Getting my Savage 99 308 ready for dear season. 35 years ago we shot 180/200s at Elk in Washington State. I am not clear on what is appropriate for white tails in Texas. I have heard 100 - 150 grain.
Q1. what is the recommended grain
Q2. what are your personal favorite rounds/makes
Q3. why not use army surplus 7.64mm?
thanks!
terry
1. 150
2. I roll my own.
3. FMJ ammo isn't hunting ammo.
Since it's pretty close to .300 Savage, I think you're pretty well off with a soft-point, 150gr offering. If you don't reload, I'd advise to go with Remington Factory. They've done us very well in .300 Savage over the years.
As for military surplus 7.62 NATO ammo, you need expansion and the NATO Full Metal Jackets won't do it.
Aqualung
Agree with both of the above...
Remington factory ammo is ok, handloaded Nosler bonded cores are better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
150gr Hornady SP...45gr.Ramshot TAC will get you almost 2800fps.
Texas whitetail love to be murdered with a .308Win... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Bart is most assuredly right! powdr
Are there on-line tests for various 308 rounds?
Look at Federal's new Fusion loads in 150gr, they are bonded but touted as a deer bullet, supposed to be real accurate and thats the most important thing, putting that bullet where it counts!
One more voice in support of the 150 in 308 for Texas deer. Maybe the 165 Nosler bt if it shoot better. Factory ammo worlds of them fall to plain old Rem core lock.
Texas whitetails are not stud mastadons.
BCR
One of the great things about the .308 is you can close your eyes, grab a box of ammo, and it will work.
Don't over analyze it. Have confidence and go forth with thy .308 and whack a deer! It will hold up it's end of the deal. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Any of the factory 150 grain loads will work JUST fine.
Ditto, same same for the 165s.
As for using mil-surp... why?
Happy Birthday VA!
I want to amend something I said above. When I said grab a box of ammo, that didn't include mil-surp! Keep that for practice.
I'm in the same boat as you... I have a new-to-me savage 99 in .308... I thought 150's would be the ticket... So far I've only shot it once... with winchester powerpoints, tried both 150gr and 180gr. The 150's shot about an 8" pattern... the 180's shot about 1 1/2 " group.... So, if I was going hunting today, I'd be using the 180's... (and wouldn't fret about it)
I intend to reload for it anyway, and will try to get 150 gr interlocks to work... Point is, if you want 150's in factory fodder, you might wanna try a couple brands to see what your rifle likes best.
Ditto on the FMJ not being hunting ammo.... Here it is illegal to hunt with.... I'd think it'd not expand and pencil right through.
I've heard of some people pulling the bullets off mil-surp and seating a proper hunting bullet on it... but I think you'd get much better accuracy out of your own reloads or factory hunting ammo.
You'll probably do fine with those Hornady 150's. It's a rare 308 that won't shoot them well after a little load development.
You have a favourite recipe you care to share? I'm thinkin' of Reloder 15...
thx
Brent,
I see you're in Manitoba. How big do the deer get where you hunt? Down here in Louisiana the 192 pound buck I killed last year was the heaviest taken from the lease in a while, and a Hornady 150 grain Interlock flat base did fine. I was using 45 grains of IMR-4064 in new Lapua brass under that bullet. I've also loaded 46 grains in Remington brass with much success. With Reloder 15 or Varget and 150's you'll probably find happiness at about 46 grains. I don't run the 150's too hot.
mathman
Thanks for the load info mathman....
Where I hunt (more bush than agricultural), the deer tend to be big bodied. Racks tend to be stocky and look small in proportion to the body, "decent" eating bucks (not trophies) are pushing 200 lbs dressed.... My shots are usually <100 (most under 60), so there's no need for a whiz-bang magnum or to try and push anything too fast. So yes, I figure a reasonable 150gr .308 load would be just peachy. I've been using either .30-30 or a .303 British with 180's up until now... so the .308 will be a flat shooter in comparison anyway.
Thanks again.
my old 308 will shoot anything I put through it. For Coues deer and Mule deer, I have taken both with 150 grain Factory ammo. I really like the 150 and 165 ballistic tip. This years as a backup and fun gun I am going to load TSX's for it. Hopefully they will perform.
I would say use the 150 factory ammo from Federal or Remington. If you feel you need more for your hunting, use the Partition with 4350 powder. it will do the trick and then some. After all I have read, the TSX is a great bullet, and I am going to use them in my rifles as long as they shoot.
Enrique
use a factory load that shoots best in your rifle. published comparisons don't mean squat for YOUR rifle. i'd buy a box each of rem 150-gr core-lokts, win 150 power points, fed gray box 150-gr. if none of them shoots worth a bean, get a box each of the 180s.
one of 'em will shoot just stinkin' fine.
Brent,
As I suspected your deer run bigger than ours. Since you say your shots are typcally close, the impact velocities will be relatively high. If I was going to hunt your deer and stick with 150's I'd probably switch to an Interbond, Accubond, Partition or TSX. More likely I'd move up to a 165 and put it on top of 46 grains of Varget. That load has worked well in every 308 I've tested it in so far, but it's full steam and I was testing in bolt guns. I'd back off a couple of grains and see how things go if I was loading for a 99. Reloder 15 also kicks a$$ with 165's, but I'll leave it to you to figure out which published max you believe. They vary a bit for this one. For 180's, in bolt guns, I've gotten excellent accuracy using 44 grains of Reloder 15. I'd just use the regular Hornady Interlock flat base at this weight.
mathman
150 core lokt does great. Check my avatar.
Try a 130 to 150 grain bullet . I like H4895 powder. I use these bullets and have good luck.
If you've got good luck, any bullet will do. That's why I concentrate on being lucky!
I've used 150 Power Points over Varget and factory 150 Corelokts. I'm testing 165's now to get one load for deer and elk. They all work.
Okie John
1- 150s-165s
2- If using store bought...Hornady Light Mag.
3- NO FMJ for hunting!...probably illegal anyway. Most states require expanding ammo for big game.
I have shot Hornady 150 sst's out of my 100 with excellent results and my blr will shoot 150 pp's into nice groups. I really do not think that you can go wrong here as long as you stay away from fmj bullets.
A molyed 150 grain Sierra BT over 47 grains of Varget gives me 2850 out of my Stainless Classic and 3/4" groups. I like that combo for deer and smaller stuff. I'd want a tougher bullet for elk or bear, but I'd also likely be using a bigger caliber then. Still, the 308 is elk and bear capable.
remington core-lokt 150-180 grain bullet what ever is more accurate in your gun
IMHO 150 grain is ideal for the .308 Win. I normally use Wichester ballistic silvertips, but I have some Accubonds made by Georgia Arms that I'm going to try this fall.
46 gr RL15, F210 primers, 150gr Hornadys
44gr RL15, F210s, 165 Hornadys
I have used 150 Gr. corelokts in 308 on too many whitetails to recall. Always worked great if I did my part.
125gr sierras were very accurate in my savage 99. you will lose some meat around the large hole they leave but the deer stay put
Terry,
As the bullets in the factory loads have improved, I have moved down in weight in my .308. The last Canadian whitetail (a 300# 10-point Sask deer) I shot with a 165 gr Trophy Bonded.
In Texas I would shoot the 150 gr Nosler Partition.
As noted above, the military bullets are not suitable for game, and most places don't allow their use either.
jim
I've used 150gr. Core-Lokt , 150gr. NP, and 150gr. TSX with great results on WT and exotic deer.
I like the 150 grain bullet in .30 caliber. I prefer the hornady but any work well.
i plan on trying 130 gr tsx's this year. i have used 150's with success everytime though. the 130's fly close to 3100 and should deliver quite the impact with the tsx design.
shootinurse, You copied my loads. Very accurate.
I bought some Federal Hi-Shok 150 gr factory loads to use this season. The buzz is Federal replaced this design with one that is cheaper to produce, but the Hi-Shok design works very well.
We will see.
I have been shooting 150 gr Red Box Fede3ral as practice ammo out to 400 yards, and it works well. I am thinking that the Hi-Shok at 300 yds and under will be a good deer load.
jim
I've shot more deer with a .308 than any other caliber. I've had good luck with 150gr Remington SPs, but currently use Speer 150gr RN. 150 or 165gr is lots for deer. Premium bullets are not required, unless you need to spend more money. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
sc
I suggest you rechamber to 300 win mag and then shoot the 180's!
the 150's would be the pick of the litter. they'll get er done!
my pick would a good 150 or 165 depending on what your
gun likes with varget , RL15 or the old standby for .30 cal.
IMR4064
I think that everyone is pretty right on, but one thing to remember is to find something that shoots accurately. Example: I have a Winchester 70 that some guy cut to 18" neat gun, and super accurate - with bullets OVER 150 grain. 165-180 is below MOA from factory ammo. 15 is a little over MOA. 125's are just not accurate, and I have a friend who has the same expereince with his Savage 110 LE w/20" bbl., so find something that is accurate more so than weight.
I shoot a lot of .308 ammo for deer,as the .308 is my usual go to for deer hunting. My pet load turned out to be 49.0 gr. of W-760 with the 165 gr. Speer Hot-core in Winchester brass and Winchester WLR primer. Velocity is no great shakes at 2550 FPS from my rifle's 18.5" barrel, but tell the 250 yard deer that was a bang/flop that the load was no good. FWIW, the same load delivers 2610 FPS from a 22" barrel.
The bullet on the 250 yard deer hit the front of the chest and pass trugh the deer's body stopping at the leg bone on the back leg, breaking the bone. I do believe the bullet would have gone clean through the deer had it not hit that bone. All other deer shot with that load have been complete pass throughs.
Why such a weird loading with a powder that's too slow for the round? Well, my pet rifle in .308 is a Ruger 77 RSI, the one with the Mannlicher stock. I have three of these rifles, all in .308 Win., and none of them will shoot anything else worth a damn, factory or handloads, with two exceptions. One is the 180 gr. Sierra round nose with 48.0 gr. of W-760 and the other is the Speer Nitrex factory load with 165 gr. Grand Slam bullets. Surprise, surprise. When chronographed in the RSI velocity was exactly 2550 FPS and in a Mod 70 Winchester with 22" barrel, 2610 FPS, exactly the same as my handloads. I just load up a batch of the 165 gr. Speers and forget about it.
FWIW. I've given those two loads to others who own Ruger 77 RSI rifles that wouldn't shoot, and the feed back has been great. All have reported good results with that load for decent hunting accuracy. (1.25" at 100 yards, this from a rifle that won't shoot anything else worth squat. The 180 gr. Sierra load does .75" to 1.0" depending on which RSI I shoot it in." The last load has never been chronied although I just might one of these days. My RSIs will not give good groups with any 180 gr. spitzer I've tried, nor will 150 gr. bullets shoot worth a damn.
Frankly, I've given up on 150 gr. bullets as they damage too much eating meat to suit me.
Paul B.
I would recommend either 150 or 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for your 308 Win. But I have killed more deer than I can count with Nosler 125 grain Bt's. It's not so much the grain of the bullet that counts as it is where you place the shot.
I shoot the .308 exclusively for deer. While any "game" bullet will work(well), I have settled on the 165 Nosler BT. Without going into particulars, I will promise you that they will perform wonderfully at any reasonable distance( 10-400 yrds), at .308 velocities, on whitetail deer. I have not found a bullet that will perform as well, overall. But then, they'll all kill 'em stone dead with proper placement. Depends how bad you want to tear 'em up (Light, soft bullets.) or how far you want to track 'em (heavy, controlled expansion bullets).
You have a favourite recipe you care to share? I'm thinkin' of Reloder 15...
As several others, I love the .308! All of mine seem to shoot very well with 150 grain Hornady's and yes, they do very well with Reloader 15.