Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Some 150g .308 bullet winter testing

I usually use milk jugs but discovered a stash of some old school books that were begging to be shot. The general consensus is that flat base bullets hold together better than boat tails and SST's are soft. Well I loaded up all three (Hornady Interlocks SP/BTSP and SST) at 2700 fps in my 308 Win. Soaked the books in water briefly and shot them. Results: 150 SP penetrated the farthest - just over 6 inches, BTSP penetrated about an inch less, and the SST came apart and only made it about 4 inches into the text books.

I had space left in the books so tried my favorite 308 (130 TTSX) at 3000 too. I have killed a couple cow elk with this and I did find a fragment copper in a roast where the petal had come off. I was surprised it held completely together on a pretty tough medium. I would not hesitate to use this bullet on any NA ungulate.

Here's the bullets:


Here's my very high tech test medium. The SP made it to the 6 inch mark and the TTSX made it a couple inches further.


Nothing earthshattering here but I was curios and bored. The plain old Hornady flat base is a pretty darn good bullet and very accurate. The SST's are accurate but I would (and do) save them for long range shots where velocity has dropped off. It's a nice pairing with the TTSX if you need to take a long poke.

Thanks for the pictures and results. Love the bullet tests!

I wonder how the Interbond would compare?

Excellent test and very interesting!..Thanks for sharing👍....Hb

Thanks for this. I just got a .308 Montana that I’m going to start loading for.

I have loved the Hornady 150 SP for a long time. Nice little report and testing.

The Hornady 150 Interlock, or old SP are my go-to bullets in my Ruger American .308. I load them to over 2900 fps, with CFE 223, and they are extremely accurate and hammer deer.

When I was shooting the 308w more, I settled on that bullet as it seemed like a good one. It always shot great. Kind of like the Winchester power point bullets. They just work.. and they never costed an arm and a leg. Thanks to the op for posting these results. Cool stuff..

Great report. I use the 150 grain TTSX over Varget, accurate and tough. Never have used the 130 grain but obviously they do the job. 3000 fps is certainly a bonus.

I use the 130 TTSX in a 300 Savage,150 TTSX in the rest of the 30’s

I wonder how a tipped Bear Claw or Partition would do.

I doubt the 150 Partition would have performed much differently.