So I have a couple boxes of 160gr FTX I picked up for 30-30, and then ended up selling the gun. Just wondering if anyone has any experience loading these in a 308 win rifle and if they'll hold up on game or act like a varmint grenade? Hornady's website claims they're good for heavy game (300-1500lbs) but I'm guessing the jacket is thinner than on standard SST bullets. I don't have any SST's to grind and compare so I can't check the validity of this assumption and I can't find any information on recommended terminal velocities.
Using 160 FTX in a 308 win?
- Thread starter Freyr_255
- Start date
The Hornady reloading manual shows the designed velocity range of 1800 to 2600 fps for the #30395 FTX 30-30 160 grain bullet.
I loaded my 1943 03-A3 30-06 with Hornady 170 grain flat points at aproximatly 2500 FPS for deer and they worked great. These were Interlock bullets and they never lost their lead core.
And for your .308 as long as you do not load them faster than their desined limit of 2600 FPS I dont see any problem.
I loaded my 1943 03-A3 30-06 with Hornady 170 grain flat points at aproximatly 2500 FPS for deer and they worked great. These were Interlock bullets and they never lost their lead core.
And for your .308 as long as you do not load them faster than their desined limit of 2600 FPS I dont see any problem.
Maybe I'll actually go buy a Hornady loading manual if they're listing velocity performance ranges as that's one of the things I'm always trying to figure out with various bullets. Their website didn't list it and a google search turned up nill. Much appreciated, thanks!
Northman999
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Yukon
It’s only ever impact velocity that matters. If it was me I’d load them in my 308 without hesitation and I’d load them as hot as I could. The 308 isn’t that fast and you will get down to 2600 ft./s impact velocity pretty quick. Just keep in mind that this is not a mono metal bullet and you’re likely to get some fragmentation, so don’t try shooting your 60 inch bull moose through both front shoulders, and you’ll probably be perfectly fine.
