Savage .308 ammo options

[JWF III]

So I got the itch for a new deer rifle. (Well I've had it for a couple years, just finally got it.) I got a Savage M11 Trophy Hunter package (accu trigger and Nikon) in .308. The barrel is advertised as 1 in 10 inches.

Deer season is into it's 3rd week here, and don't have as much time as I'd like to play with ammo to see what it likes. I've tried Rem. 180 gr. Coreloks, and got horrible results. (~3 to 3 1/2" @ 100 yards. Which I could live with as most of my stands max out at less than 100 **** shots. And for the others, I still got my old reliable .300 WM)

So to reduce the trial and error, those of you that have a Savage in .308, what does your gun like? For those that reload (will get that project started after this season), what bullets have you had your best success with?

Thanks for the help,
Wyman

 

[HOOfan_1]

180 gr. is pretty darn big for white-tailed deer. I would try the 150 Grain corelokt. Someone on here had a .30-06 Savage 110 and it preferred the Remington Express over even premium bullets.

 

[browningguy]

Get the factory 150gr. SST's, they shoot well in just about anything.

 

[BluegrassDan]

Try Winchester 150 grain Power Points.

 

[3twelves]

168 gr Barnes tsx

/thread

 

[littleguns223]

Yes the 150 gr SST's will do the job!

 

[Pacsd]

HOOfan took the words right off my keyboard. 180's ARE awful big for deer, period. Go down to the Rem Core-lockt in 150's.

 

[helotaxi]

My Savage factory barrel was consistently sub MOA with the cheap Federal 150gn soft points (sub-$16 red box stuff at Walmart).

 

[Ky Larry]

I can tell you what my rifle likes but only your rifle can tell you what it likes. Shooting different ammo in your rifle is the only way to find out. I've never found a shortcut. Sorry.

 

[bwiley]

I bought the same gun for my son last week. We tried Winchester 147 white box ammo at the range today with 3"-4" 5 rnd groups at 100yds. We need to do a lot better than that!
Thanks for any input.

 

[helotaxi]

The Win White Box ammo is your problem there. That ammo is only good for about what you got from it regardless of rifle.

 

[JWF III]

I can tell you what my rifle likes but only your rifle can tell you what it likes. Shooting different ammo in your rifle is the only way to find out. I've never found a shortcut. Sorry.

Didn't pass reading comprehension did we? Re-read the second part, of the first sentence, of the second paragraph. I know that shooting different loads is the only way to find out what a rifle likes. I've known, and done that for quite a while now.

Midway lists 170 different loads in .308. I'm looking to cut the list form 170 down to a more managable 8-10. As soon as I find one that'll do 2 or less, that'll get me through this year. And I can start reloading and playing with that this winter.

Wyman

ETA- Those of you that did offer up a suggestion, thank you. I never cared for the SST much, but that was because my .300 didn't care for them. But anyway, I'll give some 150s, from several manufacturers a try. Thanks again.

 

[stubbicatt]

In my experience, anything around 150 - 175 seems to work really well in that chambering. I do not know about your Savage, but they have a reputation for being tremendously accurate.

 

[Sav .250]

There is no short cut.

 

[ZXD9]

I use 165g SST's in my Savage 10FP. I reload them but I'm sure someone puts them into a factory cartridge. In my gun they hold 0.3-0.6 MOA at 100y and 1-1.2 MOA out to 400y.

 

[anothernewb]

Bought the same thing this summer. Trophy Hunter XP (in LH)

After 20 rounds of every brand of 308 ammo I can find locally. Mine likes the Remington core lokt 150 gr the best. I can get 2 of 3 holes touching at 100 yards repeatedly. At 220 yards (back of my local range) I could hold a 2" group and sometimes get touching holes from a bag.

However- nothing I tested in 150 or 180 grain grouped badly. I think the worst was the Federal stuff which put 3 into about a 2" group.

I have 2 boxes of 168gr federal gold medal match to shoot yet at the long range stuff yet.