If you are shooting for precision, I would follow the lead of the other posts, however if you are just putzin around and trying to hit a 12" piece of steel, then the cheapest rounds I have found are the 7.62 x 51 M-80 ball 149 grain Military spec. they work great on hogs at up to 200 yards, but by no means are to be considered one of the premium rounds out there, but at about .65 Cents per round, you can have a lot of fun with them. There is also available the 7.62 x 51 M118 long range Military spec rounds available at places like Lucky Gunner, etc. but at $!.30 - $1.45 per round, might as well buy the good stuff.
Warning, though, If you do get your hands on the 7.62 x 51 Military spec rounds and just use them for general shooting, like short range targets, yotes, etc, get yourself a 308 headspace gauge and check every round since the military spec is a little looser tolerance than the name brand 308 and I found about 6 too long rounds, and a split casing out of the last box of 500 Federal I ordered for Feral hogs at my brothers ranch in Texas. Military weapons have a little longer chamber so that a slightly longer round won't jam if fired full auto, where the .308 chamber on precision weapons is pretty precise.
I'm shooting both a M1A NM and a Remington 700 but I think they only have 1:10 twist barrels so this may not be the best round for your configuration. Never had a hog complain about being shot with a cheap round and only had to double tap one out of about 40, but then, we consider them pests, not game animals although they can tighten your pucker strings on occasion.
Cheap is not normally better, but it does have it's uses.
Bruce
Warning, though, If you do get your hands on the 7.62 x 51 Military spec rounds and just use them for general shooting, like short range targets, yotes, etc, get yourself a 308 headspace gauge and check every round since the military spec is a little looser tolerance than the name brand 308 and I found about 6 too long rounds, and a split casing out of the last box of 500 Federal I ordered for Feral hogs at my brothers ranch in Texas. Military weapons have a little longer chamber so that a slightly longer round won't jam if fired full auto, where the .308 chamber on precision weapons is pretty precise.
I'm shooting both a M1A NM and a Remington 700 but I think they only have 1:10 twist barrels so this may not be the best round for your configuration. Never had a hog complain about being shot with a cheap round and only had to double tap one out of about 40, but then, we consider them pests, not game animals although they can tighten your pucker strings on occasion.
Cheap is not normally better, but it does have it's uses.
Bruce
