Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Best .308 bullet weight for whitetail

Getting ready to start reloading and I am wondering what everyones opinon is on the best Bullet weight in .308 for Whitetail. I have read a lot of good things about the 150 grain SBT but my uncle swears by 125 grain. He has killed many many deer in his day so I don't weant to dismiss his opinon but wanted to get some of yours as well.

125 grain Nosler ballistic tip drops them in their tracks - literally!

Terry

The 150's are probably the most popular. If you are looking for "best", good luck with your search....

I understand that "best" is subjective. Just looking for opinions.

I agree on the 150.. deer are easy and anything between 125-165 is a no brainer.

150 I'd say

Heck......it's what I run out of my -06

Whatever bullet proves to be most accurate in your rifle. There aren't very many unreliable ones available to handloaders these days. Just make sure that the manufacturer includes deer in their recommended use. I tend to avoid bullet weights at the extremes of those available, but the monometals such as TTSXs and E-Tips have changed the game a bit.

The mid-range bullet weights such as the 150-grain .308s will usually work over a broader range of conditions, such as the whitetail swamps back east or the prairies and foothills out west. However, if your uncle has a proven load for the .308, you might want to try that first in your rifle and see if it works for you.

I'd throw my vote for the 150, so long as my .308 shot them accurately. That being said, I can't imagine that a .308 wouldn't shoot them accurately.

I guess it depends on what kind of performance/school of thought you are looking for, and how that performance fits your notion of "best".

So first determine what it is that you want the bullet to do, then determine how bullet construction, weight, velocity, and even accuracy fits within your notion of best.

Think about this within the realm of humerus versus scapula versus rib shooter. Do you demand exit wounds at the expense of longer trailing jobs? Common distances for your type of hunting, etc, etc, etc....

For my type of hunting and in my girlfriend's .308, I've gone with 165 Accubonds because I don't want to change bullets in her gun when going from elk, to deer to antelope. I get a little bit of everything at that weight and construction.

In my .308, which is more of a duty/culling/put down wounded stuff rifle than hunting rifle I have 150 grain Sierras right now, but when forced to switch to factory loads I'll go with 150 Fusions or basic blue box Federal 150s for a variety of reasons that fit my usage with this rifle.

I killed quite a few deer with the old Norma130 gr BT.They sure worked and probably about like the 125's . I do prefer something in the 165 gr class.They retain more energy down range than the lighter bullets, hold together better, penetrate deeper and generally limt meat damage more than the lighter ones. They have proven to be more accurate in a 1:10 twist rifle. A 165 gr bullet of proper design will be good for about any game in North America except maybe big bears.
I'm no fan of the barnes bullets of any ilk. However if you are exceeding 2800-2900 fps ,you ought to consider a tougher bullet. Not really needed for a deer size class of game though.

150 Hornady Spire Point Interlock

The few that i've killed with a .308 fell to a 150g Corelokt. Seem to work good enough that when i bought my 30-06 the 150g Corelokt got the knod again...and i shot a good amount of deer with that 150g Corelokt in the 30-06.

That's the one I always reach for and it works great on mulies as well...

150 or 180 accubond

The 308 is easy to load for and tough to find a bullet that does not work. Not that it is needed but always liked a 165 in the 308 and 30-06.

I'm a handloader...for the most part. So, please excuse my bias. I would strongly caution you, that whatever you do....DO NOT use Remington factory Core-Lokt's in 150 gr. .308's in a Browning BLR 81 lever gun. To do so will result in a HUGE amount of work in skinning, butchering and bragging.....

These are a few of the Whitetail's, Mulies and elk that have fallen to that poor excuse of a .308 load in the last few years....courtesy of two of my son's poor shooting and stalking...

Most of these kills were from 75 yards to 300 yards. With the average being around 200.

I think I'm the only one who hasn't hunted with it and I may just go do that later this afternoon.













[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e...0Action/Stevensotherbuck_zpsc0a83d91.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/plainview2/308%20Lever%20Action/IMG_6852_zps63e10c67.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e...ion/Youthinktheyarehappy_zpsf12b82a0.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/plainview2/308%20Lever%20Action/IMG_6149_zps3413dce6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/plainview2/308%20Lever%20Action/SeansDouble_zps983b4398.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e250/plainview2/308%20Lever%20Action/Easter09327_zps66be5e35.jpg[/img]

You want to be damn careful what you point a .308 at. It can ruin your whole day if you were planning on watching alot of football....

anything from a 308 is enough for a deer except a FMJ. Go lighter not heavier, the 125BT is a good thought buy some Rem corelocs there fine as well.

Whitetails aren't really hard to kill. Shoot what your rifle likes best. One of mine prefers 165 Game Kings, the other, 208 A-max. Both kill deer really, really dead when you pop both lungs.

I have just about used up a 10 box purchase of cheap Federal 150s. Since they have the same parent company, I suspect they use Speer. They have been scary accurate and have killed deer from a few to just over 500 yards. The bullets are inexpensive and they work. Jack

Yep, been loading them in the 300 Savage for years and now load them in my son's 30-06. Can't see why they wouldn't work in the 308.

Dale