Sorry my bad english. I am a deer hunter from finland. I need a good bullet for deer hunting. What is your favorit bullet? My shootingrange is about 40-100 yards and caliper .308 win. How about bullets speed? 2500 f/s, 2700 f/s or 2900 f/s. What weight you use 125, 150, 165 or 180 grain bullets? Thank you for your help.

Markkur,

Welcome to the forum! My choice for deer in 30 caliber would be the 150 to 165 grain bullets at 2700 to 2900 fps. The ranges at which you are shooting would allow many combinations. The 125 grain bullet would be likely to blow up at 40 yards--especially if a bone is hit.

Good Hunting,

For whitetails, I'd go with either the 150 gr. or 165 gr. Hornady Interloct.

AD

I'm going to start another war on here and say go with a 150 or 165 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip. I've used them for years in both weights, velocities, and ranges that you describe. I use the 150 out of my .308 for our mulies and whitetails, 165's out of my .30-06, I have yet to see a failure or track an animal hit with one for very far, and I'm a meat hunter, and it doesn't destroy meat any more than any other bullet. Shoot whichever weight is more accurate.
Yardbird

I'll go 180s every time at those ranges, I use Nosler, Horns, & laterly like the speers.

The last several years I have used 150 gr Nosler Ballistic tips driven at 2600 for whitetails in the east.

Had good performance until the last one ... was a 42 yard shot directly normal to the chest. Bullet did not exactly explode, but left more damage to the off side than I like.

I have seen the failure of the NBTs at close range with heavier calibers at relatively high velocity.

While I am going to use the shells I have loaded, the next batch will be Nosler partitions as they have always given me text book perfect performance if I do my job reasonably well.

When you say deer, what do you mean ? Which animals ? How much do they weigh ? Our deer often weigh between 100 - 200 lbs. On these, the recommended work fine out of the .308. Personally, I don't recommend the Nosler Ballistic Tip, but I have some very experienced friends that do like them for this class of animal.
Another North American deer is the NA elk. These are much heavier, 400-1000 lbs. For those, I recommend what we call the premium style bullets, the Nosler Partition ( 180 gr. weight), the Federal Throphy Bonded in 165 gr. weight in factory ammo. If you handload, the Barnes X, I like the 168 gr. XLC, the Swift-A-Frame (either 165, or 180 gr. weight). E

Some things don't need to be improved. Markkur, for your application, it's hard to beat a 150 grain Remington Core Lokt at 2700 to 2900 fps.

150gr. or 165gr. Hornady Interlock Spirepoint (flat base).

George

My Reminton 700 .308 Win. prefers the 165 Gr. Nosler Partition. I've killed several western Mule deer, and one bull elk (Wapiti), with that round, with 100% satisfaction.

My cousin has used the same load in his Win. 70 Featherweight .308 Win., to kill many Mule deer, 16 elk, and one Idaho Shiras moose. No problems. He is an excellent hunter, and an excellent shot.

FWIW. L.W.

[ 01-30-2003, 22:11: Message edited by: Leanwolf ]

I use 165 grain Hornady Interlocts in my 20" barelled 308.

It depends on the deer. I use a Remington M-7 in 308 with 150 gr. Sierra spitzers for 40-50kg deer in thick brush. Shots are under 50m. I would use a Nosler Partition for bigger deer. I load these bullets to about 2,500 fps, which is enough. I suspect this would be enough for your hunting as well, though you could go faster if you want. Good luck, Okie John.

Practice with anything, but step into the woods with 150 or 165gr Nosler Partitions, whichever shoot best.

Then set it and forget it.

At .308 winchester velocities you don't need a premium bullet for deer sized game. Load any good 180 gr bullet at max speed and it will get the job done! I also like the 150gr Hornady bullet in a lighter bullet load.

I would spit 150 grain swift scirroco's or hornady interbonds at them. those two are good compromises of weight retention and expanison especially at 308 velocities

My Mannlicher stocked 308 loves the 150 gr. Hornady Interloks. I think for anything short of Moose any of the standard 150-165 gr. bullets would work a treat. Sierra Gamekings, Honady, Remington et al.

Just talking with some of my work mates in Pori on Friday, sounds like you are having cool weather now. We own the shipyard called Mantyluoto Works and a company called Technip Rauma Offshore in Pori. A wonderfull part of the world except in winter.

Markkur
You say your from Finland but posted whittail's. Do you live in North America?
I think a great bullet weight would be 165gr. Hornady interlocts, Speer hot core, and nosler partitions are all great on deer sized game. The larger reindeer should fall with ease to these also just as our caribou.

Nosler ballistic tip or partition in 165 gr. Use which ever shoots better in your rifle.

150grn is a great deer bullet in a .308.
my favorite is the Nosler Partition

I've used mainly Hornady's in my 30-06 (only a little more power than your 308) because they shoot best in that rifle. Any normal "cup and core" bullet weighting from 150gr to 180 gr should do well.
As stated, I use Hornady bullets. I used 150gr spire points for years, this year tried 165gr SST's. Either bullet works well, just shoot the deer where you should and avoid hitting edible parts.

Another vote for the 150 Gr. Hornady Interlock flat base bullet. I've shot a ton of deer with them in my .308 and they have always worked very well.

any 150-165 gr bullet that is not a match design at any speed attainable in an 08 will do fine.

markkur,

Some of the best ammunition and reloading components are made in Finland. Lapua bullets and cartridge casings, and Vihtavouri powder are excellent quality components.

I believe they have a "MEGA" bullet in .308 caliber available in 150 grain, 185 grain, and 200 grain.

Log on to website http://www.vihtavuori.fi/

Hope this helps,

Tim

The weight really won't matter as long as you use Match Kings. Sorry, I just had to say it.

Please disregard my prior worthless post. If your gun will shoot 165 grain Nosler Partitions well, then you can use that on just about any North American animal if you do your part.

I like the 150 speer or the 150 nosler ballistic tip for deer. In a 308 a nosler partition is not really needed.

For a different point of view, I use cast bullets in the .308. I shoot a water quenched Lee 170 gr. Gas checked Flat nose bullet at 2250 fps. Plenty of killing power out to 175+ yards for deer.
Plus, it is a cheap way to shoot alot!

My favorite deer rifle is my old Rem. 788 in 308 Winchester
I have settled on 165 gr. I get tac driver accuracy, and it kills deer dead. I have used all sorts of bullets on deer. I have recently gone back to the less expencive bullets for deer. Nosler Balistic Tips do just fine on deer as do Hornaday Interlocks. I have stopped useing the Premium bullets for lack of proof that they are needed to kill deer and elk sized game.
The way I look at it is If I can kill a deer with one shot from a balistic tip at $15 for 100 bullets. Why should I spend $25 for 50 Barnes X's? Dead is dead, and the deer doesn't care what I used to kill it.
Just my two cents!

X-Ring

For the slow 308 i would choose the RWS H-Mnatel 180grain.

For deer and sometimes Moose the Nosler 165 or Swift A-frame have been marvelous. Velocity is usualy around 2600 ft/sec and accuracy is excellent.

My advice is get rid of the .308 win, and get a decent deer caliber like a 7mm Rem mag.

So, now we know GSF1200 doesn't know what he's talking about! j/k GSF1200, I'm sure you do and you were probably joking about the 7mm mag comment, you and I both know that the .308 and 7 mag are both fine deer cartridges, even if the .308 does it with less powder and more accuracy! I couldn't resist, I'm not flaming, just joining this fun little debate as a big fan of the .308.
Yardbird

I have shot a lot of deer with the 308 and I can say that almost any 308 bullet fired from 2400-2900 fps will work fine for any whitetail deer at the ranges you mention. I would stay away from the varmint bullets, but anything else from the 125 Ballistic Tip (Nosler lists it as a hunting bullet) to the 200 grainers will work fine. I personally would find which 150-180 bullet works best in my rifle and shoot it. Half the fun is shooting a lot just to find out!