200gr bullets in 308 Winchester

^ That was how it worked out for me and 308 Win - I bought 200 grain for trip North to hunt elk - never fired a shot at game. I bought several boxes of Federal Premium 165 grain for next trip - got an elk with one of them. Has been the bullet weight of choice in that rifle - our son has it now - I have been loading 165 Speer HotCor for it since about 1980. At same time, my Dad carried both 180 grain and 200 grain for his 30-06 in "big bush" and 150 grain for deer - towards the end, it was 165 grain for everything.
 
I shoot 180gr,but only because it groups the best at 100y+ with MY rifle. I'd happily do 150gr and a) have more ammo selection and b)less wasted meat? I assume there's less KE on target with a 27% lighter bullet
 
Jahnj0584 said:
I shoot 180gr,but only because it groups the best at 100y+ with MY rifle. I'd happily do 150gr and a) have more ammo selection and b)less wasted meat? I assume there's less KE on target with a 27% lighter bullet
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The 150 blows up and destroys meet. A 180 is a good all-round choice.

As for the OP, You can use the 200s if you have them. They will work well, but 180 would be a better choice. 200 is a real good 30-06 bullet.
 
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I use 165 interlocks for everything in 308 including moose. 200s are a little slow in my opinion. They will work but velocity would be slow and expansion questionable if you don't hit bone on longer shots. IMO
 
It all depends on if you worship at the church of velocity and kinetic energy (Roy Weatherby) or the church of bullet momentum (Elmer Keith) .

The .308 with a 200 grain bullet should produce just shy of 2500 fps muzzle velocity which will kill any moose in Canada when shot at 200 yards. It will definitely produce less blood-shot meat than a 150 grain bullet.

As the 200 grain 30 caliber hunting bullets typically have a high ballistic coefficient it will maintain a greater percentage of its velocity at 200 yards than a 150 or 165 grain bullet.
 
If you have the mag length for the 200s they'll work fine. You'll likely never recover one in a deer. A shot towards the front thru the shoulders will always work. Double lung may get a run further than if hit with a lighter faster opening bullet
Deer aren't hard to kill and within 200 yards either choice will work fine. I'd choose the most accurate
 
It doesn't have enough energy to reliability expand. Even Sierra bullets says their 200gr in a .308win will have a hard time expanding which says a lot because those Sierra game kings expand really easily.
 
brybenn said:
If you have the mag length for the 200s they'll work fine. You'll likely never recover one in a deer.
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I’ve only recovered one bullet in larger game so far and I've shot 150’s 165’s and 180’s in my .303 and .308’s, found a 165gr interlock under the opposite side hide on a mule deer 3 years back. Was fun to see but the full pass through’s are nice, not that this buck went anywhere more than 5-10 steps at the most.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
I shoot 180gr,but only because it groups the best at 100y+ with MY rifle. I'd happily do 150gr and a) have more ammo selection and b)less wasted meat? I assume there's less KE on target with a 27% lighter bullet
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Are you shooting game at ranges where the lack of accuracy is a problem? Or does it just kinda bother ya? I get it either way lol.

Butcherbill said:
I’ve only recovered one bullet in larger game so far and I've shot 150’s 165’s and 180’s in my .303 and .308’s, found a 165gr interlock under the opposite side hide on a mule deer 3 years back. Was fun to see but the full pass through’s are nice, not that this buck went anywhere more than 5-10 steps at the most.
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Last one I found here was a 180gr Hornady Interlock RN from a 30-06 that ran out of gas just outside the spine of a large whitetail after a high shoulder shot.

100gr 6.5mm TTSX sailed right through the year after lol. Left a heck of a hole on the way out too.
 
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