Another vote for the Superformance line of Hornady.
More velocity makes it one of my favorite boxed ammo.
More velocity makes it one of my favorite boxed ammo.
Looking for Help Picking Factory .308 for Whitetails
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Magnum44270
Well-Known Member
165 Accubond or partition.
javman
Well-Known Member
Used all the projectiles mentioned but prefer 168Amax for DRTs!
Exactly what I use. Nobler Trophy 150 or 165 grain Accubonds. I use that in my Steyr Scout, Custom long range rail rifle, Tikka bull barrel, Sako single shot target and even AR-10s. Yes, I do like .308s. The only problem rifle is a Weatherby Accumark, which wants Hornady brass for some reason. I don't reload, so IDK.
What I mean by that is they don't typically expand to as large of a diameter as the softer cup/core bullets. I agree that they typically penetrate better and fully (which I prefer) my experience has been lighter blood trails compared to cup/core bullets assuming both pass through. It is made even worse at lower velocities.
777guy
Well-Known Member
I hunt with Hornady factory loaded 143ELDX 143gr. Whitetail & Hog. All my kills have either been DRT or maybe 10yd run. Ranges have spanned 75yd to 359yd. Caliber 6.5 Creedmore. Rifle loves them. Perfectly accurate bench shooting (.6 moa) at 1000 yd.
Old rifle I got at 13 years of age, used from a neighbor back in 1963. Recently rebarreled from .270 to 6.5 Creed, Douglas barrel, trued the old Mauser action, Trigger Tech trigger, rebedded & free floated in original wood stock. No brake. New Huskemaw scope 5-20x50 with custom Turrets. Rifle work by McClelland in Dallas. Scope mounted & drop data gathered and sent to Huskemaw by Lloyd Hill of Genesis Rifles in Dallas. Lloyd also did my Huskemaw scope mount & data on my Remington Sendero SF II 300 win mag. That thing shoots .5 moa at 800 yd.
Old rifle I got at 13 years of age, used from a neighbor back in 1963. Recently rebarreled from .270 to 6.5 Creed, Douglas barrel, trued the old Mauser action, Trigger Tech trigger, rebedded & free floated in original wood stock. No brake. New Huskemaw scope 5-20x50 with custom Turrets. Rifle work by McClelland in Dallas. Scope mounted & drop data gathered and sent to Huskemaw by Lloyd Hill of Genesis Rifles in Dallas. Lloyd also did my Huskemaw scope mount & data on my Remington Sendero SF II 300 win mag. That thing shoots .5 moa at 800 yd.
Lefty38-55
Well-Known Member
Not many, if any, have mentioned it yet ... but I've seen MORE lost deer by hits of ammo way too over-constructed for use on a whitetail, usually bonded/partition types 165-grn and above ... where the bullet just didn't open up ...
You don't need anything fancy or expensive for whitetails under 300 yards with a .308.
Until you change the barrel and add the suppressor it is a moot point.
After the mods, you start with REM core locks or the new pointed core locks and start testing.
Personally I use the Federal Fusion loads quite a bit.
Also, you may want to test with and with out the suppressor to cover all the bases.
Kodiak Special
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I use the 168 Berger Classics, they work great. The Barnes are a close second, in 168 gr. I've used the 130 gr Barnes at 3,000 fps, super accurate but concerned about terminal performance.
Remember he's shooting a 16.5" barrel. Unless he's going to find factory heavies loaded with fast burning powder he will have issues since he's not reloading. Short barrel needs faster burning powder in most cases. I think the 130-150 class bullets will be your game.
Cluck
New Member
I shoot 2 308's and also in MS. The first is a Ruger UltraLight with the barrel cut to 16". I've shot 165 Fusions for years with great results but tried Winchester 150XP's this year in it. One deer with it this year at 60 yards, high shoulder DRT. The other is a Kimber with a 22" barrel. I shoot the Fusion 165's in it. 2 kills with it this year: 1 at 125ish yards, high shoulder, DRT. The second was a meat doe, heart shot at 90 yards with a very bloody 45 yard track. The high shoulders always have some meat damage but I hate to track after dark.
I've shot many .308 bullets with great results in MS. As someone advised above, start inexpensive and work your way up. I've shot "premium" bullets but it's not necessary for our deer. You never know what will shoot the best. Good luck.
I've shot many .308 bullets with great results in MS. As someone advised above, start inexpensive and work your way up. I've shot "premium" bullets but it's not necessary for our deer. You never know what will shoot the best. Good luck.
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My suggestion would be to buy the ammo with the biggest picture of a 12 point on the box, seriously I think that ammo promoted by different makers for deer are really very good, after all deer ammo is a big part of their sales totals and they want to keep it that way I'm sure.
I am going to sound like a broken record, but the 150 Corlok Remington load always worked well for me when I was a 308 toter in the Ga whitetail woods. I used the 180s too and from an 18 inch barrel, never had any issues with expansion out to 225 yds, my longest shot with that load .
Really, any expanding bullet in the 308 that is designed for thinner skinned game will do just fine. Grab a few boxes of whatever is avaliable and see what the rifle likes and go enjoy the woods !
Really, any expanding bullet in the 308 that is designed for thinner skinned game will do just fine. Grab a few boxes of whatever is avaliable and see what the rifle likes and go enjoy the woods !
Wouldn't the terminal performance on the 130gr Barnes be better since mono's typically need more speed to open up?
