308 bullet of choice

[Rstien321]

Good afternoon!

I have a .308 win in a Christensen Arms Ridgeline with a 20" barrel that I plan to keep lightweight for back country and/or mountain hunts. I see this being a rifle that could pull duties from antelope, mule deer, to sheep/goats.

For bullet selection, I have been debating between 130 grain Barnes TTSX, 165 grain Nosler Accubond, 178 grain Hornady ELD-X, or 180 grain Nosler Partition. I had originally settled on 165 grain Swift Scirocco's, but I struck out on building a handload to get the bullet to shoot accurately.

Open for any suggestions and would be open to consider other options too!

 

[wildcat33]

Ive had good luck with both 165gr TTSX and 165gr N-AB. I prefer to use copper and the 165 TTSX just plain shoots, so I stick with it. Neither are "long-range" loads and performance has always been good, so i don't fuss with ballistics too much (MV, BC, etc). For the game you mention, something a little cheaper like a Sierra Game King might suffice.

 

[Rstien321]

Thanks! I’ll say the Sierra Matchking Federal Premium ammo is incredibly accurate in the rifle. I don’t see this rifle needing to be much more than a 400 yard gun.

 

[cubdriver84d]

I like the hammer hunters in my kimber. It's a 12 twist, so I've been running the 152's but would probably go with 166 if I had a 10 twist. Might try some heavier shock hammers this year too.

 

[BjornF16]

I like to run Hornady Superformance ammo if it proves accurate since it gives a 100-200 FPS bump... in 308 that is 165 SST

 

[TxxAgg]

Not the eld-x

 

[wildcat33]

Thanks! I’ll say the Sierra Matchking Federal Premium ammo is incredibly accurate in the rifle. I don’t see this rifle needing to be much more than a 400 yard gun.

Hard to beat 175gr match king federal loads, especially for the price. It takes some work to reload better.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

166g hammer out of my 10 twist Kimber 308.

 

[Lxhuntinpa]

I use the 150 TTSX in my .308's

 

[hodgeman]

There's hardly a bad bullet in the .308 as long as you stick to bullets made for big game hunting. Any of the ones you mention will be great and you're likely going to find one the rifle likes.

 

[Iman]

Cutting Edge Maximus 150 out of SAKO with 11 twist

 

[Newtosavage]

I've found if a gun won't shoot SST's well, I eventually sell it. Just how it's gone for me. I know some guys are the same way about Sierra bullets.

In every gun I've ever loaded for, SST's were consistently the most accurate or as accurate as anything else I tried. And they are dead nuts on deer. I'm trying to make the switch to mono's this year, and have had good luck with a few Barnes bullets, but none of them are honestly out-shooting the good 'ol SST's on a regular basis. Must my .02

 

[sdupontjr]

Different guns shoot very different. I had a rem 700 308 with 20" shilen barrel that would cloverleaf just about anything you stuck in it. Handloads, factory ammo, you name it. My Tikka T3 308 couldn't stand Hornady SST 165 but after reading on the site, I picked up some Federal Blue box ammo at Walmart for $10/box and the dam thing shoots .5 moa with that crap. So go figure. No more handloading for me.

 

[hunting1]

168 NBT on top of Varget. From coyotes to elk bang flop.

 

[N2TRKYS]

If I had to use a mono, it would be the 130 grain ttsx. However, in my 308 with 20” barrel, I shoot 165 grain Accubonds and Partitions. They work flawlessly in my rifle and on game.
I’ll be taking this setup elk hunting next time.

 

[J&A Outdoors]

400 yards? hands down 125 grain nosler accuond!

I like to match bullet weight to the intended game im hunting - 125 would be a good weight for deer size animals - even with your 20 inch barrel, you should still get close to 3050-3100 FPS.

minimal recoil, flat trajectory, I have had great luck with accubonds in various weights/calibers.

 

[6mm Remington]

150 gr. Accubond and hunt everything with it to include elk! The 150 gr. Partition would be equally as good.

North Idaho Hunter is on to something though and the 125 gr. Accubond would be superb and as he mentioned even in the 20" barrel you should be able to get pretty darn good velocities and it would shoot nice and flat. The 125 gr. Accubond I think will surprise you! If they shoot good, use them.

When you get a load worked up in any of the listed bullets and weights in my post, take it out and shoot some water jugs. It's cheap and a fun way to see how well the bullets will expand and penetrate, as well as weight retention.

Line up (7) - gallon water jugs (They are cheap to buy.) at the distance you want to try them out. You can set a couple saw horses out at the distance you want to try first, say 50 yards. Put a 2 by 10 across the saw horses and line up the jugs so they are tight to each other. I put an orange dot on the lead jug right in the center of it so I have an exact spot to aim for. Fire one shot and the first couple will explode like crazy. The bullet will penetrate 4 jugs and will most likely be found in jug number 5 in the bottom of the jug. Screw the cap off and remove the bullet for examination. It's a real confidence booster to do this as you will have a pretty darn good idea how a particular bullet will perform on game. Plus it's a lot of fun and darn good practice. I've shot doing this at 25 yards, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards. It's a kick in the pants. I've done this with Accubonds, Partitions, and E-tips and they all worked very well.

You don't need a saw horse if you are shooting from sitting or prone so that you keep lined up a bit better with the jugs as far as elevation so you are mostly on the same level as the jugs. Put a board of some type on the ground that is about 10 inches wide and then set the water jugs as explained. It makes it easier to align them and keep them nice and tight.

 

[16Bore]

155 Lapua Scenar

 

[Rmauch20]

I never could get a Nosler bullet to shoot well out of my tikka.
I had good luck with 178 eld-x and even better luck with 168 eld-m.

 

[Newtosavage]

Was throwing some 150 Hornady GMX's downrange today, and I was impressed. Good velocity and accuracy.