zrexpilot...I haven't tried those Federal 80gr HotCores...I have killed several with the 100gr HotCore and they worked fine...Frankly that 85gr Sierra HPBT is so good as a longe range bullet that I didn't need to experiment with others...I've been stocking up on ammo for the past 2 years and have settled on the Federal Premium 85gr Sierra GameKing HPBT and the Remington 100gr CoreLokt...My gun shoots the 85gr 1/2 an inch higher at 100 yards than the CoreLokt, so I use the 85gr over fields and the CoreLokts in the woods and smaller fields...

mike87...For game up to and including deer then the .243 is all that's needed...I have killed over 150 with mine and have only lost one since 1980...It's used year round for coyotes, groundhogs, crows, wild dogs, deer and even 6 black bears that were eating my peanuts...That's the secret to being a good shot, using the same rifle and shooting more in the field, not at the range off sandbags...

We kill 40-50 deer a year on our 3 farms and various other centerfire rifles are used...Calibers from .243 to 30-06 are all fine for deer...Hit a with center lung shot a deer will run from 30-75 yards, no matter what caliber is used...In fact, youcan see more difference between different type bulletsused in the same caliber than you will between different calibers, that's the secret...Each caliber has certain bullets (or factory loadings) that just seem to excell when it comes to penetration, weight retention and the size of the wound channel...

If you do buy the .308, select your varmit bullets carefully...They need to be fragile to reduce richocets...