Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Looking for a 308 elk load

Alright folks...I'll be going elk hunting [first time] this year. I will be handloading some 308 ammunition for myself and my brother in law.

I am basically looking for a good elk load, so I was thinking 180gr bullets.
I will be using an 18 inch barrel..does this pose a problem with the heavier bullets?

Thanks guys.

You will need to stalk about half a foot closer before shooting.
(Couldn't resist) Seriously I think you will be just fine with 180
gr bullets. I would zero 2" high at 100 yards and go hunting.
Good Luck!
GWN

I will be loading the 168 grain Barnes Triple Shock, you might consider that as well!

Huntr

Matthias- Where at in Wa. do you live, and where do you plan on Elk hunting. Don't have a load for you, just nice to talk to a local.-Mike

Try working up to 44 gr. IMR-4064 under a 180 Partition. BE CAREFUL, THIS IS A MAX. LOAD. My 20"
barreled 308 doesn't have any problems with the 180s.

Dave

Here's another vote for the 168 gr TSX

I live in Kennewick, and I'll be going to Bethel Ridge for elk, and Colville for deer.

3rd for the 168 TSX

You fellas think that's heavy enough for elk sized game?

Mattias, I have loaded the .308 for a whole bunch of fellas up here who shoot moose, and the all time favorite bullet is a 165 grain
Game King.

One fella brought this one in on Tuesday, shot wasjust over 100 yards in willows, all He had to shoot at was the hump.

He brought it down onto the spine, and the moose cratered where he stood. It split the spine.

Bullet now weighs 150.7 grains.

He wants more game Kings!

Most of the guys I load for want one bullet, so i load the 165 for them.

Haven't had a bad review in 15 years...

Oh, ya, the rifle? A Savage 99C with a Leupold 6X scope.

Catnthehat

180 gr Sierra round nose, 41 gr IMR 4064, LC match cases, CCI primer. About 2500 fps. With Win, or Rem case, you might be able to go to 43 gr, but work up 1st.
You will find up to 200 yds, you won't see much difference in accuracy, than a Game King, but you will see a big difference in elk whackability with the round nose, and they wil hold together better for close in shots.

Easily, that 168 Barnes will most likely keep 95%+ of it's weight and still weigh 160+ grains, expand to twice it's original diameter and penetrate great while offering a little better trajectory than a 180 grain.

Also, some lesser constructed 180 grains might only retain half of their original weight.

If you don't use a premium bullet, I would go with a 180 grain bullet, if you decide on Barnes, Fail Safe or some bonded bullet, 165 or 180 grains would both work.

I recently bought a 308 Win and have been trying to decide between the 150 and 168 TSX (I'm usually a 1 load per gun hunter) for mostly deer hunting but also to occasionally hunt animals that are a little bigger. I decided on the 168 TSX just because I already had 4 boxes of them but I bet a 150 TSX would be nasty on deer as well.

I was just reading an article in Handloader from 2000 on the .308 by Finn Aagaard. He prefered the 150 grain Barnes to all others, even for large game.

At 165 grains he said that the Speer GS and TBBC were fine for elk. His buddy prefered 180 grain partitions. These too worked just fine.

Since I'm busy handloading for my 7mm-08 I decided to use some factory loads in the .308 this year. I chose the now discontinued Speer Nitrex loading with 165 GS bullets as they were on sale locally. Out of the 22" barrel on my Rem. 7600 they averaged just under 2800 fps(this is 100 fps faster than the box claims. Groups were around 1 1/2-2". Hope this helps.

My wifes Blr likes 45.2 grs of ww 748 pushing the Hornady 165 gr. bt interloc for a velocity of 2750. That load has only managed to kill 3 6x6's and a rag horn so far.

I did the standard wet newspaper test a couple years back and pretty much confirmed what everyone else has already said. In the .308 the 150 and 165 X out penetrated the 180 grand slam and 180 partition.

My concern for the premium 180 is it may be a bit slow on the expansion as the range gets out there. Max loads in my .308 run about 2675fps with the 180, 2900 for the 165 and around 3000 for the 150s.

In my newspaper box 150 ballistic tips went about 10 inches and fragmented horribly, the 150 and 165 SST went about 12 inches and held their cores, 165 grand slams about 15 inches, 180 partition about 16, 180 failsafe about 18 and both of the X bullets hit the 18-20 inch range and showed a bit more expansion that either 180 grainer.

For what its worth in my .35 whelen the 225X went almost 28 inches and a 250 hornady went 25 and left a much bigger hole. The penetration winner was a 300gr .45 hardcast flatpoint out of my muzzle loader. At 2000fps it when the full length of the box (36"), pulped a 2" "tube" through the paper and hit the berm at 200 yards (box was set up at the 100). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Hey varmintsinc,

Your muzzleloader test reminds me of why I want to bust a big hog with a 325 gr. WFN-GC out of my
45 Colt Ruger Bisley. The guys at the camp where I'll be a guest this fall are not all that familiar with the
terminal effects of blunt, big bore cast bullets. I'd love to get a good one with a bullet that I cast myself.

Dave

I'll head to our local Sportsman's Warehouse tomorrow and see what their selection is. Barnes TSX seem to get the nod.
I'll check out the Sierra GK as well.

Hey CtnHat I echo your experience and sentiments exactly, that a decent 165 gr Gameking/Olds Corelokt or Interlock at 2600 f/s is a great loading for moose/elk sized game at reasonable ranges in 308. my partner shot 5 head of game with said CL load last year, 1 shot kills and excellent bullt performance. The low cost of these loads(9$/box) encourages lots of practice as well.

BR

I live in Richland, and hunt the Blues. I hunt with an 308 using a 165 XLC over 43 grains of RL15 in a military case.

I used this load in Zimbabwe against zebra, and took out the near shoulder, the far shoulder, and the bullet came to rest in the far side skin. The only round out of 8 animals that stayed in the animal.

I am confrident it'll be more than enough for an elk.

mr_walter2@yahoo.com