Hirtenberger Ammo

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David Park

New member
I'm just getting into .308 shooting, so I'll share what I've learned so far (conventional wisdom?). Wiser TFLers can correct any misinformation below. :)

1. Hirt is good, but so is Portuguese and South African so I've heard. Probably the best advice is to try various types and see what works best in your rifle.

2. I'm guessing that some bolt guns only like .308 Winchester, which is (or can be) different from 7.62 NATO surplus. It would depend on your particular bolt-gun model.

3. Port, S.A., and Winchester white box seem to be the popular cheap choices. "Anything not Russian" and non-corrosive should also work OK. For more accuracy, go with Black Hills or other match grade ammo, but again, your rifle will decide what it likes to shoot best.
 
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AR-10

New member
I have shot Hirtenberger purchased from three different sources. It is all headstamped 79.

I have some spent Portugese laying around stamped 76.

Have not tried the South African, but I suspect it may be more recent production. Fresh ammo would be nice, but Hirt. and Port. both come vacuam sealed, and it looks fresh and clean when you open a pack.

About the only difference I can tell between the Hirt. and the Port. is the type of primer they use. The hirt. has a silver colored primer that is slightly softer than the brass colored primer used in the Port. ammo.

My AR-10 has a tendency to occasionally pierce the primer on the Hirt. ammo, although this has not caused any function problems so far. This has me leaning toward Port. for use in my rifle, aithough at the moment what I have is a big pile of Hirt. laying on the shelf.

As far as acuracy goes, I am a complete Homer at the range. Self-taught, I practice by trying to perfect the bad habits I have invented. Therefore, I cannot comment on the superior acuracy of any particular brand, as a six inch spread at 100yds. is my average result.:rolleyes:

Less than 2000rds. of .308 consumed, so take it for what it's worth.
 
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Prof

New member
Jeff:

The concern about using milsurp ammo in bolt action rifles seems to be more pertinent to the .223/5.56 caliber. The military 5.56 ammo is of higher pressure (due I believe to the thicker case) than civilian .223. Therefore, most on this board seem to recommend NOT using milsurp 5.56 in a bolt-action. However, in going over all the old threads and posting one of my own last week, I found that the reverse seems to be true of the .308 caliber: i.e.- milsurp .308 is LOWER pressure than civilian .308 and is, therefore, okay to shoot in bolt-action rifles. However, I find that I shoot a lot less rounds in a bolt-action than a "battle" rifle and so I always use good civilian .308 in my favorite rifle (usually Federal Gold Medal Match). But if I owned an M1A or FAL, I would definitely be using milsurp due to the cost!
 
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Poodleshooter

New member
Hirtenberger ammo is very different from year to year. I have some soft point ammo that looks just like their surplus stuff (even the boxes are the same). It's marked "89" and is boxer primed. I've found lots of "85" marked Hirtenberger that is berdan primed. I've used Hirtenberger "89" .308 deer hunting, but I have found that it can be difficult to extract from a bolt action .308. I can't comment on the rest of it though.
 
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