Range Report Shorty 308 hunting load selection

[Crews]

I've got a 308 with a 14.5" barrel, and am interested in selecting the best bullet for medium range hunting scenarios. For reference, it shoots FGMM 175's at 2410. This is for thin-skinned game, with most shots being in the 100-400 yard range. Maybe as far as 600 if everything was perfect. For reference, I'd likely be getting someone to make some custom loads for me.

For my application... am I better off staying with a heavier bullet, or going a little lighter and keeping the speed up? I am really just concerned with minimizing my chances of screwing up a wind call in that 400-600 yard range. Anyone have any thoughts or considerations?

 

[XTREM HTR16]

155 Scenar

 

[6.5 GUY]

You should try H4895 behind a 165 gr Nosler BT. They're easy to get to shoot well, and since H4895 is on the faster side that should help too in your short barrel. FWIW I use 42.5 in Lapua brass w/the 168 SMK in my 18.5" bbl and I get 2,550 f/s. The NBT will work well on thin skinned game too at those POI speeds.

 

[Charger442]

I've had greatly success out a 16.5" barrel using the 180 grain nosler partitions. I haven't shot them out to 600 but anything you shoot out that far will depend on your wind call. 180 grains should be more resistant to wind though

 

[diggler1833]

I use the 165gr Nosler BT in my .308 for hunting. It really does a good job on turning the lungs into a strawberry puree. I've had complete pass-throughs on all of the deer I've shot (obviously some fragmentation), but the blood tails haven't been great on a couple...however the chest cavity has been a liquified mess, and I've not had one go further than about 50 yards.

I'm not sure you're going to be able to keep velocity high enough to get the intended performance on game past about 300 yards with a 14.5" barrel. You might be able to extend your range just a bit by going to a lighter bullet, but I personally dont know of an offering that would allow you to get good expansion for a clean kill at 600 out of a shorter barrel.

 

[BrienM]

I’m a big fan of the 150sst hornady in my 18” 308. It performs well on WV whitetail...