Greetings from OZ.Looking for some advice on choice of hunting bullets for 308 win. I have a Remington 700 BDL DM and for years have been using 125gn ballistic tips behind AR 2208 (Varget).I used to average 0.6-0.7MOA, but sometimes I get get groups of 1.2-1.2MOA. Two questions, what twist would my 308 be (1 in 10-12) ? Also what are peoples experiences in using other loads, for accuracy and medium game hunting?

On this side of the pond I have had great results with 150 grain Nosler Accubonds.

Thanks Rusty. Can I ask what size groups are you getting with the Accubonds and secondly are they ok on medium size game. I thought they might not open as quick as say ballistic tips ?

Here is a picture of a group I shot a few weeks ago.
5 rounds, 100 yards, Savage FCP .308 I used IMR 8208 XBR, Federal match primers.


I have never had a terminal ballistics failure of an Accubond or Nosler Partition bullet.
Accubond have performed well for me on White-tailed deer and feral hogs in Texas.

A friend of mine took Accubonds to Africa for his 375 H&H and they hammered the plains game!

Because you specify Hunting Bullets I must agree with Rusty that the Nosler Accubonds offer the most in flight and on arrival service. Pick the bullet weight most suitable to the game of your desires and go kill something!

Sierra 165gn Spitzer-Boattails and/or Hornady 180gn SST are a couple of non-premium bullets I've gotten excellent results with in both the .308 and 30/06 on medium sized game here and in Africa. One-ragged-hole groups at 100 yds are common from my Remington 700's.

Your rifle is 1:12" twist.

This was shot with a Truvelo 308Win at 100m with 130gr GSC HV bullets.


This one was shot with a Musgrave M80. Same details as above.



See: http://www.gsgroup.co.za/accuracy.html

Thanks guys, much appreciated....I may try 150gn Accubonds....

The Nosler Ballistic Tips outshoot their competition bullets in my .308 Hunter class bench rifle. They are a very accurate bullet.

My Remington 308 loved the Hornady 165 grain BTSP interlock bullet.

In 1981 when I started reloading, that bullet and a full load of IMR4064 would shoot groups into less than 1/2". I wound up buying 3,000 of those bullets then and 31 years later I have one and a half boxes left.

Ive had better luck with 180s for group size in a 1 in 10.

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Originally posted by sevenmil:
Greetings from OZ.Looking for some advice on choice of hunting bullets for 308 win. I have a Remington 700 BDL DM and for years have been using 125gn ballistic tips behind AR 2208 (Varget).I used to average 0.6-0.7MOA, but sometimes I get get groups of 1.2-1.2MOA. Two questions, what twist would my 308 be (1 in 10-12) ? Also what are peoples experiences in using other loads, for accuracy and medium game hunting?

If you are saying that your accuracy has deteriorated over time with the 125 grain BTips, I would look at other things about the gun (condidtion of bore, scope, stock warpage, etc.) before thinking of changing bullets.

In my experience there are few hunting bullets which provide average accuracy better than the Ballistic Tip (and the Accubonds I've used seem identical in accuracy). However, an individual rifle can show bullet preferences which differ from the norm, so the Accubond may not be the most accurate in any give rifle. Among the widely-distributed makes of bullets I have found their general accuracy potential to be, in decreasing order, Nosler-Sierra-Speer-Hornady. But I own rifles in which Hornady's or Speer's are consistently the most accurate.

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Originally posted by 308Sako:
Because you specify Hunting Bullets I must agree with Rusty that the Nosler Accubonds offer the most in flight and on arrival service. Pick the bullet weight most suitable to the game of your desires and go kill something!

Agreed. Our family has taken many elk and mule deer with the Accubonds in 180g out of .300Winmags with great in the field performance and wonderful accuracy.

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Your rifle is 1:12" twist.

Gerard. Are you sure? mY Remington 660 has a 1in 10" twist for sure and the Speer loading mnuals that once gave twist rate info state 1 in 10" for Colt, J.C. Higgins 51-L, Mannlicher-Schoenaur, Marlin, Musketeer, Remington 722, 740, 72, 760, 700, 40XB, 788, 660, 600, Schultz & Larson.

Rifles with 1 in 12" twist: Brownibf, FN, Harrigton and Richardson,300, 308, Husqvarna, Mossberg 800, Savage 99, 110, 2400, Sako, Stevens 110, Winchester 70,88, 100, 670, 770.

Paul B.

Thanks Stonecreek. I agree that it could be other factors, but I checked all these. Rifling is still very good, barrel is floated without any obstruction and everything is tight. I have actually been using a mixed array of cases (Lapua and Remington) and Winchester primers which probably didn't help. It could even be shooter error as I have been using my Sendero in 7mm rem mag a lot lately off the bench- the recoil with 162gn Amax's is more of a push rather than a jump so to speak.
My 308 is a Remington BDL DM and is very light and tends to "buck", so it may be as simple as my grip not being correct on the bench? Anyway I am loading another batch of rounds of all the same brand case(Remington) and trying my old favorite federal primers with the 125gn ballistic tips and I'll focus on my grip whilst on the bench- I might try some 150gn bts too.....

Seven: Mixing cases can certainly introduce a variable that can expand group size. I think you should definately segregate your cases by manufacturer, then make sure that they are all trimmed to a uniform length and resized to uniform dimensions. This might tighten up your groups considerably.

quote:

Originally posted by sevenmil:
.....

Two questions, what twist would my 308 be (1 in 10-12) ? Also what are peoples experiences in using other loads, for accuracy and medium game hunting?

7mil,

Remington put both the 1:10 and the 1:12 in their M700 308s. Best to check with cleaning rod turn to be sure.

My 308 M700 has a 1:12 twist and the 165 gr Sierra GameKings work great for whitetail deer in US.

thanks Stonecreek and Raysendero, much appreciated.

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The Nosler Ballistic Tips .....

That has been my experience also. For a new rifle in my stable I purchase a box of Ballistic Tips in a medium weight for that caliber because IME it'll pretty much tell me what that rifle's accuracy level is gonna be right off the bat.

For a .308 Winchester, I always start with 150 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and almost always stay with them, too. Personally, I consider this cartridge & that particular bullet an outstanding combination. The 308 Winchester's middle-of-the-road velocity doesn't stress the NBT's too awful much and have delivered both outstanding terminal performance & accuracy for me.

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My Remington 308 loved the Hornady 165 grain BTSP interlock bullet.

Like Frank's noted above; I had a box of Hornady 165 SPBT's that someone gave me - Whew! I dunno if they work like that all the time or if this box was just an outstanding batch from Hornady because all 100 pretty much went into the same hole and worked fantastic on game as well, too.

Good Luck with your bullet search.

Like others have said, 150 Accubonds worked great in my Ruger 77 Full Stock. Another bullet I picked up on the cheap that shot lights out was the 150 Speer Mag Tip. Not a good BC but I hunt in the woods so shots are 100 yards or under.

One bullet that works great in my Winchester M70 and is the only bullet that will shoot in a Ruger M77 RSI is the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core.
Paul B.

white tail. i get great resultes from the 150 sierra SPBT. with severel different powders.

I get great results with the 150gr. accubonds, or the SST's very tight groups. Win primer, Win brass, and 46.0 gr IMR 4064.

Another Accubonder here for the .308 Win.

Remington Brass
165gr Accubond
44gr RL15
CCI BR-2 primer

My 14 year old shot this round after I sighted it to 2" high at 100 yards. He then touched that shot with the next 3. We haven't hunted with it however so I can't offer you that experience.

Well went to the range this week after loading a bunch of 125 gn balistic tips, federal primers and all the same brass- groups still not that great and only improved to 0.9MOA. Even tried some 150gn BTs, but no difference. Also gave some 150gn SSTs a go however they grouped 2.5 MOA at 100m, so they'll be given away.
Thinking of trying some IMR 8208 which has only just been released here. Any of you guys tried this powder in 308?

Yes! It gave the best results with 150 grain Accubonds. See my picture posted above. I'm impressed. I used 42 grains of IMR 8208 XBR.

Well went out to the range again on the weekend after reading various forums that mentioned Varget powder had shown inconsistencies. As Varget is an Australian powder (AR208) I reviewed my old ADI loading manuals and sure enough noticed that the various additions showed that both the recommended starting load and maximum load have increased over the past 14-15 years. I had still been using a load from 1998 (46.5gn) whereas the latest manual states the starting weight to be 48gn- obviously ADI have slightly altered the manufacturing formula over the years. To test the theory I increased my load to 47.5gn with the 125gn ballistic tips and what do you know, the groups started to tighten up again (0.6MOA). I am sure with a little more experimenting by increasing the charge, I,ll get back to my old
reliable accuracy.

Problem solved by the looks of things- thanks to everyone for your helpful comments!!!!!