308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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[&:]

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

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.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

a friend of mine who is a swat team member back in missouri told me that most police dept. are going to frangible ammo for their sniper rifles. because of over penetration issues with hp match ammo. he also told me if they do need to penetrate a surface or object like a car door or window they will use a trophy bonded bear claw.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

I would think that a lot of it depends on the brand of bullet. A jacketed plinker round like the .223 rounds that I have been picking up for $4 or $5 a box just makes holes and doesnt really expand much. But a soft point or hollow point plinker round will expand and come apart when hitting just about anything. Just know what kind of bullet you are using and you should have an idea if it would be any good at hunting.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

IU use the 150grain innerbonds in my 308vls and a single shot,and i have found that thay fly pretty flat and have alot of pentatration. the experence i have had with the 168gr, is that they seem to flaten out more then they should and dont pentate.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

Ask this guy about the Sierra Match King bullets on big game animals...... http://stevespages.com/page8e.htm

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

Although these hollow point match grade target type bullets were generally not designed for anything other than punching holes in paper, there has been quite a bit interest in the past few years in using them for big game hunting. I have had some experience with the 168 Berger VLD in the 7 Rem Mag this season, and was fairly impressed. This is the same bullet used by the guy in the "Beyond Belief" DVD where big game animals are engaged at someextreme distances. I also know of folks who use the 210 Berger VLD in .30 Magnums, as well as the 175 Sierra Matchking. The Hornady A-Max bullets have also been used very succesfully in fast twist 6MM rifles.

Not saying that all these kind of bullets are good game getters, but some of them are among the best hunting bullets out there. Among those that work, they seem to penetrate maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the way into the animal before opening up; and they open up violently - destroying a lot of vitals right in the middle of the animal. Compare that to many conventionalhunting bullets, that start expanding very early in the wound channel of the bullet and have slowed down to a much smaller wound channel by the time they get to the middle of the animal.

The only real pitfall I have seen with these bullets is that they may not expand at all at impact velocities down around 2200 fps; whereas a conventional soft point can usually expand down to at least 2000 fps. They seem at their best out of the higher velocity rifles.

RE: 308 BTHP 168 gr Federal Ammo
 

sierra says not to use the match rounds for hunting aplications.they have hunting bullets for that.i think the reason is because of unpredictable expansion.as for snipers,i don't think it would matter what type of 308 slug they used.anyone hit with any kind of 308 slug wil be doomed.i personally know a 150 grain corelok slug will go througha concrete block so a car door would be an easy task i suspect with any slug.