.308 Deer Flattest Shooting Ammo?

[JGC]

Current Rifle : Remington 700 Varmint 26" 1:12 - SWFA 10x Scope/40moa Nightforce Base
Environment: SWFL

Rifle shoots 1/4" with 175grSMK Shelf Ammo

My question: Father in law shoots a 30-06 with 130gr Hornady for deer down here.. claims shots as far as 300 to 400 yards. Some of which are Taken with his 243 he swears by.
i have fired a few 243 and i am fan but i stick to my .308 for all purpose all around rifle setup.
---I have been inputing different shelf ammo into ballistics computer and from what i see the 168 Hornady Superformance seems to have the best trajectory or a 130gr load....??
Rifle will be used in Florida Fields Ranging From 150 yards wide and across up to 400 usually the max.
My plan is to sight it in at 200 yards, i was considering 178gr Hornadys/ numbers look good and close to my 175FGMM but he says a 130gr Flat shooting bullet is all i need...i dont doubt it.
What is the Highest BC/Flattest Shooting Hunting Round for Deer? can i get away with hornady 130gr loads at higher velocitys? or stick to heavier higher bc? All Help Appreciated . Rifle will be used 100-600yards max. i use a bow for inside 60 yards.
If anyone has a Remington Varmint .308 please post ammo reviews, i can buy a few boxes but unfortunately i dont have the money to just buy 1 of each and try them out. lol. hunting ammo is more expensive than the 175smkfed which is already up there.
I dont want to use my 175SMK because ive read against it for hunting but they group so well its hard to find anything else.

[Buzzcook]

I've used Hornady Interlock sp for many years. The manufactured version is called American Whitetail. The come in 150 and 165gr sizes.

I use a 200yd zero and that keeps me in my comfort zone out to 300yds. 400yds is certainly possible with that bullet but your point of aim would have to be higher than the target.
http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win...terLock-SP-AW/

[Snyper]

Most hunting weight bullet's trajectories aren't going to vary enough at normal distances to make any practical differences.

The vast majority of game is shot at under 200 yards.

Use the load that's the most accurate in your rifle and don't worry over those fractions of an inch in the ballistic tables.

[JGC]

going to try out a box, thanks for the suggestion.

[zipspyder]

The Hornady SST Superformance is about as zippy you are going to get without reloading. 150gr at 3000fps. Also comes in 165gr. Not sure what real world performance you would get though.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...unds?a=1588084

[AllenJ]

+1 Snyper.

Trajectory is not my first thought when I choose ammunition, it is which bullet is going to still be able to reliably expand and penetrate at the both the furthest distance I plan on shooting and the closest. With a good rangefinder I'll know what my holdover needs to be regardless of if the bullet drops 10" or 25" at a given distance.

[taylorce1]

What is the Highest BC/Flattest Shooting Hunting Round for Deer?

Flattest shooting and highest BC don't always go together either, high BC bullets usually don't have the flattest trajectories at short range. With the ranges your talking about hunting 400 yards max BC really doesn't matter. BC is more important at ranges beyond 600 yards IMO. You can shoot a 125 grain Nosler BT at 3100 fps and knock a few inches off the trajectory of a 150 grain bullet at 2800.

My daughter has been using the 125 grain BT to hammer deer out of her .300 Savage for a few years now. That bullet is well constructed and tough and performs very well on every game animal she's tried it on which include seven white tail and one pronghorn. Her load chronographs just over 3000 fps with a 24" barrel in a Remington M700 Classic.

[Jack O'Conner]

My .308 carbine shoots amazing accuracy with Black Hills Ammo. Check Midway for availability.

Jack

[Art Eatman]

If you know your load's trajectory and the distance to your target, "flat" is rather irrelevant.

Example: For decades, my pet '06 load was a max 150-grain. Zeroed at 200. I built a 500-yard range at my house. Supposedly, four feet of drop at 500. So, I guesstimated four feet of holdover and wind. First shot, six inches low at 5:30. Second shot, one inch low at 6:00.

So if you're in the field with a laser rangefinder, hitting Bambi in Ma Bell country is doable. (If you can read the wind and he doesn't move.)

[JGC]

BIG REASON i ask is because i am un-decided to zero in my mildot reticle at 200 yards and hold inside 400 and dial if the opportunity arises. i dont feel comfterble nor do i think a shot past 400 is common in swfl , then again i see alot of open spaces ranging out to 350-450 or so with my leupold 850 rangefinder. figure flatter the better for holdoff shots, my reason for bc is i like my 175gr smk in the wind but again wont use them since everyone suggest not to. maybe iam wrong for using the 175smk as a baseline. it truly is an exceptional round in my rifle. even with the 1:12 twist
thank you all for the feedback, please post any field pics if possible.

[jmr40]

Flat trajectory isn't even on most peoples radar anymore. For one thing the difference out to 300 yards is usually within an inch or 2 with most any modern pointed bullets in most any modern cartridge. And there isn't enough drop to worry about holdover out to 300 yards with almost any cartridge or bullet with a 100 yard zero. If the range is greater than 200 yards out to 300 simply hold the crosshairs on the top of the back and you'll hit vitals with most anything.

Beyond 300 yards all of them drop enough that you either need to be shooting at known ranges where you are pre-zeroed, or be using a range finder and a scope with a BDC type reticle or dials. With modern optics it doesn't matter if you drop 5' at 500 yards or 6'. You can always compensate with your optics.


What high BC bullets do is allow you to hit the game harder at longer ranges, not necessarily have less bullet drop. At least until you start shooting at true long range, over 1000 yards.

I load 150 gr SST's at 2880 fps, 130 gr TTSX's at 3050 fps and 178 ELD-X bullets at 2650 fps in my 308. The 130's start out the fastest and have the least drop at 500 yards, about 50" with a 100 yard zero. The 178's start out the slowest, but at 500 yards are the fastest.

Even though the heavier bullet started 400 fps slower, the better BC's mean it is 50 fps faster at 500 yards with well over 400 ft lbs more energy. The heavier bullets do drop more, about 59". But 9" more bullet drop at 500 isn't that much and is easy enough to compensate for. Wind is going to blow those 130's around a lot too. True enough, you don't need anything heavier than 130's to kill small Florida deer, but at over 400-500 yards energy numbers are running pretty low.

Something in a high BC 150, 155, or 168 gr bullet would split the difference and probably be my choice. Pick the one that shoots best in your rifle.

[JGC]

"Something in a high BC 150, 155, or 168 gr bullet would split the difference and probably be my choice. Pick the one that shoots best in your rifle."
Any Confirmed data from a 26 inch Remington 700 varmint 1:12 with shelf ammo for reference would be gladly appreciated. Possibly going to Myakka city next weekend, they have a 600-1000 yard range. going to gather some data for the hell of it. Those Superformance velocity's look real nice . iam going to shoot some 175smk and then run some hunting shelf ammo for comparison.

[ShootistPRS]

A long time ago I calculated trajectories on the three rifles I was shooting to find out what the "ideal" bullet was for each caliber. My study covered a 243, 308, and 3006. Powder capacity and bore size plays a lot into trajectory. What I found was that the 85 grain bullet provided the best trajectory in the 243, the 150 grain bullet worked best in the 308 and the 165 grain bullet was best in the '06. By "best" I am talking about velocity, energy, and the amount of drop when zeroed at a maximum point blank range for a six inch target zone. Surprisingly 300 yards is about the maximum point blank range for a 6 inch diameter kill zone. Some of the magnums will push that out to 350 or a tad more but as a general rule if you are shooting at 300 yards or more you have to make adjustments to your scope/sights.

[JGC]

seems 150gr is the way to go, on one end i pick up speed but loose group tightness, the other is tight but i sacrifice speed... just seems my rifle groups heavier bullets better but i will give the hornady 150gr & 165gr a try, i dont mind dialing (swfa10xmil is what iam running) but i like the idea of a good point blank zero for inside 250 yards, specially a moving deer that can quickly dissapear in these swamps. florida is crazy, one moment you have 50 yards of opening and the next you can see out to 300, just trying to cover my basis/ao effectively. Noticed deer down here are spooked most of the time, hell i would too with the panthers and the thick brush. last turkey season i had a mature doe approx 100 lbs 7 yards from me completely clueless, i had my eyes about as shut as i could and zero movement with my ghillie suit, hung out for a few minutes and slowly walked away. i used my bow when its thick but definitely found the use for a good 300 yard rifle when i seen a few bucks/does out in the fields.

[taylorce1]

You might be surprised how well 150 grain bullets group in your rifle. You might find a load that shoots as well as your 175 grain load. You might have to try a few different types of ammunition, but I'm betting your .308 will find one it likes and allow you to shoot small groups.

[JGC]

yes sir, iam banking on it. just trying to see what success others have had, for example i read a review on the same rifle setup and i suspected the gent grouped better with the 168 than the 150 both boxes sst hornadys. iam going to give a couple 150gr boxes a run and compare.
Contenders so far: Hornady 150 & 165 sst. Federal Fusion 150, American Whitetail Hrndy 150gr. I will purchase and try anything else you gents recommend (hunting Class) and i will post a range review. Shoot away as long as its $30 or under a box...lol this dates getting pricey.

[Don Fischer]

Love the 308. Have had several and one now but the one now I'm shooting cast in. My other's I always found 165 and 180 gr bullet's the most accurate. Never could get 150's to shoot as well but that could be in my head. I thing the all around best bullet in the 308 is the 165 gr and in the 30-06, the 180 gr.

I pay attention to how I sight in my rifles. All the hunting rifle for deer and up are done at MPBR with a 6" target. A lot of guy's using MPBR use an 8" target. At the 8" target with most modern cartridge's you can hold dead on to 300+ yds.

[DPI7800]

If,you are running a mil dot zero at 100 and go shoot some groups out to 600 and record your DOPE. Then you can hold or dial accordingly. Pointless to have a mil scope and exposed turrets only to use MPBR.