130gr vs 150gr

sir-lamp-alot

Well-Known Member
im after some advice on my bullet choice
at the moment im loading a 130gr head in my .308 and im getting average results but the only problem i have is its a absolute pain to find any 130gr heads around where i live but 150gr always seem to be in an abundance so im thinking of making the change. there is also a bigger range of bullet types within the 150gr range most apealing to me is boat tails which i just cant seem to find in 130gr.
the biggest problem i do have tho is im a bit worried about bullet drop, my rifles main job is for fox control and what i like about the 130gr is that i can just raise the cross hair to the top of the foxes shoulder and strike dead centre of its chest at 200 yrds and to be honest i dont shoot out much further than that on a regular basis and it keeps it all simple. so what im trying to ask then i suppose is is ther much of a differnce bettween 130 and 150gr
 
Hi there

There won't be alot of difference between a 130g and a 150g (i.e bullet drop) out too 200yrds, and theres not alot of benefit in performance with a boatail compared to a flat base until you get to over 300yrds, then the boatail tends to retain more energy

If you zero your rifle 2 inchs high at 100yrds (150g) you should have a dead on hold at 200yrds this will mean you should'nt need to hold over or high on the fox, just shoot centre of body out to 200yrds.

Hope this helps
 
One problem will be that most 308 bullets are either made for target or for deer. Most target bullets have left the fox before they really expand. How do I know...? 155SMK's needed three rounds to kill a fox, never again, 155VLD's not much better.
The game bullets are made to penetrate lets say the width of a red deer which means the width of a fox will only soak up a small ammount of energy. My favourite for fox would be a 155gr a-max, they hardly (50%) make it through a sika hind side on and open fairly well meaning they dump energy. Or a SST which also opens fairly well. Other than that the 22-250 could dump more energy into a fox than a 308, side on.

edi
 
The biggest problem is that a 308 isnt really a varmint calibre so most of the bullets designed for a 308 are designed for light to medium game not foxes, so you need to use a maximum expanding bullet for foxes.

You should never use a SMK or full metal jacket bullet for any game/varmint, as they dont expand they are purely a target bullet. The VLDs are ment for varmints but only in the smaller calibres, the larger calibres are designed for game and are designed to dump all their energy into the animal, weather this is a good idea seems to be open debate between hunters at this moment in time.

Stick to the light V-Max or Nosler Ballistic tips for thin skinned Vermin in 308.

Hope this helps
 
i know what your saying chaps i am asking a horse to bark a bit i suppose, i am going to stick with it tho im sure i can get somthing to work. i might have to try some ballistic tips but i was a bit worried about meat damage but thats a whole differnt can of worm's that i dont want to open
 
Why not use 125gn ballistic tip? I use them in my .308 and have shot both types of foxes with them, work well enough! 48.5 gn of n140 or 49gn of h4895 give 1” high at 100, 1” low at 200 and only 7” low at 300 yards out of my R93. Meat damage on deer is acceptable. I prefer .243 for fox with 55gn ballistic tip or 70 gn ballistic tip if I want them to look like they have stepped on a landmine :evil:
 
ejg said:
My favourite for fox would be a 155gr a-max, they hardly (50%) make it through a sika hind side on and open fairly well meaning they dump energy.
edi

Edi

Do you use these on Stags aswell?

Would you mind letting me have your powder and weight too, I 'd like to try these. As I only shoot Sierra are you talking a bout Hornady 155gr A-Max Edi?

VMT

RF
 
I shot about 12 hinds and calves last year with the Hornady 155 A-max, bullet behaved very well. I presume because they where not run at top speed. No stags yet. Maybe this season.
Range was from 50yds to the longest 400yds. Very acurate in my rifle is 42.0gr H335 or just as good 44.0gr N140, BR primer and COL 71.4mm (2.81") Main reason why I use them is because they are very accurate and group under 2" at 300m with my rifle all year round. They also open up well at longer ranges, behave about the same as a Hornady SST.

edi
 
I just got some hornady 150gr sst as the guy in the shop said they are by far his best selling head for stalking. Arn't the a-max rounds just for target shooting
 
The Farmer said:
I just got some hornady 150gr sst as the guy in the shop said they are by far his best selling head for stalking. Arn't the a-max rounds just for target shooting
I was wondering when someone was going to make the distinction between the rounds being discussed, A-max are designed as a target accuracy round, this is why you can have them posted to you, as opposed to a round designed for expansion (V-max), A-max are an excellent deer medicine, but they are outside the described requirement in legal terms so I wouldn't advertise the fact 8)
 
I suppose, legally it's down to what's written on the box!

I've wondered about the legal standing of Berger bullets, now that they've started marketing them as hunting bullets - same bullets, also sold in a different coloured box that say 'hunting' on them. (I'm not planning to use them, I think they're appealing to the US long range hunters, I'm guessing Berger bullets would not hold together well in high velocity impacts at short range)

As for the A-max, once it's loaded, who can tell whether it's an SST or BT or other tipped expanding bullet?
 
Nosler

Fox food is 125gn Nosler BT and 50grains of Varget.

Try it you wont need to worry about bullet drop. hehe
 
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