308 bullets for hunting and mid range target shooting

jmichelin84

jmichelin84

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Hello all I'm thinking of loading my own rounds, I have Hodgen H4895 powder, cci 200 large rifle primers, and was looking for a bullet to go with it, I was thinking 180 grains, my Remington 783 likes the 180s, and I wanted to get out to 300-500 yards if I could for target and upto 200 for moose hunting, here in Labrador they are always weary of people, the island of Newfoundland is a different matter haha, I'm open to suggestions, I haven't tried anything larger than 180 grain
 
The Hodgdon website lists H4895 in the 30-06, but it is wall down the lists. Nothing wrong with CCI primers, start with whatever bullet you want.

What's available where you live. If there are supplies available I would probably buy a can of H4350.
 
Sadly nothing available, I use x-reload mostly, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a 180 grain ballistic tipped bullet suitable for hunting and target
 
Yah I figured the 180s would have been cramping a bit, my rifle likes em, the 168 I've fired a couple but it didn't get very good groups at 100 yards
 
180 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Non tempermental, most any rifle will shoot them if they will shoot anything. A .308 can't build enough speed to hurt it at close range and it will still reliably expand at 500.


dang; I've got to learn to type faster.
 
For my hunting rounds, I like to use 150gr ttsx with h4895 pushing them. As for target loads, I like to use 155gr Berger hunting vlds, with the same powder pushing them. Both are super accurate in my rifle and the 150gr ttsx is more than capable taking moose, elk and bear.

Kevin
 
Kevlak said:
For my hunting rounds, I like to use 150gr ttsx with h4895 pushing them. As for target loads, I like to use 155gr Berger hunting vlds, with the same powder pushing them. Both are super accurate in my rifle and the 150gr ttsx is more than capable taking moose, elk and bear.

Kevin
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The Berger bullets, do you use them for hunting? I was looking at them but didn't find the weight I was interested in, I was looking for 180 but the185 gr VLD Hunting calculated the best in the calculator they had for winter hunting temps lol
 
jmichelin84 said:
The Berger bullets, do you use them for hunting? I was looking at them but didn't find the weight I was interested in, I was looking for 180 but the185 gr VLD Hunting calculated the best in the calculator they had for winter hunting temps lol
Click to expand...

I've yet to use them for hunting, they are super accurate, but to get them as accurate as I did I'm only using 41gr of h4895 which gives me a speed of 2575fps as where the ttsx I have them flying at 2825fps. I am going to use the 168gr hunting vld out of my 7mm rm, using h1000 to push them, for my cow elk this year. If your interested in the 180s, just give the 185s a try, they are a little longer for the vld design hence the little added weight. I found I just kept trying different bullets till I found out which ones worked with my rifles. That's the best part about hand loading!

Kevin
 
Kevlak said:
I've yet to use them for hunting, they are super accurate, but to get them as accurate as I did I'm only using 41gr of h4895 which gives me a speed of 2575fps as where the ttsx I have them flying at 2825fps. I am going to use the 168gr hunting vld out of my 7mm rm, using h1000 to push them, for my cow elk this year. If your interested in the 180s, just give the 185s a try, they are a little longer for the vld design hence the little added weight. I found I just kept trying different bullets till I found out which ones worked with my rifles. That's the best part about hand loading!

Kevin
Click to expand...

True that's the best part, I tried 168, 7 different ways and she spat them left right and anywhere but center at 50 yards, the factory 180s she likes them out to 200 yards, I might have to try to 185 for a spin and see if not then the 175 then down lower lol, I have a couple of boxes of 168 Amax, opened but full, not sure what to do with em, would like to trade em
 
There is nothing wrong with 180's in a 308 and with the correct powder space is not an issue. Nothing wrong with 165's either. If 180's work well use them. Killed my first bull elk with a 308 using 180's and a few moose. None of them complained much.
 
My first moose was with a long bow , and dads last was a 30-30 he swore he'd never kill one again after that, the mother cried and bawled, every drop of blood that came out the mother ate, me and him cried and waited 6 hours to dress the moose, sad it was, never again will I take a moose in a group
 
I will switch to the new Hornady ELD-X 178gr in my 10 twist Ruger Scout 308 this year once they become available. @ 2500ish FPS they should be a great dual purpose hunting/target bullet. Might want to go on Dr Phil and chat with him about your hunting issues before hand though
 
The 180gr GMX would be good in a 300 Win Mag, 300 Wby, 300 Ultra, 30 Nosler...but not something I'd suggest in a 308/30-06. With a monometal you're better off for a lighter weight. Going heavier won't make it perform any better, and you run into issues with lowered velocity and the distance window for normal expansion starts to shrink into typical hunting ranges

I'd go 150gr GMX in a 308/'06, I load the 150gr TTSX currently in my 308
 
Yah i was thinking about the weight and trajectory, i was thinking like a 150 or 155 for monos, but the ELD the 180 should be sufficient, im thinking of developing a load out for 500 yards with a 200 grain projectile, but thats after i do a hunting round of upto 300 yards, here thats what id get a moose at 250-300
 
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