castnblast75
Member
Hi, All I have a Ruger american caliber 308. Was wondering what the best grain bullet to use on a future elk/mule deer combo hunt. Thanks, JR
308 Grain bullet for Elk ?
- Thread starter castnblast75
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Redwood
New member
165-180 are a solid choice with a lot of options. Depends on your barrel.
jryoung
Well-known member
I'm a copper guy so TTSX 165, 168 or LRX 175 would be where I'd start.
T Bone
Well-known member
If your rifle likes them, the 150 grn partition kills everything dead.
Myself and my boys have killed a lot of deer, antelope, sheep, mtn goat, and half a dozen elk with them. Havn't recovered a single one.
The mountain goat was shot in the butt and the bullet traveled full length of the animal.
Myself and my boys have killed a lot of deer, antelope, sheep, mtn goat, and half a dozen elk with them. Havn't recovered a single one.
The mountain goat was shot in the butt and the bullet traveled full length of the animal.
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JohnCushman
Well-known member
The .308 Ruger American I bought for my old lady and kids shoots the Federal 150 grain Fusions beautifully and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an elk with them.
GSP4EVER
Member
IF you dont handload, I agree with JohnCushman. Ive used the Fusion before with great success hunting deer. I am looking into this same topic too. I bought a box of Federal Soft Point that are 180 grain and ordered some Nosler Partition 180 grain to load. We will see how these work and if I can find a good load for m Browning Lever Action. Ive thought about buying one of the Ruger Americans 308 as a back up to the Browning so I only have to take one kind of ammo with me.
Topgun 30-06
Active member
180s are okay, but 150s and 165s in the .308 and 30-06 are all you need if you put it in the boiler room
sbhooper
Well-known member
A .308 does not need a super-premium bullet due to its moderate velocity. However, a Nosler Partition will always perform real well, as will the Accubond. My boys have killed several elk with a 165 Hornady Interlock at only 2557 fps. All-copper bullets are great, but at lower velocities and extended ranges, may not expand as well as a standard bullet.
Fortunately, there are many options in factory ammo if you do not reload. I have not shot factory ammo in many years, so I am not much authority on it, but most contain very adequate bullets for .308 performance. The main thing is find some that shoots well in your rifle-which generally is not difficult with a .308.
Overall, whatever bullet you decide on, I would stay with a 165-grain bullet. You still have fair velocity with good weight to boot. The 180s are fine, but are slower and really won't do too much that the 165 won't do. The 150 will work, but personally, I think that the bullet is suited more for deer than elk, especially if you start stretching your ranges.
Fortunately, there are many options in factory ammo if you do not reload. I have not shot factory ammo in many years, so I am not much authority on it, but most contain very adequate bullets for .308 performance. The main thing is find some that shoots well in your rifle-which generally is not difficult with a .308.
Overall, whatever bullet you decide on, I would stay with a 165-grain bullet. You still have fair velocity with good weight to boot. The 180s are fine, but are slower and really won't do too much that the 165 won't do. The 150 will work, but personally, I think that the bullet is suited more for deer than elk, especially if you start stretching your ranges.
I have had a Ruger M77 for the last 15 years.I started out with factory loads with success, and have moved to reloading my own the last 10 years. I reload 180 gr. Barnes TSX with consistent accuracy and excellent bullet performance on Elk. Of the factory loads i used, i had consistent results using Federal 180 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. In my rifle i found that i had the least consistent results with ballistic tips. You can drive yourself crazy looking at ballistic charts and the endless options offered in bullets. Pick a few options that interest you, spend some time at the range with those options and see what works best. From what i have read in the response's you have a great starting point you can't go wrong with.
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Anything above the 150 gr bullet in the .308 robs too much velocity. You can't fit enough powder in that little case to make it fly very far. My old .308 liked speer bullets and they did the trick. I shot a lot of elk with mine.
sbhooper
Well-known member
Wrong. If you look at the ballistics, the 165 is right with it on drop and will outperform it once the range stretches. It is a case of ballistic coefficient winning the race. I am not saying the 150's won't kill elk. They will. But the ballistics are just flat better on the 165. I have shot deer with both and they were all dead, but I have recovered 150-grain bullets and not the 165s. I have recovered the 165 in elk, but not many.
Ballistics don't lie. The .308 has plenty of case space if you use proper powder. It DOES, however, lose some on the 180-grain bullets, but there are lots of people that use heavy bullets for long range targets for a reason-they work! The BC on bullets is very critical at long ranges whether you are hunting or shooting targets. I would not use a .308 on an elk past 300 yards, as I don't think it really has the punch, but it has been done plenty and it does well with heavier bullets as long as you do your part. .
Saying that it will not handle heavy bullets is flat wrong and you need to do your homework.
agreed,165 grain nosler iis the way to go.:hump:
shoots-straight
Well-known member
I shot one for 20 years. The powders of the day wouldn't allow a heavier bullet to perform at farther ranges past 300. With the 150's I could load them up to around 2900 FPS and still not show any sign of pressure. I shot speer 150 grain boattails and they flew pretty good out to 500 but were falling fast. I wasn't shooting 1000 yrds.
In hunting bullets, when I compare 150's to 165's and I found that the 150'
s always outperformed the heavier bullets, (500 yrds) If you used the same bullet for a comparison. A berger will fly better than a partition.Keep apples to apples.
165's and up were the tipping point for me in my rifle. There's no way I could get the bullet to fly as flat with anything heavier. Of the 20 elk I killed with mine, very few did not have the bullet threw or lodged on the exterior side hide.
Just like you said, the heavier bullets couldn't hold up, and if you want those weights I'd suggest you go to 06 or mag.
Arguing loads is like 2 school girls arguing over finger nail polish.
Ballistic Calculator
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A A .308 Winchester (7.62mm NATO), Winchester Ballistic Silvertip, 150gr
B B .308 Winchester (7.62mm NATO), Winchester Ballistic Silvertip, 168gr
Range Drop
The lighter bullet is on top each time!
shoots-straight
Well-known member
I did find this interesting though:
I would have never guessed that. I don't know how well of a hunting bullet it is but there's plenty of validity there.
I would have never guessed that. I don't know how well of a hunting bullet it is but there's plenty of validity there.
sagebrush
Active member
Federal Premium 150 gr Nosler Partition if you are looking for factory ammo and your rifle likes it. That Nosler Partition is a great bullet in the lower velocity cartridges like the .308.
FWIW, Pat Sinclair (Breaks Runner here) has put a lot of critters on the ground using the 155gr Scenar out of a .308.I did find this interesting though:
I would have never guessed that. I don't know how well of a hunting bullet it is but there's plenty of validity there.
Wyoming Sage
New member
My Savage 99 likes 165 grain the best, they have got Elk,Deer and Antelope for me.
shoots-straight
Well-known member
The Scenar bullets drop 20" more compared to the Winchesters. I was trying to keep comparisons of apples. But for some reason they must not load those as hot. The bullet design must cause higher pressures.
