Favorite .308 deer bullet/load

Borden811

New member
Hey guys, I'm new to the world of the .308. I've been reloading for various calibers for while now, and plan on reloading for my new .308 rifle. I'll be using it for deer mostly, from 50 yards out to possibly 400. So, what are your favorite deer bullets and loads for the .308 Winchester?
 
Given your potentially variable yardage, I'd recommend a mid-weight bullet that'll open up at your max range. I'd take a look at "regular" (non-premium) bullets in the 150-165 grain range. Consider bullets like the Nosler hunting Ballistic Tips or Partitions, Honady SSTs, Sierra Game Kings, Remington CoreLocts, etc. I've had pretty decent results with factory Winchester and Federal ammo with basic 150 grain soft points. If you believe you need something a little more robust, consider Nosler Accubonds, Hornady Interbonds, or other bonded bullets. These have solid reputations for good performance near and far.
 
So far, given the current shortage of EVERYTHING shooting related, I've managed to scrounge up some 165gr nosler ballistic tips, and some 165gr sierra pro hunter HPBT. Which one would you start load development with?
 
Determine your twist rate in the rifle, and then see how heavy you can go. Mine likes 168's, anything over that and the groups open up too much for my liking. but there are some rifles that will shoot a 155 and then a 180 really well too... Start with a good middle weight for the rifles twist and then experiment from there with the heavy or lighter rounds. good luck. Try midwayusa, powdervalley, midsouthshooterssupply, and the others they are getting stock in pretty well; even with the scare going on.
 
For years we have used 165gr Remington Core Lokt over 42.5gr IMR 4064 for antelope, deer and elk. The 308 Win is a modest velocity cartridge and premium bullets are usually not needed, even for elk. We have always found that we had good penetration and frequently shot through elk, unless heavy bone was hit. Of course, we always took broadside shots and kept the range reasonable.
 
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I would begin my work with the 150 gr. Ballistic Tip, sub in the 165 gr. if that is what you have. My dad and myself have killed a lot of whitetails at woods ranges with the .308 Winchester and 165 gr. cup-n-core Hornady Interlocks and Sierra Spitzer and HPBT Gameking and Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. I have taken a couple with the 150 gr. Ballistic Tip and it has performed superbly and might just make my favorite list with a few more kills to gauge it by. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices you mentioned.
 
I have been shooting 125 gr Sierra Prohunters on top of 50.5 gens of W748. These things are screaming out of my 308 and I have killed deer, hogs and coyotes with them. They are extremely accurate suppressed and unsuppressed. They generally expand and blow right on through. I have only shot them to 500 yds for dope but they are sub MOA out of my custom.
Specs on rifle:
Surgeon action, 24 inch Krieger barrel, Manners T2 stock with Badger mini chassis, Jewell trigger, and Trijicon 5x20x50
Suppressor- TBAC 30P-1
 
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Plain Jane basic non-premium 150gr Rem Core-Lokt has been nocking them down for years. Reload with Win 748 a few grains under max works best in my .308 BLR. Picked up several hundred on sale a few years ago and never found any reason to switch...very accurate in my Browning.
 
Originally Posted By: Borden811Hey guys, I'm new to the world of the .308. I've been reloading for various calibers for while now, and plan on reloading for my new .308 rifle. I'll be using it for deer mostly, from 50 yards out to possibly 400. So, what are your favorite deer bullets and loads for the .308 Winchester? Im a big fan of the Hornady A-Max 155 gr. The Ballistic Tip of any flavor is a demand of mine regardless the manufacturer, and second only to a boat-tail base. The A-Max is both with one additional plus. Theses a wee bit of air gap below that poly tip giving it ample room to readily move rearward enabling a rapid expansion. For thin skinned Whitetails this, I believe, is a real plus. The bullet coefficient of 0.435 is respectable as well. Hornady builds their A-Max cartridges with a 2850 FPS M.V> ; Id shoot for 2950 fps load. Personally, that would match my Athlon Talos 600 BDC range hashmarks/MOA figures very close. If I range it at 350 and shot between 300-400 and Id have venison at the spot of aim. A 2850 FPS v 2950 is 25 v 5 yards shy of 400. Yes its only a 2 inch difference but my ranging could be off or if I didnt hold my mouth right or my trophy buck decided to shake rattle or roll at pressure time. Id at least have plausible deniability for the miss or crappy lung shot.
 
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308 was my favorite go to for deer for a lot of years. Think I got that rifle, Rem 660, about 1972. Only bullet I ever used in it hunting was a 165gr Hornady spire point/interlock. Killed everything I pointed it at!
 
For deer forget all the hype an fancy bullets. Many deer have fallen to Remington core lokt 150 gr from my .30-06 and many more will. The good ol core lokt are about the best deer bullets you can buy.
 
180 grain core locts in my 30-06. I reload them as well. That boring looking bullet will shoot .4” groups in my pump 7600 using my reloads when I do my part. I went around the block a few times and tried hornady, seirra, speers, and noslers. Nothing killed quicker than my core loct...and with no mess. All the fancy bullets either exploded the internals like the 180 grain ballistic tips or shot completely through the deer w/o expanding like the accubonds and Swift partition type premium ammo Remington use to load. The Sierra 150 grain game kings would not exit and no blood trails with 60 to 75 yards runs before the dropped with heart and lung shots. The plain Jane core loct puts them down 99% of the time where they stand. I’d tell you to try a 150 or 165 grain core loct in your 308.
 
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