Gonna help my brother work up a good load for his Model 70 Extreme Weather. Not sure what powder to start with, and the bullets that I have on hand are, Hornady InterBond, and InterLocks, Barnes, Nosler Accubonds, and Berger. These are all 150 gr. I also have Swift A Frames in 180s.

Your thoughts are welcome, and appreciated. Hope everyone is having, or had a great season!

I have killed several antelope with the 308 using the 165 Sierra HPBT [it is called the Gameking now, not the 168grMatch bullet], over 39.5gr of IMR 3031.
This is a fairly mild load but I have killed antelope as far as 550 yards with it, and several at 300 to 375 yards.

With 150 gr bullets I would use 42 gr of IMR 3031.
Yes I know my loads are Old School, circa early 1970's but they have woked so good I still use them today.

In fact this Nov I killed 2 wild pigs, a doe and a trukey with the 150gr Nosler Solid Base and 42gr of IMR 3031 shot from my H&K 91.

The parsimonious side of me says give those 150 grain Interlocks the nod for this sort of game animal.

I load 45.5 grains of H4895 at 2.710" Oal in RWS brass in my 308.

This is a fairly warm load so start 10% below and work up.

46-46.5 grains Varget and a 165 of some sort.

My favorite "antelope to elk" recipe...

The real truth is, with just about any 150 or 165 gr load that is accurate in your rifle the 308 is a great deer and antelope gun.

I bought a Savage weather Warrior in 308 Win for my son and was shocked how accurate it turned out to be. You will need to do a little adjusting for your gun but this is a good starting point.

For match ammo I use 168 Sierra match kings over 44 gr of Reloader 15 for an average velocity just under 2700fps with a 22" barrel. I regularly get .5" 3 shot groups out of this hunting rifle. Two friends who I have let shoot it offered to buy it on the spot after they shot these kind of groups.

For hunting I use Barnes TTSX 165 or Hornady Interbond 165 over 46 grains of Reloader 15. This is getting close to max pressure as 46.5 grains started showing primer flattening or cratering. I got close to 2900 fps with 46.5 grains but it seems to have a larger standard deviation in speeds and is too hot for my rifle. I get average groups around .7"-.9" from the 46 grain charge and while not as accurate as the match loads this is superbly accurate for hunting. I matched the speed to a Boone & Crockett Leupold reticle and feel confident using this combo on deer out to 400 yards.

I have not tried the 150's yet in 308 because I have so many heavier bullets for my 300 mag. My first handloads for this caliber were with 168's and accuracy was so good I haven't bothered trying anything else. If all my rifles were this easy to get accurate they would be boring. My son was 12 when I bought it for him and he thinks all guns are this accurate now. I may have spoiled him. You will like that Win Mod70 just as much.

Sid those are some incredible ballistics from the 165 TTSX and 165 Accubond loads.

I struggle to get 2900 from 168g TSX and Interlocks from my 22" 30.06 without pushing pressure too high.

I reread my post and realized I made an error with the load speed. I meant to say I get up around 2900 fps at 46.5 grains but it is too hot so I use 46 grains. It's the upper limit for that gun and about as far as I am willing to push it. I have a friend with a Rem 700 and it can handle the 46.5 grain charge with it's 26" target barrel with no problems....not sure why but it works for him. I chronoed Hornady Superformance in my gun and get 50 more fps than published but cannot get decent groups with it. Sorry for any confusion.

I use Varget and RL-15 and used WW-748 for many years..About anything works in the .308, its and easy keeper..For bullets? the same thing most all fo them work because they are not sizzling out the bore and 2700 to 2800 FPS has always been a working ricipe in 30 cal..in fact in a lot of calibers kill better at 2700 to 2800 FPS than at faster velocity because they are kinder to bullets, but there are those that walk among us that believe a suitable gun must go at least 3500 FPS to upset big game animals and they shoot Sierra's for Gods sake.

Also for those that shoot the 99 Savages such as myself, its good advise to cut back at least on and two grains is better, you will know when the lever pops down just enough for you to feel it that your pushing the string!

The .308 is not a fast caliber, so it is not necessary to use expensive premium bullets. A 150 or 165 Hornady interlock (or Speer, Sierra etc.) will do everything you need it to with deer and antelope. My little Model 600 has killed lots of deer and a couple of elk with 165 Interlocks. I load it to 2556 fps with 45 grains of Varget. This rifle also shoots sub-minute with that load. It shoots the 150s good also, but there is so little difference in ballistics tha I decided to stay with the 165s.

My favorite .308 load:

150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
Win Brass
CCI benchrest primer
Max charge of WC846, (milsurplus powder similar to BLC-2)

I'm shooting WC846 also. 44.0 grains of my lot in a berdan primed NATO case ( I bought 4000 reeeeally cheap a long time ago) gives me just under 2700 with Sierra 168 MKs, a little more with Woodleigh 150 gr Protected Point bullets and under 1 MOA as far as I can shoot it.

I shoot a lot Varget with the Berger 168 VLD bullets.

I haven't been able to load for mine yet, but with factory ammo the gun REALLY has taken a shine to 168gr AMAX, in standard, TAP and superformance. It also shoots the 165gr Accubond very well. I have a buddy on another forum who shoots several 308's for work, as well as personal, and a 30-06. He uses that 168 AMAX for all of them. Cheap bullet too!

I tried 150's but my gun wasn't really too partial to them. I was hovering right over an inch for 3 shots, where the 165's and 168's were pretty much 1" for 6 shot groups. The Superformance put 3 bullets in one hole.

Tigger, my Lot of 846 must be alot colder then yours. 47grs is giving me 2650 with a 150gr bullet. I suspected my lot was on the cold side, but this helps confirm it.

Thanks.

A 150 grain cup & core bullet going 2700-2800 FPS is all you will ever need for deer & antelope, and they will generally be very accurate with a number of powders in a .308.
Mine does well with 150 Hornady BTSP and Reloader 15. I have also killed them with 165 Accubonds - about the same amount of dead.

quote:

Originally posted by Antelope Sniper:
Tigger, my Lot of 846 must be alot colder then yours. 47grs is giving me 2650 with a 150gr bullet. I suspected my lot was on the cold side, but this helps confirm it.

Thanks.

Sounds like it. The berdan primers in these cases are really hot, too. They act like Fed 215s with Varget so that may be part of it too.

quote:

Originally posted by tc98:
Gonna help my brother work up a good load for his Model 70 Extreme Weather. Not sure what powder to start with, and the bullets that I have on hand are, Hornady InterBond, and InterLocks, Barnes, Nosler Accubonds, and Berger. These are all 150 gr. I also have Swift A Frames in 180s.

Your thoughts are welcome, and appreciated. Hope everyone is having, or had a great season!

150 Btip over IMR4064 is one of my current favorites. Get great groups with Varget as well. Years ago my go-to powder for the 308 was Re15. Haven't bought any in awhile since I got 3 eight pound jugs of IMR4064.

Like NE 450 # 2 said. Old school is just fine . Mine likes 43 grs of 3031 and a 150 gr Hornady. 3 shot groups almost touch and whitetails just lay down right there. What else can you ask for??

47.o gr RL-15, Speer 150 flat base spitzer HotCor. 2,850 fps from 22" barrel.

all mine wants is 45 grs of RL-15 WLR primer with any 150

I use 150gr Accubonds with 46.5gr of Varget in my LTR.

I can hold 3/8" group with my .308 shooting 165gr Hornady SST seated atop of 41gr of Benchmark powder in Remington case with a CCI large rifle primer.


My twin brother who ownes the exact same make and model .308 shoots a 3/8" group with 165gr Hornady SST seated atop 39 gr of Varget powder in Winchester cases with a CCI large rifle primer.

That's what works for me,
mallard_drake85

Awfully tough to beat a 150 Horn sp and R15

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
The real truth is, with just about any 150 or 165 gr load that is accurate in your rifle the 308 is a great deer and antelope gun.

+1

It would be a challenge to follow that advice and come up with a bad load.. You would have to try to fail..

The load i use in my 308 is 150 grain Hornady SP over Varget.
The last animal I shot was a Texas heart shot at a departing Sika stag. The bullet travelled from the "heart" through the guts and out through the right shoulder. The animal took two steps "jet assisted" and died. What surprised me was the small amount of meat damage given that the bullet had done a full length penetration. That's the good thing about the 308 it propells bullets at moderate speeds that don't destroy over much meat.

I've had excellent results with 168 barnes tsx ,,168 Nosler comps and 168 Sierra match kings .I don't recommend match bulletshunting but point is all three shoot same poi just different drop chart. My load is 44.3 gr RL-15 lapua brass,210m primmer. All three shoot into a.226. Ten shot group@200 yards. I tried 165 accubonds but group opened to .787 @100 yards. Still good for hunting!I tried all different seating depth but couldn't get any better. Accubonds are awesome hunting bullets but not in my308. Good luck

I use very standard loads, but this is my experience. I have 2 loads that work almost identically in my 22" X-bolt with 150 grain Sierra Game King. 43 grains of IMR 3031 and 45.5 grains of IMR 4895. Both shoot 1 inch groups at velocities of 2870-ish. An author in a Handloader a few years back did an exhaustive study on components and accuracy in the 308. Remington brass was a bit of a standout for accuracy and durability, so I got all new Rem brass. I shoot them out once then only neck-size. However, I loaded fresh-from-the-bag brass and it shoots just great. So, sometimes what we do really disappears in the noise!

I use IMR4320 in the 308 with 165 or 150gr TSX. I think it is safe to say that any bullet from 150 to 180 SHOULD work with any medium burn powder.
The 308 is pretty easy to find a consistent accurate load for.

i use 42 grs of I-4895 and the hornady 150 interlock as my 308 load.
i use the same load under fmj's [147-150] in the m-14,and ar-30.
this has done everything i have ever asked it to.
never chronoed it [even though i have one]
just shot it at targets,rocks,stumps, and animals.

My Mauser M 03 with a 308 barrel likes 150 grain Accubonds atop 44 grains of Norma 203b (RL-15) I use Federal cases and GM210 primers.