? about a 165 grn bullet .308

[grubbylabs]

I am thinking I will be loading a 165 grain BTSP from speer, but some one said they have seen problems with that type of bullet when hunting big game (Deer Elk and so on) animals.

I am shooting a .308

165 grain Boat Tail Soft Point
43 grains of IMR 4064
Remington Magnum Primer

Longest shot will probably be about 200 yards.

 

[arizona98tj]

What was the alleged problem?

 

[rozziboy18]

indead what seems to be the problem, speers a good company

 

[ArmedBear]

Furthermore, what ELSE would you want to shoot in a .308? 165 grain BT is about ideal for the caliber and velocity, isn't it?

Now WRT that particular Speer bullet, I have no idea, but there are other 165 grain .30 caliber bullets on the market, if you don't trust it.

 

[grubbylabs]

"I have had issues with cup and core boat tail bullets on big game" Is all they said.

 

[brian923]

Any reason why you want to go with that spicific bullet? The 30 caliber bullet market is so huge, id bet you easily have at least 50 different bullets to choose from. I like hornady, and will be trying some 168grn, 7mm bergers when I get my .284 win mauser done. My suggestion would be to buy a couple types of projectiles from different manufactures and try them all out to see witch shoot best for your application. Just remember, the most accurate bullet may not be the best choice for hunting, but when your hunting, and at no longer than 2-300 yards, same whole accuracy dosent matter as much as cold bore performance or terminal performance on game. I have shot lots of hornady 168 a-max out of my rifle, and hornady list it as a deer size hunting bullet. Berger list some of their compostition 30 cal bullets as hunting as well. They have a neat free dvd that shows the hunting performance of their comp. bullets on live game. Its preety darn impressive. Go to there website.I hope this helps, brian.

Also, I started shooting hornady 150grn SST's and they are just as accurate as the 168 amax out to 200 yards and are said to have tons of energy in the bullet to target transfer. That's what you want.

 

[ArmedBear]

Also, I started shooting hornady 150grn SST's and they are just as accurate as the 168 amax out to 200 yards

Yeah, 165 grain SSTs in my .30-06 Model 70 shot 1.25" at 200 yards, the first time out, without any load development (loads were developed for another gun).

But... You'll find a lot of die-hard Nosler Partition fans when it comes to performance on game, particularly bigger stuff like elk.

 

[jbkebert]

The only thing I have to disagree with Brian923 is that even though Hornady list the 168 grain a-max as a medium game bullet. I certainly feel the better choice is the 165 grain SST or Inter Bond from the Hornady line up. The a-max is a fantastic match bullet but its very very thin jacket would compromise deep penatration and be more prone to fragment. I shoot plenty of 168 a-max while trying to shoot competition or practice at long ranges. When deer season rolls around its the 165 IB in my T/C handgun. Out to 200 yards and a little more it my round of choice for medium to large sized game. The SST preformes flawlessly from my sons .243 win and has held together even with a hard shoulder hit. Plenty of penatration his shot at 178 yards devastated both shoulders of a large Kansas buck.

 

[Uncle Mike]

The SST's are great, and the A-Max will 'explode' a deer....don't know about Elk, maybe to explosive, lacking penetration, but then again, the A-Max was not made for hunting.
As for ' cup and core' bullets being inferior...ever since the 'bonded core' bullets came on scene, the old stand by 'cup and core' bullets have gotten a bad rap, seems these bullets didn't do well for the last 100 years before the bonded core stuff came around....right!?!

No problems with any of the main line 'cup and core' bullets that I know of!

 

[dakotasin]

i think the 'issues' w/ cup-and-core bullets arrived en masse when the ultra mag, stw, and wsm really took off.

in a 308 i use hornady 165 btsp's for hunting and have killed a lot of deer w/ that combination across the spectrum of ranges.

 

[browningguy]

The 165 Speer will be fine at .308 velocities as already mentioned. Why are you using Magnum primers? Just use standard large rifle if you have them.

 

[MMCSRET]

Boat tails have more of a tendency to separate core from jacket on heavy game, more so than plain base bullets. i've had it happen with 270 Winchester 130 gr. boat tails on mule deer enough times(3) that I no longer use boat tails. With extensive experimenting I could never find any difference in velocity or accuracy. I remember years ago all the gun writers in the monthly gun rags were of the collective opinion that a boat tail was not of any effect until past 300 yards and then only a couple 10ths of an inch less drop. Besides, plain base bullets are cheaper.

 

[grubbylabs]

It is what I had so its What I am using and I am getting clover leaf groups more often than not. So its hard to argue. It shoots really well for me, but I don't like to loose animals and not being a rifle guy I worry a little bit. Guess I will try them out this year and see how they go. I will have some one with me that has a rifle so they can back me up if I have problems.

 

[bpl]

"I have had issues with cup and core boat tail bullets on big game" Is all they said.

Meaning, I guess that when they gutted their, um, err... DEAD deer, they found that the core separated from the jacket???

 

[Art Eatman]

I used boat-tails in my '06. But, 26" barrel, so muzzle velocities on the high end of the range. At 30 or 40 yards, the bullets tended to come apart on Bambi. Dead, DRT, but messy. Once the bullet was hitting out beyond 100, it acted like any flat-base.

So I'd figure that from a .308 there wouldn't be a problem from the bullet's being pushed a bit too fast.

 

[MMCSRET]

Bottom line, they will do the job required more often than not. The three that I had failures with were over a 12 year period and had lots of successes in between and they were all the same maker. I haven't had it happen since 1992 when I changed, I don't use that brand in 270 anymore.
Good shooting