I'm thinking of buying some Federal blue box 150gr .308 ammo - does anyone know what bullet they use?

For some reason I'm thinking it's a Speer Hot-Cor, but I'm just not sure.

Always looked like Hornady to me..

I would suspect a Hot-cor or something similar. They work and shoot outstanding in my .30-06.

That bullet shoots well out of my LaRue. Performs well on whitetails. I’ve felt sor some time that federal blue box was highly underrated. It shoots well in everything I’ve tried. I’ve also assumed it was a Speer hot cor.

Never seen any blubox federal loaded with bullets having a secant ogive.

This is a sample of one (5 boxes) for the brass. I have bought very little factory ammo. Bought in 2008 for a new rifle purchase DURING deer season.

Labeled Speer Hot Cor





Jerry

They have also used non-cataloged Sierra bullets in at least one .30/06 load. I asked Sierra about them when on a plant tour, and they said they couldn't sell me any, as they were exclusive to Federal.

Ratsmacker,

Yep, as far as I've been able to tell they use a variety of cup-and-core bullets. This is partly due to pulling and sectioning some

2 of my 300's love the 180 grn blue box Federal. I've had great luck with them at close and long ranges on many Antelope, Whitetail, Mulies, and 1 escaped dairy cow. About 18 years ago I emailed them about load specifics. Granted, I believe they were under different ownership at that time, but they responded back with particulars on powder and the fact that the 180 was/is a Speer Hotcor. I'm sure I can find the load info if anyone is interested. I loaded a bunch through the years, but I still, at least up until lately, stock up on it whenever there's a sale and/or rebate going.

I have a bunch of the FC BB ammo for 308win and 30-06.. I've taken elk with the older black and silver box ammo listed as hydro shock bullets. Im still shooting those older loads, and have not actually fired any of the newer BB ammo yet. I've never even looked to see what the bullets are.

Not 308 ammo, but today I pulled apart some federal blue box 22-250 ammo.
This ammo shot so poorly that I figured that I would tear it down just for the cases
The box's are labeled 22-250 REM 55grain soft point...............

while pulling them apart I weighed the bullet and the powder charge. the powder was a stick powder that weighed between 36,2 grains to 37.3 gr.
the bullet's weighed between 55.2gr to 57.7gr...........to me Federal blue box is schit ammo. don't know who makes the bullets or the powder but that is for the most part why I roll my own most of the time

Oh Im sure its just awful stuff. I should probly dump it all in sack and use it as a boat anchor...
:-)

I got some and used it in my .308 (26” No. 1) a few years ago. I shot one deer with it an, if I ever use it again, I will stay off the shoulder...what a bomb! By contrast, I shot a very similar buck, same distance, same hit the previous year with that rifle using my handload of 150 grain BT over Varget and it worked well without all the mess. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a shoulder destroyed to the extent of that one shot with the Federal Blue Box. They did shoot very accurately in that rifle, however.

What bullet weight were you using? While not a tough bullet, I never had a complete blow up on deer with 180's at 300 win mag velocity. Some were pretty close.

+1 for Blue Box Federal. I can't beat it for .243 and .308. Its just rock solid stuff.

What bullet weight were you using in the .308?

While certainly not an overly tough bullet, I used the Speer 180's for crop damage control over the years, and we never had a complete blow up at 300 win mag velocity on deer. Some have been pretty close shots. They do open up easy enough though, and in addition to the great accuracy I experienced with them, it was one of the things I liked about the bullet as I felt comfortable with them expanding reliably at longer ranges.

Probably 165, maybe 150...don't remember but I know it would have been one of those. There may have been extenuating circumstances: I was shooting through a little bit of brush so possibly the bullet hit sideways or something, but the entire shoulder was destroyed...I shoot deer with a lot of calibers from .223 to .45-70, fast movers (.25-06 AI) to old and slow (.303 Savage) and I've never had damage like that. That deer was a tough old buck, too. Even the tenderloins were chewy, never had a WT like that before. My boys ended up turning the whole thing into sausage.

I emailed federal once to ask them if the 180 grain bullet in their 308 blue box was a hot cor. They replied that the bullet was their own.

WOW what a comedian :-) absolutely brilliant ,you should be on stage.........one is leaving in 15min !!!!!!!!!!

I thought they used their own soft points.

Be not afraid.

Fed Blue Box is my go to inexpensive ammo. If I wonder if a rifle is accurate, I test it with Blue Box. As long as you follow the old school C&C bullet weight rules, it will work fine.

About 12 years ago I was talking to a guy that worked at Federal in Anoka, MN. He said that they use Alliance powder (same owner). So it wouldn't surprise me if they are using Speer bullets' or if they are having Speer make bullets' just for them that are not sold on the market.

I may be wrong but the blue box 140 6.5 creed bullet looks exactly like the 140 fusions I bought to reload with. Pulling/cutting to compare leads me to believe it is the same bullet.

I shoot that stuff in my .280 and 7-08 with wonderful accuracy. Kills real good too.

Most accurate I ever shot as my gunsmith said,.,.cheap too ! My win Featherweight shot a 3/8 group at 100 yds.with a 6x scope ...I'm old too,,71..

At age 16 around here, you are issued a Remington 742/7400 in .30-06, and a box of 180 grain Federal Blue Box ammunition. I load my own, but the guys I hunt with that still use the above combo have no trouble taking deer.

As noted earlier in this thread, I have pulled the bullets on a bunch of "blue box" Federal ammo and not only often found the exterior appearance of many bullets different, but sectioned them and found differences there as well. Which is why I long ago came to the conclusion that they use whatever bullet they can obtain inexpensively.

Have found somewhat the same deal with Remington "Core-Lokt" ammo since around 1990--when they quit producing the heavy-jacketed Pointed Soft-Point CL bullet. Some of the early post-1990 Core-Lokt ammo featured Hornady Interlocks.

Blue Box Hot-Cor is usually labeled as such from what I’ve used. 7-08 has it too

One could almost get the idea, bullet type does not matter much in Cup and Core ...

The .25-06 cartridges had 117gn Speer Hot Cor SP on the box. They absolutely flattened pigs when driven straight through the shoulder. I was rather impressed actually.

Good accurate ammo, but as Mule Deer says, you don't know exactly what cup and core bullet you may get. For deer and smaller pigs I doubt it matters.

I can attest that its not a Speer, Remington or Hornady. I have run them through jugs and they perform mush better at lower velocity (short barrel and or long range) than almost any other 150 grain bullet out there. When Im choosing factory ammo for my 308s thats what I use. Its just as accurate as FGMM in every rifle I tried it in. So the question is a good one. If they offerred as a reloading component, I would buy with confidence. You can normally find it cheap too. Roughly 15.00 per box.

bluejay - are you real sure of that ^^^

[quote=jwall]This is a sample of one (5 boxes) for the brass. I have bought very little factory ammo. Bought in 2008 for a new rifle purchase DURING deer season.

Labeled Speer Hot Cor




----------------------------------------------

Others have said in this thread that 'some' of the 308 ammo is labeled Speer Hot Cor.


Jerry

Youre looking at 180s in 300 WM. The OP referenced their 308 150 grain bullet.

The Blue Box is the Power SHOK. It looks most like a sloppily made Hornady Interloc than anything else. I cant figure out how to post a pic.

I don't know how they come about the velocity and sighting curves on the box (or if they are ever updated) but i have notice that the blue box power shok and the non typical deer curve values are identical for a given weight projectile in a given cartridge.

The Federal blue box has shot good to extremely good in 270, 30-06, 25-06 and 6.5CM. However, I reloaded some of the 30-06 brass for my brother and it was about the worst brass I have ever seen. I told him to shoot the reloads and then eject the brass as I wasn't going to load it a second time. I guess when they sell it cheap something has to be cut in the manufacturing process. But the 25-06 brass has been good as I have reloaded it several times with no issues.

My experience is it needs annealing at a high frequency..

I don't know what they use, but they have always been accurate for me.

Similar for me too.

The 300 WM brass I have is very good, accuracy,
speed, & malleable (reusable).


Jerry

Speer Hot Cor

I just looked at the few dozen boxes I have, the only ones labeled as hot core are some 220g 30-06 boxes.

I only have these and they're LABELED




The opposite end of the box says " Power Shok"




*** DISCLAIMER ***

I shot several WT with these in 08-09 and FROM 150--389 yds !!

Parts of the bullets exited as shrapnel exits.

I pulled the rest of those and loaded GOOD c/c bullets FOR the 300 WM.

Main Point is Some Federal ammo uses Hot Cors....Some does (do) NOT.

Jerry