What .308 bullet & load for two different .308 Rifles?

Sly Old Fox

Sly Old Fox

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Problem- To find a bullet and load for two different rifles, a M77 Ruger lightweigt in .308 well scoped, for longer shots and a Savage 99 in .308, open sights for closer shots capable of not perforating a deer yet also of taking down a moose.

My son has taken many moose and deer with the M77 bolt gun, no problem. He always bought off the shelf whatever he could find, not always the best choice and made the compromises, one year one make, next year different make and bullet weight.:(

He has now acquired a Savage 99 lightweight, open sights, also in .308 that he wants for close range deer and possibly for moose in tight cover.

I can reload for him and we would like a suggestion of a 165-168 grain bullet which will be used in same loading in the two rifles.

Obviously, the bullet and load must be accurate enought out of the M77 to take a moose out to say 250 yards yet expand sufficiently enough on a deer at say 100 yards, to have a kill.

The M77 will be sighted in for about 225 yards and the Savage 99 sights adjusted for 100 yards, same load.

I am hoping that Ben Humchak and H4831 see this & jump in with their sage wisdom and of course all advice will be welcome.

Thank you.
 
I'd probably look at 165 gr Nosler partitions or 150gr TSX's. Just out of curiosity why do you need to use the same bullet for both guns as most likely one load will shoot better in one gun than another?
 
I have used 165's in all my .308's for years. If forced to choose one bullet for everything I'd go with the Nosler partition. Second choice the Nosler accubond. Economical and effective third choice is the Remington core-lokt. Have killed a lot of game with the first and last of those three bullets shot from a .308.
However, I'm not sure what you mean by not wanting to "perforate" a deer. You must perforate ( put a hole in) in order to kill 'em.
 
Sly Old Fox
I always liked the 150 Hornady Spire Points in my 99C. Have taken 3 moose with it and Elk and Countless Deer.
Thye 165's were the heaviest I went in the 308. I had a thing in my mind that I didn't like the 180's and I really have no excuse or reason.

Ken.
 
You'll have to work up the load for each rifle. No two will shoot the same ammo the same way. Any 165 grain hunting bullet will do nicely. Think IMR4064 or Varget.
 
Longwalker said:
I have used 165's in all my .308's for years. If forced to choose one bullet for everything I'd go with the Nosler partition. Second choice the Nosler accubond. Economical and effective third choice is the Remington core-lokt. Have killed a lot of game with the first and last of those three bullets shot from a .308.
However, I'm not sure what you mean by not wanting to "perforate" a deer. You must perforate ( put a hole in) in order to kill 'em.
Click to expand...


Sly Here: by "perforate." I meant drive on thru without enough expansion, such as with a FMJ. Poor choice of words, I admit.
 
Why not go really heavy for the up close and personal rifle like a 180 grain round nose - you may have to see if it can stabilize and then a 168 grain Ballistic Tip Silver Point Nosler - I use that one for deer and it hasn't failed on the 3 deer I shot with it so far. It is a pretty unforgiving bullet at close up shots - it drove through a little doe this year at 35m and just kept on going...
 
hunter5425 said:
I'd probably look at 165 gr Nosler partitions or 150gr TSX's. Just out of curiosity why do you need to use the same bullet for both guns as most likely one load will shoot better in one gun than another?
Click to expand...

The Savage 99 will only be used at under 100 yards, probably much less. Therefore there is no need for MOA grouping, and it is with a rear open sight which may be used to adjust the elevation for this short range.

On the other hand, the M77 only has a scope and would be used where longer shots are possible, deer or moose.

The load must be accurate out of the M77 because of the range, whereas the same load shoot be OK in the lever gun at much shorter range.

What I am trying to do is have a load which will do the job required in either rifle and not have two loadings of the same bullet in the .308 which could just lead to a mix up. I am trying to simplify the ammo question for him so that from year to year he is using the same load.

Thanks
 
Sly ole' fox...that is sly...tryin' to get a dig in.......okay, I'll bite. I only load light cast bullet loads in my .308s as they are in production class and very accurate, I use 185-210gr. bullets and 30 grains of Varget. If I was building a load for jacketed bullets I would try different makes of 180 gr. bullets until I found the most accurate bullet then work up loads with the same Varget powder IMHO....Ben
 
My Verbosity Clouded this Simple Question!

Sly Old Fox said:
Problem- To find a bullet and load for two different rifles, a M77 Ruger lightweigt in .308 well scoped, for longer shots and a Savage 99 in .308, open sights for closer shots capable of not perforating a deer yet also of taking down a moose.
(Unquote) With all the bumph cut out.

Gentlemen - I must apologize. As many of you have probably noted :confused: I do at times get carried away..:eek:

So,this should have been my question.

Please suggest a jacketed bullet (and perhaps starting loads for the .308 Winchester which will be effective on deer and moose?


In the past, I have been partial to Noslers in other calibers but never used them in a .308

And Ben, I forgot that you are primarely a shooter of cast.
Click to expand...
 
"...trying to simplify the ammo question..." Easiest fix is to use different brands of brass for each rifle. You might get lucky and find a load that shoots well out of both, but not likely.
Rifling twists in the two rifle may be different. Makes a difference.
Savage 99 .308's came with 1 in 10 or 1 in 12 rifling twist. The latter won't stabilize heavier bullets(heavier than 150's) as well as the former. The Ruger uses 1 in 10.
To find out which twist your Savage has, put a patch(solvent or oil for lube) on a cleaning rod, into the muzzle, then mark the top of the rod near the handle and at the muzzle end. Push the patch through the barrel for one complete turn of the handle end mark. Mark the muzzle end again. Pull the rod out and measure the distance between the muzzle end marks. That'll be one turn in whatever distance.
 
Here is my load for .308 Win. It worked great out of 3 rifles - Lapua Brass, Fed Match Primer Large Rifle 210M, 168gr BTSP Nosler, ober 46.0 grains of Varget Powder. Back it off by 5% before you try this load as 46.0 grains is close to the max load. This brew has demolished 3 deer. I was using a Hornady Interlock bullet and straight old Remington Core-Lokt before that.
 
Having had two 6mm Remingtons at one time I can see the problem a little differently.
Keeping the brass segregated for each is important; one headstamp for one and a different munufacturer for the second. 180 round nose for the lever and 165 premium for the bolt. This way the ammo for one is never confused, mixed or shot in the wrong rifle. Simple basic rules . . . from my experience.
 
First, cases will have to be full length sized to make sure they work in both rifles.

Test both rifles to see what the max length is for loading and feeding from the magazines. Which ever is the shorter will be you max length for both rifles.

Do the accuracy work up in the Ruger. What-ever works in the Ruger will be adequate for the close in Savage shots, so long as the ammo is not too hot for the Savage.

The bullet will have to be pointed because of the long range requirement. I have used all types of bullets and found they all worked well on game. Ulitimate choice depends on how many I am going to make. If just a few, a premium bullet is fine. If making hundreds or thousands, I use the cheap Hornadys.

In other than premium barrels, a flat based bullet has a better chance of grouping well.

Because hunting is sometimes done in very cold weather, I prefer to use extruded powder rather than ball because it ignites easier. For your needs, Varget, 4895 or RL15 would be excellent choices.

As it happens, I hunt deer and moose with 308 and use several different rifles. Because of what we consider excess blood-shot meat on close in kills with 150 gr bullets, several of us have concluded that we should use 180 gr on deer. 308 is still much more than what is needed for deer, so bullet performance need not be optomised. The 180 stays together, mushrooms and makes a good-sized exit hole on deer. It has good down range performance for longer shots and is just about the perfect weight for a moose.

On moose a 180 may or might not exit.

Twist is not an issue. A 1-12 barrel will shoot 190 gr boat-tails very well (very long bullets) so a 180 flat base is no problem.
 
I'm a firm believer that you should load one round, one rifle, one style of hunting. But then, I have plenty to choose from. I use different brands of cases in my .303's for instance. Each one is then matched to a chamber, bullet, charge, etc.
I also use my .30-06 for hunting anything over 300yds. Short ranges are covered by my Rem 799 in 7.62x39mm loaded with either 125's or 150's depending on the anticipated distance, everything else easily can be covered by the .303's, .243Win, or whatever I feel like taking out that day.
I have almost 2 of everything I own so each is dedicated to a specific type of hunting style and game. Therefore, each gets different brass and loads.
My common denominator is that I use the same primer; same bullet type (mostly proHunters, Rem bulk, or hornady bulk; and only one powder and work up the best load from that, doesn't have to be perfect, only has to give me MOA. Most are better than that.
Thsi way, I never have to worry about mixing powders up, not being able to find the primers if I run out, or having to worry about finding specific bullets if they become hard to find.
OP, since you are shooting 2 entirely different actions, I rather humbly suggest 2 different loads.
 
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