Hi.  I'd like to stock up on some soft-point deer ammo that matches as close as possible to the ballistic trajectory of M80 ball, so that I can zero my 17s with the M80 and then hit what I'm shooting at with the soft-point stuff without re-zeroing.

Thanks.

The lazy answer is some Federal 150gr softpoint.

But you 'll never really know unless you test it.

Sight in the M80. Then sight in the hunting ammo. Count your clicks between the two, write it down, slap it on the stock with a piece of packing tape to give it water resistance. Swap between the two freely and accurately.*






*this assumes your scope retains zero and tracks properly.

I tried this with two different 17’s several years ago and they had surprisingly different poi going from ball to hunting style rounds with similar grains. Id def verify your zero with whatever your running.

Edit: This was supposed to quote the "check it and tape the results to the stock" solution, which said:

"Sight in the M80. Then sight in the hunting ammo. Count your clicks between the two, write it down, slap it on the stock with a piece of packing tape to give it water resistance. Swap between the two freely and accurately."

Yup.  You've got it.  That was an easy and obvious solution I should've thought of.  Thanks.

Always range verify, but I've found most guns that are reasonably accurate and in good working order to shoot pretty close regardless of ammo at close range for their type.

I would expect a pistol to be within 2" at 15yds, rimfire rifles about 3" at 50yds (vertical drop can be bad between HV and subs though), and most centerfire rifles within about 4" at 100yds.

That's just my experience, and does not account for anywhere near all combinations. But again, as with the above, if you put up a normal bullseye target for that caliber, it should hit paper. I would think something is wrong if I switch between m80 and m118lr and it's not even on paper at 100yds.

Hell the other day I shot some brand new bullets (169gr smk) that I'd never shot before, at 200yds, against my zero (175gr smk). They were like 1moa low and ½moa left. Some 165gr no-names were about 3" off at 200yds. Usually my Axis in .223 is anywhere within 1½" at 100yds regardless of what I feed it.

Again, you always have to verify, but it shouldn't be absurd.

Most things I've zeroed are usually 3" at most difference between any quality barrel and ammo unless you are shooting junk I would try something close and test out a couple. I don't think it will be off enough to matter in a real life engagement unless you are benching for groups.

This is what I've done with my AR-10 carbine and EOTech. I use M80 as my primary range ammo, Federal Fusion 150 for hunting and it's only three clicks difference in elevation so I didn't bother to write it on the rifle. I use Hornady 110 grain TAP for home defense and I just use the hash mark holdover on the reticle.

The Federal 308A, 150 grain soft point, centers the group about two inches higher than Federal XM80.  It's a bit tighter of a group with the 308A and I get it from a hardware store, in times when ammo is available.

How many rifles does this consistently do it in?

If it's only 2" high at 100yds, that's great for you, and you lucked out. About perfect for most hunting.

I still wouldn't trust it between lot #s, but I also believe that no matter what, you need to zero/pattern your gun/shotgun with the exact lot # you intend to hunt with. If you're hand loading, I believe you need to make them all in the same session and test fire them just the same.

Counter to that, from all the testing and fiddling I do, I don't worry about grabbing whatever ammo off the shelf and using it on bipedal varmints, knowing it will hit close enough. Guess I just care more about how quadrupeds and avians are treated, varmint or game.

I started a thread about this in the reloading forum.  Batch to batch ammo will differ.  I tried to match fps with the nato stuff.  Its pushing the limits and even exceeded the max load data in some cases.  Ive since started selling off my surplus for huge money and just loading all my ammo Ill use so I know where it shoots.

It was in my only .308 bolt action rifle.   I don't really want to get that deep into the weeds as long as I can cleanly hit deer/hog while using commonly available ammo.

A previous poster nailed it by saying to shoot a zero with both and DOPE.

But in my opinion, you should rezero anyways if you have the opportunity. If I'm going to shoot bullets at a living thing I'm going to give myself every advantage to get a clean kill.

Shoot more, it's fun.

In a hunting scenario I know guys would zero prior with the same exact ammo be that batch, box, or loaded together. Some guys won't clean the barrel or anything after zero and before hunt.


As far getting close to m80 to set a decent stash of sp aside for rainy day I'd say use whatever comes closest not what groups the best. Just my unproven unprofessional thoughts.