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Deer Hunting .308 Round

B

bassani

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 19, 2011
1,063
4
55
Mandeville, LA
I am going to try some deer hunting this year with my .308
I normally use my 30-06
My .308 barrel is 22" with a 1:10 twist

What has been your best commercial round for deer with this set up?
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Factory barreled rifle or a custom barreled rifle?

What ammo do you currently run your 308?
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

It would help to know the farthest range that a shot might be taken. Deer in the south are typically under 200 lb so any 150 grn soft tip will work out to 300 yds or so. I use WW Power Point from WalMart. The SMKs I load for matches are not recommended for hunting.

OFG
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I agree with OFG. Here in South Texas are Deer are Nice but not very hard to harvest. I use a 150gr Federal Soft Point, also from Wally World, does the job just fine. The fancy controlled expansion really are not needed for deer down here. Hell, the "classics" (Federal SP, Remington Core Lokt, Win Power Point, etc..) have been doing the job right for a long time, no need to change it in my oponion.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I have found Federal Powershok 150gr to generally shoot ~1moa, and work adequately on deer, though I've never retrieved a bullet I hit a deer with...nor is the exit wound impressive at all. However, the heart/lungs are turned to jelly.

The Remington Corlokt bullet has always been ~2moa in my rifles, but hits game like a frickin hammer.

Hit the deer properly in the vitals with ANY supersonic projectile and that deer is toast, regardless of whether it was an SMK, Amax, FMJ or soft point.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I agree with turbo54, I think placement is ultimately more important than bullet. Used a 175smk in my 308 for the last several years, the Muley's didn't go very far, most shots less than 400 yards. Went from 308 to 260 this year, using 142smks although I have some 140Amaxs on hand, use the same rifle for matches as I hunt with, just comfortable with her, although she does weigh a little more.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Like Turbo said above, the 150gr Federal blue box powershok soft point is a lot of bang for the buck.

Hope this helps.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Hornady A max match bullets make excellent deer and antelope bullets and hornady does say that they are acceptable for light, thin skinned game. I have shot 6 whitetails with them with great results.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

180 Gamekings are great all around projectiles., I love the nosler ballistic tips for deer. Many Washington and Oregon deer are no longer with us due to those projectiles. The ballistic tips are also very accurate projectiles.

Zach
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

For my .308 i use 175gr BT LRs not meant for game but last couple i've shot didn't move. They dropped. In our old 700 .308 we use 165gr SBT Gamekings, they work like a charm and are inexpensive.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Hornady 150 grain SST round. Drop's 'em where they stand.

Lee.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Gotta agree with Longbow, Hornady SST to the vitals and they never go far.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Factory Savage rifle heavy barrel 22"

Deer Size ---- biggest likely 230lbs

Distance --- should be some longer shots this year b/c they clear cut a portion of the property; longest distance 300yds
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Get the hornady 165 sst's, if they don't shoot well try 165 accubonds from federal.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I like Hornady's 150 grain SST a lot for .308 hunting loads, but I only handload it and haven't shot it with factory ammo. I have shot the 150 grain Hornady soft points in factory ammo and have had good luck with them.

For unknown distance shooting, especially at normal hunting ranges (say out to 300ish yards) I prefer flat shooting bullets. For whitetails, especially in Texas, 150 grain bullets are more than ample if they're designed as a hunting bullet.

Personally, I'm a little leery of using MatchKings for deer hunting for a couple of reasons. First, Ive seen whitetails run several hundred yards after getting hit with a perfect heart/lung shot. I like a nice sized exit wound so there's as much of a blood trail as possible to follow. I've also seen plenty dropped in their tracks, but you never know. I'd rather leave as large a margin for error as possible. The second reason is I've also seen matchkings punch nice clean holes through game animals. Again it's not neccessarily the rule, but I've seen it happen first hand.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I am using the 168 grain berger vld's. Awsomely accurate and I am 7 for 7 so far with them.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">180 Gamekings are great all around projectiles., I love the nosler ballistic tips for deer. Many Washington and Oregon deer are no longer with us due to those projectiles. The ballistic tips are also very accurate projectiles.

Zach </div></div>

Forgot about these. They are excellent, especially for longer range. I believe this bullet is one of the *premier* long range 30cal hunting bullets out there.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Federal Premium (P308C) is tough to beat for hunting. This round is loaded with 165gr Sierra GameKing BTSP. Accuracy is quite acceptable - about .1 MOA over FGMM 168. Ballistics are close enough to FGMM 168 that I don't change a thing when using this round.

Kevin
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

For deer, I've had good luck with Bergers and Nosler BTs. I'd use the 150 gr if going BT.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

It is a .30 cal. Any load works at .30 cal.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

When I lived in Ga I liked the 150 grain power points, did the job without a lot of wasted meat. In Co. I used the 180's for Mule Deer and ELk. Most of the time growing up I used a 243 with a 100 to 105.
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Which ever bullet is most accurate in your rifle. I prefer one load for each of my rifles so I use the 208 amax for everything in my .308; doesn't matter if it's steel/paper/game it's getting a 208. It's accurate and hits hard...
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Longbow_06</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hornady 150 grain SST round. Drop's 'em where they stand.

Lee. </div></div>

This
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RedGoat</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Which ever bullet is most accurate in your rifle. I prefer one load for each of my rifles so I use the 208 amax for everything. in my .308; doesn't matter if it's steel/paper/game it's getting a 208. It's accurate and hits hard...</div></div> What velocity are you getting with the 208's in 308? What barrel length?

I have been tempted to try the 208's in 308. We will start loading them for sub sonic 308 ammo.

Zach
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

I don't run factory hunting ammo. But I run 168g TTSX over 46 grains of RL15 OAL is 3.179

In my 24" barrel I am getting an average of 2800 fps.

Rifle is an FN SPR A3g.

Yeah, I know. I do $#!t the hard way.

Regards,
Greyson
 
Re: Deer Hunting .308 Round

Thanks for all the great info. The Federal and Hornady 165gr BTSP have very similar looking ballistics. I found a good deal on the Hornady. So, I'm going to give these a go. I will let you know my results.

Hornady 308 Win 165 gr InterLock® BTSP
 
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