165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

I am new to the 308 winchester for hunting purposes, and I am wondering about factory loads (I don't reload anymore; too far from a good range) in the 165 grain class. Game will be deer, here in the midwest, and my best estimate is that actual shooting will be well under 100 yards but possibly 200 top end. I would look for expansion but I want weight retention too. Or am I all wet on this light of a critter and should stick to 150?

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

150gr should be good enough for any whitetail deer you're likely to encounter, but 165gr
would not be out of line either.
For 165gr. I'd look at Hornady ammo, and if you can get it, try some Black Hills stuff.
I've always had good luck with these two brands in most of the .308 rifles I've used.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

Check out the twist rate of your rifle.Depending on the rate it will usually determine whether you should shoot 150 gr. or 168 gr. projectiles.Either weight will be fine for whitetail.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

Thanks for the comments. Good point on the twist rate: this piece, the rate of twist is 11".

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

When i used to use my Rem. 788 in .308, i used the 165 gr Federal Premium Trophy Bonded Bear Claws. They worked great, i took a couple deer with them and it put them down in their tracks. I really liked them and they were the only thing i would shoot out of my 308. Just my opinion but i think they are one of the best rounds out there for that gun.

Dave

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

I appreciate the real world comments.

What I have coming in has what I recall to be the same twist as the M14, so I bet it will have a bias in the 150 grain range. Whether or not an extra 15 or 18 grains would throw it off, well, I will have to check, but I like to shoot. I notice that Remington makes their hunters in 10" twist, and their heavy model 308 (varmint) in 12". So we will see.

My first real experience with the 308, in its 7.62 incarnation, was in the M60 MG putting out the heat at 500 meters or so. Being a corn fed midwest boy, I couldn't help but think..."Bet this would make a rip-snortin' deer cartridge!"

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

Any factory rifle will have sufficient twist rate to stabiliaze any bullet up to 200 grains out of a .308. Be it 1 in 10, 11, or 12 Besides it is not the weight of the bullet that matters. It is the length of the bullet that actually matters. A solid copper bullet like a Barnes X, or a hollow point boat tail is a heck of a lot longer than a round nose lead bullet of the same weight. The longer bullet will need to spin faster to be stable in flight.



White tail deer are pretty dang easy to put down when a bullet is placed it their vitals. Any 150 or 165 grain loading will be more than sufficient for deer size game. I would even use some of the better 165 grainers on elk and would not worry about it one bit.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

I'd look at PMC's loading with the Sierra 165 grain BTHP gameking, I reload and use basically the same load, but with some refinements. But PMC's load was my inspiration since that was what I shot before I got into reloading. I have killed several Missouri whitetail with PMC's loading with the 165 grain gameking bullet I would deffinately recommend giving them a try. It has the same trajectory as a 150 grain core lokt out to 300 yards but has alot more retained energy which equals more knock down power. they run about the same in price core lokts at about 14 dollars a box the PMC's at 16 dollars a box. In my opinion I would pay the 2 more dollars for the extra performance.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

I always used 168 grain Boattail hollow points with Lake City Brass..But I wasn't shooting at whitetails either.;)But have been shooting 150 gr. Ballistic tips out of a Rem.PSS it seems to like them pretty well.My rem. 788 in .308( as do most 788's) likes anything you feed it.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

Federal loads a 165 Sierra Gameking that is deadly for deer sized critters in the 308 at the ranges you mentioned. Gamekings usually shoot pretty well too.

RE: 165 grain factory recommendation for 308 winchester
 

I'd second Rangerlab's recommendation for the Federal 165gr GameKing loads.

The gameking is an excellent performing bullet And I prefer the 165/168gr class bullets for my hunting. Plus the ballistics on them are better for further out shooting. I would try to stay away from the ballistic tipped bullets - A lot of people swear by them, but my experience with them at shorter ranges on hogs was not satisfactory...................they exploded on impact.

oh BTW the M14/M1A works GREAT with the 168s - that's what is used for match ammo by High Power shooters.