.308 Recommendations for Whitetail Game Load

vffdoug · October 21, 2014, 09:41 AM

I recently purchased a .308 and I am looking for some recommendations on a load in the 160 grain area for my .308. Any help is appreciated. Also where to get .308 brass used or new.
Thanks

AllenJ · October 21, 2014, 09:56 AM

Reloading data: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

For brass you can try Widners, Palmettos (http://palmettostatearmory.com/index...rass-50ct.html), Cabela's, or Selway (http://www.selwayarmory.com/topbrass...-bagof500.aspx) just to name a few.

**Unclenick** · October 21, 2014, 10:10 AM

I can't think of any .308 load except squib loads for rabbit that might fail to take a Whitetail. Even the Remington reduced youth loads will do it. Unless you have very long shots in your neck of the woods and therefore need the wind bucking characteristics of a heavier boattail bullet, or unless your gun just doesn't shoot the lighter bullets well, I would pick a load that you can shoot well with and practice and hunt with that, whatever it is.

Note that 160 grain bullets are few in number in .308" diameter. Most skip either from 150 or 155 grains to 165 grains. Two exceptions are the Hornady FTX bullets with soft tips intended for tubular magazine guns. They have their crimp cannelures in different locations depending on whether .30-30 or .308 Marlin Express are the intended rifle. I expect you would want the latter bullet for use in the .308 Winchester, the #30396. Hornady will provide you with load data on request by email, but the data is likely to be only for the .308 Marlin Express, which will be light in the bigger .308 Win case.

If I were using this bullet in .308 Win, I would get some H4895, because it is happy at relatively low load densities, and look at around 38 grains to start and then load up looking for best accuracy. Theoretically you could go up to a pretty high speed, but this bullet is intended for lower lever gun velocities, so I am just guessing that 41 grains might be an upper limit to keep the bullet from coming apart in game, but I don't actually know. Ask Hornady what a good maximum velocity would be. And maybe they do have .308 loads for it. You can only ask.

Jim Watson · October 21, 2014, 10:32 AM

Treat yourself to new commercial brass. Why buy somebody else's rejects? Especially military that has probably been fired in a machine gun.

I would take a plain softpoint 150 or 165 grain bullet from Hornady or Speer or Remington and a middle of the road load. The usual handbook starting load is 90% of maximum but I have never had a speck of trouble loading to the Speer middle of three, which is about 95%. I don't know where you got the 160 grain number and think Unclenick is off on a wild goose chase with a .30-30 gimmick bullet.

You might not be able to hunker down over a benchrest and shoot an Internet Bragging Group with it, but you can zero the rifle with it and kill any deer sized game you can find.

**Unclenick** · October 21, 2014, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

…think Unclenick is off on a wild goose chase with a .30-30 gimmick bullet.

That was kind of my point, if it didn't come across. He can have exactly what he asked for, but it's a lot of extra bother to do.

bamaranger · October 22, 2014, 03:53 AM

You'll get lots of suggestions for assorted loads in .308. Seems like I read that writer John WOOTERS thought .308 was the ideal whitetail cartridge.

WOOTERS recommended a 150 gr slug, and 46g of IMR4064. I reduced that load a tad to use in a vintage rifle, and went with 45 grs. As Jim W suggested, it is about right in the middle of the manuals. Conveniently, the Mil Spec 147 gr FMJ's can use the same load, for cheap practice.

There is another thread running about the 150 gr/.30 Sierra SP flat base ProHunter in the hunting forum.

jmr40 · October 22, 2014, 08:03 PM

Lots of good loads. I use 47 gr of Varget with 150's and 46 gr with 165's. I've used Hornady and Nosler bullets with good success. I've also used 130 gr Barnes TTSX bullets with both TAC and Varget.

Those are the loads I've settled on, but have used 4064, 4895, and RL-15, in the past with darn near identical speeds and accuracy. 308 seems to be one of those cartridges that performs well with many powder/bullet combo's.

October 21, 2014, 09:41 AM	#1
vffdoug Member Join Date: March 19, 2013 Posts: 31	.308 Recommendations for Whitetail Game Load I recently purchased a .308 and I am looking for some recommendations on a load in the 160 grain area for my .308. Any help is appreciated. Also where to get .308 brass used or new. Thanks

October 22, 2014, 03:53 AM	#6
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,800	.308 v. deer You'll get lots of suggestions for assorted loads in .308. Seems like I read that writer John WOOTERS thought .308 was the ideal whitetail cartridge. WOOTERS recommended a 150 gr slug, and 46g of IMR4064. I reduced that load a tad to use in a vintage rifle, and went with 45 grs. As Jim W suggested, it is about right in the middle of the manuals. Conveniently, the Mil Spec 147 gr FMJ's can use the same load, for cheap practice. There is another thread running about the 150 gr/.30 Sierra SP flat base ProHunter in the hunting forum.

October 21, 2014, 09:56 AM	#2
AllenJ Senior Member Join Date: December 11, 2009 Location: Northern California Posts: 1,766	Reloading data: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/ For brass you can try Widners, Palmettos (http://palmettostatearmory.com/index...rass-50ct.html), Cabela's, or Selway (http://www.selwayarmory.com/topbrass...-bagof500.aspx) just to name a few.

October 21, 2014, 10:10 AM	#3
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,743	I can't think of any .308 load except squib loads for rabbit that might fail to take a Whitetail. Even the Remington reduced youth loads will do it. Unless you have very long shots in your neck of the woods and therefore need the wind bucking characteristics of a heavier boattail bullet, or unless your gun just doesn't shoot the lighter bullets well, I would pick a load that you can shoot well with and practice and hunt with that, whatever it is. Note that 160 grain bullets are few in number in .308" diameter. Most skip either from 150 or 155 grains to 165 grains. Two exceptions are the Hornady FTX bullets with soft tips intended for tubular magazine guns. They have their crimp cannelures in different locations depending on whether .30-30 or .308 Marlin Express are the intended rifle. I expect you would want the latter bullet for use in the .308 Winchester, the #30396. Hornady will provide you with load data on request by email, but the data is likely to be only for the .308 Marlin Express, which will be light in the bigger .308 Win case. If I were using this bullet in .308 Win, I would get some H4895, because it is happy at relatively low load densities, and look at around 38 grains to start and then load up looking for best accuracy. Theoretically you could go up to a pretty high speed, but this bullet is intended for lower lever gun velocities, so I am just guessing that 41 grains might be an upper limit to keep the bullet from coming apart in game, but I don't actually know. Ask Hornady what a good maximum velocity would be. And maybe they do have .308 loads for it. You can only ask. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

October 21, 2014, 10:32 AM	#4
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 19,185	Treat yourself to new commercial brass. Why buy somebody else's rejects? Especially military that has probably been fired in a machine gun. I would take a plain softpoint 150 or 165 grain bullet from Hornady or Speer or Remington and a middle of the road load. The usual handbook starting load is 90% of maximum but I have never had a speck of trouble loading to the Speer middle of three, which is about 95%. I don't know where you got the 160 grain number and think Unclenick is off on a wild goose chase with a .30-30 gimmick bullet. You might not be able to hunker down over a benchrest and shoot an Internet Bragging Group with it, but you can zero the rifle with it and kill any deer sized game you can find.

October 22, 2014, 08:03 PM	#7
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,975	Lots of good loads. I use 47 gr of Varget with 150's and 46 gr with 165's. I've used Hornady and Nosler bullets with good success. I've also used 130 gr Barnes TTSX bullets with both TAC and Varget. Those are the loads I've settled on, but have used 4064, 4895, and RL-15, in the past with darn near identical speeds and accuracy. 308 seems to be one of those cartridges that performs well with many powder/bullet combo's.