Range Trip 3-13-2025 Remington 700 100-Yards Amer Marksman Ammo

I gotta say that this was the most satisfying range trip I’ve ever had, bar none.  ALL my shooting goals were met.  I shot 10 5-round groups.  All were less than 2MOA.  4 were sub-MOA.  My average group size, for 10 5-round groups was 1.145MOA.  49 of the 50 rounds were within their respective 3-inch targets.  And to add the cherry on top, my very first group – target 1 on sheet 1 was my best coming in at 0.73MOA.  Yep . . . a pretty good day on the range for me.  It was the most accurate and precise target set for me personally ever with a .308 rifle.  And I believe that is to in large part to the ammunition I used – American Marksman F-BF-308-168SMK-SECONDS-C-20.  Let’s chat about that specific round and how I found it a bit.

I picked up a new-to-me Remington 700 5S with a 6x18 Burris scope in January of this year.  I’ve done one range trip with it then shooting PMC X-TAC 147gr bullets.  The results were uninspiring averaging 2.325 MOA for 10 5-round groups.  I made that range trip on January 16^th.  On January 29^th I went in for a full hip replacement of my right hip.  That took me off line until the beginning of this month when I spent a bit of time with my Ruger Precision in 22LR.  I’m back to pretty much 100% not so I went work looking for a new round to use.   I knew the rifle liked heavier bullets and would perform best with Match Grade ammunition . . . but . . . I’m a cheap bastard (just sayin’) . . . so I went in search of a “good” practice round.  Factory Match ammunition ran between around $1.80 and $2.50 per round.  For someone like me – that’s more than a little “stiff”. 

“Reloading!!!  That’s the way to go!!!”  Well . . . honestly, it’s not a lot cheaper.  Bullets’ - say SMK - run .50-1.00 . . . Brass runs .50-1.25 per cartridge . . . Primers are .1 . . . and Powder runs close to $60 per pound . . . provided you can find it.  So, we’re right back at $1.25 to $2.50 per round – provided you can actually find the components.  I find I’m too impatient for that.  My enjoyment comes from making the “bang” and seeing the result . . . not building the stuff that goes “bang”. 

Just a refresher on my goals at 100-yards.  I want 2MOA groups within 3-inch targets.  I shoot 5-round groups.  And based on an outing count of “1”, it seemed unlikely that PMC X-TAC was going to get the job done.  So, the search was on.

I ran across a video that evaluated “The American Marksman’s” “308 Seconds Bullets First” round.  This is a round with a 168gr Serria Match King bullet, slightly blemished Lake City brass, Military grade primers and I have no idea what powder.  Yet, during his evaluation of 5 rounds the velocity of the round was consistent within a couple handfuls of feet per second and the precision was 1MOA-ish.  The kicker was that the round – including free shipping to your door – was $1.00 per round.  Yep . . . a buck a round.  Really???

I had to try it so that very night I placed an order for 400 rounds of American Marksman F-BF-308-168SMK-SECONDS-C-20.  $400.  That showed up on my doorstep 4 days later (I ordered them on Saturday night.)  Yesterday, 3/13/2025 was my first range trip with the ammunition.  And, as I said earlier, I was more than pleased!

As I said, I’m shooting a Remington 700 5S with a 6x18 Burris scope.  I shoot off a front bag with a rear squeeze bag.  I find a bag gives me just a tad more “quiet” on the rifle than a bipod does.  I do have a MAGPUL bipod mounted on the rifle, but the front bag produced better results.  I set aside 10 rounds for initial zero . . . I didn’t need them.  My first group was within Target 1, on Target Sheet 1 and was 0.73MOA.  Two rounds were hole in hole – the bottom two.  I changed nothing and continued with the remaining 4 groups.  1.12MOA, 0.93MOA, 1.96MOA (all on me, honestly I was getting a bit excited) and finally 1.37MOA for an average group size of 1.22MOA for Target Sheet 1.

After looking at the bullet placement of the 25 rounds I adjust Right .3MIL and Down .2MIL before moving to Target Sheet 2.

The adjustments were spot on with my group sizes being (in order 1-5) 0.9MOA, 0.81MOA, 0.91MOA, 1.03MOA and finally 1.71MOA – again the last group was all on me.  The placement was great but the opening up with the round at 3 o’clock was all on me.

I hand loaded each round and probably walked down and check the target a couple times per sheet.  While I didn’t actually measure barrel temp, I could grab it and hold on to it with out a problem.  I did not chrono the rounds so I have no idea as to their consistency, but I suspect the final results speak for themselves.

Once fired virtually all brass was reloadable should I ever decide to go that route.  Right now, provided this ammunition remains available, I suspect I will continue to shoot it for a good long time.

I’ll add raw and scored target sheets to this post as well as photos of my setup.

Bottom line, I’m pretty darn happy with the ammo and the result.  As I said, it was one of the most enjoyable range trips that I’ve had over the years.  I would fully encourage you to give the American Marksman ammunition a look-see and see if it fits into your shooting goals, I think it’s a genuine bargain!