.308 'lack of meat damage'!

Hell Toupee

Well-Known Member
Gents,

I've started loading within the last year, recipe: Hornady interlock 150gn, sako brass, CCI primers and 44.4gn N140, COAL 2.750

The accuracy started noticeably dropping off with any further increase in powder.

I've shot a fair few roe, 2 sika (stag and hind) and 3 red hinds with them so far. In general the meat damage has been minute, to the point that often with roe (and one red hind) there was not a drop of blood to be seen, but it lay dead 20 yards away. Even with 'perfect' heart shots there is very little blood to be seen.
On two occasions despite lung shots, the bullet had fragmented and burst the rumen, and on one, a heart shot left me with a bit of jacket in my shoulder curry.

Now, I'm not bemoaning a lack of meat damage, but the mixture of no damage at all vs. fragmented rounds and contamination is confusing me.

I'm not sure if I just accept it and carry on (nothing has done a runner) or if I try to modify my recipe?

If I was to modify the recipe - what options do I have?
1 - increase the powder and increase speed (not got a chrono) - hopefully more blood but more risk of contamination/meat damage?
2 - change bullet to something more friable (more damage/more blood)?
3 - have different loads for different deer (not keen on this)?
4 - change bullet weight?

Your thoughts greatly appreciated.

HT
 
Load the ammo to the most accurate you can and just accept the variation in damage..... it happens with any caliber full stop! !....
You will no doubt get told to try lead free bullets etc etc..... but what is important is a clean kill where the deer drop within a few yards at the most.
 
I'm a bit confused.

According to QL your velocity is around 2800fps. A great speed for a deer bullet and the sort of velocity I aim for. If you're getting little or nothing in the way of blood trail it usually means little or no exit wound which tallies with significant fragmentation, bits of jacket in your curry and burst rumen. I have never tried the Interlock so can't really comment on it's behaviour.

However, 2800 fps and a fragmenting bullet in my experience always results in significant meat loss. Hence the confusion.

In terms of your options, you have proven that 1 will not work as your groups open up. A more frangible bullet (2) is not going to solve your problem. You don't need different loads for different deer (3). I don't believe you need to change weight (4) as 150 grains is enough to kill anything on these shores.

If you want a blood trail you need an exit wound. To achieve this you need a more solid bullet construction. I have had a lot of success with Nosler Accubonds at 2750 to 2900 fps. They always exit, always create a good blood trail, kill very efficiently and don't do the damage that bullets like the Nosler BT or Hornaday SST do.

Personally I would be looking at the Nosler 150 Accubond.
 
Nigel M - thanks for your reply.
Sorry if I didn't explain correctly - they are ALL exiting, but leaving little to no blood trail. My slight concern was that the interlock was too solid a bullet for (smaller) deer - but I think you and I are confused over the same issue - why some rounds don;t seem to expand and hence leave no blood, and others seem to vigorously expand?!

As I said, thanks for your thoughts so far.

HT
 
If rounds are exiting then there should be blood, provided it has hit an area that would warrant it in noticeable amounts such as heart/lung.
I agree with monarman, your bullet seems to be doing as it should, rounds may only expand or fragment if they hit something hard. Straight through soft tissue and between ribs... Less resistance.
 
308 it's all about shot placement (as with all calibres) I use federal 150 soft points heart lung on muntjac if shot passes clean then all good clip bone,rib etc you can right the front end off but the deer are dead I've shot fallow just the same meat damage is inevitable as long as the deer is down I wouldn't worry about meat damage I know its frustrating at times it is nice to see a good clean carcass the only way to guarantee clean carcass all the time can be left for another thread :tiphat: cheers SDM
 
I run my .308 with a 150 grain bullet at 2800 FPS and my 7/08 with a 140 pill at 2800. As a general rule the 7/08 seams to do more damage. But in all cases the deer is dead very quickly. I normally go for a heart / lung shot or the occasional neck shot if close enough. I shoot for my freezer. So long as it’s dead I’m not bothered about the damage.
 
For those that have used Sako super hammer heads 150g. How do you find them for meat damage etc. Only ask as I’ve just bought a 308 and the sako’s seem accurate enough..
 
If you want a blood trail you need an exit wound. To achieve this you need a more solid bullet construction. I have had a lot of success with Nosler Accubonds at 2750 to 2900 fps. They always exit, always create a good blood trail, kill very efficiently and don't do the damage that bullets like the Nosler BT or Hornaday SST do.

Personally I would be looking at the Nosler 150 Accubond.
Very much a +1 on this with Accubonds.
 
For those that have used Sako super hammer heads 150g. How do you find them for meat damage etc. Only ask as I’ve just bought a 308 and the sako’s seem accurate enough..
I only use the 150 super hammer head's in my 75 308. Very good on Roe, never very much damage. Eat to the hole as they say.
 
For those that have used Sako super hammer heads 150g. How do you find them for meat damage etc. Only ask as I’ve just bought a 308 and the sako’s seem accurate enough..
this is all I use in my 308 reloading my own got them from arms 24. very little damage good round
 
For those that have used Sako super hammer heads 150g. How do you find them for meat damage etc. Only ask as I’ve just bought a 308 and the sako’s seem accurate enough..

Used them on fallow and red - quite a hard bullet if that makes sense. Great for h&l shots, going through a shoulder or two or for angled shots. Can lead to slow bleeds on rear lung.
 
Blood outside the body is only of value if you need to track the animal......
You don't need the blood to leave the body to have massive blood loss.

Seems like you don't need that if everything is dead 20yds away

interlocks are actually fairly soft
The lock ring is in place to stop over expansion
Drive them harder and you may find the limit of the lock ring
I have a recovered bullet from a 270 i used on a stag at 60 yds
taken from under the offside skin
peeled right back past the lock ring

I would say you are possibly looking to solve a problem that doesn't exist

if you want gaping holes ****ing blood out then use SSTs
but don't come back on to complain about the meat loss...... :lol:
 
I've been using Serria 2125 Gamekings for decades, and always been very pleased with their performance. They may be old fashioned, but they've always worked for me:old:.
 
I'm surprised to hear of failures at .308 speeds. I really like the Hornady Interlock in mild mannered calibres. The .308 is just that, not too fast and plenty of weight. I've never owned one but the performance specs on paper tell enough of a story to know how it will work. I used them in my 7x57 and they were excellent bullets.

I'd leave it as it is and keep using it. You may well have just been unlucky. Accubonds are great for fast calibres, in the .308 they are a waste of money in my opinion. If you really want to change maybe try Sierra Prohunter or Gameking. They're pretty decent bullets, the Prohunter a little tougher than the Gameking I believe.

As Michael Caine said, "you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!". There's no need to destroy it as long as you get the job done...
 
Back
Top