I am loading for a 22 inch .308 for the firs time. I have owned a few .308s in the past but all were 20 inch or less. This new one, new to me any way is a 1953 featherweight model 70. I have only fired 20 rounds through it but it shoots prety well. I am thinking of using it for all around hunting mostly mule deer and black bear. Like a 150 or a 165 grain bullet. used to love the 165 gr hornady flat base in my Model 7 but they changed the bullet shape and my pet load turned ugly !
I like RL-15. What bullet has killed well for you, not so much interested in accuracy cause it changes from rifle to rifle. What bullet has killed lots of critters for you?
I only took one buck with a .308 and that was with a factory federal shooting the 165 grain Sierra, killed him real quick though...tj3006
?

The Hornady Interlocts (sp) are good, so are the Nosler BT's or the ever popular Partition.

Oddly enough, the new new .308 Mauser I built loves the Hornady 165 grainer in their light magnum loading. It'll put em into 1/2" groups and they are really stepping out of my 21" bbl.. The limited handloads and other factory ammo hovered at around 1.5" or 2.0" groups. I was beginning to worry that my rifle building skills were lacking.

After my pig hunt in July I'll try some more load development with some 150 & 180 grain BT's.

165 Partition over 45.5 grains of Varget, or RL-15, or Ramshot TAC. Accurate, easy on the shoulder do it all load.
JCN

I have a newly bought 1953 308 featherwight also.
I bought a jug of Reloader 15 and some Nosler 165 BTs,and partitions, 180 gr accubonds and partitions.

Mine the bore wasnt takin care of, I was examineing the crown with a magnafieing glass and noticed the a chipped land at the crown , So I recrowned it .
Now ,to test some 165gr BTs . If my barrel is still bad I am thinking of rebarreling it. hopefully it will group this time.
I put a new VXI 2x7 on it.

Thanks for the info !
Gsp. I just switched to a VX2 2X7 on mine. I took it off my Model 7 , .308.And replaced it with the Burris FF2 that was on the win. I am going to buy some more RL 15 and a box of 165 grain Hornady Flatt base. I like the Nosler accubonds, but I will wait for 150 or 165s to shoot in my .308s...tj3006

TJ3006. My bullet of choice in the .308 Win. is the 165 gr. Speer Hot-Core. In all the deer I have taken with this bullet, I have recovered only one. All the rest were complete pass-throughs. The one that was recovered hit a deer in the chest as it was facing me slightly uphill. Range was 250 yards, laser measured. The bullet hit center in the chest and passed through the deer until it came to a stop against a back leg bone, breaking that. The bullet retained 65 percent of it's original weight. The rest of the deer I've shot with that bullet were either broadside or quartering broadside shots.
The rifle used was a Ruger 77 International (The RSI). This is a very temperamental rifle that took much work to find a load that would work. I used 49.0 gr. of W-760 powder and the Speer bullet. Groups run in the 1.25 to 1.50" range. velocity is 2550 FPS from the 18.5" barrel. The same load will do .75 to 1.0" from a Winchester M70 or a Remington 660. Velocity from the Winchester is 2610 FPS. Probably W-748, RL-15 or IMR/H-4895 would give more velocity, but the load I gave is the only one I've found to work in that Ruger.
FWIW, I have three of those Ruger RSI rifles, all in .308, and that load is the only one that shoots in all three. Fussiest damn guns I've ever seen. (What can I say? I like the style.)
Regardless of the guns temperment, I wouldn't change that bullet for either deer or black bear. I think that if I could for sure get within 200 yards, I'd even use it on elk.
I have found that in some rifles, I can work up a load with the Sierra bullet and substitute the Nosler Partiton afterwards. Works for me in the 30-06 and .300 Win. mag.
I have given that a thought for the .308, but as it has been so successful using the Speer, why change?
Paul B.

In the .308 Win. (Rem. 700), I have had very good accuracy and hunting results (antelope and deer)using the 150 grain Honrady Interlock and IMR4064. Have killed a couple of elk with the 165 grain Nosler Partition, and again, IMR 4064.

Works for me.

L.W.

I know you looking at reloads, but I have a .308 BDL with 22" barrel and have had some great success with the 150 gr. FailSafe Winchester factory loads. Have taken anything past 100 yards yet, but this load has taken 3 deer and a hog with pass throughs on all shots from 10 yards to about 70, with one-shot kills on everything but the hog. The 130 lbs. hog was taken with a spine shot at about 60 yards on a slightly high shoulder shot, he was trotting through a 20 ft opening at the very crack of daylight - so I was off a little. The bullet cut right through spine and body, then, when he was laying down, I put an insurance shot between his jawbones and out the top of his head - no more squeeling . Don't know how it performs at long range, I'm comfortable at shooting things as close as I can , but it has shown an excellent wound channel and, of course, complete penetration. They are not easy to find, as every dealer wants to stock the CT Ballistic Tips.

Nice post paul !
I have loaded a few of those bullets with RL-15. If they shoot great I will stop experimenting. I might sugjest you consider trading one of those international ruggers for a CZ 550 FS. Mine is a 7 mm mauser and it shoots real well with any load I put in it. It has a 20.5 inch barrel and comes with a similar scope mounting set up to the ruger. mY other .308 is a Model 7 Remington and I am tempted to sell it and but another full stock CZ in .308 ...tj3006

I agree about the hot cores, fantastic deer bullets. Ive considered taking a 308 loaded up with some 165 grn Deep shoks after elk this year, but Ive got a new bbl coming for the Springfield so it will probably be 06 and 180's. In fact I like a lot of Spper .30 cal bullets, including the Mag tips and grand slams as well, Im just bummed that the Deep shoks had to go, they were my favorite of them all.

TJ, color me cheap but I've shot mostly bulk pack Remington 150 gr. Core Lokt bullets in my .308 and gotten very good results. Under 1 MOA and deadly on game...if anything a bit TOO expansive.

My best powder and one that I don't think anyone has mentioned is WW-748. I'm at work so don't remember charge But 748 is a good .308 powder.

The .308 is a wonderful cartridge and really difficult to dream up a BAD load. It's happy with about anything.

I have used 150 and 180 gr. round nose corelokts and they are excellent killers on deer and elk...I also have had exceptional luck with the 150 and 180 gr. Noslers, the 130 gr. GS customs and will soon try the 165 gr. Barnes TSX...

The factory 150 gr. PP and 180 gr. silvertips are good deer bullets...

It's easy to find good .308 bullets, most work fine as they are going at a reasonable velocity and bullet integrity is not an issue as one finds with the hot shots....

Powders like RL-15, WW-748, IMR-4064 have worked well for me..

Its a great caliber, my favorite for the lightest recoiling gun capable of killing just about any big game..It, like the 7x57, and the great 06, will be around for a long time to come.

I like the Nosler Partition bullets for hunting purposes. The Speer Grand Slam is quite good also as is the old Remington Core Lok. Some people shy away from the Nosler Balistic Tips in 30 caliber claiming poor expansion. I personally don't know. For accuracy work I'm a big fan of the Sierra 168gr. HPBT Match. To each his own I guess.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

My personal favorite are pulled 150 gr 30 cal tracers loaded over 20 gr of 1680 for about 2000 fps. Takes buzzard hunting with my SKS to a whole new level. Goota seat deep and use a Lee Factory crimp too.
There are more than one kind of tracer though...one that lights off about 300 yds from the muzzle (don't get that one) and one that lights off 70-80 yds away. At 1900-2000 fps you can watch 'emm for a long time.
For the PETA/types, we have never actually hit one. For the safety officers, we do it on about 300,000 acres of uninhabited land, shoot at a safe angle and only when its damp and won't start a grass fire.

Barnes 150 TSX/Groove 159 gr. If it will shoot these accurately you're done for everything!!!

Have used the 150 grain Nosler Petition, 150 grain Speer MagTip and 165 gr. Sierra HP. All did well on deer and antelope. I have just started loading the 165 gr. Hornady SST in a TC Encore and Remington 700LTR. They have beat the Federal 168 gr. Match load that has always done less than .5 MOA. 46 grains of WW748 went .34" at 100 yards. Velocity was 2730 from a 20" barrel. 47 grains made 2825 but the group opened up to 1.75". Federal case and CCI LR Benchrest primer. Bullet was seated to the bottom of the crimping groove.

Bob

TJ3006,

Looks like you've got a lot of good advice.

I have used a Winchester pre 64 M70 fwt (22" barrel) 308 Win for more than 20 years. I have a leaning towards heavier bullets for the calibre but whilst retaining good velocity. For instance, I won't load lighter than 180grs in my 308 Norma Magnum and for my 308 Win I tend to use the 150gr weight. I have used the 130gr Speer HP in the past for pigs (boar) in Australia. They are spectacular performers on that game. I would just pull the bullet out of the military rounds (145gr FMJ) and seat the Speer without an change in the load. The large HP opens up nicely on pigs and drops them in their tracks. I have not had a bullet exit the animal using these loads.

I am presently experimenting with some loads using the 150gr Sierra spitzer with Australian (ADI) powder. These are shooting very nicely and giving .75" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I intend to use these on red deer (about the size of a whitetail) and I hope it will give me the performance of a 130gr in 270 Win. Out to about 300 yds the tradjectory and muzzle energy figures seem to be similar to the 270. I have a pre 64 M70 fwt in 270 coming from the US at the moment and it will probably be my favourite deer rifle, though I will probably share the hunting with the 308. Both rifles are (will be) topped with Leupold VX-Is 4-12X40 on Conetrol custum mounts.

I also have some 165grs projectiles in my bullet drawer but I haven't loaded any of these for a while. I note the comments of other posters concerning the 165 gr weight.

Regards,
Magnum

In my Pre 64 FWT It likes either IMR 4064 or W748 and NBT 165. I wasn't aware you could shoot buzzards legally anywhere and won't the tracers really foul up and ruin a bore?

I load 47gn Varget with 150gn power points. In my Whitworth with a 24" barrel I get 2775fps average with around 25fps spread. It shoots consistent groups around an inch. The good thing about this load is that it shoots to the same point of as 150 Winchester factory loads and Australian milsurp. This would not be my choice for shots over 200yds or game larger than deer. For longer ranges and/or larger game I'd choose a 165sst or interbond. Just my $.02, capt david

Tracers don't mess the bore up, especially if you aren't hosing off hundreds of rounds at a session full auto. A lot of them are constructed so they don't light off until they are 50-100 yards down range.

I'm not sure about shooting buzzards, so I shoot cats instead. If you read the Bible carefully, in the footnotes it says that you can't get into heaven unless you kill one hundred cats here on earth.

JCN

You have to actually hit one to be illegal. Not very likely at all.