.308 Best Rounds

[CaptainBLW]

The best FACTORY loaded .308 HUNTING ammo I have shot is the Eagle Eye Ammo Brand w/168 Berger classic bullet.
Super Accurate and hammers deer and pigs, even killed a NILGAI here in Texas DRT at 400yds.
Comes in 100 round cases and are all match loads.
Nothing I HANDLOAD in a Hunting rifle shoots any better so I just use these now.
Half the group size of any other factory match loads in my rifles.

308 Win 168gr Berger Classic Hunter Match Ammunition

Eagle Eye 308 Winchester Match Grade Hunting Ammunition Berger 168gr Classic Hunter sets the standard as the most accurate, consistent and reliable long range and trophy hunting ammunition

www.eagleeyeammo.com

I keep it on hand at all times.

Capt. Ben

 

[Critter Picker]

Love my 165 Sierra GK also had good results with the 150 GK . Out to 500 yards a deer won't know the difference.

 

[NorCalRiceGuy]

I have shot around 7 or 8 whitetails with them the past 4 years ranging from 20 yards to 260 yards, and everyone of them have been pass throughs and none went further than 40 yards. If they dont drop on the spot they leave a pretty massive blood trail.

Ballistic Tips got a bad reputation years ago because they would tend to explode a bit. Over the past 10-15 years Nosler has been using a thicker jacket on them and they hold up really well. For whitetails I personally prefer them to accubonds.

I was a victim of the early BTs. Shot great groups out of my 270 over 58 gr. of H4831, but in real life I had to put three of them into a large body muley at 30 yards, all into the lungs and not a single exit wound from any of them. I hit him the first time and he took a step, hit him a second time and another step, hit him the third time and he locked up, rocked forward and back, then collapsed. Just shook his head at each hit and kept walking like he didn't even feel the bullet. Never been a fan of BTs ever since. Once burnt, twice shy. Switched Hornady BT Interlocks which leave a hardball size exit wound until California made them illegal due to lead core. Now using Hammer Bullets' "Absolute Hammer" with one shot DRT results on both elk and deer last month in Montana.

 

[NorCalRiceGuy]

The best FACTORY loaded .308 HUNTING ammo I have shot is the Eagle Eye Ammo Brand w/168 Berger classic bullet.
Super Accurate and hammers deer and pigs, even killed a NILGAI here in Texas DRT at 400yds.
Comes in 100 round cases and are all match loads.
Nothing I HANDLOAD in a Hunting rifle shoots any better so I just use these now.
Half the group size of any other factory match loads in my rifles.

308 Win 168gr Berger Classic Hunter Match Ammunition

Eagle Eye 308 Winchester Match Grade Hunting Ammunition Berger 168gr Classic Hunter sets the standard as the most accurate, consistent and reliable long range and trophy hunting ammunition

www.eagleeyeammo.com

I keep it on hand at all times.

Capt. Ben

Sadly not legal in California...

 

[nicholasjohn]

Just a reminder but he's looking for factory loads........

For his work, I'd suggest good old fashion 150 Grain Federal Blue Box (the Federal Fusion would be good as well)

No need for some fancy smancy bullet.........

Buy a box, if they shoot well, then order a case and be done for a while

I did that decades ago, just as they were switching from the red-box "Hi-Shok" line to what was then called Federal Classic, in a blue & silver box. It was for an ancient Browning 308 that shot the red-boxed load phenomenally well, and the new stuff was the same story. My buddy and I split a case of promotional ammo, packaged 24/box for a ridiculously low price. Everybody in our PA deer camp who shot 308 was using them, and we stacked up the deer like cordwood. I wish that we had bought several cases for a lifetime supply. Another one that I wish I had bought a couple cases of was the Federal Hi-Energy 30-06, with the 180-grain Nosler Partition bullet. They don't sell that load anymore, but it was a gem in my old mauser '06 - tiny little groups; excellent terminal performance on animals large & small.

 

[Kodiak Special]

Handloads or factory? I tried the factory 130's out of my superlite a few years ago and they sprayed all over the place.

I tried the factory loads on 130s, they were screamers at 3000 FPS, accurate & consistent.

However, for deer I use the Berger 168 classic hunters. DRT

 

[Scammie77]

Hornady American Whitetail worked great this year. Will use these again next year.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Hornady American Whitetail worked great this year. Will use these again next year.

I've been using this ammo out of a 308 for years even before it was repackaged as American whitetail. It is an excellent round for whitetail and has great terminal performance out to just shy of 400 yards (furthest is have shot an animal).

 

[Nomosendero]

I did that decades ago, just as they were switching from the red-box "Hi-Shok" line to what was then called Federal Classic, in a blue & silver box. It was for an ancient Browning 308 that shot the red-boxed load phenomenally well, and the new stuff was the same story. My buddy and I split a case of promotional ammo, packaged 24/box for a ridiculously low price. Everybody in our PA deer camp who shot 308 was using them, and we stacked up the deer like cordwood. I wish that we had bought several cases for a lifetime supply. Another one that I wish I had bought a couple cases of was the Federal Hi-Energy 30-06, with the 180-grain Nosler Partition bullet. They don't sell that load anymore, but it was a gem in my old mauser '06 - tiny little groups; excellent terminal performance on animals large & small.

The "Blue Box" ammo usually groups quite well but often quite slow, for most Deer hunters though it doesn't matter.

Concerning that high energy 30-06 load, I wish I had a lot of that, no need to reload. Yea, if only we had known they would quit that load!

 

[StumpGrinder]

What are some of the best performing .308 rounds? Whitetail hunting specifically. Shooting a tikka T3x Superlite .308

Anything Barnes is great! With any bullet selection pay attention to the manufacturers recommended velocity for proper expansion. This will determine the Effective range of that load. For instance if they say it performs best above 1500 fps then at the yardage you drop to 1500 fps is that rounds extreme effective range. If you shoot beyond that it's not the bullets fault or the manufacturers when it fails.

 

[Carl McCants]

I like to have pass through and blood trail. Here in the SC lowcountry, the woods are thick, and it is hard to track a deer with out a dog or blood trail. I use to use the Bergers, but no blood trail. I once looked for a deer for 30 min to find it 20 yards from where I shot him, brush was too thick to see him. A blood trail makes it a lot easier to find the deer. I switched back to Hornady MATCH 168 gr BTHP for my 308. I know what is coming next - "hit them right, and they drop in their tracks". I am not shooting off of a bench or out of a yuppie heated and cooled deer stand, I'm hunting with a climber, not a perfect set up for pin point accuracy. Just my 2 cents.

 

[nicholasjohn]

The "Blue Box" ammo usually groups quite well but often quite slow, for most Deer hunters though it doesn't matter.

Concerning that high energy 30-06 load, I wish I had a lot of that, no need to reload. Yea, if only we had known they would quit that load!

I'm not surprised that you liked that one, too. It's the only factory load I've ever used that got the advertised velocity in my rifle ( 24" barrel.) I also thought that my old Shooting Chrony had malfunctioned, when it showed the same velocity for three consecutive shots, which was 2880 fps - exactly what Federal advertised at the time. The three bullet holes were in a group that could be covered by a dime, just like several other groups I shot that day. The extreme spread of five three-shot groups' velocities was less than ten, which I think is remarkable. I haven't seen anything like this, before or since, with factory-loaded ammo. Trajectory, with the old 3" high at 100 yards sight-in, was right one at about 260; 3.5-4" low at 300. I didn't check it at on a target at 400, but did knock down an average-sized whitetail buck at that range with a top-of-the-shoulder hold that hit just above the elbow in the forward rib-cage. The bullet left a small exit wound, and a short blood trail - about two steps long to where the animal piled up. Typical Nosler Partition performance.

 

[StumpGrinder]

Do you prefer complete pass through or frangible? But like others have said whitetails aren't too tough to put down. Just stay off the shoulder for the more frangible bullets and double lung and you'll be fine.

If you want a blood trail to follow you must have pass through! Even then it may be hard to see. Frangibles are for varmints only! There are rapidly expanding bullets, hollow points and polymer tips that are suitable for deer and depending on design and velocity may or nay not pass through. Frangibles are designed to desinagrate on impact and will not penetrate deep enough to reliable kill deer.

 

[xsn10s]

If you want a blood trail to follow you must have pass through! Even then it may be hard to see. Frangibles are for varmints only! There are rapidly expanding bullets, hollow points and polymer tips that are suitable for deer and depending on design and velocity may or nay not pass through. Frangibles are designed to desinagrate on impact and will not penetrate deep enough to reliable kill deer.

I suggest people read all my posts in this thread prior to quoting me. Then maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from better.