Some of these carbines have really big bores, can vary between .310, .311, .312...so .308 bullets might not get very good accuracy. I slugged the bore of mine with a dead soft cast bullet and came up with .310...so .308's would work to some extent. Winchester loads an excellent 180 soft-point w/ a semi flat nose and they run about 12 bucks a box at Big 5 stores. You will not save very much money re-loading them unless you can find cheap bullets. The180 gr .310 bullets are usually more money than .308 bullets, and harder to find. You can use the .310 123 gr bullets that are usually for 7.62x39, they work fine but are a little on the light side for large game. Cast bullets also work well, dont run them through a sizing die though just pop a gas-check on the bottom and tap it with a wood block.
These are very powerful little rifles, I was very amazed with mine. The case capacity is right up there with a 8mm Mauser, just slightly less than a 30-06. I kept mine in my rig throughout deer and Elk hunting for a back-up rifle. For an average of 79 bucks on sale...I cannot se any reason for NOT having one of these for a camp gun or truck beater.