I'm an amateur to ammo but I'm looking for a good round for deer or hog hunting. I'm looking into buffalo bore or other lesser known brands because the Hornady rounds I want are extremely hard to find. Someone said Buffalo bore was an awesome manufacturer of good rounds.

Also, I'm looking for a good folding bipod for a little bench shooting. Need suggestions for the stock setup and a possible Troy 308 13".

Buffalo Bore has a good reputation, as do many others, but can be pricey. As for a bipod, I would highly recommend Harris. For bench rest shooting, look at the 6" - 9" versions.

You cant beat hornady whitetail for hunting rounds for the cost.

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For deer hunting, do not use anything labeled or referred to as varmint, frangible or non-expanding (ball) ammo ... unless that's all you have to use. I like the Barnes VOR-TX 150 grain ammo ... but prefer Hornady American Whitetail 150 grain.

On bipods, for bench shooting, Caldwell and Blackhawk! work just as well as Harris or Atlas. For the notched leg feature, Harris is very good. The 45 degree cant feature of the Atlas is really convenient when you are shooting from a set back at a blind or vehicle window.

Hornady American Whitetail .308 Win 150gr InterLock SP 20rds 8090 - $21.99 | Slickguns

Whitetail in stock around a buck a round.....

I can't comment on other bipods but I really like my Atlas.

Definitely can't go wrong with an Atlas. The only problem I ever had with one was a pivot that froze up while I was working through a snow drift ... I don't really fault Atlas for that. If the Atlas is in budget, its worth what you pay.

The Harris is good, but the latching knob does not have a tool notch like the Blackhawk!. The latching knob is only knurled. On the swivel model, the Harris also does not come with a quick adjustment knob. While the cheaper knock offs come with the quick adjustment knob, you have to purchase this as an option with Harris. The legs on the Harris have spring assisted extension, whereas the Blackhawk! has spring assisted leg retraction. There is no apparent difference in ruggedness between the 2 brands, but I favor the Harris between the 2 for its notched leg option.

The Atlas isn't cheap but a great bipod. I justified the expense (to myself) by purchasing it with a Larue Tactical QD mount. It is off and on all of my rifles. I've never needed it on multiple rifles at the same time.

Love my Atlas, it travels between my M&P10 and my Loaded M1A.

Is there a specific Atlas for the M&P 10? For now I haven't put a handguard on it. Eventually I would like to put a Troy 308 on.

You will need a short picatinny rail section with the retaining nuts for plastic handguards.

The optimized bullet for the 30 cal. bullet in non-magnum velocities is 165/168gr.
You are lucky to have several rounds which are VERY effective, and very accurate right out of the box. I'll list by price point, and number by my results. (A hundred-plus dead hogs can't ALL be wrong..... )
1. Federal ammo, blue box or brown box. Priced to make you really happy; $18 a box on average. The ammo is common in 150 gr and 165 gr. Accurate in 5 different rifles. 243, 30-06, 308, and I'll throw in the 7mm mag and 300 WinMag. Good bullet construction. If I am shooting a lot of hogs for eradication? I like this ammo a lot.
2. Winchester XPII ammo. Silver box. Medium bullet construction. Bang for buck, this round in 30-06 and 308 with 165gr. is my favorite bullet of all time. It's sweet accurate. Retarded accurate.... It breaks shoulders hard, yet the bullet mushrooms well in soft body material and flat out kills hogs and deer dead. Price is $18-24 a box in general.
3. Federal premium ammunition, Nosler ballistic tip. 165gr.
Its' by far the most expensive ammo on the list. It is match-grade accurate; then again, you will be surprised to find the Winchester is about 99% as accurate. When it gets up under a big boars' chest, it will simply turn the lungs into Jello. I can count on a heart losing half it's plumbing from the shock of the hit.
For a ballistic tip, it holds together longer than a frangible bullet, but I don't care what you shoot with it; the bullet is not likely coming out the other side. Usually, I hit a hog in the shoulder shield. There is a 'Whump' and a hog piled up RIGHT WHERE IT WAS SHOT. There is no exit wound. The pig does not get up and run. The pigs' lungs are now parked in his colon. His heart has a couple ventricles cut off. And he's not running, so chasing him is not much of an issue. The bullet breaks a rib or shoulder on the way in, then frags into about 10-300 pieces, and the energy is spent in the lung cavity, and the remnants of the bullet are stuck in the wall of the opposing rib cage.

Cost? $35-40 a box. Worth every penny. If you do not like to chase deer for long distances, these rounds are well worth every penny.

If I had to choose 1? The Winchester. Overall, the best value.

Thanks. I'm checking availability now. I got my hands on some Hornady match 168 gr bthp today. Was looking into some superformance sst. Are these comparable to any you listed?

I have that in 30-06, and I really like it. I paid too much for it, but at the time, it was all that was available. My son has some for the 300WinMag in 200gr. Have not found anything in which the bullet stops, so we do not know what the expansion is like on that one.

I found it to be really accurate, and the brass was top notch, so save it for reloading.

Right now, I'm looking at trying out more copper bullets because of the Ca. Condor restrictions. I have some Barnes and Hornady copper stuff, and I am not sure which one is better yet.

At $3 a shot......... I really do not like taking it to the range to test.

Understood. I paid $34.00 for 20 rounds of the match bthp.

Yikes, I stopped buying FGMM when it started heading North of $28 a box.

BARNES (the deadliest) & ZOMBIE-MAX are your two best bets for hunting Big Game and/or Hogs.

vfin

Yeah the only two things I'll ever hunt are whitetail and hogs.