.308(168gr-165gr) Bullet suggestions for hog and deer

3

308Garand

New member
Just as the title states I am looking for suggestions for a bullet for hog and deer.
I am interested in the bullet weights between 165 and 168 for my .308.
I am needing a bullet that will hold together and penetrate if I shoot a hog under 50yrds,
but still have the ability to expand on a deer at 200yrds.

Does anyone have any experience with the following or maybe one I have over looked?

168 Barnes TSX
168 Combine Technology Ballistic Silver Tip
165 Nosler Partition
165 Nosler Accubond
165 Horndy SST
165 Sierra Game King

Thanks,
.308
 
All of the bullets you've listed are good bullets. Don't forget the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, the Scirroco and the A-Frame. My experience with the A-frame in 7mm has been devastating.

I just bought a .308 this year, and plan on shooting a 165 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw this year. I'll be hunting hog and deer also. A buddy of mine shoots them in .308 and has had great things to say about them.
 
Hunting with your M1 I suppose? Full length or Tanker? I have the former in .30 and .308 and the latter in .308 with the highly effective Smith(?) brake. Love those M1's!
 
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Hunting with your M1 I suppose?



Actually I am hunting with my Savage 10FP in .308.
Unfortunately I had to sell my M1 back when my wife and I
had our first kid.

It was a .308 built off a SA 1945 receiver. It had a .308 Wilson barrel NM sights and a Boyds stock.
It was a great gun.

When I get to a point where I can afford it I would like to buy and original in '06. There is just something
nostalgic a bought it you can't get from one in .308.

.308
 
When you are talking tripple shocks, you can go with a way lighter bullet than you would normally think of.

The 30 cal 130g tripple shock is extremely accurate with 51-51.5g of 748 at 3100+ fps, and you will shoot a hole through a hog at any angle.

You can expect tiny groups with this bullet jumping about .050 off the lands.

Good luck!
 
I have been using a 308(one of 3) as my main deer rifle the last 25+yrs. I was only involved in one boar shoot & he was bagged with 1 shot from a 223(90-110lb'er). I think premium bullets are much more important when using a round on the lower end for the game involved. With the 308 my favorite loading is usually a 165 grn game bullet in whatever shoots good. That is usually a Sierra gameking or a Hornaday interlock soft point. I have partitions & such to load with the 243 & 300WSM. Now partitions cost more than $30 a box of 50. In most cases my bullets still go through a deer, so I don't see the need for a stronger bullet that costs twice as much. I know we all like to fiddle, but us reloaders are supposed to be somewhat frugal.
 
I shoot 165 gr. Nosler Partitions in the .308. They will perform well across a wide range of impact velocity. The forward section is very soft and mushrooms quickly without breaking into chunks. I've had excellent luck with them.
Whether or not you can find an acceptably accurate load for your rifle using them would be just as important.
Swift A-Frame uses the same design concept, so I'd think they would be a good candidate.
I've recovered quite a few Remington Core-Lokt bullets over the years (my dad shoots them) and they were remarkably consistent.
I think that's an under rated bullet at .308/30-06 velocities.
The 165 gr. weight is ideal for a .308, in my opinion.
 
How dare I forget the Core-Lokt. Great freaking bullet! They've always performed well in my .270 Win, dumping an amazing amount of energy in the animal during pass-through. In fact, I think I have a box of 165 grainers...
 
These two deer were taken in 05 with a fairly slow load of 748 pushing a 165 grain Hollowpoint Sierra GameKing out of my Tikka 308. They were standing next to each other at 598 yards.

This particular bullet has been as accurate or better than many match bullets have been for me.

It would be worth considering.

2005Deer598yds308Tikka.jpg
 
Since you threw the hog in there at 50 yards, that would pretty much rule out the ballistic tips and non bonded bullets IMO. You would be better served with a A frame, BBC, partition, accubond, interbond, scirocco. Something that holds at least 60% of its weight. The aframe and BBC hold upwards of 90% so they would be an excellent choice, while the partitions, accubonds, sciroccos tend to run 60-70%. All the above bullets would work great on deer as well, but I would rather use one of the bullets that retains 60-70% then the 90% ones at 200 yards with the 308's velocity. You could have the chance of it opening up to slowly and not expanding quick enough to get a quick clean kill. I guess you could use the TSX bullets if you really wanted, I just hate recomending them as I had horrible results with there XLC's in a few different rifles and vowed to never shoot another Barnes bullet again. Granted I've never tried the TSX and I dont really have the desire to either...If u wanna shoot through the animal and the tree 50 yards behind it, well then the TSX might just be your bullet...
 
VLD's are better suited to long range as they use a very thin J-4 jacket. Not exactly the bullet you want to use on a quartering hog at 50 yards...

However, they are an awesome longer range coyote/antelope/deer bullet. Have used the 168g and 180g in my 7 RM, and 210g in a 300 RUM.
 
Wow! Heck of a shot Lost River. Or, shots. Was it a pass through or were you able to take two shots?
 
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Go to http://www.cityofriesel.com/sports.htm at the bottom of the page you will see two big hogs. These were killed with a 308 using Hornaday VMAX 110 bullets. These are awesome in accuracy and killing power. We have killed approximately 20 Hogs with the 110 Vmax and most went down DRT with out running any at all. The 110 will easily kill a Deer.
 
Work up to 46.0 grains of Varget with either a 165 gr. Hornady Interlock or 165 gr. Sierra BTHP GameKing. That will give you 2,700 fps from a 22" barrel and most likely will be hard to beat for accuracy. Either bullet is inexpensive, very accurate, and works like the "OFF Light Switch" on deer sized critters at any decent range. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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Wow! Heck of a shot Lost River. Or, shots. Was it a pass through or were you able to take two shots?



One shot a piece. Neither bullets were recovered as there was complete penetration. The second deer had no idea what just happened and stood there for a split second too long.
 
165 Sierra Game Kings, they will kick butt on Whitetail,DRT! They leave a pretty good size exit wound though. Puts them down HARD.

Pysco-dog
 
Thanks for all the input. Keep it coming.
Has anyone had any experience with the Hornady 165gr SSTs? I have heard they are pretty accurate but don't know how they expand.
I know this bullet will work on deer but what about hogs? Will this bullet hold together and penetrate or is it going to just blow up like a
ballistic tip when it hits a hog?

.308
 
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