would a 125gr ballistic tip be reliable for deer? or should I stick with the 130 TSX?
Sorry, should have mentioned in a 308 bolt. need a lighter kicking load for my girlfriend.

I think a 125 gr. ballistic tip would work if you pick your shot. It will open up faster then a heavier bullet, but for a side lung shot, it will work. But of the 2, I'd stick with the 130 gr. TSX.

My personal choice would be a 150-165 gr. bullet. Deer are not especially had to kill and a quality cup and core bullet of 150-165 gr. works well.

What cartridge? My buddy loads them in a single shot 30-30 for his nephews and they've been totally reliable. I would'nt load them in my 300 win mag though. I would load them in a 308 for a short barreled Encore pistol. In short velocity makes all the difference.

The widely known Hodgdon Youth Loads all use the 125 BT in .30-cailber. It's a superb big game bullet - but works best at less than warp speed. Launch it at 2800 fps down to as slow as 2400 fps and it is perfect.

Load the 125 Bal Tip or Sierra on top of IMR4198 to mimic the Rem. managed recoil load velocity. Voila!

Barnes 110 tipped tsx

I've used the 1125 NBT a fair bit in an .06 it worked great. I have absolutely no reason to believe it wouldn't be fantastic in the .308 on game.

It shoots well in my Montana .308 that's for sure.

Dober

Now THAT would be a screamer. I'm thinking MPBR of 300+ yards. Cool!

We shoot this load out of my sons 308 and it kills deer dead at least to 100 yds or so..........with no recoil.

The 130gr Speer is loaded into the Federal Tactical 308 which is marketed in this country (Australia) as a culling round. It is very effective on pigs, goats and deer, the downside is it can be very destructive.
I used to load the same bullet to hunt pigs over 20yrs ago and I can vouch for its performance.

Depends on the velocity. If you want to load down for the GF, use the Ballistic Tip. If you load full velocity, use the TTSX.

My 300 WSM puts the TTSX into tiny groups at around 3450FPS. One of these days I need kill something with it at long range.

Good stuff here gang! This is a great load for the .308 for a light recoil practice load and or for a newb shooter.

Dober

I don't know what 125 grain bullet Remington uses in its managed recoil loads but I have been very impressed by it on several deer at that speed.

My dad took this buck with one shot from 247yards with a 30-06 and the 125 nosler. Broke both shoulders and exited. Also worked well on a pronghorn at 175 yards or so that same season

Great pic!

Dober

A hunting partner of mine loads 125gr Nosler B-tips for his .308 and kills everything with it.
I don't personally use it, but I have personally helped drag out 3 elk and several deer he dropped with that load.

I've used 130 grain Hornady Spire Points in my .308. They were easy on the shoulder and very effective on deer.

We have had great results with the 125 Remington CoreLokt loaded over 30 up to 36 grains of 4198. Does a really nice job on deer.

For 308 Win, 1:12 twist, 24" barrel.

135 SMK
45.5 Varget
WLRM primers
Black Hills/Win brass.

An underrated bullet in the .308 is the 130gn Speer HP. With a load of around 47gb of Varget, it does quite well on deer sized game.

My Grandson shoots 125 Ballistic Tips in his 30BR. 2950FPS in a 15 twist barrel. I built it for him when he was 10yrs old and wanted a rifle with low recoil. He has killed 10 white tail, 25 hogs, and 1 coyote. The coyote was the only one that took 2 shots. I wanted to rechamber it for a larger caliber now that he is a pretty good sized 19yr old. He said"Papaw, it kills what I shoot at with one shot. I don't want you to mess with it".

Yep! Very popular as a pig/goat/fallow deer load from the 308Win. I think its also been factory loaded at various times by ADI/Thales for control work, with excess spilling onto the commercial market.
Cheers...
Con

Sounds perfect!

I loaded the Speer 130HPs with IMR3031 in a 30/06 for years. My son, a neighbor, and I killed severl hundred deer over quite some years. Just worked. Haven't loaded any for some time. Thanks for reminding me, I'll purchase some more...

Since this ain't the reloading board, I highly recommend the Remmy Managed Recoil loads and the TAP 110s. The latter are more powerful but recoil is negligible.

Loaded them for a friend in his 30-06 & 308. Never lost a deer with them. He loves them though our deer in Mississippi aren't that large.

wow
nice deer
Whelennut

My wife shot a few deer with a 308 loaded with 125 gr. Sierra
Loaded to 2900 fps the recoil did not bother
her. The deer on the other hand.........
whelennut