Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .308 under 50 yards

Hello I recently joined a new lease where there is a feeder placed at fifty yards and want to use my current .308 there rather than buying a .350 legend or .30-30. Would my .308 be fine at those smaller 30-50 yard shots using .308 rounds loaded with 150gr Nosler ballistic tips or 165 grain Accubond? I have also looked at the Hornady FTX or RN for 30-30 and I have really considered the Barnes TSX Flatnose Bullets. If I were to use one of these bullets or the noslers I have now, would I need to reduce the load/velocities? Thanks!

I’d pick the AccuBond and make sure nothing was standing behind my target.

Ballistic Tips would be fine also.

What are you planning to kill?




P

Pretty sure just about any 150, 165 or 180 grain factory load would be fine at 50 yards. Hunting bullets of course.

Well, I've shot deer anywhere from 6", no that's not a typo, to 426 paces with a Remington 660 chambered to the .308 so yes, a .08 will work just fine at less than 50 yards.

FWIW, that 6" was a fluke and a half There were three of us, the other two were the sons of a coworker who came along. This forker horn was trying to stay hidden until I almost stepped on him and be blots. Shot was literally from the hip and the muzzle no father away than about 6". The flame from the shot scorched the hair at the entrance. Dunno what the velocity was but the exit was something else. The hide was blown open and the insides scattered out on the ground. Easiest gutting job I ever did. Cut the windpipe as far up as I could reach and ream out the tailpipe. Turn it over, lift and shake. The load was a max charge of H335 and a 150 gr. spitzer. I think it was from a box I had that were before the Pro-Hunters. The kids were more than glad to help drag it down the mountain to the car. IIRC it was around 1974, maybe 1975.

Granted, that was a bit extreme but a bullet that has worked quite well as close as 35 yards on deer from the .308 is the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core. Frankly, that's all I've used in the .308 for years. It has worked just on the reasonably close shots and so far as far out as 250 yards.

Of the two bullets you mentioned, my choice would be the Accubond hands down. I took a nice cow elk with that bullet from a 30-06; one shot and down.
Paul B.

Whitetail and hogs

Ya, a few years ago I popped a small whitetail buck at no more than 70 yards, seems to me it was closer.

Used my 308 with a 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip loaded to about 2700 fps. Broadside, right behind the shoulder. Both lungs. Instant drop & death. Exit wound was about 2" or so. Very little meat ruined because of the shot placement.

I think most .30 cal hunting bullets would likely work just fine from the .308 Win at such short range.

Regards, Guy

150 NBT will absolutely work at 50 yards. I load my kind of mild cuz I don't need to shoot them way out there.

Every year I have to track and find a few Deer one our hunters has made a bad shot on almost always in very heavy cover, I try to let them soak for a Hour or a little more before i start looking if i find the Deer alive they will usually jump up and run, I use a .308 with a 16" barrel and 200 gr. Core- Locks, a little more poop than a 30-30, at very close range, no matter where I hit them it usually knocks them down, and I rarely need a second shoot, I am not a Fan of the .308 but the rifle I have works great for the job I need it for. Rio7

I’ve never seen a 150-180gr .308 fail to provide good results on deer or hogs at our typical ranges.

This can't be for real.

But I had a guy tell me that his close range hit with a 7mm-08 NBT load went badly because the bullet was going so fast it didn’t have time to expand before exiting.

I've heard similar nonsense.

I would not use 30-30 bullets. I do load Sierra Prohunter 150gr RN bullets for my 308 and the normal range hunting seer here is 100 yards or less. These bullets are not made for 30-30s.

I load 150 grain Sierra GameKings. I’ve shot deer and pigs from ten yards to 200. They do just fine.

I am being very serious, I have not been in the hunting world for long, I am 18 and have alot to learn, my dad doesnt hunt and never really has so I look to find answers on here. I have read some complaints of some bullets going to fast at shorter ranges and exploding or not expanding, just looking for a response from people who know alot on the topic and have years of experience under their belt.

I load reduced loads for the 308 for new hunters. Pistol powder with a Speer 130 HP at about 2200 ft/sec. He has harvested 3 deer furthest being 75 yards. 1 managed to go 25 yards being shot thru the heart. Their was a 30 caliber hole in the heart so the bullet didn't expand but it didn't seem to change the outcome. The other 2 were shot through the rib cage.

Apollo, 1st off there are no stupid questions, except the ones that aren't asked. Everyone at some point in time has run across this exact problem. maybe not at 18, maybe much younger or even older. If your hunting in that close of range, use a rem corlok or federal blue box 150 and don't look back. I hunt about 80% of thick hardwoods where shots rarely get over 100 yards. I do however reload for all my 308's. I use barnes 130 ttsx for my reloads, however, when supplies are tough to find, I go to walmart and pick up a box of 150's and won't look back. Don't make it more complicated than it is.

Couldn't have said it better. We all start somewhere.

Another thing that many uninitiated hunters or shooters tend to overlook, until they stop to think about it, is that a the on-game performance of a given bullet is dependent on two things, being impact velocity and shot placement. The bullet does not care if it is impacting at 2400fps because it was shot from a .30cal magnum 250yds away or from a .308 carbine 30 yards away. It's still the same bullet hitting at the same impact velocity. Performance should be rather similar.

If you hear/read about a bullet coming apart because of high impact speed, then there could be some truth in the statement.

If you hear/read about a bullet not expanding because it was moving so fast, then you've heard/read some bullshit.

For deer up close with a 308, have no worries with just about any game bullet. A 150 grain Interlock at 44 paces worked very well for me on a good size buck.