308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo

[Garminator]

I recently shot some of this ammo my buddy uses for target shooting and I loved the results. Could these rounds be used for deer hunting? Thanks for the help folks.

ORIGINAL: Garminator

I recently shot some of this ammo my buddy uses for target shooting and I loved the results. Could these rounds be used for deer hunting? Thanks for the help folks.

I wouldn't. Might not hold togher good. Target bullets usually ahve very thin jackets. Most likely Sierra matchkings.

[#40Fan]

I believe that it is the other way around or I may have just missread the above post. They really don't expand at all. They are made to just fly straight and put a hole in a piece of paper. They don't expload or even expand like a hunting round,when hitting flesh.

[Fox72]

I use 168 sierra match kings for long range groundhogs. They blew them up pretty bad at 300 yards. I wouldthink they would do a lot of damage.

ORIGINAL: #40Fan

I believe that it is the other way around or I may have just missread the above post. They really don't expand at all. They are made to just fly straight and put a hole in a piece of paper. They don't expload or even expand like a hunting round,when hitting flesh.

Not all all they are thin walled and soft lead, and can fall apart. Beleive me, I know. It sometimes works out, but most of the time they don't.

[HighDesertWolf]

I feel Bigcountry is totally right i had aquired some 52 grain sierra BTHP matchkings in .224 cal I loaded them up in some .223 rem loads. I shot at milk jugs full of water from 100 to 200 yards when i picked up the shredded jugs I observed no exit holes but many shards or copper and lead remained in some of the jugs I ended up using the rest of the loads on jack rabbits. Id say these bullets would be great for targets and varmints and thats about it. and if you ever chat with charlie brown I believe he at one time used these 52 grain bthp matchkings for jack rabbits. the only match bullets ive ever heard to have good hunting performance would be hornady A-max bullets ive never tried them and probably will never with all the choices of bullets better suited for hunting.

[Garminator]

Thanks for all the replies guys...i've recently heard that they're popular sniper rounds which doesn't make much sense if they don't hold together[&:]

I know tactical shooters who use them or say they use them. They usually use blackhills ammo. Big difference between a human getting hit and a deer. A deer gets a gut shot, he runs for miles, a human would not make it a few feet.

[Chris W.]

Thanks for all the replies guys...i've recently heard that they're popular sniper rounds which doesn't make much sense if they don't hold together[&:]

Makes perfect sense if you're a police sniper unit deployed in an urban area. What you don't want in an urban setting is over penetration through your target, and into areas that might hold civilian populations.

[James B]

Some HP bullets are made for hunting but most are not. I did use some of the 190 grain BTHP Match Hornady bullets in the 308 for both steel silhouettes and deer hunting. They worked well but I eventually went to the 190 grain BTSP. Sierra does not recommend their HP bullets for hunting with a few exceptions that the list.