.308 bullet choice

[JTM12]

Hello,

I'm looking to develop a stalking round for my .308 and wanted to know what bullets people are using. I mostly shoot Muntjac, Roe and Fallow between approx. 50 - 150 yards. I shoot for the meat but I'm not at the point were I feel confident to take headshots so in the ideal world I'm looking for a bullet that puts the animal down humanely but with as little meat damage as possible. Obviously nearly everything has to do with my shot placement and it may be that with the varied quarry I'm asking too much of one round but any bullet advice or experiences gratefully received.

On the advice of the rifle manufacturer I want to keep the bullet weight at 150gr/155gr, certainly not over 180gr. I'm shooting a remington 700 with a 24" barrel and 1 in 12 twist.

Thanks

 

[Biathlonjimmy]

If I were you, given your criterion above, the Privi Partisan (PPU) would be fine. No need for a premium bullet. Reliable expansion and at £27/100 it's cost effective.

I'm not sure if he advertises here but SPUD1967 sells them for the above price. PPU Bullets – .30 150G SP – 1967spud Reloading Supplies Ltd

 

[kennyc]

there was a recent thread on here about that very subject, personally I have always used the Sierra pro-hunter 150grn for the purpose that you have described, but there will always be people with their own favourites
PS I am assuming from the "develop" that you are reloading

 

[JTM12]

there was a recent thread on here about that very subject, personally I have always used the Sierra pro-hunter 150grn for the purpose that you have described, but there will always be people with their own favourites
PS I am assuming from the "develop" that you are reloading

Yes, I'd be reloading the rounds.

I found the thread.

Cheers

 

[Dale57]

Hi you won’t go wrong with 150 gr Sierra and n 140 powder

 

[3xspringer]

Hi you won’t go wrong with 150 gr Sierra and n 140 powder

I use Varget.

 

[Andy-shooter]

Like many other is have a lot of time for the ProHunter 150gn, however I’ve recently been very impressed with the Fox lead free bullets. They are incredibly accurate and don’t disintegrate in the animal so the meat damage is minimal. Also of course they are non toxic.

Yes they are about 1.5 x more expensive than the Sierra but if that amounts to £10 a year you are eating a lot of deer.

 

[Colonel]

Any soft point bullet should do the job at those ranges as long as you don’t push them to fast. I also use Vit N140

 

[jubnut]

130gr Fox.

 

[kennyc]

I use Varget.

a couple of years ago varget disappeared a lot of folk moved away from it to powders with more reliable supply, is varget REACH approved? If not then supplies will try up again

 

[frasca78]

I use AMAX 168 in my REM 700. N140 powder. Extremely accurate even in 20"barrel

 

[Selous]

If you like the idea of lead then any 150g soft point will do, partitions seem to perform well as do Sierra and Speer. Plastic tipped bullets such as the Ballistic tip or SST are loved by some and hated by others. If you want to surpass the performance of lead at ranges sub 300 yards and not poison your family then the Barnes 130g TTSX or potentially the Fox 130 perform fantastically well with muzzle velocities over 3000fps

 

[Mog]

I use 165gr Hornady SST, BCL2 powder at 40-175 yrds with minimal meat damage, most drop on the spot. Will be changing powder end of the season as I cant get any BCL2 locally.

 

[JTM12]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. A lot to consider!

Always used softpoints or ballistic tips before so I'm keen to see how a partition bullet works. Very much like the idea of lead free bullets so the Fox could be another possibility too.

I'm using Reloder 15 for my target rounds so will start off loading with that as I've had great results with it so far using Sierra Match king HPBT150gr bullets.

 

[Leupsak]

Any good bullet in 150 to 155g range from Sierra, Hornady Nosler etc over the top of 44grains ( give or take a bit for fine tuning to your rifle) of N140.
Pretty much the go to load of many stalkers

 

[big ears]

Hi you won’t go wrong with 150 gr Sierra and n 140 powder

What he said
About 43-44gr at sammi length will work. Not too fast, not to slow, plenty of energy. I use gamekings as they are easier to seat but Prohunters will do the trick as well.

BE

 

[St-Hubert]

Dont forget Berger VLD bullets very little damage

 

[caorach]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. A lot to consider!

Always used softpoints or ballistic tips before so I'm keen to see how a partition bullet works. Very much like the idea of lead free bullets so the Fox could be another possibility too.

I'm using Reloder 15 for my target rounds so will start off loading with that as I've had great results with it so far using Sierra Match king HPBT150gr bullets.

I've been using Reloader 15 as it was what I could get to start out with and I've just kept using it, I can't hold anywhere close to the accuracy the rifle and load can deliver. I was able to get very high speeds with it, with a book max load, but eased back a bit just because you can't get high speed without high pressure and although I was seeing no pressure signs and my brass had been reloaded many times once I finally shot the load over a chrono the velocity was a bit of a shock from such a short barrel and there seemed no point in messing about with high pressures when the deer died just the same with lower pressures.

Initially I was shooting the Hornady Spire Points in 150 grain they worked very well and gave great accuracy and killed deer just like they were designed to do.

Out of interest I moved to Nosler Partitions, just because I wanted to try them, and I did find that occasionally I had chest shot sika go straight down which I'd never seen with the Spire Points. Now, in all probability this was simply a luck thing but it gave me a bit of confidence and so I've stuck with the Partitions ever since. The 150 grain partitions seem to have a relatively soft front and so expand well in smaller deer such as a sika calf or with a head/neck shot. I've heard that some of the heavier partitions are constructed harder and so don't expand as quickly as they are designed for higher velocities into big animals.

I have fired smaller numbers of other bullet types and they all worked just as well in terms of accuracy but mostly the Spire Points and Partitions are all I've used on deer as they simply work as well as I could expect, I would expect other 150 grain soft points to work equally well and would highlight that you probably don't need a Partition, I just fancied giving them a try and have stuck with them.

 

[PeterH]

Another vote for RL15 in the 30.06 I have just completed the process using the 180gr Nosler Accubonds

 

[3xspringer]

a couple of years ago varget disappeared a lot of folk moved away from it to powders with more reliable supply, is varget REACH approved? If not then supplies will try up again

I have a good few pots so they should see me out!