We recently covered powders for .308. Now how about bullets? My .308s shoot match bullets fine, but hunting bullets not quite so well. Which hunting bullets do well for you -- particularly the premium bullets?

I have no experience with the premium bullets in a 308 Win. I just never felt the need to use them since the standard Sierra's, Nosler's, Hornady's, and Speer's have worked very well for me in the past. I use either CCI or Federal match primers in all of my hunting loads. Since I don't know exactly what you are going to be hunting I will list some general loads for several different bullet weights and hope the help you.

125 gr.:
By far the best powder I have found with this bullet weight is Win. 748 at somewhere between 51.3 and 51.5 gr. This load shoots .5 MOA or better in 5 different rifles (not all mine) using either the 125 Nosler BT, or the 125 Speer TNT. The Nosler is a little bit tougher bullet than the TNT. The velocity depending on barrel lenght should be around 3100 fps.

150 gr.:
With this bullet I use 46.5 gr. of IMR 4064 with 150 Nosler BT for a velocity of 2854 fps. It gives groups in the high .5's to .6's. The Nolser PT likes 46.3 gr of Varget. Velocity is nearly identical to the BT load. The accuracy isn't quite as good as the BT but it will shoot in .7's to .8's all the time if I do my part.

165 gr.:
With the 165 BT I use 43.6 gr. of RL 15 for a velocity of 2725 fps and accuracy in the .6's consistently. When I need a tougher bullet for pigs I use the 165 Sierra HPBT GameKing. and 47.1 gr. of N550. velocity of 2760. This load will consistently shoot in the .5's to .6's and I have several groups in the .3's with it. This bullet is my favorite hog bullet. At 308 velocity it is pretty tough.

I have never had a need for a load with a 180 gr. bullet as the three weights listed cover all of my hunting needs. Hope this has helped some.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight.......RiverRat

I've tried the Barnes 168 gr. XLC in both my .308's. It shoots quite well, (.8 @ 100 yds.). The load is 44 grs. AA2520 with Win cases and Win primers.
My M70 Fwt clocks at 2607 fps. with the above.
The Combined Tech., 150 gr. Fail Safe over 46 grs. of Re-15, WW cases and primers. About 1.2 @ 100 yds. in the above M70.
In general, if you don't like/want a premium in the .308, I'd try the Sierra offerings first. Many, including me, find their hunting bullets up to their match bullets in accuracy out of typical sporters and custom rifles. E

The .308 is a gentleman with bullets. Its lack of super velocity makes most bullets worthy....I have always liked the WW Powerpoints, they have always worked well for me as have Nosler and Woodleighs..The Rem Corelokts work real well..I cannot recall a .308 bullet failure of any kind and I have shot a lot of stuff with the .308..It is a grand cartridge.

I've had good luck with the 150gr Hornady in the .308, never had one fail.

Try any of the Nosler BT's, they all shoot great out of my 788, .5 and .6's. My pet powder is H380, it's what I go to for any load in the .243 or .308.
Yardbird

In my view the 308 shooting the 125 or 130 grain bullet from the 1 in 12" twist barrel is one of the finest deer getting combination you can use. All hunting bullets are made of a lead core with a copper jacket. All premium bullets are made of a lead core and copper jacket. All have any number of lead core or copper jacket compounds to make them mushroom properly. One of the finest lead core copper jacketed compound bullets is the Remington Cor-Lokt bullet still being produced. I would put the Remington Cor-Lokt hunting bullet up against any premium bullet ever made and know the Cor-Lokt would perform flawlessly.

The so called premium bullets now on the market are no better than those sold by the top three bullet makers, Sierra, Speer, Hornaday. The only difference is the cost to us, the reloaders of those so called premium bullets.

I have used Sierra, Hornaday, Speer, Remington bullets for years and all have performed very well. Shot placement along with the proper bullet weight for the task at hand is the key to game getting success. No game animal can survive a hit in the heart lung area with any well constructed copper jacketed lead core hunting bullet. No deer I ever hit in the heart lung area with the Sierra Game king or Hornaday A-max bullet survived.

The so called premium bullet is a state of mind through marketing and advertising, will not perform any better than the less expensive hunting bullets made by Sierra, Hornaday, Speer. I often see in print about that premium bullet that failed on a game animal. It is certain the user of that so called premium bullet thinks that bullet loaded in his cartridge will kill any thing no matter how poorly he places that premium bullet in the target. I just can't see paying the same money for 20 to 50 premium bullets when I can get 100 Sierra, Speer, Hornaday, for the same money and get as good or better results.

For pure accuracy you can't beat those benchrest bullets like Watson, Berger, Fowler, Starke, Chism, BIB, Cheek, Zia, Knight and a few more I can't recall.

I've been using factory loaded 150 gr. SST's in my Ruger 308 for a year or more with excellent results on deer and antelope. I just handloaded a batch with the Hornady 150 gr. Interlok, god results on paper but haven't shot any animals with them yet.

Try all you want, but if you want the best, shoot the North Fork. They come in 150, 165, 180, and 200 grain sizes. Phone is 307-436-2726 Good luck and good shooting.

I have a Ruger M77 VLE, which apparently has a 1/10 right hand twist. What grain bullets will do best in that twist rate? 1/10 seems a bit high for a .30 caliber rifle, so I'm assuming that it does better with heavier bullets. Any thoughts, recommendations, or secret recipes?

Anything that can be killed with .308" bullets at .308 Winchester velocities doesn't require a premium bullet. I've done just fine and dandy with Sierra's 165-grain Game King and a "book" load of AA 2520.

Russ

I am just getting back into reloading after quite a few years absence. I was always under the impression that Sierra, Hornady, etc. were considered premium bullets. Guess I was under the wrong impression. BTW, I just picked up some Hornady Interlocks in 150gr & 165gr to use in my .308 and my son's -06

I took another posters advice a while back and tried the good old cheap $12/box 150 interlock flat based. It outshot the fancy sst's, ballistic tips, sierra boattails etc. It's the place to start in my book. At that speed the interlock should be the perfect performer on most anything!!

KLN,
I haven't had my current .308 very long, but it likes the 150 grain Sierra SPT and the Nosler Partition. Have just ordered some new brass to play with the Nosler Ballistic Tips with. Tried the 150 grain Hornady Interlock and SSTs and was not too impressed with the accuracy of either. I tried W-748, W-760, H-4895 and H-varget powders and the best velocity and accuracy was obtained with H-Varget Good luck.

I would go with ballistic tips since the 308 doesn't have the energy to make even standard bullets perform on big game.

Shootaway,

I sure don't understand your statement about the energy of a 308. It doesn't make much sense since the 308 is usualy compared to the 30-06 and the 30-06 is often called the best all around rifle. The 308 was designed when standard bullets were the norm...long before the ballistic tip was invented.

JAB If you are hunting elk,moose,a large bear,or shooting caribou and sheep at long ranges,or if you are hunting in very cold weather ,you may feel undergunned with a 30-06.I shoot 180gr.corelocs with my 300 win.mag. If I were hunting with a 308 I would hunt only white-tails and prefer the balistic tip.

I once shot a big caribou from 25yds with a 140gr.balistic tip from a 7mmrem.mag and recovered the bullet.The bullet was still intact expanding a little more than half way down.If this had been a coreloc it would have expanded less,if it were a 165gr.coreloc much less,and if it were a 165gr.coreloc fired from a 308 barely.

Shootaway
Do you realy believe what your saying about the 308win because I sure as hell dont.
Ive had nothing but good results with my 308 with standard bullets, same with my father, same with my mechanic, same with an old family friend who has shot countless moose, elk, deer, caribou, mountain goat, sheep, black bear ect. He's shot over 200 big game animals with his win model 88. all using standered bullets in his 75 years.
His wife shoots 308win also.
My self would load tougher bullets for moose and elk but anything smaller falls with standered bullets.

The 150 gr is the closest you came to the parent cartridge, the 7,62 Nato with its 147 gr FMJ bullet. That should say that this is the optimal bullet weight ( ? )and will take care of most of the deer hunting with standard bullets.

I have settled on the 165 gr Hornady for all my hunting with the 308 Win wich today is mostly roe deer.
I find this a good compromice between ballistics and performance and is a sub moa load in my rifle.
For thougher critters I would choose a Nosler PT in the same weight.

Many experienced users of the 308 Win ( Moose and red deer hunters ) think that the 180, 200 and 220 gr bullets is stretching the design limit of the cartridge a bit.
I have no strong feelings about that as I have found the weight / bullet that work good for me in the 165 gr. Hornady SP

My nasty-weather deer rifle is a stainless Rem M7, spray-painted, with compact Leupold 3x9 in .308.

I'm still load developing between 150gr and 165gr Partitions, and when I find it I'll load 100 rounds and forget hunting ammo for four or five years. That's enough to annually zero and hunt with.

Sure I'll practice with the cheap bullets but you'll overpay more for a soft drink at a convenience store than what the Partition will cost you.