Resurrection of the .308 & upping the game

[Mustang72]

I load 165 speed and 180th with one 4895 for my 16 inch pig thumper. Still putting together my smle project.

 

[Mustang72]

165 speer and 180 hornady rn. Imr 4895

 

[hunter67wa]

I've also shot 130 TTSX with Varget and 130 Speer varmit and its a good combo

 

[Canhunter35]

The 168eldm is my favourite hunting bullets from a 308
44gr of varget

 

[YZ-80]

The 168eldm is my favourite hunting bullets from a 308
44gr of varget

I think this is the direction I'm
heading. I guess I'll load a few check charges starting at 40 grains even and go from there. I'm fairly optimistic about it!

 

[hunter67wa]

Has anyone tried the 168 Barnes?

 

[lefty308]

Has anyone tried the 168 Barnes?

Yes, the 168ttsx shoot great out of my gun, and perform VERY well on deer. .4MOA out to 500 yards, which is as far as I have had opportunity to shoot them.
43.0 IMR4895 and 43.5 Varget shoot same size groups.
Im shooting a Savage 110 Tactical 24''. Getting 2785fps with varget.

To the OP, 4985 and varget have given me the best groups and most consistent performance. My gun shoots hornady 168 bthp, barnes 168 ttsx, and 168 VLDs all the same poi at 100. BC starts to change POI when you shoot further, but they are all quite close with both powders.

 

[hunter67wa]

thanx lefty

 

[BW64]

195 SMK tipped with 41.6 of Varget gets me 2765 & one hole at 100. Rem 700 sps 26" Criterion tube.

BW

 

[Greyfox]

My early LRH(600 yards) began with a 308 loaded with Hornady 165 SST's which performed superbly on deer sized game. My load was 45gr Varget/Fed 210M. I really liked Varget, probably one of the most temperature stable powders, which produces excellent accuracy in the 308.

 

[Will Gray]

I like the 308 and its big brother, the 358 Winchester (my whitetail hunting round). The 308 in my Ruger American action with a Shilen barrel (was a 300RUM barrel that I reworked for 308)My loads are:
308 Winchester
175g SMK 41.4g AR-Comp 6/19
175g SMK 41.7g IMR 4064
168g SMK 42g IMR4064 4/9/19 1/2" group
180 RN SGK 45g IMR4064 2732fps 9/17/19 Hunting round
It is a fine hunting and paper punching round but if you are fixated on hunting far, get a 338Winchester or 338 EDGE. Bigger is better for hunting, will hunt with my 375RUM next year. WWII fighters went from 30-06 to 50cal to 20mm, same reason: bigger is better for killing things.

 

[rustyshackleford]

195 SMK tipped with 41.6 of Varget gets me 2765 & one hole at 100. Rem 700 sps 26" Criterion tube.

BW

That's crazy. I just started fiddling with 195 TMK's in my 20 inch and it took a lot more RL-15 then I expected to get to 2535. However, with a 195 TMK that still edges out the 175 TMK in the wind at 2650

 

[Bigdog425]

For a youth shooter, you may consider a 150gr bullet...plenty for all but biggest game. I have had good success in accuracy and terminal performance with Swift Scirocco II.

 

[alseg]

Started with a factory custom load that used Varget powder (I think 41.5 gr) and a Berger 168 Hunting hybrid with Lapua brass made by a company that was later subsumed by a larger company (might have been Applied Ballistics that bought them but dont quote me). HSM has a similar item available. Anyway, the new offering was similar and got me two nice whitetail....one at 320 yds, the other at just under 100.yds, both on a TikkaTx stainless lite .308. Never saw bullet fragments on either. From my reading, it seems that Varget is a much touted powder for the 308, and I was satisfied with the Berger. Others praise the Game King Sierra. Either way, the energy and path curves look great for the round even at distances of 400 yds, and a nice 3 or 4-9X scope is perfect for the round with whitetail.