Got new gun help please

[hunting junkie]

I just got this rifle handed down to me from my fatherinlaw it is a
rem.woodsmaster model 742 ,308.My question is what load would be
a all around good loadI might go on a pronghorn hunt or maybe even a elk
if get drawed.I know there is better rifles out there for this but i live in
indiana where they are useless more or less.I have a 222 and a 22-250
that just sit in the gun room now,so i dont want to buy anything else.
The box of 20 shells that was in the case with it read 7.62mm L2 A2
dated dec.31,1978. Oh and the price tag says $4.49+tax. By the way i don't reload at all. Thanks in advance

[Bocajnala]

Wanna go simple get remington corelokt...Use a 150 for 'lopes and bump up to the 180 if you take elk. Be sure to shoot it and get comfortable with it, and try several brands of ammo to see what shoots best. And the .308 is plenty of gun for both as long as you do your part!
-Jake

[kilotanker19]

the ammo you hve forit is military ammo probably made by lake city which is owned by federl

[DM]

ORIGINAL: Bocajnala

Wanna go simple get remington corelokt...Use a 150 for 'lopes and bump up to the 180 if you take elk. Be sure to shoot it and get comfortable with it, and try several brands of ammo to see what shoots best. And the .308 is plenty of gun for both as long as you do your part!
-Jake

DM

[country1]

ORIGINAL: DM

DM

Great posts! I recommend adjusting your load for your game. I am not a believer in a "one load does all" round. It is very important where the major shock wave takes place.

[gmil6184]

As someone mentioned above I would suggest a fairly thin walled lighter bullet for 'lope and whitetail and then i would bump it up to a heavier 180 grain bullet for elk, mule deer, bear, moose, etc.

[idunno]

The only thing I thin I'd chime in on is I'd probably limit the 308 to black bear and not try to hunt browns or anything tougher than that. It may do the job, but I'd feel much safer trusting my life to something in the 338 or larger category for those more dangerous bears.

[pahntr760]

ORIGINAL: gmil6184

As someone mentioned above I would suggest a fairly thin walled lighter bullet for 'lope and whitetail and then i would bump it up to a heavier 180 grain bullet for elk, mule deer, bear, moose, etc.

165 for them all. Mule Deer are not much, if any bigger then White-tails. At least the northern white-tails that is. A 165 grain bullet that shoots well will take down any of the listed animals. Unless you're talking BIG brown bears, where I wouldnt shoot the .308 for anyways.

[ipscshooter]

I'm not quite sure why there is so much discussion about brown bears... He asked about pronghorns and maybe elk. Plain vanilla 150 gr. Core Lokt's from Remington will work fine on pronghorns. Bump it up to a premium 165 or 180 gr. load for elk. As has been stated, try a couple different loads to find one that works well in your rifle.

[doubleA]

I would let the individual rifle decide on what it shoots best on account you dont handload. Tryvarious 165 and 180 grain factory loads and see if there is one that shoots better than the rest. With the better premium bullet loaded factory ammunitionthat can be had today I believe you can get by with the lighter 165-168 gr bullets over a conventional 180gr.I dont know if there is a factory loaded 130 gr Barnes TSX in .308 Win but that thing shoots fairly flat and is a hammer on antelope/deer size game.