I have a Remington 788 308 I have always shot just the cheap 150 grain Winchester power points or Rem CoreLokt.
Haven't killed tons of deer but never lost any with those. I always figured why spend a lot more when those have done the job.

I have gotten reloading equipment and would like to start loading some to hunt with.

I have a pound of cfe223 and was hoping to use it if there is a hunting bullet that I can get data on.
UPDATE: looks like they have the CFE223 data for these online:
150 GR. NOS BT -
150 GR. NOS E-TIP -
165 GR. HDY SP -
168 GR. BAR TTSX BT -
180 GR. SPR SP -
I am leaning towards the 165 Hornady SP or the 180 Speer SP..... Any experience with these?

Also have been looking at unique as it looks like I can also cross into pistol calibers with it as well.
I see the error of my ways. When flipping through the Lyman guide I did not notice it was only listed as an option on cast bullets....
[img]https://ibb.co/h9ynPC5[/img]



Any suggestions on actual hunting bullets

Stick to powders and charges recommended by the reloading manuals for each bullet mfg

Hodgdon 2022 annual shows a 165gr Hornady SP / cfe223 load in .308 of 45.4gr to a max of 48.3gr that is near the top in velocity for that bullet.

Unique is NOT a rifle powder unless your shooting very low power cast lead bullet loads in a rifle. It is a good way to get blown up as it is a very fast powder and double charges are easy to create accidently.

You need to buy a loading manual BEFORE trying to seat a bullet.

If you're still wondering if UNIQUE is a good powder for your 308 it means you've got a lot to learn or you will seriously injure or kill yourself.

Reloading really isn't hard but can be dangerous if enough stupidity is used.

X3.

x4 never used Unique on anything but pistols.

pistol powder in a rifle case usually turns into a bomb .

I knew I was not completely crazy that I had seen it listed....
[img]https://ibb.co/h9ynPC5[/img]
Apparently I did not look closely at the actual bullet types as I was flipping pages in the Lyman book. I see now that unique is only used in cast bullets obviously not what I would be wanting to hunt with. . I was hoping that I could use the same powder for both the pistol calibers and 308 to simplify things. As usual nothing is ever as simple as I how it will be.

So back to the question throwing out powder types (I understand you have to use what is listed in the book)
What bullet do you prefer to use on deer?
I have the Lyman and Speer Manual.

Speer makes several good deer killers in the .308 caliber. The flat base hot cores and the SP boat tails from 150-180 grains should produce for you. Since you have the speer manual, it would make sense to try the speer bullets. Read and re-read the manuals. If you can't find anyone to shadow for a while getting the basics down, youtube vids can help with basic learning.

I load sierra 165 game kings . they are soft lead tip bullet . a spitzer type bullet. and I prefer varget powder.

Varget, Reloader 15, IMR 4064 are all good for 308 and read the reloading manual twice and start watching YouTube videos before even trying to load a bullet

I would look real hard at the 130gr TTSX. Varget, 4064, TAC, RL15 will be good starting powders. Never shot anything over 150gr out of a 308.

Varget and 150gr SST and call it done.

Mine seems to like a Hornady 150 gr SP and VVN135, 45 grains.

so all you guys that say Unique in a rifle cartridge is a bomb - ain't never shot any cast bullets! lol

If you like the Rem Cor-lokts, I would highly recommend a Speer 150 grain Hot-Cor. I have ALWAYS had GREAT results from any Speer Hot-cor bullet I have ever used. Accuracy AND terminal performance. All I will shoot for whitetails when I can still get them (and have a BUNCH!)

Variety is my go to in a 308

Had good luck with varget.