308 Shooters

About to get 308 - what grain do you guys shoot for deer ? Never shot a 308 - I hav seen 150 grain and 155 and 168 in stores - do any of you guys go heavier ?

Prob hav to try the 168 burger hybrid hunter based on results I seen w 270 - but will look at other grains

When I shot .308 I liked 150gr myself.

150 grainers put into the bread basket usually results in a bang flop for me with minimal meat damage.

150 grain

150.

Depends in the gun. My old 308 loves the 165gr fusions. My new 308 hated them but loves the 150gr blue box federal.

150 grain shoots the flattest and kills em dead.

I typically shoot the 150-grain stuff but I do have some 180's for hogs.

Federal premium 165 btsp

I like the 168 gr bullets.

150

Currently shooting 150 Interlocks in mine but have used various weights and brands. Shoot what your rifle likes.

150

150-165 for me but I roll my own

180gr blue box.

150

150

I’ve shot 150, 165 and 180. Depends on the gun. They’re all different.

150 Corelokts here

168 g because I was given 5 boxes for free..

165grain federal fusion

178 eldx. Been very happy

My Tikka T3 loves the Federal 150gr. Non-Typicals.

150 grn.

155 &168 Berger VLD hunting are both a great bullet.

150 gr NP's

Mine prefers 150gr hornady sst it'll shoot a 165 gr sst fairly tight group but I bought a box of 150 on accident once and gave them a try and it'll do 1/2 " groups with them. Shot several with the 150s and they normally bang flop. If they don't they usually within 20yds

I shot 180 grain Federal Fusions when I had one. I was using it as a “woods rifle” and shots weren’t going to be real far. It knocked a hole for sure.

My Tikka loves 168 Gamekings.

I would suggest starting out with 150gr of different types.

If you have a barrel under 24 inches there’s a chance you won’t get the 165 , 168 gr to group at all.

Mine will shoot nickel sized groups with 3 different 150 gr types.

Put any 168gr in it and it won’t group 5 inches at 75 yards.

I’ve got about 6 boxes of 168gr and don’t have a gun that will shoot them.

Thanks guys - I will try several then - I bought 168 burger hybrid last night - I will get some 150s of different types - nice shooting Shaw

All my fields will be short shots - roads will be longer and I need to scout the newly thinned pines to find a stand that will intercept as they go to the field

I shoot 130 gr Barnes TTSX in mine . I never shot heavier than 165ish in a 308 or '06.

Barrel length isn't what determines whether your rifle likes 165s or 168s.

Ya to get the most out of a 308 u need a long barrel and 168s....I shoot a short barrel and mostly 150s...I have a box or 2 of different grains but I'll need to check em before I shoot over 100yards

I’ve been meaning to try these. If they are anything like the 80gr in .243, they will be a winner.


But it’s hard to go away from the 150gr core lokts.

150

165 federal partition with the full metal jacket

130 grain Barnes TTSX hand loads.

150 mostly 165 occasionally

150gr

I thought I would like the 130 TTSX, but had a poor experience and now have a hard time staying confident with them. I shot heavy bodied 10 pt nearly straight down and walking straight away a couple seasons ago. Bullet entered top of back next to spine and exited in center of brisket between front legs. It was super thick and deer just kept same pace following doe. They both stopped in thicket about 50 yds for a minute or so, then just walked off. I could hear them but not see them. I never found a single drop of blood and deer never acted hit. I found him about 100 yds away the next morning by blind following trails.

These do shoot good though and you will get a pass through 95% of the time, regardless of angle.

My gun shoots the 165 accubond a little better though and they seem to provide a lot more shock to a deer when hit.

150 or 165, though 150 shoots better in my a-bolt.

150 Grain Barnes TSX

I shoot Precision Hunter 178 grain eld-x out of my 700 aac-sd, and not overly pleased with on game performance. My 16.5 in Ruger carbine is currently loaded with 180 grain partitions. Barrel length has nothing to do with ability to shoot heavier bullets. I think both mine are 1 and 9.5 in twist. Remington has "tactical rifling" or something like that.

Try some different ammo and see what your gun likes and go from there. Both my guns shoot 150 grain ammo well, it's hard to argue with Hornady AW 150 grain ammo. If you can find it.

Deer won't know the diff between a 150 or a 165.

168 hybrid hunters here. My tikka superlite love em. Hard to find now though. Haven’t seen a box in quite some time

Winchester Supreme 168 grain jacketed hollow point

Seems mighty odd , shooting straight down , with a exit through the brisket there was no blood. However , it did work out for you.

There's several of us that shoot them with great results. I did shoot the only one I know of that didn't pass through. However , it was a hard quartering away shot on a 250ish lb buck( field dressed 204). The bullet entered front of one hip and stopped just under the skin in the front of the off shoulder. His innards and vitals looked like a propeller went through him. He ran bout 20 yards .

Barnes 130 grain TTSX, 180 yard shot through both front shoulders, bullet broke bones on both sides and was resting under the skin on the far side.

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This shot ruined both front shoulders and 1/2 of the neck.

I’ve only had one barnes not exit. It was on my daughters buck last year. Quartering pretty hard to us and was about to get too close where she would have had to stand up and shoot down. Told her to put it on the shoulder side right at base of neck. Bullet traveled length of deer and stopped under skin opposite ham

Deer may have made it 10 yards and died in field. This was a 7-08 with hand loaded 120 ttsx

Love the way these things expand.

So how do these TTSX's perform say on a perfectly broadside shot, heart or lung shot not hitting any bone?

As long as you’re pushing them fast enough, the results are fantastic. For best results I always recommend shooting a lighter grain for caliber in any of the Barnes bullets.

Yep

Year before last I shot 2 with Hornady match with the lil hollow point end on the bullet, both bucks died within 20 yards that was 165 or 168 grain if I'm not mistaken...found one bullet and it mushroomed good...I'm not promoting match bullets but in a pinch I wouldn't be scared to shoot something given the results of the 2 times I used em

Pass through making the lungs look like mush and there will be a blood trail Ray Charles can follow. Most likely he ain't going out of sight if he moves at all.

Well I just bought some 120's for my 7mm-08 so I will check them out.

Back in the real world:

these light bullets have terrible Ballistics which makes them less accurate. Stay away. If they were so great they'd be readily available in all types of ammo and they are not. There is a reason for that.


The gold standard bullet for whitetails in .308 is a 165 Sierra. Read the reviews on Midway USA is you are not convinced of that statement.

You can also shoot 180's if you want more knock down.

DO NOT SHOOT CRAPPY LIGHT BULLETS THEY ARE NOT MAGIC.

Those lighter grain bullets make a mess when they hit a deer in any caliber, has been my experience. 130 or 150 in 308 do just fine. The federal 130 grain varmint bullets are good on deer.

Maybe in your world?

The 130 grain bullets that I’m shooting are regularly used to kill elk and moose.

Accuracy? I can cover 3 shots with a dime, shot at 100 yards from a bench.

Want to do some reading about these bullets? Go to hunt talk dot com and there is plenty.

Edit:
Took your advice and went to Midway’s site to read reviews. I’ll admit that I didn’t read them because I have real-world experience with these bullets. However, a quick glimpse confirms that MOST folks are very pleased with these bullets.
Of the 121 folks that left reviews for this bullet you must be one of the 2 that left bad reviews.

Federal Fusion is a good round.

Solid copper is a "different animal " in the bullet world. Knowing the properties and classes of copper due to being a tool & die maker, when I saw my first copper bullet I thought makes perfect sense , why didn't I think of that.

As far as accuracy my Sako shoots them MOA , and my son's Tikka even better. Both plenty good enough for hunting in timber.

He actually posted “go to MidwayUSA and read the reviews.”

If you handload, 165 grain Sierra GameKings work well on deer as well as African Plainsgame like Gemsbok, Springbok and Baboons

Been lookin for a good baboon round

Guess I am the only one here who uses them, but I've been using 150g NBTs in my . 308 for about 25 years now. My hand loads average 2920 fps out of a model 700 with a 22" barrel. I've never lost a deer with it, and better than that, I've never had to chase one. Most of them drop on the spot, and I've never had one go over 50 yds.

I don't like the NBT in a dinky caliber, but with a 30 caliber bullet at 308 velocity I think they are hard to beat.

Good info guys - thanks

Thanks PCP

Here's a couple of pictures of what a 30 caliber NBT at 308 speed does to a deer. Both of these were about 180 yards and DRT. The first one was crossing a cutover and I wasn't sure whether I had hit him or not. He dropped so quickly that I lost sight of him and never saw him kick. I found out why when I found him with a massive hole in him. This is the entrance; the exit is about half this size:




This one was across a field and I hit him a little higher than I intended. You can see both the entrance and exit.





The only one I can remember that had no exit was shot straight on. It turned his insides into jelly and he did manage to run about 40 yards before dropping dead. So my thinking has been that I can shoot one with a hard bullet and drill a small hole through him and then have the fun of tracking him, or shoot him with one of these and go load him up.

I've had some bad experiences tracking deer shot by other hunters with a 243 and NBT and would not use one in a caliber smaller than . 30. I've also been told about a friend who lost a deer that he shot with a NBT in a 300 magnum. I don't doubt his experience; they weren't designed for that sort of speed. Good luck choosing the right bullet for you. If you have a tracking dog and want to get him some work, this is the wrong bullet.

120 grain Nosler BT in a 7-08 is deer killing magic.

Goatkiller are you saying a light for caliber mono bullet like a Barnes is a crappy bullet? The 139g Barnes LRX in 7mm has a .470BC and can be pushed at 3200+ in the 7mag. I’ve shot a pile of deer with Barnes bullets in 25-06, 6.5-284 and 7mag. I’ve only “caught” one bullet. It was a 150g 7mm. Deer was hard quartering to me at 200 yards. It broke the on-side shoulder and the offside hip and we found the bullet just under the skin. Light for caliber Barnes bullets are not magic but they damn sure work really well!

I load BTs for my sons 7-08. BTs work well under 3000fps. I’m a speed junkie so I don’t trust them for MY intended use. I like to hunt cutovers so I want something at 3200fps or higher to increase maximum point blank range.

What’s your normal shot distance in the cutovers?

My tikka loves 150 gr hornady American whitetail. Shoots the 150gr federal blue box good to. Killed 2 bucks over 200lb that each didn't go 30 yards,both with great bloodtrails

An ideal setup would be 500 yards maximum shot distance with most opportunities between 200-350 yards. My 7mag has a maximum pbr of a shade over 300 yards and 12” drop at 400. I can dial for distance on several of my rifles but the 7mag is set up strictly for hunting.

They are clear cutting one of my leases now. It would be entirely feasible to have a 1k yard shot opportunity. I love long range but I limit myself to about 400-450. Too much can go wrong at those distances.

My 308 with 165 grain Accubonds out of a 20” barrel gets me to roughly 400 yards without dialing. It ain’t no speed demon, either.

Thanks guys - good info - nice pics PCP - impressive damage

Hey PCP - hav you ever used factory loads w the 150 nbt’s r u always do your own reloading? The factory boxes I see get 2820 and your gets 2920. I would think performance would b similar

My short 308 likes 150gr and my long 308 likes 165gr

I used factory loads for 20 years or so before I got into rifle loading. I got my first 308 in 1970 and used whatever ammo the store had. I started using Federal premium sometime in the late 70s or maybe the 80s. It was loaded with a 165g Sierra bullet and it worked very well. I remember 3 deer that I hit and failed to recover, but all 3 were no doubt poor hits.

I didn't pay much attention to MV until I started loading my own, and I bought a Chrony and started checking everything. What I found was that most factory ammo back then would not reach advertised velocity out of my guns. They must have been using longer barrels and tighter chambers to get those numbers. Of course, it didn't make any real difference in killing a deer.

I found that it isn't very hard to get factory 30-06 velocity in a 308 using 150g bullets in hand loads. I use W748, which was a popular 308 powder back then, but I don't see many using it today. There are probably better choices, but I just stick with my old loads. I have one source that says I am . 5 grains below the max load, but another one says I am 1.5g over. When I worked up the load, I actually got tighter groups with the higher velocity load, and that is sort of unusual.

So I am getting 30-06 velocity in a 308, but it isn't hard to do and it doesn't really make any difference. I think the 308 is one of the best deer loads for hunting in AL. I don't have anywhere I can see 500 yards, and couldn't reliably kill a deer that far if I could. Good luck in choosing what you want!

Thanks PCP

I load the 130gr ttsx in my Franchi .308 pushing them with H335 powder around 3200 fps (have the exact velocity at home in my log book). I use this gun mostly for pigs and it has been devastating on them. I use Barnes in .300 RUM, .300 blackout, .243win, and 6.5 creedmoor with stellar results.

Thanks Sulli - Somebody else used the 130 in 308 - I would not hav thought of that - lot faster

I am starting w 150 and 168 - May look at 180 and May go lower like you

I smoked the buck I'd been after with my new 308 with a 150 sst handload this evening. The damage was very impressive and the exit hole was something serious. The lungs were just liquid

^^^^
Congrats man - I look forward to shooting mine when I get it

Post him up in kill thread if u haven’t - I got to go see who killed what

Congrats Beadle

I don't even know how to post pics anymore since Photobucket went away