ORIGINAL: ahankster

Hey guys,
This is probably a pretty broad question, but I appreciate any help.
Let me start off by telling you that I am not a newbie to reloading. I have a Dillon 550 and a Lees single stage press. I reload allot of handgun for competition purposes, some years more than 8 or 9k roundsof.357 depending upon how many shoots I go to. I also reload 30-30, 38-55, a little 45-70, and an occaisional 12 gauge or so. I generally use Hodgden powders with the exception of the W231 I use for my handguns.

I grew up with a .308 and hunted for all my youth with it. Back then, I just used the standard off the rack Remington Corlokts in 150 or 160 grains or so, If I did my part, the bullets never let me down. Been so long I don't really remember the exact grain of the bullet. But, bullet construction has advanced by a huge margin in the past 30 years.

Now, there are silvertips, ballistic tips, bonded, a frame, solid copper, partitions etc and etc. My head spins looking at all the different bullets in the Midway catalog and every one of them are advertised to be the best penetrating and have perfect expansion. I know that most of them are probably great, but am hoping that some of your experiences will help me.

My barrel is a custom .308 barrel for my Encore and I am not necessarilylooking for bench rest accuracy, I need terminal performance as well. This bullet and load will be used for hunting whitetail. I am thinking a 150 to 160 grain bullet would be the ticket. I am used to shooting a fair distance, but my shots would probably be pretty much limited to the 50 to 300 yard range, mostly limited to within 200 yards.

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions and help.
Hank