308 hunting bullet selection

[Freyr_255]

Just wondering what people have used in a 308 win for hunting and had good luck with. I've been loading 180 hot cores and frankly I'm 50-50 on how well I like them. They seem to have lower expansion with great penetration, but results in longer fatality times. As in, I assume they're a bit hard for the impact velocities.

So, what are you guys using and liking the terminal performance on?

 

[StoneHorse]

What are you hunting?

 

[todbartell]

Nosler 150 and 165gr Accubonds are tough to beat for a do-all 308 hunting load. I've seen the 150gr AB work on two bull elk and it worked great. I am going to load 165gr AB in my 308

 

[WhelanLad]

What are you hunting?

sounds like Deers for this conclusion of being too hard etc, would be worth looking at the old vanilla SP 150 or 180gr projies.... they do work. especially in 308s!

i use 150gr woodleigh reloads in 308 & 3006 , i put them in the same league as a Nosler AB , the AB will fly better out further though n thts about it.

 

[Dogleg]

Give 150s a try.

 

[Freyr_255]

The query was more along the lines of what are people using and what are your personal experiences. I'm aware of all bullets that are available and general book characteristics, so I'm looking for real world performance information. As in, what did you drop? What bullet? Range? Terminal performance? General comments?

I've been debating just dropping the bullet weight to 150, but wanted to hear what other people liked before making a final decision.

 

[350 Mag]

I used to be a diehard Accubond guy and still really like it.

But recently tried ELD-X and had excellent results as well.

For me it depends on range and impact velocities.

I have recently developed duplicate loads with 160 he AB and 162 ELD-X in 7 SAUM.

I use the AB for close range (under 300 yards), and have loads for long range in the 162 ELD-X.

 

[dgradinaru]

This last spring i used 165-168gr Nosler ballistic tips in my 308, not to happy with the bullet performance. Chest shot into a bear, tried to find the bullet but only found bits and pieces of the jacket. It literally disintegrated at 308 velocities. Ill be loading nosler partitions or accubonds or perhaps play with 180gr-200gr bullets from here on out.

 

[rommelrommel]

I pretty much exclusively use Barnes TSX/TTSX. excellent weight retention, tough, and expand well within the velocities they’re meant to be shot at.

 

[a j cave]

Haven’t hunted with 308 in years but was very happy with any of the cheep cup and core 165. Moose bear WT & mulies all fell no prob. For me the 165 worked best, expand and penetrate.

 

[Potashminer]

In 1970's I was very happy with 165 Sierra SPBT for my Win Model 70. Very nice groups on a target. Hit a running whitetail doe on the spine - of course it piled up right there, but no exit from the bullet - pieces of core and jacket all spread out, after hitting and not penetrating that bone. It was the only hunting rifle I had at the time, so decided I wanted something that would deal with bone better. Since then, I, and now our son, have been using 165 grain Speer HotCor in that 308 Win. We buy them in lots of 500 at a time. Have taken dozens of white tail and mule deer - he took a spike elk with it as well. Maybe we have placed all our shots better?? The load we use comes up at plus or minus 2,800 fps on the Shooting Chrony. About perfect, to my mind, for a 308 Win. I have taken several deer with 30-06 150 grain Federal factory and 7x57 150 grain Nosler Partition; and two elk with 225 grain Federal factory 338 Win Mag; carried, but did not fire 250 grain Accubond in 9.3x62 on my last "moose hunt", so we have choices, now. I doubt either my son or I have fired at un-wounded game much past 250 yards, if that far, so no real relevant experience beyond that.

 

[Ganderite]

My experience has been too much expansion and meat damage, without expansion with 150 C&C bullets.

With 308 I like a 180 because it does not blow up a deer and has the performance for a moose. Deer are not difficult to kill. Millions shot dead with a 30-30.

 

[Tex Critter]

Someone once told me that a 165gr bullet shoots flat like a 150gr and hits like a 180gr. I've never used anything else in my .308.

 

['Boo]

My new favorite 308 Win bullet is the 130 grain TSX.

 

[todbartell]

My new favorite 308 Win bullet is the 130 grain TSX.

fastest kill on a black bear I have witnessed was the 130gr TSX from a 16" 308, whopping 2875 fps. Just smashed it hard, not even a quiver. 8 yard shot

 

[remington jim]

fastest kill on a black bear I have witnessed was the 130gr TSX from a 16" 308, whopping 2875 fps. Just smashed it hard, not even a quiver. 8 yard shot

HEAD shot ? RJ

 

[Freyr_255]

Appreciate the candor guys. Kinda leaning toward the 165 hot cor now. Maybe a TSX as I do love them and they do ok for expansion at these velocities but feel like going more than a cup and core in 308 is almost going over board for what is required at these velocities. That said given the accounts of cup and core failure in this thread...I might have to eat those words lol! If people have more experiences please keep on with the sharing as I do enjoy hearing about this kind of stuff.

 

[MRP]

This last spring i used 165-168gr Nosler ballistic tips in my 308, not to happy with the bullet performance. Chest shot into a bear, tried to find the bullet but only found bits and pieces of the jacket. It literally disintegrated at 308 velocities. Ill be loading nosler partitions or accubonds or perhaps play with 180gr-200gr bullets from here on out.

Nozsler bt are a bit thin skinned at close range I found, better at 400yds. But thats getting a bit out there.
Nothing but 150 Hornady in 308 for me the last 35 years.

 

[todbartell]

HEAD shot ? RJ

high shoulder

 

[tinkertanner]

Anyone have any experience with the heavier TSX bullets? The 150 or 180 gr.? I've had good accuracy at the range with the 150 gr, but i'm concerned about the .308 having enough velocity to open them up properly on a deer.