Has anyone found a decently grouping ammo for these that does not break the bank?

It's a 1:12 twist, so I am told heavier will be better. So far I have tried silver bear and prvi ammo, both were grouping 3"+ at 100 yards.

I was a little dismayed, my SKS was able to beat that with tech sights and tula!

Does the Ranchland come with a factory target like the Weatherby branded Howa's do?

I start with the cheapest ammo and work my way up to acceptable accuracy.
My Weatherby Vanguard likes Remington Core-Lokt better than similarly priced Federals or Winchesters. It's a .270

Remington has $5 rebate on two boxes through the end of the year.

I would not expect Silver Bear or Prvi to be particularly accurate ammo. As jim580 said, try some domestic ammo from the Big 3, and go from there. Rem CoreLokts have a well-deserved reputation for accurate, plain vanilla hunting bullets. You could always try some match ammo and see what the rifle can really do.

BTW, whomever told you "heavier is better" got it backwards: typical .30 rifle twist is 1:10, so your Howa's 1:12 is relatively slow twist. Heavy bullets are generally longer, and longer bullets require a faster twist. Google "Greenhill formula" for the details of twist rate and bullet length.
That said, the 1:12 should stabilise a typical 150 gr spitzer, which is about optimal for the .308 Win, anyway. It might be dodgy with a 180 gr bullet, and all bets are off for the 200 grainers.

Huh... Like I said, I'm going for accuracy, but also affordability. The two ammo types I have tried were 145 and 140 grain, with the 145 Prvi ammo being slightly better.

Tula makes some really cheap 150 grain, I'll give that a try next. If I can get 2 MOA out to 300 yards with ammo that costs $7 a box I will be a happy camper... But this 3 and 4 moa at 100 yards is just stupid, if I can beat it with a iron sighted SKS, I'm not at all happy.

Hey GDKPIKPWG,
I just got through looking at the Legacy Sports web site. All their .308 barrels are 1-10" twist. Your post got me looking because I'm ready to start doing some loading and was wondering what weight bullits to try. This crazy weather is killing me though, between the wind and all the fronts coming through down here.
Do you still have the Ranchland .308? I know you said you let one go but don't remember which one it was.........

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"If you don't like the way I'm live'n Jus' leave this long hair'd country boy alone"

Don't have it any more, but I believe they recommended 150 gr V-max from hornady.

Thanks GDKPIKPWG,
I've got to get a gunpowder fix pretty soon!!!!

__________________
"If you don't like the way I'm live'n Jus' leave this long hair'd country boy alone"

Np. Let us know how she does, I never got the chance to really play with mine.