.308 bullet selection help

As I'm reading this I think you're asking for a 308 target bullet that would work for hunting as well.

I'm also assuming you don't reload.

This leads me to recommend Hornady Ammo.

In the 308, Hornady mates the A Max in 168. This is a target bullet and according to Hornady and I agree, is not a hunting bullet.

Hornady also makes the 165 Grn SST, which has nearly the same BC as the A-Max, its supper accurate and is a hunting bullet.

I personally think the SST is a great deer/antelope round BUT some times the jacket may seperate on heavy game such as Elk.

Soooo...................Hornady came out with the Interbond. This is basicly the same as the SST, but the jacket is bonded to the core making it a better Elks size hunting round.

Hornady, besides selling the bullets, sells loaded ammo with the SST and IB Bullets.

Again they in my opinion are as accurate as the A-Max.

Personally I don't use the 308 for hunting thought I do use them in a couple of my target rifles. I've shot the SSTs in my target 308s and they seem to work as well as the A-Max.

I hunt with a 270 Winchester. I use 150 SSTs for practice and 150 IBs for hunting. I load them the same. (The SSTs are cheaper then the IBs). Using the same powder/charge, same brass and primers they shoot the same place, at the same velocity. I don't have to change my sights when I switch from SSTs to IBs. I just shoot more SSTs because they are cheaper.

So if I was to recommend a bullet that works for both hunting and target I'd pick the SST. It will work on deer and antelope but I'd chose the same load using the IBs for elk.

Hornady sells both loaded ammo and bullets using the SST and IBs. I'd recommend the 165 grn SST/IBs for the 308.
 
150 corelocks. theyll take care of anything youd tackle with a 308 and can be bought for not much more then the cost of loading your own at walmart or other places.
 
Reload

Reloading is the best way to not only save money but get the most accuracy out of your rifle. Also the satisfaction you get is priceless. You can get a low cost kit from Lee or just build your own.

The weakness of the kits and in general are the archaic beam scales, so I would recommend a digital, which on Amazon is pretty cheap (and this one goes to 2/100ths grain)

http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GPR-20-Gemini-PRO-Milligram/dp/B003STEJD4/ref=pd_ybh_12

For hunting I love the new Barnes LRX 175s for .308, they are very accurate too (see test http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499228 ) Or use their 165/168 TTSX.

For target, Hornady Amax's are great, as are the SMKs. I prefer the amax.

If you want to got the factory route, check out these tests done:

http://www.snipercentral.com/matchammo.htm (target)

For hunting:
Barnes VOR-TX (TTSX bullets)
Hornady Superformance .308 (Interbond bullets)

The T3 .308 has a 1:11 twist rate (see Tikka website), so you should be good for a nice range of bullet weights up to 168grains. You can try some heavier weights to see how they perform.

Anyway, hope you find the happy medium. :)
 
But, I do shoot the Hornady A-Max in several rifles as a match target bullet- and they can also be used as a hunting round due to their composite tips that will cause expansion.
Click to expand...

I use A-Max bullets for Varmint shooting, and they work remarkably well.

I wouldn't use them on a bigger game animal though, there are much better bullets out there.

When I got my 1903A3, I bought a box of the cheapest .308 bullets on the shelf at Cabela's, and ended up with Hornady 180 Gr BTSPs, that shoot great through my rifle.

Definitely worth a try.
 
Lloyd is right Robertsig, The Federal Premium 165Gr. Gamekings have shot real well in two .308 rifles I've played with. Try the cheaper loads first though as they may do quite well in your rifle. As I understand it the Tikkas generally shoot quite well.
 
+1 on AMAX 155 bullets from Hornady. IMO, these are probably the perfect bullet for the 308, given it's relative powder capacity, range, and performance. It is a "target" bullet, but it penetrates well and expands well for hunting use.

I really appreciate its accuracy and performance in this round.

Else I shoot the Lapua 155gr Scenar bullets for long range. They work well, but I do not know whether they would be considered a hunting bullet. They take the jump to the lands well.
 
GameKing, SST, A-Max. I can't decide! I assume my Tikka will do well with all of them, but I don't have the time to test much at the moment.
 
I've always had sub-MOA groups with Sierra hunting bullets in .223, .243 and in .30. That goes back to before the name "Game King".
 
RobertSig

Regardless of the bullet that you pick if long range is your objective you can't neglect the enviromental factors. The use of balistic software can make a difference.

Have you had the opportunity to see "Magpul: The Art of the Precision Rifle"

I've found it interesting and instructional.
 
You got me thinking, a dangerous thing, I know.

I'm a beginner reloader and I've been thinking about some of the same things you are brought up.

My objective is to replicate/improve the performance of the Federal GMM 168grain HPBT. But use a Hornady 150 grain SP bullet. Why Hornady? Because I got 500 of them for free when I bought my Lock n Load AP press.

I know its going to be difficult because of the BC difference between the two bullets. So what I did is take a couple of Federal GMM apart.

attachment.php


The Varget powder is on the left and the powder from the Federal GMM on the right. I measured both of the federal and they came out to 43.9 and 43.8 grains.

As you can see the color is different but otherwise the powder looks very similar. Obviously I will be following the manual powder recomendations for the bullet I'm using, but I thought you guys might find this info interesting.
 

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I have killed 3 pigs with Matchkings out of my .308. Through the neck or behind the ear, they won't know the difference between it or a Barnes TSX.


However, I have also killed them with M193 5.56 ammo, so that .308 Matchking was a step up :p
 
Pigs is exactly what I'll be going after in January. A friend has a ranch near Amarillo and like everyone else he has a pig problem that he would like some help with. I've done very little hunting, mostly Nutrias, Racoons, Possums etc... so I'm debating between my POF 308, Savage 10 or Mossberg 930SPX with slugs.

What do you think would be best?
 
150gr Federal

Hi

If you don't want the hassle of reloading. The 150gr Federal does have good take down ability - shot two blue wildebeest with them this weekend and both didn't go too far - I shot the one actually a bit high and still found it 15m further .
I wanted to use the Sako Hamerhead but the Federals somehow found their way into the magazine - lol

Hope this helped
 
308 is my favorite round. I reload , shooting buddy also shoots a 308 he does not reload. Shoots Hornady A-Max 168gr. 3/4 " groups at 200 yards.
 
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