Need Bullet Advice (.308)

[hypno]

Had a good fall hunting, and harvested a few nice animals out to about 700yds. All these shots were right on the money, chest cavity.

My 178 amax's performed horribly. I'm loading them with 44.5gr r-15 and they are hott. Close to 2800fps hott.

Of six deer, and two antelope, I hadn't a single DRT kill. The amax's were hardly expanding and when they did, they did not retain their weight at all. I would find bullet shavings in the entrance(rib shots) and exit holes.

So, fellow hunters, I'm looking for a 180gr bullet that will expand, retain it's weight, buck the wind (good B.C.) and hit hard at ranges over 600yds. Here are some options I've considered:

Barnes Tipped TSX
Barnes MRX
Hornady Interbond
Hornady SST

Any advice is greatly appreciated.


dom

 

[BigDaddy0381]

180 GR Nosler accubond.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Sounds like you're asking quite a bit from a .308 win. For a noticable improvement in terminal performance at ranges "over 600yds" I would be looking at a 300win, 7mm mag, 300WSM or similar cartridges.

I have used the 162 A-Max in the 7STW and have gotten DRT results on whitetails out to 600yds, which is as far as I have had shot opportunities. I'm sure it would be affective at greater ranges too.

As the saying goes - There is no replacement for displacement. You need to increase the horsepower. :>)

I might add that I do not believe that a .308win rifle can produce 2,800 ft/sec with a 178gr bullet and remain within acceptable working pressures. Normally you would be hard pressed to get that velocity from a 168gr bullet without exceeding SAAMI pressure limits, assuming normal barrels lengths anyway. But ....... who knows?

Had a good fall hunting, and harvested a few nice animals out to about 700yds. All these shots were right on the money, chest cavity.

My 178 amax's performed horribly. I'm loading them with 44.5gr r-15 and they are hott. Close to 2800fps hott.

Of six deer, and two antelope, I hadn't a single DRT kill. The amax's were hardly expanding and when they did, they did not retain their weight at all. I would find bullet shavings in the entrance(rib shots) and exit holes.

So, fellow hunters, I'm looking for a 180gr bullet that will expand, retain it's weight, buck the wind (good B.C.) and hit hard at ranges over 600yds. Here are some options I've considered:

Barnes Tipped TSX
Barnes MRX
Hornady Interbond
Hornady SST

Any advice is greatly appreciated.


dom

 

[Nomad]

Take a look at Speers 180 gr btsp has a BC of 540....

 

[RockyMtnMT]

180 Nosler E-Tip. Very impressive.

Steve

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

A BERGER anyone 175,185

 

[SWALI]

Yip,use Berger VLDs myself,175gr,Varget 43.5g,120M primer,Lapua cases.

Amazingly accurate,but I found while stag hunting in Scotland in October ,of the 12 victims I shot all would run apart from one which was neck shot square on.

Most bullets would pass straight through the beast.
They do the job,but for sure its heart stopping experience to see a beast hit and run off even when hit in the engine room.Its OK on the open hill,but taking shots in thick cover.
Pretty much need a dog to blood trail.

Really not sure wither to change bullet or not.

 

[BravoEMike]

Sounds like you're asking quite a bit from a .308 win. For a noticable improvement in terminal performance at ranges "over 600yds" I would be looking at a 300win, 7mm mag, 300WSM or similar cartridges.

I concur with Varmit hunter...
I like...and use Nosler Accubonds!

Bruce

 

[J E Custom]

I know your wanting a 180gr bullet "But" The problem with heavy bullets in a 308
is lack of velocity at distance.

Most bullets perform between 1800 ft/sec and 3000 ft/sec because these are the
expected velocitys at normal hunting ranges that the bullet maker designs in his
bullets for the best performance.

I ran some numbers so that you could see what would happen using the bullet makers
recomendations as to velocity and performance.

Your bullet has a max recomended range of 425 yrds with a velocity of 1800 ft/sec.
At 700 yrds your velocity is less than 1400 ft/sec ( Far below the effective operating
range of the bullet for hunting.

I also ran the numbers on a 150gr accubond and this was the results.
At 600yrds the 150 still has a velocity of 1812ft/sec (Again, the minimum velocity for
the best performance when hunting).and over 1000 ft/lbs of energy.

The bigger bullets have the edge at long range targets but for hunting this is not
allways true as the bullet has to not only hit well but must expand at a perdictable
rate and %.

The only way to get bullet performance out of the bigger bullets is to go to the big 30
mags like the 300 WM or 300RUM size of cartriges.

The 308 is a wonderfull round and we often expect to much from it .

I hope this explained what your problem with performance is (Not accuracy) and will help
you chose the right bullet for your use.

Just my opinion
J E CUSTOM

 

[Michael Eichele]

1st your going to need to accept the fact that even for deer you should expect a shorter range for your 308. After 600 yards the 308 just doesnt have enough umph to satisfy most hunting situations (big game). Dont get me wrong (as I am a huge 308 fanatic) you can kill critters past 600 yards with the 308 and you can kill very large critters at 600. Its just that it isnt optimal.

My opinion is that for a 600 yard deer bullet (maybe 700 yards) for the 308 you will be very hard pressed to beat the 150 ACCUBOND. I have harvested big game at near the 500 mark with this bullet and the performance was better than expected. I was also running a very slow load (2700 FPS) with this bullet. You can easily get 2900-3000 out of this bullet depending on YOUR barrel. This gives you good steam at 600 for deer and the like. If the altitude is high and the air isnt too cold you MAY be able to stretch that a bit farther. Also the only deer I have ever dropped in its tracks (aside from CNS shots) fell to the same load at 318 yards. It is a very reliable and predictable bullet that holds together very well and is very accurate and expands reliably, even at the lower end of its velocity range.

Give them a try. You will not be dissapointed.

 

[hypno]

Thanks for all the input guys. I will give some of the lighter bullets a try and see what becomes of it!

Appreciate it.


dom