Just snagged a 308. Will be used on whitetails and pigs in LA/MS. What bullet? 150 or 165? Thinking Nosler NAB or Hornady Interbond or GMX. Shots will be 400yds max

165's and the 308 are peas and carrots...

I've been very happy with the 165 or 168 Ballistic Tip with CFE223, Varget, or H4895 behind it. Works like a champ on TX deer and hogs.

165 AB or BT's.

I use TAC powder. meters well, and shoots great in my Savage.

308 Win
168 Nosler Bt
46 gr Varget
fed 210m
Lapua brass

This load shoots great in my Winchester Classic fw .5 3 shot groups at 100. Not sure on fps.

yep..........have to agree 165-168's with the 308 Win.....

Nosler data is a good place to start

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/308-winchester/

For reasons unknown, except for my late, lamented Kimber Longmaster, I've had much better luck with 165-ish bullets in my .308s. RL15 has been the best so far, but I'm going to try very hard to get CFE223 to work for logistical and practical reasons. My RL15 loads are very mild, but kill well.

Haven't given up on the 150s totally, because I've got 4 or 5 hundred Partitions on hand.

Varget is a good one, accurate with low S.D.s generally.

Don't forget about Cutting Edge Bullets. Check'em out on line.

They are the mono equivalent to the Partition, accurate with great terminal performance.

My .308 is a Classic Kimber with 5C Broughton SS barrel. It was one of those Kimbers that had a bad barrel; this one cured that.

DF

Good load for me but in roomier brass than Lapua.

Lake city brass will lower your powder consumption.

There are tons of loads here, on the campfire, as well as other sites - most seem to center around Varget.
When I built my 308 I had a pound of Varget, bought some winchester brass and started loading. I ended up loving the 130 Barnes because my rifle loves them.
Haven't shot an animal with it YET.

.308's are easy. Pick the big game bullet you want and some Varget, combine in proper proportions, go forth and fill the freezers.

I've used 125 - 180 grains and RL15, Benchmark, 748, and others I've forgotten, but 165's and Varget are at the top of the heap.

Enjoy.

Always have been.

May be why it has been going strong for 65+ years now, and will be going strong for another 65.

What are you guys thoughts on Nosler brass? Thought I'd buy some factory ballistic tips and once I burn those I'd have some good brass to reload

try these.........brand new.........or.......Lapua........when in stock.....or Hornady........or................

as said.......308 is easy.......enjoy

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/73647

I bought some Starline 308 with high hopes but it didn't measure up, the neck walls were not very uniform.

If there's another powder shortage you can use a combination of ground up charcoal briquets and match heads. It's fairly fast burning so I wouldn't fill more than half the case, but in the .308 it will still give half inch groups.....

Thanks for taking one for the team.

165gr Hornady Interlock or 168gr Barnes TSX, 44.0gr of IMR-4064, LR primers. It's isn't the fastest horse in the stable, but it is very accurate and will kill anything you are going to hunt.

I also load Barnes 130gr TTSX over 46.5gr of IMR-4064 or a max book load of Varget. All three loads are very accurate in three different .308's.

The Varget load is moving out just a hair over 3,000 fps in my Savage 10-PC with a 20" barrel.

Ed

This

Killed a doe at 120 yds this year with my .308 and 130 ttsxs.
She dropped right there no tracking involved.
The bullet......well it’s probably still going.

Congratulations on joining the .308 club - it is a large club whose only entry fee is a .308.
Since mine is a light rifle (pre 64 M70 Featherweight) I prefer 150 and 165 grain bullets (took an elk cow recently at 200 yards with a 165) and not the 180 grainers.
My son shoots a heavier rifle and likes 180 grain bullets.

I have taken a mess of whitetail from 5 yards out to 400 yards with it and if hit right, there is no need for tracking a wounded deer.

BTW, did you mention the make and details of your rifle?

I have shot them all and prefer 165 grain Sierra Gamekings in .308. Not a fan of copper bullets. If they don't hit bone, they tend to pencil hole through the animal and a lot more tracking is involved. My personal experience, others may vary.

Eddie

Get some 130gr Barnes and push them hard. Then don't point it at anything you don't want DRT

L
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Loaded various 165 grain bullets for years with several of the powders listed. With the exception of the original Barnes X, all were quick efficient killers. But picked up a pile of Nosler 150 pt's in a good deal a few years ago and have been more than satisfied with them too. Kind of hard to go wrong with a 308.

Nothing fancy. Just a Ruger American. I'll add some upgrades here and there

Great thread. A tikki t3x 308 found its way into my house somehow and I need to develop some loads for it. Did not even have to start a thread.

I shoot the 165gr Gameking as well in my 20" Remington 700. Incredibly accurate.

Real high on my to do list are nosler Accubonds and Hornady GMX. Ive run accubonds in other calibers and like the results. Have a friend that runs the 165 GMX in his 308. And it will flat destroy deer innards

Welcome to The Campfire.
I hope you find what you need. It sometimes cost a lot of $$ when you hangout here.
Is this your first Tikka? The 308 should serve you well.

What if you have more than one? I have 5.

I have 8 I can quickly think of.

Hammer, first tikka. I like it so far, it compares well to my 7x57 in my opinion which is my favorite rifle.

Thanks for the welcome.

I only have four. I guess, I could get another. Something like a Howa Alpine. I have a Kimber Classic so, maybe a Montana.
Oh heck! Just having some fun.

Take care.

150 gamekings with Varget powder.

Varget is good for me too with 165BT and 168 TTSX. But 8208 is just accurate very little ,fps slower and meters way better .and is supposed to be even more temp tolerate than varget.

Sounds like I need to read up on 8208. I have a few lbs. of Varget, I think I'll use that for a while. I can still read up on 8208.
Thanks for the tip, on 8208.

I always start with the 165's in .30 Cal. Especially the .308. They've usually treated me well.

In which respect? Accuracy, kills, distance, etc.?

308WIN is pie easy...
Stick a 165 softpoint over 42.0 grains of IMR4895 seated to 2.8".

If the rifle won't shoot that load get another rifle.

I think that new 168 Accubond Long Range would make a great 308 Winchester bullet!

2725 with Hornady 165BTSP's from my Featherweight XTR, Shot a group the other day and had a hard time finding which part of the little hole was which bullet.

Same here. Two shots in one hole were the tightest I have ever shot.

All the ingredients from my recipe minus .5 gr on this end.