Best bullet for .308 with 748 powder?

[xsn10s]

I got an elk hunt coming up in November and just finished building my .308 win. Just wondering what bullet I should use. I got a lot of 748 powder and that's what I want to use. I want a bullet that will be as accurate as possible and still be able to kill an elk at 500 yards. Any suggestions and data would be appreciated.

I don't know your elevation but at 2200 ft that 200 eldx needs to have a muzzle velocity of around 2500 fps in order to have 1500 ft/lbs at 500 yards. That's cutting it pretty close.

 

[Wild_Bill7]

I don't know your elevation but at 2200 ft that 200 eldx needs to have a muzzle velocity of around 2500 fps in order to have 1500 ft/lbs at 500 yards. That's cutting it pretty close.

Yeah i didn't feel like getting the chronograph out today to see what the muzzle velocity was but probably will next time I shoot. Also only shooting 200gr right now because that's all I have, working on getting some 180 ttsx and 168 accubond lr right now.

 

[xsn10s]

I think others have suggested RL17 which is hard to get. Having a 20" barrel makes it harder to get to that 1500 ft/lb threshold. I've seen videos of people taking them below that threshold. All I can say is my buddy uses a 308 win and 165 Partition to take his elk. But he limits his shots to 300 yards or less.

 

[Grifm]

With the powder you have I would try either 152 hammer hunters or 168 barnes TTSX. Steve at hammer says that they get 3000 FPS with the 152 hammer hunters and CFE223. I can get 2825 with the 168TTSX and cfe223. Win 748 is a little faster per the burn chart I have so you should be able to get close. With most TTSXs barns recommends 1800fps min at impact, the 168s are one of the exceptions they recommended 1500fps for the 168. I would recommend you add 200-300fps above their number as insurance.

If you are willing to change powders I would recommend the 151 absolute hammers. The absolute hammers work differently and work best with faster for powders for a given cartridge. Iam just about finished working up a load using Alliant Power Pro Varmint at ~3130fps. From talking with Steve at hammer he had had similar results with ramshot TAC (I don't have any/haven't found it locally).

update: my velocities are out of a Winchester m70 ftw with a factory 22in barrel.
-Matt

 

[Teri Anne]

If you have a good supply of Win 748, there's no reason you can't use it for your elk hunt. Just be sure to sight in when the temperature is close to what you're expecting during the hunt. If you want to be really precise, you'd also have to sight in at a similar elevation (barometric pressure). -Ed

Using a .308 on Elk at 500 yards is, at best irresponsible not to mention reprehensible. A .308 180 grain Nosler partition might be a good 100 to 200 yard on an elk, beyond that it's a no go. Not enough energy to make Mr. or Mrs Elk take immediate notice that their bodies have been invaded. At 500 yards the best one could do is wound an Elk and cause it to run away and have a painful death a long way from where you were hunting. If you are going to go Elk hunting be able to shoot a reasonable elk hunting round. Yup we are talking a .270 (Jack O'Connor's favorite). 30-06, 300 Win Mag or 7MM Rem Mag. Other larger calibers may be used but be sure that recoil management is well within our capabilities and at ranges that are reasonable. Teri Anne.

 

[rooster740]

Using a .308 on Elk at 500 yards is, at best irresponsible not to mention reprehensible. A .308 180 grain Nosler partition might be a good 100 to 200 yard on an elk, beyond that it's a no go. Not enough energy to make Mr. or Mrs Elk take immediate notice that their bodies have been invaded. At 500 yards the best one could do is wound an Elk and cause it to run away and have a painful death a long way from where you were hunting. If you are going to go Elk hunting be able to shoot a reasonable elk hunting round. Yup we are talking a .270 (Jack O'Connor's favorite). 30-06, 300 Win Mag or 7MM Rem Mag. Other larger calibers may be used but be sure that recoil management is well within our capabilities and at ranges that are reasonable. Teri Anne.

You better run your numbers. A 308 running a 215 berger at 2540fps will out run a factory 300wm with 150 corlokt at about 365 yards

 

[WoodPecker Hunter]

I would use the Std 150 gr Nosler Accubond - RJ

 

[Grifm]

Using a .308 on Elk at 500 yards is, at best irresponsible not to mention reprehensible. A .308 180 grain Nosler partition might be a good 100 to 200 yard on an elk, beyond that it's a no go. Not enough energy to make Mr. or Mrs Elk take immediate notice that their bodies have been invaded. At 500 yards the best one could do is wound an Elk and cause it to run away and have a painful death a long way from where you were hunting. If you are going to go Elk hunting be able to shoot a reasonable elk hunting round. Yup we are talking a .270 (Jack O'Connor's favorite). 30-06, 300 Win Mag or 7MM Rem Mag. Other larger calibers may be used but be sure that recoil management is well within our capabilities and at ranges that are reasonable. Teri Anne.

Teri Anne, how much energy do you believe is needed? The general consensus is 1500ft lbs. using a ballistics calculator a 308win using 180gr partition at 2600fps mv (Nosler load data) at 5000ft altitude is traveling just over 2000fps/1600ftlbs at 400 and just under 1900fps/1400ftlbs at 500.
If the hunter does his part and puts the bullet in the right place I assure you the elk will not notice the missing 100ft lbs. I would suggest a more aerodynamic bullet that would loose less velocity over that range but to say it is irresponsible and reprehensible to use a 308 on elk past 100-200 yds is a bit much.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Would H4350 be better then? That would be the other powder I have a decent amount of.

No experience on game with these but
I have loaded H4350 in 308 under a 215 Berger. 2475 FPS out of a 24 inch barrel.

Just finished up on my 20 inch barrel using Reloader 16 (yah I know that won't work in a 308 win, but don't tell my rifle that). 2494 FPS. They are loaded long over 3" COAL. You would have to single feed or do the mods if you wanted it out of a magazine.

Put them digits in a calculator though and it makes the 308 a viable option, especially with a longer barrel... Plus dem buwets just look sexy!!!

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Using a .308 on Elk at 500 yards is, at best irresponsible not to mention reprehensible. A .308 180 grain Nosler partition might be a good 100 to 200 yard on an elk, beyond that it's a no go. Not enough energy to make Mr. or Mrs Elk take immediate notice that their bodies have been invaded. At 500 yards the best one could do is wound an Elk and cause it to run away and have a painful death a long way from where you were hunting. If you are going to go Elk hunting be able to shoot a reasonable elk hunting round. Yup we are talking a .270 (Jack O'Connor's favorite). 30-06, 300 Win Mag or 7MM Rem Mag. Other larger calibers may be used but be sure that recoil management is well within our capabilities and at ranges that are reasonable. Teri Anne.

You are right because a muzzle loader going 1800 FPS from the start don't kill them every year...or arrows going 400 FPS. Speed kills, energy doesn't open a bullet. Know the max velocity the manufacturers suggest for that particular bullet and go kill chit.

Oh and Swedes ain't been killing moose wit 6.5s since before we've been breathing right?

 

[SArnold30]

First off, I'm mandated by the CCP (California Communist Party) to use lead-free projectiles to hunt, but I'm not here to be the pro-mono police to those that choose to shoot lead. However, my experiences in the past several years of transitioning from loading lead to loading mono's has enlightened me on a few things that others may have previously stated in here, and I think there are some great options in the line of copper bullets.

Biggest downside is cost compared to traditional lead bullets. Personally, if the $20-30 price difference for 100 bullets is that much of a dealbreaker, you're probably in the wrong hobby. Besides, the people you usually hear complaining about that are the one's that toasted their budget on a $2500 32x scope that they think they need to hit an 18" target presented by an elk's vitals.

Anyway... the advantage to mono's is loading lighter bullets than conventional caliber standards, producing better velocities and flatter trajectories while having tremendous weight retention and penetration, so they're punching way above their weight. For myself, I use Win 748 in my 308 to push 130 gr TTSX's at about 3,125 fps for deer and black bear, and it's been plenty of medicine on that front. It might do the trick on elk at 100-200 yards, but anything further and you may want to step into the 150 gr range though. I don't know about the above nonsense of using a 308 on elk being irresponsible and reprehensible, guess they've never heard of Randy Newberg.

 

[xsn10s]

Boy

No experience on game with these but
I have loaded H4350 in 308 under a 215 Berger. 2475 FPS out of a 24 inch barrel.

Just finished up on my 20 inch barrel using Reloader 16 (yah I know that won't work in a 308 win, but don't tell my rifle that). 2494 FPS. They are loaded long over 3" COAL. You would have to single feed or do the mods if you wanted it out of a magazine.

Put them digits in a calculator though and it makes the 308 a viable option, especially with a longer barrel... Plus dem buwets just look sexy!!!

View attachment 278450

That would work well past 600 yards at my elevation of 2200". The only bummer is my 308 win is 1-12" twist so I'll lose some BC IF it shoots out of my rifle.

 

[xsn10s]

No experience on game with these but
I have loaded H4350 in 308 under a 215 Berger. 2475 FPS out of a 24 inch barrel.

Just finished up on my 20 inch barrel using Reloader 16 (yah I know that won't work in a 308 win, but don't tell my rifle that). 2494 FPS. They are loaded long over 3" COAL. You would have to single feed or do the mods if you wanted it out of a magazine.

Put them digits in a calculator though and it makes the 308 a viable option, especially with a longer barrel... Plus dem buwets just look sexy!!!

View attachment 278450

I'll probably stick to my 30-06 for 215's or 208's. But i admit I've been curious about having a Savage with factory detachable mag, or a Rem 700 modified to 2.950" COAL for heavy 308 win loads. Thanks for the tip Shane. Got me thinking again lol.

 

[dogz]

Using a .308 on Elk at 500 yards is, at best irresponsible not to mention reprehensible. A .308 180 grain Nosler partition might be a good 100 to 200 yard on an elk, beyond that it's a no go. Not enough energy to make Mr. or Mrs Elk take immediate notice that their bodies have been invaded. At 500 yards the best one could do is wound an Elk and cause it to run away and have a painful death a long way from where you were hunting. If you are going to go Elk hunting be able to shoot a reasonable elk hunting round. Yup we are talking a .270 (Jack O'Connor's favorite). 30-06, 300 Win Mag or 7MM Rem Mag. Other larger calibers may be used but be sure that recoil management is well within our capabilities and at ranges that are reasonable. Teri Anne.

Snork snork snork....what a bunch of BS!

One thing I know is that when people start up with the foot pounds talk is that they're pretty much lacking experience in that which they're taking out of the *** about.............true story here