What is in your opinion the best allround bullet weight for a .308 winchester

What do you think is the best all round bullet weight for a .308 bolt action?

  • 110

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 125

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 150-155

    Votes: 32 31.7%

  • 165-168

    Votes: 64 63.4%

  • 180

    Votes: 5 5.0%
  • Total voters
    101
  • Poll closed .
Search the forum "Art of the hunt"...

there is an excellent article regarding the deer hunters upgrading to elk hunting.
Its from early this summer and written by Colorado DNR.

specific 150 and 165 bullets at proper velocity are good, but 180's are recommended as to the INCREASED bulk of the Elk.

Having said that, I had other comment on my use of Sierra 165gr SBT over 42+ grains of Win 748 as being marginal for elk BUT other experienced / guides indicate they rather have a good placement over poor placement with anything that the hunter WAS NOT comfortable shooting.

Contact also the tech lines from the reloading site and question them.

Good luck.
 
I agree with the consensus of 165. Use premium bullets. At short ranges, I feel that the 150 or 180 can be used with no loss of effectiveness, again, using a premium bullet. Partition or other fail safe types are unnecessary at the velocities that a .308 winchester reaches.

At closer ranges, heavier animals, I would choose a round or flat point 180, to give a rapid expansion, deeper penetration, and a less drastic initial cavity. Better many times to go deep and clean , than go explosive within the first 8 inches.
 
I don't think a .308 is a 300 yard elk catridge. A 300 Win Mag IS a 300 yard elk cartridge.
Click to expand...

A 308 is a 400 yard elk gun, the 300 mags are 600 yard elk guns. It is a matter of the shooter, not the cartridges limitations.

I tend to shoot 150's in my 308's. They are hunting rifles used on smaller Georgia whitetails. For target shooting a tiny bit more accuracy is probably possible with the 165 or heavier bullets. If I were going to hunt game larger than whitetails with the 308 I'd move up in bullet weight. But I also own 30-06, 338-06 and 300 mag. If I need heavier bullets I use them in the more powerful rounds.

I've not tried them, but some guys are pushing the 130 gr barnes bullets to more than 3200fps from a 308 and are reporting devastating results on deer, elk and black bear.
 
I've shot 150 to 165gr deer loads equally well. For accuracy out of my rifle, hands down the 168 SMK; 1/2 minute groups with these. 165 game kings, 150 nosler shot similar 2-3" groups at 200 yards. Like jmr40 said though, I settled on the 150gr nosler for KY whitetail. I worry that anything heavier would be a tad much.
 
something that may not have been mentioned is that the 110 and 125 grain bullets are practically useless. They are not accurate and flat shooting, and aren't fast enough to cause much more damage than heavier ones. They are, in fact, more likely to fail and wound than would a heavier round.

Every caliber has it's proper size range. A 100 grain bullet should only be used in 6mm to 7mm range. a 125, I believe, should be used only in 25 through .284.
 
I have good luck shooting 155gr. Sierra Matchkings for accuracy. I havent shot at anything that needed a bullet any bigger than a 150-155gr.
 
If it's for a 16" bbl carbine (Guide Gun-SHTF), you won't have enough barrel to get the 170+gr bullets to an effective speed. I think it would limit the range and have poor trajectory.

155gr. A-Max have almost the same b.c. as a 168 but can be launched faster. The will actually remain supersonic for a longer time. Looking at the Hornady TAP report the 155 is "the" defensive bullet at longer ranges. The 110gr. has very impressive fragmentation--a great zombie bullet

But then again, the distance will be 600+ meters and that's not where you're using a defensive carbine.
 
short barrel

Folks keep mentioning the "guide gun", ... but I think what is being referenced to is a scout rifle and its short tube. Lot 1 is on the right track, I don't think a short barrel will be able to drive the slugs on the heavy end of the spectrum fast enough to gain their long range ballistic advantage, and a
Scout rifle is not a long ranger anyhow. The 165+/- clan would be as heavy as I would go. And I would consider carefully the bullet type, game bullets have come a long way recently.

My own Savage Scout lives on a diet of 147-150 grainers, deer and I hope hogs soon, its biggest live targets. Similarly, my vintage M88 Win uses 150's as well, same, same.


My .308 match (F/TR) rifle lobs 175 gr match bullets, exclusively, better than I can point them, out to 1000 yds, with a long 26" tube to gain me rather modest scores at matches.
 
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