308 Bullet Selection

[Turpentine21]

Those 155 ELDMs are a good bullet and cheap also. Decent BC and good accuracy. These were $33 per 100 on clearance at Powder Valley.

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Haven't shot the 155 but have shot a bunch of the 168s out of my 308 bolt gun with 26" barrel. It'll get to 1000 yards With them. I use them in 123 in Grendel, 140 and 147 in 6.5-06, and 168 in 308. Good bullets, great BC, good price, and they kill well. Much like the old Amax but a bit tougher.

 

[crkckr]

I only use one bullet to hunt anything bigger than a 'yote, Nosler Partitions, no matter what caliber I use. No bullet works better although a few come close! My Rem. 788 shoots both the 168 and 165 gr bullets pretty well, although the barrel is getting worn down after all the years I've had it and blasted (and hunted) with it.

My latest project is a Rem. 700 with a Hart barrel with a 1:14 twist. I'm going to try shooting some of the lighter weight mono bullets, hopefully at some fairly high velocities. It's a project still in work but so far, just about everything I've shot out of it prints some pretty small groups. More on that as I eventually get around to shooting more of the mono bullets!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[sturner]

168 Amax

 

[jrkotz]

You've got some good advice here. Southeast whitetail are not big or heavy. I'd highly recommend the 125 Nosler ballistic tip, or the 103gr Shock hammer.

The hammers are superior to a barnes because the noise petals purposely shear off after impact.

Pick one of those bullets for your son, and he'll be happy with the performance. Good luck!

 

[Carey Farmer]

I prefer not to have to hunt deer after I shoot them. With all the water and cutover briar beds we have the last thing you want is for a deer to run after the shot.

Roger that. I hate having to bust through briars to find a deer that ran.

150 gr Nosler Partitions give you a pretty good chance of dropping deer where they stand with a .308, and also punching a hole on the far side in case they run. 150 grain accubonds are good, too. Both of those bullets have highly frangible front ends, but solid rear ends.

Although to be honest, for deer hunting in Georgia, my family has migrated to 28 Noslers loaded with Hammer bullets. That combination seems to pretty reliably drop deer within a few yards of where they stand.

 

[Swinehunt74]

Have killed deer here in so Texas with most of the bullets listed, out of 16" AR10 to 20, 22 and 24 inch barreled bolt guns and never had to track a single one, because all were killed with high shoulder shots! Ranges from 50-400 yds. 168 AMAX and ELDM had largest exit wounds....

 

[Bang4theBuck]

For the ranges you are shooting the 130gr Barnes TTSX or the 135gr Hammer Power Hammer will do exactly what you are looking for. Very easy to tune, excellent wound channels and an exit on all but the most extreme shot angles. Also mild recoil.

I woukd strongly suggest a bullet in the Hammer line. The 135 is great, and so are the rest. Easy to develop a load for and crazy high velocity, which will perform very well on game..

 

[Stokesrjsr]

My son is taking over my 308, a semi custom 308, 20" barrel. I've loaded target rounds for years, shoots 168 BTHP points great. Also, he has used Winchester factory 155 Power Points that have done ok to date, definitely hammer the deer but rarely get a pass through. I'm wanting to load up a round for him that will be predominantly for whitetail in the Southeast. Want to knock them down but also prefer pass through for blood as tracking in heavy brush is common. Most common shots are 100-300 yards where we hunt. Appreciate any suggestions!

There is no reason you can't shoot the 155 grain bullets but the target versions are not optimum for your application. They are designed specifically for Palma competition which limits the maximum weight of the bullet to 155.5 grains. This is done to level the playing ground for very long range target shooting where a large wind drift is wanted so that the skill of the shooter can more easily be differentiated by the wind. They are optimized for 30" barrels at 3000 fps from a 308. These are usually shot from a small rifle primer 308 case to better handle the much higher pressures generated when pushed to these velocities.
A better solution is a 165 or 168 grain soft bullet especially if used at longer ranges and the resulting lower impact velocity. I have had excellent results with the Hornady A-Max and ELDM, Sierra tipped Match King and Game King, Berger Classic Hunter and others. I've also used the 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and 130 grain Barnes TTSX and have probably killed more big game with the 165 grain Nosler Partition than all others combined. It is superior when deep penetration is needed such as a quartering away shot at a steep angle, but will produce slower kills on broadside rib cage shots beyond 400 yards. I once shot a desert bighorn sheep at 565 yards with the 165 partition. I shot him five times through the ribs and all had caliber diamiter entrance and exit holes. The sheep traveled about 75 yards and laid down with his vitals protected by a rock so I could not make a finishing shot. It took him about 20 minutes to die.

 

[Mark37082]

It's hard for me to get away from the Berger 168 CH. My rifle just shoots them so consistently. I've tried many different bullets (AB's, SGK's, AMAX, BT's, etc.), but none were as consistently accurate as the Berger. IMR4064 and Varget makes for easy load development.

 

[Chas1]

150 gr Nosler Partitions.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

RoughRice made the best statement through 4 pages.
High Shoulder Shot. Teach it learn it bang flop.
All others gave great recommendations for bullets.

 

[Knight]

I have been very successful with Hornady AMax. Shot placement is the important factor. I personally like Imr 4064 or Imr 4895 or Varget. I mix it up depending upon what's available with a Fed primer 210M.or cci 200. I also like the 168 gr. TMK From Sierra. Good luck..

 

[Turpentine21]

RoughRice made the best statement through 4 pages.
High Shoulder Shot. Teach it learn it bang flop.
All others gave great recommendations for bullets.

Absolutely agree. Been preaching that shot for the last 35 years. Shock the spine and he's down or if a little low breakdown the forend, both shoulders including heart, lung and the deer may crawl just a few feet.
The pocket shot, which is what I call the behind the shoulder or classic television shot generally results in an animal ghosting dead on its feet from 30 to 100 yards. Not all but most deer shot in the pocket will travel before going down. That travel distance can make for a long difficult night where I hunt.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

Hammers in the 135 or 152g variety. no lead fragments getting caught in your teeth.