Help choosing bullets for .308

[Mustangs Rule]

Does anyone have experience with the 168 Barnes ttsx? I bought a few boxes but Bud’s had 168 and 130 grain and believe they still do.

Barnes has both 168 TTSX grain and 165 grain TSX. I have used both with great accuracy and sucess hunting. Their is a reason for these sizes being so close yet they are different, Call Barnes, they are great to talk to.

 

[buffybr]

Does anyone have experience with the 168 Barnes ttsx? I bought a few boxes but Bud’s had 168 and 130 grain and believe they still do.

I've used both Barnes 168 grain TSX and TTSX bullets in my .300 Wby on elk, African and New Zealand game. Admitably, they're going 4-500 fps faster in the Wby, but they worked good for me. The TTSX may have been slightly more accurate.

I wouldn't hesitate to use either one in my .308 for hunting deer or elk.

 

[Don Fischer]

I don't have any experience with monolithic bullets but used a 308 for many years. Only one time did I use anything other than a 165gr Hornady spire point. That one time I lived in Alaska and was doing some fishing down a river where big bears roamed. Then I went to a 200gr bullet. It would do about 2" at 100yds but I had no time for taking a shot over maybe 25yds. It was for protection only. Hunted Moose up there and for them I loaded the 165gr bullet. I have a belief that for each cartridge there is one best all-around bullet, try to find it and stick to it. Someone mentioned bonded bullet's and I suspect for myself they would be the best you could do. But I would use the Speer Hot Core and keep the cost down. I tried Hornady, Speer Hot Core and Sierra bullet's shooting into a pile of newspaper's years ago to see what happened to the bullets. Sierras were HP's and they bent and didn't penetrate to well. Hornady S.P. and Speer HC both penetrated extremely well. And as good both maintained 84% of their weight! The Hornady did it but the core was loose in the jacket, I could turn the core completely around in the jacket. With Speer H.C. the core and jacket stayed tight, couldn't budge the core. I used the Hornady in everything for years after that only because they were more accurate. But my 7mm mag got the 160gr H.C. bullet because it was more accurate. Don't miss understand, More accurate. At 100yds from a bench the Hornday beat out the Speer by about an 1/8th inch!

If you do a bunch of accuracy testing your gonna find that probably a number of bullet's will shoot well enough to satisfy you. But what is more important is the bullet's that proform on game. There is a lot of them from cup and core, bonded, partition, choose what you think you can afford and then practice with the loads you hunt with.

If I was to get another 308 going these days I suspect I'd still go with the 165gr Hornady SP, I just can't see fixing something that works as well as it did.

 

[nwihunter]

I also shoot a Howa 308 and have settled on 168 gr. Federal premium Berger hybrids. I’ve shot probably 8 different kinds of ammo out of my gun and found these shot the best. As far as performance on game, I have shot 2 white tails and one elk with it. One deer @ 70yds., one @ 135yds and the elk was at around 100yds. Both deer were complete pass throughs and both only made it about 30yds. The elk was a high lung shot and it went about 50yds. The elk had a 2” exit hole but I did find about 80% of the bullet intact just inside of the exit hole. Hope this helps.

 

[Redman]

150 gr TTSX I am not going to post the range but it was out there where some people say the .308 is useless on elk. The bullet went in and out and is in the side of a mountain. I would go with @mtmuley suggestion as well. I just have used Barnes and they have impressed me and killed a pile of animals with them so I haven't had a need to try anything else. This day and age availability is key and it appears Hammers you can get.

 

[Brian in Montana]

My .308 shoots 165gn Hornady Interbonds, pushed by Varget, at about .6 MOA. I've shot deer with this load and this past fall killed an elk with it. At 295 yards I put one through her lungs and a second shot in the small of her neck. Both were pass-throughs with good expansion. The second shot shattered vertebrae on its way through. MV is just shy of 2700fps.

I've never had bullet fragments in the meat from an Interbond. They are hard to find, but are gradually becoming my go-to bullet.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I've also had good results in my .308 with 165gn Federal Trophy Bonded Tip, and H4895 - I've never shot an elk with that load, but several big mulies and a black bear. Very good big game bullet.

 

[Redmt]

I handload my own and have tried a variety of brands. The bullet weight depends on the game but the most accurate of many I have loaded were Barnes and Hornady ELDX. The Hornady GMX aren't bad either. All in that order.
I should add that I have used the same bullet in 6.5 CR, 6.5-.284, .308, and .300 Weatherby

 

[MontanaHunter222]

Wow, thank you all so much for your input and help! I didn't think I'd get so much of a response. I value it highly. Thank you.

 

[MontanaHunter222]

I think you're going to get better performance from pretty much any hunting bullet you pick. You're currently using a bullet that is designed for match accuracy and not for performance on game. My advice would be pick some decent lead hunting bullet in 165 (ish) grains, or some all-copper bullet in 150(ish) grains.

Forgive my ignorance. If you have a moment, can you explain why I'd go with lower grains with copper versus lead?

 

[MThuntr]

Forgive my ignorance. If you have a moment, can you explain why I'd go with lower grains with copper versus lead?

Velocity...non-lead bullets need more speed to expand. Also equally weighted bullets in copper are long thus affecting a few things like available case capacity (which can affect velocity potential) and the potential need for faster rifling twist. Go fast with a copper bullet that is 15-30 grains lighter than you would for a lead bullet. In 30cal a 180gr copper is almost identical to a 208gr lead bullet...I'll find a pic that I have

 

[Dougfirtree]

Forgive my ignorance. If you have a moment, can you explain why I'd go with lower grains with copper versus lead?

What Mt. Hunter says above. Plus, most lead bullets are going to shed a bunch of their mass when they hit something, as bits of lead come out. So the bullet that started as a 165 grain, is now a 125 grain bullet in terms of its ability to penetrate the rest of the way through the elk. The 150 copper bullet is going to retain nearly all of it's mass, so it has 149 grains driving penetration. This is why you really don't need bullets that are as heavy when you're shooting monometals. My kids are now shooting 130 grain TTSX's out of their .308.

 

[Caseknife]

If you don't reload, find Barnes Vor TX in either 150 TTSX or 130 TTSX. If you handload, load either of those two. You will be impressed.

 

[Dsnow9]

Buying a 308 recently in the ammo crunch we are facing is like being the only guy on a cruise ship full of single women. Every time I turn around I find more .308 ammo.

 

[Redmt]

You can drive mono bullets much faster than jacketed. The jacketed can shed in flight so the aerodynamic quality is gone. CA went knee jerk to lead a few years ago and everyone bitched and screamed. Now they are finding out that in most cases solid copper is better.

 

[Spedray]

I am a big fan of terminal ascents. Killed three animals last year with them. That being said, I also like accubonds. They tend to be pretty devastating on close shots though in high power calibers. I have killed a ton of elk with Berger vlds but felt like I wasted too much meat. I never lost an animal so they did the job, but the amount of meat lost was not worth it. I'm my mind the terminal ascents are a good comprimise on all shot scenarios.

 

[MontanaHunter222]

What Mt. Hunter says above. Plus, most lead bullets are going to shed a bunch of their mass when they hit something, as bits of lead come out. So the bullet that started as a 165 grain, is now a 125 grain bullet in terms of its ability to penetrate the rest of the way through the elk. The 150 copper bullet is going to retain nearly all of it's mass, so it has 149 grains driving penetration. This is why you really don't need bullets that are as heavy when you're shooting monometals. My kids are now shooting 130 grain TTSX's out of their .308.

So shopping around my area, I can find Barnes VOR-TX 168 grain TTSX. Do you think that it’s a bad idea? Should I wait for lower grains to be available?

 

[Dougfirtree]

So shopping around my area, I can find Barnes VOR-TX 168 grain TTSX. Do you think that it’s a bad idea? Should I wait for lower grains to be available?

I'd buy it.

 

[devon deer]

Hornady Superformance 168 grain ELD Match bullet, they are NOT designed to be used for hunting, the hunting bullet is the ELDX but that isn't the best bullet in my experience.

I use Barnes TTSX, they do the business and let's face it lead is on its way out for hunting

Cheers

Richard

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

I also jumped around a bit until about 5 years ago. Now I'm an accubond believer. It definitely does depend on the rifle and what your gun likes, but my 7mm08 and 300wm shoot accubonds extremely well. They are great bullets and they do their job. When people recommend other rounds to me I don't even listen bc I trust the accubonds.

I'm sure there are a lot of guys that feel the same way about other bullets and I completely understand. It comes down to what you trust. I would suggest trying a few different rounds that are recommended and look good based on your research and see how your 308 likes them. I always really like to watch videos with tests using ballistic gel and high speed cameras (shoulder blades etc.). Lots of good info out there and a handful of good bullets too depending on your preferences.