I was planning on dropping down to a 260 Rem or perhaps 7-08 for Whitetails, but I have a couple very accurate rifles in 308. Has anyone loaded lighter mono-metal bullets in the 308? Not sure what's available from Barnes or some of the others making lead-free bullets, but I'm thinking a 135-140gr mono may be the same size as a 150gr cup-n-core.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I was planning on dropping down to a 260 Rem or perhaps 7-08 for Whitetails, but I have a couple very accurate rifles in 308. Has anyone loaded lighter mono-metal bullets in the 308? Not sure what's available from Barnes or some of the others making lead-free bullets, but I'm thinking a 135-140gr mono may be the same size as a 150gr cup-n-core.

I agree that the 260 would be dynomite for deer but you can down load using the monolithics. I really like the mushroom provided by the Hornady GMX and think that it may out perform the barnes but not by much. I would not go under 150 grains in this pursuit but that is just me.

Have used 150gr TSX for about 15 years on deer. I use a mild load at 2750fps. Has worked fine on our 100-150 lb deer. YMMV

Thanks guys. I think 150gr will do it. With a .308 bullet, getting lighter, even with a mono-metal bullet (long for weight), the lighter Barnes would probably shed velocity pretty quickly.

I get great accuracy from the old Barnes X 140 grain bullet out of my .308. Shot a big doe at a lazered 250 yards with it this year. Bang flop right behind the shoulder. 50 cent sized exit wound.

Beibs, unless you're shooting past 300 yds the 130 gr Barnes or GS Custom HV are the bee's knee's in a 308! I shoot them in three out of four of my 30s; the 308, 30-06 and 300 Win Mag. The 308 will launch them close to 3200 fps. If you start them at 2700-2750 you still have point blank zero to almost 300 without much recoil.

Yes, when I decided to make my 308 into another rifle, in terms of ballistics, the Barnes 130 is the first one I considered. Guess I'll have to buy a box of each!

I see where Barnes has added a 110 tipped TSX to the 30 cal lineup. I can drive the 130 to 3600 in a 24" 300 Win Mag. Bet the 110 will do 3800. Certainly not a long range prospect from a standpoint of BC, but starting out that fast, it can afford to shed some speed along the way. I've thinking about a 30BR and that bullet will clock 3000 from that case. Hell of a night time hog gun!

For sure!

I was considering the 110 tsx for my 270 but can't imagine it in a .308, it must be a really short bullet.

So you have a killer 308 doing a great job now, with traditional bullets. You are using it on White-tailed Deer. Are you having "pass through" issues? Why mono-metal?

The only no exit bullet I've seen recently was a 150 .308 Hornady SST. Deer was DRT.

What are you trying to accomplish with the mono-metal?

Rusty, thought I would make it a lighter-recoiling rifle for the kids and wife, that still has enough for medium-range shots at Whitetail. Plus, it gives me something to do. As they say in Alaska, just for the Halibut!

i have never thought the 308 kicked in the first place. as rusty said, why not just use a reguular old core lokt rn in 180 grains? that combo pounds the deer here in Maine pretty well as is easy to shoot. besides, medium range shots don't require speed, just someone who has good trigger control.

Well, yes and no. True that speed isn't necessary. Sometimes I like to hunt with my 9.3 x 57 with a 286 gr Prizi bullet that never goes faster than 2000 fps in that ctg. But when I'm meat hunting I like a lights-out shot on an undistubed animal and a rapid bleed-out.

I usually shoot the 130/300Win Mag inside 100-150 yds when doing that, and I shoot for the first or second vertebrae behind the skull. The impact of a bullet traveling that fast shatters the bone and blows secondary bone splinters with such force that is very nearly a decapitating shot. An impact velocity of 3500 fps or higher seems to work everytime.

The other benefit is the veins and arteries at the base of the skull are severed and the animal bleeds out immediately. Which doesn't happen with a heart or lung shot. A brain shot is similar in lights out but doesn't facilitate a massive bleed-out as well.

Just my preference and not necessarily anyone else's cup of tea but that's my reason for speed. A cup and core may disintegrate on the neck muscles at that speed; a monometal won't.

My wife is 108 lbs, and the kids less....so recoil is a relative thing!

when my wife was learning to shoot we talked about how to hold the rifle and how to acquire a sight picture and how to squeeze a trigger. i don't recall discussing recoil and she has never brought it up.

a buddy of mine has a nice little ruger mannlicher stocked 308 which might weigh about 7.5 lbs or so with the scope. when he first got it all it wore was that hockey puck pad they come with. he switched out for a decelerator and it significantly changed the feeling during recoil. perhaps something like a good pad would go a long way.

tiggertate, couldn't you accomplish the same thing on a deer without that rifle? i guess texas hunting must differ from maine quie a bit.

Maybe. I'm using the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy. I started this technique on hogs with a 220 Swift. I also shot them with a 223 at the time and didn't get the same result. It killed them just as stone dead but I didn't get the quick bleed-out as consistently. The extra speed seems to make a dramatic difference in violence of the impact and the size of the radius that the bone fragments will cause tissue destruction.

Try starting/mild loads with the 125 gr Ballistic Tip, 4895 works well.

I like the Barnes bullets but they work best at impact velocities above 2200 IMO, this negates the lighter bullet recoil advantage. For recoil reduction I like softer bullets at medium velocities. I'd like a 260 Rem also but I really don't need one because my 30s with the right bullets do the same things, don't tell the wife.

Interesting!

For low recoil loads in the 308 just use the Remington 125gr Managed Recoil factory ammo.

My nephew and I have taken several deer and several pigs, and he took a turkey with it as well.

It kills great.

Recoils less than a 243.

Yes it is factory ammo, how many rounds will they shoot in a year???

Biebs, Lighter recoil
sounds resonable to me. I load up lighter bullets in my 375 H&H and my 404 Jeffery to do the same thing.

I'd also think about loading up some 150 grain flatpoints designed for the .30-30 win. Load them to 2400 fps or so and you've got a good 200 yard round for whitetails. Recoil is around 9 ft lbs in an 8 pound rifle. A 130 grain bullet loaded to full velocity would produce 11 pounds in the same rifle.

I have a bunch of Barnes 123gr TSX .310 bullets left over after selling my 7.62x39. They worked well at the range out of my 7.65x53 Mauser. I plan on using them for deer and hogs. That's about the same as using lighter Barnes bullets in the 308.

KB