Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Best bullet weight for the 308 Win?

What is your opinion on this. We're talking deer and an occasional elk. Nothing over 300 yards max.

Which bullet would you choose?

Barnes TSX/TTSX

If it is for deer and ELK, I think I'd have to say 150 gr. tsx/ttsx. If it were just for deer, I'd say any old 150 gr. or the 130 tsx/ttsx.

NPt, 150 to 165 for deer, 165 to 180 grain for elk, depending on where and how you hunt.

Timber mostly. Close up shots.

i shoot 168 tsx and ttsx (which ever i have on hand ) in my 308 ultralite it loves them

Sierra 165 HPBT's is good medicine. 165-180 Horny Interlocks are hard to beat also. Super accuracy with any of these out of my 308's.

IMR 4064 or 4895.....

if you shoot factory stuff, i'd go with the Fusion ammo

I have always felt the 308 was only great with bullet weights up to around 150 gr. Please don't bombard me with arguement of that. I love the 308 with bullets of the 125-130 gr size. If I am planning to shoot a heavier bullet than 150, I go the the 30-06. It handles larger bullets better. I know I am splitting hairs by saying this. Wallacem in Ga

Standard cup-core bullets of 150-gr are all I ever felt was needed. If a 165 for larger game like elk makes one more comfortable, I have no quibble with that. My experience is on deer only, so I defer to those who hunt bigger stuff.

165 Partition, 150 or 168gr TTSX.

My general all round load for the .308 is the 165 gr. Speer Hot-Core with a fairly stiff charge of W0760. Two reasons. One I didn't like the way 150 gr. bullets mangled up too much good eating meat should a shot be misplaced a bit. It does happen you know. Two, and probably the most important for me is one of my .308's is a one trick pony. The only load it will shoot decently is that 165/W760 load so to keep things simple, that's what I use. Velocity is no great shakes from that 18.5" barrel but it's dropped big Kaibab Mule Deer at 250 yards for me so I'll just stick with them. Considering the penetration I got on that 250 yard deer, I would have no qualms using that same load for elk within reasonable ranges. It does tick me off that Speer has dropped that bullet from their line.
Paul B.

Well then without saying that the .308 has never appealed to me for elk ( yeah, I know it's killed thousands) I want to say go heavier, 180 to 200, but I'm not sure I would. I hope that's clear.

150 gn. TTSX, seat it deep and drive it hard.

Gunner

My experience is that the right 150 will do it all.

My wife and I have both used the .308 quite a bit over the past 5 years or so, both in North America and Africa. Just about any cup-and-core bullet works fine on pronghorn, deer, and the smaller African plains game. We've used various brands and models: Sierra, Hornady, Nosler Ballistic Tip, etc.

On game up to elk size we've used various premiums: Nosler AccuBond, E-Tip and Partition, Barnes TSX and the Remington Core-Lokt Ultra (which we've found usually shoots more accurately than the standard CL).

All of the bullets have worked just fine so far. Which is one of the virtues of the .308!

150gr E Tip

That's a good one!

So mule deer, in your experience if a 150 mono metal in a 308 is sufficient for elk I assume it would be too in a 300saum (same bullet, more velocity). I want to be confident I can get to the vitals from any angle, shots out to 400 yards maX. How would you feel about a 150 accubond for elk?

Not good knowing the 150gr E Tip exits everytime thus far from a 300 Win.

In the 308 I really like the 150 Horn flat base and R15. And or Varget and either the 165 Horn or 165 Sierra HPBT.

Dober

For your scenario the 165 weight doesn't compromise too much trajectory to a 150 and has the extra weight for larger/tougher animals. A 180 needs a 1 in 10" twist in most rifles and really is a bit too slow. Try the Woodleigh 165 PPSN.