.308 bullet for whitetail

Wyosmith said:
On deer I have had about 50% of the Sierra bullets I have used over the last 50 years have blown up, and so far I have not seen even one Burger that didn't blow up on ANY animal ANY time at ANY distance, ----but other then those, it's hard to find a 150 grain 308 load that would not be excellent for any deer any where
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I have used Sierra bullets for many years in several different calibers and have yet to have one "blow up" Sure they do fragment much of their weight going through the animal but I have had an exit wound 100% of the time even on hogs. If you have a 50% failure rate I would think you are doing something VERY wrong because they have held up to even close range shots with the 270 WSM at 3,000 fps impact speeds.
One thing to keep in mind with VLDs, SGKs or any bullet designed for controlled fragmentation is pick your shots, I have had a 100% success rate with them because in every case (with one exception) I waited for a clean broadside, the other thing to keep in mind is ideally you should use one size heavier bullet then is normally used on game that size to compensate for the bullet weight lost to fragmentation.
 
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Many shooters buy "premium" bullets to get the best performance, but its not always necessary.
I do the same many times, ( my favorite and most trusted "go to" is the Nosler Partitions in any caliber I can get them in. Sadly I have some rifles that use bullets Nosler doesn't make) But I am interested in the hole being through and through, and the wound being of good diameter. Other than those 2 things, there is nothing else to worry about. A bullet that retains 99% of it's weight doesn't kill anything better than one the retains 50% of it's weight if both make the same diameter hole and both exit.
I have a tendency to go toward Nosler Partitions the larger my quarry is, or the smaller my cartridge is. I LOVE premium bullets if I use my 25-06 for game over 200 pounds, but if I am hunting elk, a 30-06 or a 308 or 300 mag with a 180 grain to 220 grain bullet is usually going to be just fine, and with my 375H&H any bullet made to go in that cartridge is good on elk. Even the ones that come apart some sill kill elk like lightning.

I bought 15,000 150 grain Winchester Power Point bullets some time ago (1985) for use in my M-14, M1 Garand, FAL, and 1903 Springfield rifles because they were as accurate as I could hold them, and they were cheap back then.
Well in the last 3 years I started using the few I have left in my scoped 30-06 Mauser, and my scoped Mossberg 308.
I have now killed 4 deer, loaned the Mossberg to 2 hunters who have killed 3 more deer with it, 6 antelope and also 2 elk. As a rule I like 180 or heavier 30 cal bullets on elk, but the circumstances worked out that the Mossberg was available in a moment of need, and that was what it was loaded with and zeroed for. So 150 grain WW Power Points were what was used for those elk.

These bullets passed clear through every deer and every antelope including a few shots that were not broadside, and broke bones in several. I have no idea what the retained weight is because I was not able to recover any of them. (Exactly what I want in a big game bullet)
On the elk, both were shot 2 times each. Both had one exit and one bullet stayed in each animal. One weights 131 grains and one weight 129 grains after they were recovered. That's as good as I have seen from 150 gr 30 cal Nosler Partitions over the last 50 years of hunting and guiding.

These days they cost about what most other standard 150 grain 30 cal bullets cost, but in 1985 when I got them they were about 70% of the cost of most of their competition. So they were a "cheap bullet" but they sure don't act like it.

I have killed antelope, deer, elk, bear, and moose with Nosler Partitions, Speer Grand Slams, Barnes X, and various other bullets. I have to say these Winchesters 150s do as well as any 30 caliber bullet I have used of 150grains, regardless of brand. That is not to take anything away from the premium bullets I have used and seen used, but these Power Points are just a "plain vanilla" bullet, but they seem to think they are an ultra-premium bullet.

In my Mossberg with my best load, I can keep 5 of them touching at 100 yards and at 200 yards I have shot 2 groups that were 1.18 " and 1.2" so they lack nothing for accuracy. You get what you pay for most times, but I got a lot more then I paid for.

And that accuracy from a rifle that has only a Weaver K4. They could be even more accurate, but with a 308 with a 4X there is no way for me to know that for sure.
But I also don't care it they could be more accurate.
Just over 1" at 200 yards is plenty good enough for me.
 
Overwhelming vote for 150 gr bullet's. They didn't work for me because I could never get them to shoot with 165 and 180 gr bullet's. Having never shoot any animal with a 150gr bullet, I still think there is something to consider about them. That would be how much damage to the deer will they do? Light bullet's at higher velocity usually have a bad habit of creating to much damage. The idea IMO, is to kill the animal quickly and preserve as much meat as possible. That pretty much rule's out any shot with any bullet that will go through meat. The lighter and faster the bullet, the more damage I've seen. If the only consideration was killing the deer, 150's will certainly get the job done. If you try you'll find that the lightest 30 cal bullet you can get will take out a deer quickly if you place it right. The only jacketed bullet's I've ever hunted with in 30 cal have been 165 and 180 gr bullet's. I have seen the difference in light vrs heavy bullet's in my 25-06, it taught me not to use 100 gr bullet's and that seem to be people's favorite. I shot a porcupine once with a 100gr 25 cal bullet, pretty ugly but it was dead and got dead really fast.
 
A 150 gr expanding bullet out of a .308 win is just about perfect for whitetails. I prefer 150 gr SST's from a factory Hornady and they have worked great on the pile of deer I've shot. Zero tracking and clean exit holes. They tend to shoot very tight groups out of my gun and have good trajectory for longer shots if required. I used this same bullet in the Superformance on a Pronghorn last year with the same results.

Whitetails are thin skinned animals and don't require a super tough bullet with a ton of weight and super high energy to be killed effectively.
 
Used Core-Lokts in either 150 gr. or 165 gr. for nearly twenty years on whitetail from 37 yards out to 240 yards. Always performed well, usually through and through. In all but one rifle they shot right around 1 MOA; that one rifle (Savage M10, 150 gr.) shot about 3-inch groups at 200, which at the time I thought was pretty good, just not as good as my other rifles.

Now I reload, so I'm using Nosler Accubonds, but if I had to buy a box of bullets tomorrow to go hunting, I'd have no problem picking up a box of Core-Lokts.

Pretty much any huntingcartridge you pick will probably do the job well at the distance and on the game you're asking about.

Core-lokts are a decent low-cost option.
 
308 ammo

The new Browning BXR is just the ticket I have it for both my 30-06 and 300 win mag .It of very good quality and the price is a couple dollars less than any other brand from what I've seen.They come out with this for that reason.
 
Mallard76 said:
My .308 prefers the Federal Vital Shok 165r Sierra Game King. They have chalked up 37 deer to date.
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I used to use those 165gr Game Kings in my 30-06, deer never knew what hit them but at 2930fps they make a horrid mess of a deer up close. Switched to TTSX to reduce the damage a bit, we all like ethical kills but a 9.5" exit wound is excessive.
 
Deer under 150 yards you don't need premium ammo. No disrespect but deer are soft hide and my experience is a standard soft point or speer point bullet will do just fine at that distance.
 
A few years ago, my friend's son bought him a Ruger American in .308 and he brought it to me for re-mounting the scope and sighting it in. He didn't have any ammo for it, so I looked around and couldn't find any Remington or Winchester ammo in several stores, but found some Federal Fusion 150s at Kittery Trading Post.

I was very impressed with both the rifle and ammo, shooting a 3/4" MOA group. He went on to kill a nice buck with the rifle and the bullet performed very well.

I've never shot Fusion in any of my rifles, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for deer.
 
On deer I have had about 50% of the Sierra bullets I have used over the last 50 years have blown up, and so far I have not seen even one Burger that didn't blow up on ANY animal ANY time at ANY distance, ----but other then those, it's hard to find a 150 grain 308 load that would not be excellent for any deer any where
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Did the Sierras or Bergers penetrate to the vitals before coming apart? What was your estimated impact velocity ?

Those bullets are designed to do that, having thin jackets and very soft lead cores. If you want exit wounds, and shots are short, then those would not be a good choice for you. I like the Game King precisely because it comes apart at high impact velocity, after penetrating about 6 to 8 inches: if a deer is coming right down a trail at you, and you shoot him with a controlled expansion bullet, or even a heavy for caliber cup and core bullet known for penetration, such as the Corlokt or Interlock) you are in for a wonderful treat when you field dress that animal.

That would be how much damage to the deer will they do? Light bullet's at higher velocity usually have a bad habit of creating to much damage. The idea IMO, is to kill the animal quickly and preserve as much meat as possible. That pretty much rule's out any shot with any bullet that will go through meat
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The answer to meat damage is don't shoot them in the meat. Behind and below the shoulder wastes very little, unless you are partial to lungs..... I would not even know how to cook them....

we all like ethical kills but a 9.5" exit wound is excessive.
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What did the deer weigh? I've shot deer broadside with a 150 gr Gameking with 2950 muzzle velocity, range about 15 feet.... exit wounds were only a bit bigger than thumb size.... I find 9 1/2" hard to believe ..... maybe a blood clot under the hide that big, but a near 10 inch hole in the offside? That's peggin' the BS meter.
 
Couple of years ago I took a buck with a 180gr Sierra GK. Broadside shot through the ribs at 86yds. Through and through with a quarter sized exit. 2 weeks later I took a doe from the same stand and same spot but hit her shoulder on a slight angle. Almost severed the leg and the exit left a 8" long by 4" wide hole in the offside ribs. Unlike the buck that just dropped she actually ran towards me with the almost severed leg spinning in the air and her insides spilling out of the giant exit. She dropped 20' in front of my stand.

This was in a 300WM moving at about 3,000fps.
 
If you are not a Hand loader, I'd say the WW White box (now silver box) 150 grain Power Point, The Remington Green Box 150 grain Core-Lokt, or the Hornady "white tail" are all about as good as you can do
For deer you will not be able to tell much difference between any of these and the best Premium ammo loaded with Nosler Partitions, but all cost far less. The premium bullets start to show their stuff on larger animals such as elk where penetration needs to be deeper and bones are bigger.
But all 3 of those loads will zap any deer and exit in most cases.
 
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