the future.