I was looking for some good suggestions on load and bullet type for Michigan whitetail. The range will be 150 yards or less and the gun will be a .308 Ruger MKII VLE. Anyone with any ideas or suggestions would be great. I have always used core locks in the past and want to try something new. Thank you, Rockey

Most any 150 to 165 bullet would work good. If you want to go first class use the partition bullet. I like 4895, Varget and 4064. Hodgedon website has all the loads listed. Do a google on "308 loads" it'll amaze you.
David

Try a good old 150 grain Hornady Spire interlock in front of 48.0 748. Stay away from the boat tail version and these bullets knock the stuffing out of 300 pound or less game.

This is almost straight out of the Sierra Rifle manual and worked really well for me. 150gr Ballistic Tip,46.2gr of 4064,Fed.LR Primer and Federal cases. Absolutely deadly out to 300 yds. from my 308. derf

You might try to get your hands on some Speer Deep shocks before they all go away. But its hard to go wrong with a 308 on deer. Nearly any SP or ballistic tip 150 grns or better will do fine.

A 165 rem corelokt is just right they are cheap shoot good and kill deer like crazy. Load them with any good powder you have and it well work just fine.

I'd try a flat bases 165 gr. Hornady Interlock over either RL15 or Varget. 2nd choice on the bullet would be a 165 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip.

I use Hornady 180s in my 760 carbine, low velocity, but at that range you can't go wrong.

One of my favorite rounds for target or hunting, the 308 Win for deer my favorite hand load is:

150 Nosler BT or Sierra BT
VARGET @ 47.0
CCI BR-2 Primers
Fed Gold medal or WW brass (Lapua)

If you are using a bolt I like to use the Lyman M die when preping my cases, excellent load averages less than MOA.

I finally settled on 150 grain Nosler BTs, 53 grains of W748, CCI BR 2 large rifle primers, and Federal Match brass. W748 is not as fast some other powders but keeps the pressure curve way down. I must admit that I have experienced core separation when using the Nosler BTs, but they always did the job.

I may try the Hornady Interlock this year.

[ 08-22-2003, 16:15: Message edited by: crowrifle ]

150 Nosler Btips, Varget and Winchester cases in my old Savage 99 are right around 1" in my old Savage 99. My favorite deer hunting rig.

I have used lighter-weight Barnes-X bullets with great satisfaction in my .308.

The 180 Rem round-nosed CoreLokt, the Sierra 165 HPBT hunting bullet and 165 Nosler Partition have outspoken fans.

Most 165 grain standard bullets will work fine unless you try the Texas heart shot. I suggest the Barnes-X for that

I'm not a fan of the standard quality 150's as I want more penetration should I find a large animal or have to drive through a shoulder.

The new Hornady Interbond may be a great deer bullet, as well as the new Nosler Accubond.

RL15 is my favorite in .308. Varget and 748 have legions of admirers. Most any medium-speed propellant will work.

BigIron

I found 125 grain Nosler BT's to shoot best in my .308. I was nervous about such a small bullet but the doe I shot this past season didn't know the difference between it and the 165's I shoot out of the .300 mag.

I interviewed some of the deer around and they all said they preferred the lighter bullets loaded to low or moderate velocities.

I have killed a whole bunch of whitetails with a 308 over the last 30 plus years. I have used a variety of bullets, but 165 grainers have been the best killers for me. I really like the 165 grain Speer spitzer.(not the boattail version)

As per your suggestion, I too interviewed some of the local deer. Amazingly, in my neck of the woods they preferred light bullets, and high velocity. 150 grainers running as close to 2900 fps as possible. Most picked Ballistic Tips as their favorite bullet.
I'll go with their consensus in my gun, 'cause I aim to please!

I'll be using federal 165gr. I.H.E. factory load's for both deer and moose this fall.I'm getting 2797 fps. out of my savage 99-c.

Since the range will be under 200yds the 165 round nose should be a good bullet. I would use it for black bear inside of this range too. They tend to leave a nice exit hole should you need to do any tracking.

Hey VIP, where do you find those 165 round noses? I used to use them and now I see that Speer has stopped making them. If I could find a couple hundred, it would make me happy, and keep me in hunting bullets for a long time. Even a hundred would be nice as I still have about 40 or 50 left.

KLSM54, I bought the last box in Klecknersville at John Myer's. Sometimes if you blow the dust off some of the boxes of bullets you'd be surprised at what you'll find, and at yesteryear's prices too. I tried calling Speer but they don't open 'till 10:30 A.M. eastern time. The phone # is (800)627-3640 if you'd like to call. Let me know what you find out. I have about the same number of bullets left myself. Time to start looking at the gunshows for them I guess. Good luck.

You won't kill deer any better than a 180 RN bullet at about 2.5K. I treasure a supply of 50's 180 RN Core-Lokt for such a purpose. Recent Core-Lokt bullets have had their jackets thinned to save money. However Remington has introducted a Core-Lokt bonded that restores this bullet to it's prior quality. You may think I am nuts, but you will get quicker and cleaner kills with the RN bullet a couple of hundred feet below max velocity. The 150s and 165s of good construction are 250-350 yard bullets.

FFIW, got to agree with Charger. Since I moved to WV, I have done my local hunting using a 7-08 and a 154gr RN hornady bullet. To date (4 deer), it has slammed every one down on the spot.

I have taken over 20 whitetail deer with the 308 Win using 125 grain ballistic tips loaded with 51.5 grains of w748. I have never lst any deer shot with it and they usually don't more than a few steps or just drop in their tracks.