I'm going to order 150 and 165gr. bullets for two lever action 308.win.
Now I know it takes alot of shooting to figure out which bullet will work in each rifle but I want to narrow it down as fast as possible.
This leads to my question, does the boat tail need a longer barrel to do what it's intended to do? What about the the flat base bullets? Do they need a longer barrel to catch up to the BT?
Maybe none of this matters but I would like to hear the opinions of my peers.
Throw in a load in these weights if your shooting a 20" and no I dont know the twist rate.
Thanks

IMO, the barrel length makes absolutely no difference! However, if you are useing these bullets for hunting, as I assume you are in a lever acttion rifle,boattail bullets are notoreous for shedding their jackets on empact! Hence, they are not reccomended for hunting. I actually see no need for boattail bullets at all, unless you are shooting 1000yd target compitition! Get some square base bonded core, Swift A-frame, or Nosler Partitions, and never look back!

Boileroom;
If you happen to have both flat base and boatail bullets try like loads of each.
Sometimes depending on a particular rifle, one will group better than the other.
Given that you're shooting a lever-action with 20' barrel I don't think you will be attaining velocities that will cause any dramatic effect on any bullet.
I've fired 150 & 165gr Sierra boatails at 3200+ from 300 Win Mag and have yet have the jacket seperate.

Hi--I'm assuming this is a blr. I just got a lightning .308 this fall and it loves hornady 150 spire point flat based el cheapos. AND I've tried most all the sst's, ballistic tips and others and it told me plain and clear "i love hornady I locks". Wow--life is good when your gun loves $.12 cent bullets!!

If you're using a lever gun,I'm guessing the ranges will be short, this would negate any benefit of the boattail bullet( they don't pay off untill the range gets to 300 or more yards),yes they are easier to reload with ( it's only advantage if the range is short). The flat base ones take up less powder space which gives you less pressure or room for a little more powder if your after speed( the magazine will determine the overall length of the cartridge)
Some times you have to seat a BT so deep in order to make the COA fit the gun, you lose some powder space or increase the pressure.
Just some more info to complicate your choices!
" Ain't reloadin' fun"

I've shot about a 100 or so big game animals with boattail bullets, never had one seperate from the jacket.

Flat based Round Noses are the ducks nuts as far as good killing capabilities. And out to 300 yards which is about as far as I would shoot these bullets perfrom well for me, what they lack in trajectory I feel they give me gains in the on game performance department.

Boilerroom
I have had excellent results with 165 gr Nosler Balistic Tips on mule deer with my 30-06. I was pushing them to 2900 fps which is a little faster than you will geet from a 308. This bullet has always given me excelent results, with one shot kills. I have also loaned my ammo to several hunting partners and their results have been as impressive as mine. Usually these bullets have not exited on the deer I have shot, some would tell us that this is not acceptable bullet performance. I would agree if we were talking about elk. But when deer hunting, even if your target is a B&C muley buck, if you dump all of the energy from a 30 cal 165 gr bullet at 2700 to 2900 fps into the heart-lung area, that deer won't go very far.
I am sure that you will not be disappointed wwith the performance of the 165 balistic tip or any of the new copy cats that are available.

Idaho Shooter

All good points here.

I'm leaning towards the cheap bullets for these two rifles. Hornady Ilocs, speer hot cores, Sierra Pro hunters and bargin bullets in that class. Nosler baltips are not very expensive but more then I need.
I didnt mention that these rifles are BLR and Win mod 88. Both are box magazines so I am not limited on protected points and round noses.
I don't think I'd try shots past 200 yrds. with these.
I thought that this question might sound a little dumb but was curious if any one had different results with the two bullet designs and took a chance with it.

I'm using 165 grain hornady boat tail interlock soft points in my .308 BLR. It's the most accurate bullet I've tried to date by far. More accurate than ballistic tips, speer flat base hot core. It's more than enough bullet for deer and black bear.

actually, I don't think it matters. When I start out looking for a load, I usually start with flat based bullets. If I can get them. The range at which a BT bullet would make any difference is far beyond my hunting range.

I've been shooting a Rem Model 600 in 308 Win for years, this gun has an 18" barrel. The load I settled on was a Sierra BTSP driven to 2700 fps. It has proven extremely accurate and deadly on 30+ whitetails and a couple of dozen hogs. The ranges varied from 5 foot to 295 yards and I've never recovered a bullet. One buck I shot,~160 lbs., was facing me, the bullet entered at the base of the neck and penitrated into the gut where I lost it among the 50 or so acorns in his belly,probably 24" of penitration. The boat tail design may shed jackets at higher velocities but as best I can tell this bullet holds together at these moderate speeds.

boilerroom You might give the Sierra 165gr. Gameking Hollow Point Boattail a try. The Gameking, [NOT the matchking] which Sierra states is a little tougher than their lead point spitzer. But the main advantage of this bullet is that if feeds through semi-autos and lever rifles. The bullet tips to not get deformed in the rifle or in your pocket. I have killed many deer [whitetail and mule] and many antelope, and a few pigs with them in my various 308 rifles.The load I used is "old fashioned" and very mild, 39.5gr. of IMR 3031. I wish I could say how good these bullets expand, but I have never recovered one. This load has shot very good in all maner of 308's from Match M1A's H&K 91's Bolt rifles,hunting and "sniper" types and a Savage 99. While at the range one day the fellow next to me was testing reloads in his Savage 99. He had been unable to find a decent shooting load. I let him have some of these loads, and his rifle shot the smallest groups it had ever fired. This is one of the best 308 loads I have ever used. My moto used to be: If a 308 will not shoot this load good SELL IT and buy another.

N E

Never knew that Game Kings came in hollow points.
I guess the poly tipped bullets could have that advatage also.
I will give them some thought also.
Thanx

I agree that there are no particular benefits to using boat-tail bullets at reasonable hunting ranges, but on deer-sized game there are no particular disadvantages either. I've recovered several boattail bullets that shed their jackets. From dead animals. So it was a curiosity, but not really an issue.

I'm a bit curious about the continual assertion that you must be planning only short-range hunting because you're using lever action rifles. "If you're using a lever gun, I'm guessing the ranges will be short, this would negate any benefit of the boattail bullet ( they don't pay off untill the range gets to 300 or more yards),"is one quote. I don't believe the action type makes a difference -- a 165 gr .308 bullet launched at 2700 fps will have a particular set of ballistic characteristics, regardless of what type of action fired the cartridge. Contrary to much popular rumor, lever actions are not necessarily less accurate than bolt actions. It is quite likely that a Browning BLR or a Winchester 88 will produce 1 to 1.5 MOA groups -- which is certainly sufficient for shooting deer past 300 yards.

As far as bullets go -- Speer Hotcores or Grand Slams(if you want to upgrade a bit)have always produced excellent results for me.