Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Plains game load for .308

Nope.

Sounds like an amazing trip! I wonder if I could make something like that happen some day with my children. I'm a bit jealous, and excited for you and your daughter!

I'm not sure you need to "limit" the 308 to 40gr of 3031 at this stage though. It may help to "work up" to a bit more recoil and muzzle blast between now and then. To your question, I doubt there is going to be a hunting bullet you will come across that will give undesirable performance at modest 308 Win velocities, at the typical distances Plains Game are killed, but if there was one, it would likely be one of the "harder" bullets, IMO.

No experience here but with proper placement I have mostly DRT with the 150 TTSX Barnes shooting CCI LR Match primer, 4064 or Varget. None of those at max velocity. If I need more oomph, technical term, I use the same load in Lake City cases. My actual max is the start load averaged with the max load. In other words the middle load. The LC loads I drop two grains unless I need more power. Thus the regular load in an LC case. They are prepped heavily by me ahead of time and I use them on my 358 Winchester loads. I run them through the 308 SB die then right on through the 358 die, always with Imperial sizing die wax. They're so durable, it saves you more than a little bit on cases. Good luck. Let us read a report with photos on your return. Be Well, Rusty

If you can find any new Lake city, it is tougher than Lapua!!!

I am using LC LR 16 brass for this load so that might be helping velocity some. Max is 41.5 grain of 3031. Starting load is 38.0 so this is slightly over mid range load at 40.0 grains. Plus, this is being shot out of a 26 inch barrel in a savage model 12 flv.

168 TTSX and Varget or RL15 is all you need to know.

Here's a 165gr NP under the hide on the far side of an 8' brown bear, started at 2450fps out of a 300 Savage. Same performance on moose too!

Use the 150 TTSX - not the TSX. A .308 with a 150 TTSX has punched through every wild hog up to the 250 - 275 weight range I've shot with it and that is several truck loads and deer up to 250#, which is a bunch more. 100% of the TTSX's have exited. The big old boars here have thicker and tougher hides than most small and medium size animals and make good subjects for testing over lots of numbers of animals. The TTSX's always exit even when going through both shoulders which is covered by 1"+ thick tough hide.

My load for the .308 Win with a 150 TTSX is Varget in Black Hills brass (supposedly made by Winchester) and a F210 - 0.010" off of the lands. Lapua brass obviously is good, but it holds about 0.5 gr less. Runs right at 2900 fps from a 24" 1:10" barrel.

Make sure to take a good quality camera and good binos. A good bird i.d. book will be interesting too, the birds are amazing. My wife and I went to Tanzania for three weeks and loved it. Our expectations were high and it was even better than that.

Good luck and have a great trip.

There are some guys here who have hunted Africa. Some several times. May I suggest you listen to them. 308 with a 150 TTSX looks like a winner. You can run it faster than the 168 and get great penetration with deadly results.

As I recall, Mule Deer's wife hunted plains game with a 308 loaded with 150 grain E-Tips. I don't think she had any complaints. Ask him.

Was in the eastern cape last year for a cull hunt. Rifle was a Blaser R93 .30/06 with a Zeiss scope. Ammunition was factory Barnes 168 grain TTSX. Barrel length was 22". This combo worked perfectly. I would use it again without hesitation.

I think with the LC 16 cases you are getting close to the max velocity. Can you chrono it with that load in the 150 gr TTSX? It might enlighten you. You may be "there" and not know it. I had some discretionary funds come in and spent them on a Lab Radar. I can soon print out a dope card on any load with a few shots beside it. Lots of fun if you are a bit of a "Lab Rat". Keep her shooting and the familiarity with the gun makes for a happy hunter. Good luck and Be well. RZ.

I shot a 150 Ttsx diagonally through a moose at 547 yards. It was started at a mv near 3400 fps from a 300 wsm with superformance. If you go Barnes go Ttsx over tsx and I wouldn't consider anything heavier than the 150. I'd probably go with the130 and get the speed up to 3000 fps or so. Or just use a 150 or 165 partition.

Bb

I guess they all work but wife and I just took 15 animals in Namibia with Swift A-Frames..Flawless performance...300Win ,180 gr and 30/06 180..She dropped a giraffe with one shot,06....Guide was impressed..Swift factory bullets..Everything dropped with one shot out to 250-300 yds..

Ok. Think we have finally settled on a load. She handles the recoil of a 308 fine. So, LCLR brass, 41.0 grains of IMR 3031 and a 168 grain Barnes ttsx. Should give me around 2600 FPS. I may chronograph it later. No pressure signs with this load. After talking with the folks at Barnes, the 168 ttsx is designed to expand properly down to 1500 FPS so we should be good there especially with limiting shots to 350 yards or less. Now to get her shooting of sticks more.

I haven't killed anything but hogs with this one. Terminal performance has been outstanding.

I don't know how it would do on PG, but is an interesting bullet, very accurate as you can see. It frags and penetrates much like a Partition. I guess you could say it is the mono answer to the Partition. Kinda expensive, but how many do you actually shoot at game? Practice with cheaper bullets.

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/308-135gr-er-extended-range-raptor

I guess I'm the only fan, wrote the only review...

This group at a hundred, shot out of a Kimber Classic with 23" 5C Broughton barrel. Check out those low ES/SD values, pretty typical of Varget, IME. 2,900+ fps with a 135 gr. bullet out of a .308 isn't bad. And that's a LR bullet, doesn't have to be going that fast to expand and frag. I know it would work on the lighter PG animals, not sure about the bigger ones, or where the cut off should be.

Reportedly not the best choice in brush, could frag if it hits a branch. All my experience has been out in the open. All that said, I like this bullet.

DF

DF,

I know several African PH’s that think very highly of that bullet. Actual prefer it over a TTSX for certain applications.
R

Just keep it out of the brush.

My experience with it has been great; I'm a fan.

Only down side is the cost.

DF

Hello all, this is my first post... just joined last night. I took a 308 over there twice. My load both times was a 168 TSX over H4895 ( I think 43 grains) that chrono’d right at 2700fps. It killed everything I pointed it at, all with one shot including a very large zebra stallion at about 270 yards. I’ve taken other rifles over there, bigger ones, but my PH always asks why I didn’t bring my 308! I’ve seen 150TTSX used over there out of my buddy’s 30-06 and it worked very well. If y’all show up with rifle loaded with an X bullet that your daughter shoots well the PH’s will all be very pleased. I built my mom a 21” barreled 7/08 and loaded it with 140TTSX at about 2750fps.... it hammered everything as well. Including two zebras! Good luck, Benbo

Ben, welcome to the Campfire.
Thanks for the addititonal information.