Hunting bullet for short barreled 308

Now that I've got my shorty set up as a dedicated hunting rifle I need to figure out a good hunting load for it. It shoots well with the 168 amax but that's not a real hunting bullet.

I tried some 178 ELD-X in the precision hunter ammo by hornady today. It shot great but I didn't get a chance to run it over the chrony. It should above 2400fps at the muzzle even with the stumpy tube. That will keep me in expanding velocities out to 500 yards, not planning on shooting that far anyway. My range finder has a hard time getting consistent hits on game out past 350-400, definitely need a better one.

My thinking is I'm going to be limited in velocity any way I shake it and the extra bullet weight will help it hit a little harder across the spectrum.

Other bullets I have considered are 165-168 ballistic tip or AccuBond, 165 Sierra gameking, 168 VLD berger, 165 swift scirocco, 150-165 CEB match/hunting, I'm sure there are others I'm missing.

What are your thoughts? Game would be caribou, black bear, and moose.




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I'll defer to Guys good judgement on a .308, but since he's taken some nice critters with a 165 BT out of his '06 I would think that would be a good bullet to use.

I would also try the Partition :wink: just saying :mrgreen:!!

Blessings,
Dan

I would look long and hard at a good cup-and-core bullet. Slightly slower velocities and generally closer shots (under 300 yards, I'd guess) are parameters in which these old favourites shine. Nothing wrong with a good 165 grain BT, a 165 Sierra Game King, a 165 grain Hornady InterLock or even a PowerPoint and/or a CoreLok. The Partition will perform well from this rifle, of course, but it likely isn't required. I do like the Scirocco, though it is difficult to find at times here in Canada.

What about a Barnes 130 grain or 150 grain TTSX? Could get the 130 grain moving...


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For a 308 Win I would try a 150 AccuBond before any other bullet.

Nothing wrong with a good 165/168, I would pick the 150 because you'll see a touch more velocity and the 150 AB doesn't give up anything in killing ability


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joelkdouglas":qz5kcqwf said:

For a 308 Win I would try a 150 AccuBond before any other bullet.

Nothing wrong with a good 165/168, I would pick the 150 because you'll see a touch more velocity and the 150 AB doesn't give up anything in killing ability


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Click to expand...

Or the 125 AB... And a 2nd to the 130 TTSX. Seems like alot of folks are getting great results out of both of those in the 300 Savage so I'd still suspect good speeds and you'll keep the speed high to make sure they expand.

Chances are the 178 you mentioned might be real good since they are softer and like Mike said, a bonded or mechanically locked bullet probably isn't needed.

I load the 130 TTSX Ffor my sons 308. I have no doubt it will perform at closer ranges as it's real fast out of the gate, but sheds energy pretty quick. It I can get these 178 ELD-X up to a reasonable speed 2400-2500fps it should do well out to 300-400 yards.


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SJB358":26jfkl4f said:

joelkdouglas":26jfkl4f said:

For a 308 Win I would try a 150 AccuBond before any other bullet.

Nothing wrong with a good 165/168, I would pick the 150 because you'll see a touch more velocity and the 150 AB doesn't give up anything in killing ability


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Click to expand...

Or the 125 AB... And a 2nd to the 130 TTSX. Seems like alot of folks are getting great results out of both of those in the 300 Savage so I'd still suspect good speeds and you'll keep the speed high to make sure they expand.

Chances are the 178 you mentioned might be real good since they are softer and like Mike said, a bonded or mechanically locked bullet probably isn't needed.

Click to expand...

I keep forgetting Nosler makes that 125 AB now! I bet I could get it really moving out of one of the 30-06s!


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We use 155 amax from 20inch Mossberg rifles. 36 or 38 grains of h322 I believe. 2 species of deer and elk out to 450 yards never had time to complain.

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I've had great results from the 165 Ballistic Tip in both the .308 and .30-06, but dropping to a good 150 seems like an excellent idea too.

The Sierra 165 gr HPBT Gameking shoots great in my 30-06. I haven't tried them in my 308's, but wouldn't hesitate to use them.

Since moose are in the equation, I think the 165 Partition over IMR 4064 would be your friend. Perhaps a 165 cup and core BT matching load for caribou, black bear and practice.

Nothing wrong with a cup and core 180 RN or Norma Alaska for a dedicated 200 yard or less moose load either.

I think the suggestion of a good 150 gr. bullet like the Partition or AccuBond would work very well. Same bullets if I went with the 165 gr. weight.

I hunted with a 308 Carbine for over a decade......wish the 125AB was available back then! If it shoots well in your rifle, take it and run!

I ran those 178 ELD-X over the chrony. First box shot really well and clocked right at 2449fps. The second box shot poorly, and clocked at 2400fps. Pretty disappointed in that consistency. Some 168 SMK loads I had left over from my AR10 clocked right at 2630fps and shot pretty well. I think I'll try out the 168 VLD next


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I worked up a load with CFE223 and 168 Berger classic hunter.

It was the first time I tried the OCW method versus running a ladder. It worked out pretty well. I settled into a cluster at 48.0gr of CFE 223 for 2595fps. I got it up to 2670fps but the accuracy at 2595 was much better.

I played with seething depth a little bit and got it shooting quite well. The published BC must be pretty close as I dialed in 4.75 MOA and shot this three shot group at 300 yards.



That's about exactly where my ballistic program said it should be!

According to my ballistic program this combo should stay supersonic out to 1000 yards and should be moving fast enough for expansion out to 500 yards and still carrying almost 1200fpe of energy.

After hearing so many people having good luck with the burgers I'm hoping it will work out for me too. The only failure of a Berger I have seen was on a goat where one came apart in the front shoulder out of a 300 WSM. Being that I'm running it 400fps + slower it shouldn't blow apart out of my 308.


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Nice...