180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

I was reading in the American Rifleman April issue about handloads for the .308 and there was a paragraph about the correct bullet weight for the twist in your rifle. Mine has a 1 in 10 twist rate which it said a 178 gr. (according to Hornady) would be optimum for. My question is, when I start handloading should I start with a good hunting round in 180 gr. with a mild powder charge and work up my charges from there till I get a good accurate round? Anyone have a 1 in 10 twist they handload for, and what is accurate in it? Has anyone found a good whitetail load using 180 gr. bullets in .308 or 30-06? If I load such a cartridge I will probably only be able to load single shot as my OAL will probably be too long for my magazine. Any suggestions about this? Lots of questions but don' t feel obligated to answer all of them.[X(]:)

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

You shouldn' t have any problems with seating depth and the magazine with a 180 gr bullet with your .308. For a hunting rifle, seat the bullets to what the manual says to start then you can start moving it out. I recommend seating far enough out to improve accuracy but still ensure reliabe cycling of the action. Your probably thinking about trying to get close to the lands, well you' ll never get there on some guns, but others you can depends on the throat. Once you find the sweet spot for the bullet / powder selection as long as you and the optics do their job you be inside 1-2 inches and that' s plenty good for hunting, then you get to try to make it better.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

Just because the 180 is supposed to be the most accurate in your gun does not mean it will be.I have a .308" caliber rifle with 1 in 10" twist that shoots 165gr bullets much more accurately than 180gr bullets.Theory makes for fine reading but only shooting the rifle with different weight bullets will tell you which will actually shoot most accurately.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

your .308 will nicely handle all bullets from 110 grain to 220 grain.......for whitetail hunting I' d suggest 150 to 165 grain loads.

Don' t get too excited over twist rate.....it' s a mythical thing usually.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

For whitetails, I would also recommend a 150 or 165 grain bullet as probably optimum. The 180' s will kill well, but often with a 180, the animal will travel farther after being shot than with a lighter bullet at higher velocity. This effect would be exacerbated if you loaded the 180 to even lower velocity levels!!

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

I would like to add, what about using the 180 gr. Nosler bt' s? The 150 and 165 gr. bt' s I' ve shot through my .308 so far, though very accurate, have been turned inside out when I dug up some of the rounds out of the loose dirt behind the target. Maybe the 180' s would hold together better on deer in this particular round maybe? Anyone fired loads like this in .308 or 30-06?

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

Need to add that those rounds I' ve fired were factory rounds at 200 yds.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

150 or 165gr bullets are plenty for any deer especially at 308win velocities.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

I only use 150 grain slugs in my 308. I would not woorry too much about the Nosler, assuming you are talking about the bt' s or another premium bullet it' s meat in the freezer

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RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

what do is start with factory ammo of varrious manufacturers and weights to see what weight my rifel likes then start reloading ammo from there. If it' s 165 ( as in my case in .30-06) then I buy varrious 165 gr bullets and work up loads from there I' ve found that even bullets that look the same fly different . 165 bbtsp sierra seem to work better than 165 btsp from speer for me you might find the opposite is true.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

A bullet is much more severly stressed (and damaged) when it hits the dirt behind your target than it is when hitting ANY animal, even an elephant!!

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

Thanks everyone, I' m getting ready to start reloading my own rounds and just thinking about all the possibilities there are out there. Just adds to the fun doesn' t it. I' ll probably start out with the lowest recommendation for powder amounts, especially with a round like the Ballistic Tip since I will probably be shooting deer at 200 or less yards, more likely 100 yds. I' ll work up from there till I find a good accurate load. I like the 165' s alot too, and will probably go back to them if I can' t find the accuracy I want from the 180' s. Anyone else like 180' s handloaded or factory in their .308?

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

I would use a 165 gr bullet with 41-43.5 gr IMR 4064.
I' m not sure what you intend to gain by using a 180 gr. ballistic tip, in essence you are shooting a more massive bullet at slower speeds with a high rate of expansion. You would be better off using a non premium bullet such as a Hornady interlock at 150 or 165 gr at a higher velocity.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

Howdy Briman, what you just described is exactly what I was trying to achieve. Alot of trauma as it goes through the animal AND an exit wound, just in case the deer happens to have enough gumption after all that shock to wander off alittle ways. I' ve heard alot of folks saying that the lighter bullets have a tendency to blow up on deer especially at closer ranges, and what I' ve personally experienced with lighter rounds in loose sandy soil is the same. So that is why I pondered using a heavier round in the ballistic tips especially since it will more than likely be close range shooting and I like how accurate they shoot in my rifle. Hope that answers your question. So what do you think, would that work? Thanks for your input.:)

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

I think you have a good idea then. I myself don' t care for ballistic tip bullets- some people love them but I don' t think they have consistant terminal performance. A lighter Nosler partition or hornady interlock will more likely give a great deal of trauma and an exit wound every time. If you are only going to shoot at short range, you might even consider a round/flat nosed bullet for added trauma at short range.;) I' ve found round nosed bullets to very accurate out to at least 200 yards in several of my rifles.

RE: 180 gr. in .308 for hunting whitetail?
 

Actually I have found that the ballistic tip provides the quickest kills and my bullets usually exit.