Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting The .308 Winchester

Sums it up pretty well.

So, all of you proponents of the 308, what would you say is the best bullet weight for general field hunting?

It depends on what you want to use it for. For a one-load-does-it-all, I would say a 165 Ab, or Part.

Personally, my .308s are deer killers and my 7 mags get the nod for elk. That being said, I use 150 Hornady Interlocks exclusively in the .308-1/2 moa in both of my rifles.

155gr Lapua Scenar...

Those are the two I have used, antelope to elk.

No use for anything lighter than a 168/165 TTSX for me, though I run a lot of 185 bergers but will be bumping up a bit in the berger line up next.

Never liked light bullets....

Though I suspect that a 150ish X type would be decent too.

Eileen and I have primarily used a bunch of different 150-168 grain bullets in the .308, and all worked fine on animals up through elk-size. One of the several virtues of the .308 is moderate but sufficient muzzle velocity, allowing a wide range of bullets to expand nicely on big game.

Don't know what the "best bullet weight" is,but I use a 180gr interbond.Works great for everything.ymmv

Nosler 155 ETip for a monometal.

Just goes to show how versatile the .308 really is.

For food plot WT's, where 200 yds is an exceptionally long shot, not the rule, I like the 130 gr. Hornady. I get full penetration with chest shots, good entrance and good exit wounds, blood flowing both ways. Most have been DRT.

The 130 gr. Ralph Council bullet is exceptionally accurate. It's a custom BR type bullet, haven't tried them on game but Ralph says they work great on critters.

I've been impressed with the 135 gr. Cutting Edge Raptor. I haven't tried these loads at longer range, have too many other options.

I've heard it said, beware the man who has one gun, he probably knows how to use it. Seems I'm on the other end of that spectrum...

DF

I've posted this one before. A killer and accurate. Not a bad combo...

Haven't tried them beyond 100yds.

DF

How much are you leaning on the press handle seating those long bullets on top of 47 grains of Varget?

Easy to seat, the Varget does get crunched a bit; not a big deal.

They need to be seated down to the driving ring which you can see on the right bullet.

These bullets are very precisely made; the rounds are very concentric. I was actually surprised how accurate they are. Now, the gun gets some credit, a Kimber Classic with a 24" SS Broughton 5C, bedded by me...

But, even that gun needs quality bullets to shoot one hole groups.

This bullet opens up, fragments, causing considerable destruction, then leaves the scene with a nice exit hole. DRT's so far with chest shot critters. It would probably do a job on a shoulder...

DF

I never liked light bullets either UNTIL.....I started shooting the Sierra 155 Palma bullet!

It made a liar out of me!!

.308 stunt shooter...



Another cow from the same herd.. same stunt shooting .308..

I LOVE the .308!

It's the big brother of my absolute favorite, the 7mm-08.

120gr NBTs for antelope and deer, 140gr TTSX or 140-150gr Partition for elk.

What more could you want?

A 280 Remington

.260 Rem w/ 1:8" twist.

Honestly the 155 Scenar pushed by stout loads of Varget does so well that I really don't bother with much else.

Between the .223, .308 and .300 Win, all my centerfire needs are easily met.


The older I get, the less I want to fiddle with a bunch of different cartridges. Time is limited, and I would rather be in the field shooting/hunting than dinking around with load development and such.

True, but you should live a little and buy yourself a new camera, The faces in your pics are always out of focus.