am i thinking too much of the .308

[foreign]

i went into my local suply store and wanted to ask the owner what projectile he thought would be best for longer range hunting out of a .308. i had already decided on 165gr sst. so i put the question to him and got a look like i was a little crazy thinking of shooting animals at 500m. am i. i figured that if i limit the .308 to 500m then it should be ok for deer sized animals.

 

[Savagebien]

the .308 should b good to a good deal further than 500m on deer.

 

[CentreHit]

Hi there Foreign,

I just purchased the very same projectiles for hunting.

I have not tried them on animals yet, but I'm very happy with how they perform at the range. If you get to try them hunting before me, please let us know how you went. Thanks.

Should be fine at 500mtr with .308, deer fairly thin skinned animal in my mind.

i went into my local suply store and wanted to ask the owner what projectile he thought would be best for longer range hunting out of a .308. i had already decided on 165gr sst. so i put the question to him and got a look like i was a little crazy thinking of shooting animals at 500m. am i. i figured that if i limit the .308 to 500m then it should be ok for deer sized animals.

 

[foreign]

hey savage and centre that is what i thought. i recon that out to 800 would be just getting to the limits. not that i will be going that far yet. he told me that that was not responcible and cruel. i would agree if the shot was not on target. but i would think that the bullet at that distance would still go through one sholder and into the boiler room

 

[Bravo 4]

That my friend is the normal reaction of most people, especially hunters. They are pretty much just ignorant and have their beliefs. I don't tell strangers that I hunt animals or even shoot targets out to the ranges I do, which isn't as far as a lot of others on the site. And if you want to hear the truth I'm usually hesitant to believe it when other people tell me they do, not until I dig more info from them...because they are usually full of crap. If a guy tells me he shot a deer at 700yards I will ask him about his set up and load, then ask him how many MOA he corrected for drop and wind. The look on their face will usually give it away. The normal answer is usually-I just held a foot over his back. Dang dude, you must be sighted in at about 650 yards! That's like a cop asking how much have you had to drink tonight...A couple.

 

[Michael Eichele]

It is true that the 308 winny is more limited in its abilities versus some of the other more potent cartridges, however the 308 does just fine out to 600-700 yards for deer size critters provided the nut behind the trigger and the bullets used are of good quality.

Of all the bullets I have used out of the 308 on game at LR I have been most impressed by the Nosler ACCUBOND bullets. I have used the SMK's, AMAXS, SCENARS, and the ACCUBONDS. I have used many different weights as well. The critters that died the fastest and had the maximum blood loss were the ones shot with the ACCUBONDS.

By using the right bullets, you can muscle up the smallish 308 win. By practicing often you will become proficient with it to make clean kills to 6-700 yards. The nice part about the 308 is it is much cheaper to operate which allows shooters to really get to know their rifle and where the 308 lacks in horsepower, it makes up for it in accuracy. I have also found that in the field when you cant get a perfect position it is harder to get a super mag to recoil the same and thus impact the same as I do on the bench at home. The 308 is so much less finicky that it seems to hold the same zero regardless of my position. This to me is a huge benefit.

In short, no I dont think you are thinking too highly of the 308 so long as you stay within its and your limitations.

 

[foreign]

cheers for the replies. yea michael i would like to use the accubonds but they are $60 for 50 where as the sst are $54 for 100. the student bugget decideds that for me pretty quickly.

 

[cjmousseau]

just bought a rem 700sps in a 308 BBL rifle and i threw on a Osprey 10 - 40x50 mm Long Range Tactical Scope, Matte Black with a harris bipod and a uncle mikes Neoprene Buttstock Shell Holders and a tactical sling i put about $1,000 in everything so i was wondering if i should throw on a .308 VORTEX FLASH HIDER threw brownells and what ammo should i use. I just can't wait to go and shoot the thing it's going to be great

best of luck

Charles H Mousseau JR gun)

 

[justgoto]

That my friend is the normal reaction of most people, especially hunters. They are pretty much just ignorant and have their beliefs. I don't tell strangers that I hunt animals or even shoot targets out to the ranges I do, which isn't as far as a lot of others on the site.

I hear that, I asked about shooting at great distances on another site and everyone went crazy! I only wanted to shoot targets too. I couldn't believe it. One guy said something like, "You better have a good reason to have a gun that shoots that far!"

Luckily, a longrangehunting member read my post and directed me here.

 

[Greywolf18]

cheers for the replies. yea michael i would like to use the accubonds but they are $60 for 50 where as the sst are $54 for 100. the student bugget decideds that for me pretty quickly.

That is the same reason I went with the 165 SST's as well lol My rifle shot the Winchester BST 168gr well, but then the reloading bug hit me and so I had to change because for the same price of 50 BST, I got 100 SST's!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I guess we all have our own limitations. My limitation is up to the distance that the bullet will expand and penetrate and do significant damage to make a reasonably quick killing shot and ftlbs of energy really doesnt have a lot to do with it.

If I was hunting with a 308 and 165 SST's, I would take a shot on game as far as the bullet had sufficient velocity to open, period.

IMHO and it's JMO, a buulet that has sufficient velocity to open will have sufficient momentum to penetrate a deer. Now elk size game would be a different story. It would take a little more momentum to penetrate a 900 lb elk vs a 200 lb deer.

Most of us hunt with expandable bullets and not unexpandable solids. If we fire an expandable bullet tio a range where it wont expand, what's the point? (no pun intended )

So I guess the bottom line is what is your criteria for a minimum killing shot on game at "X" number of yards?

Cheers and good hunting,

-MR

 

[CapDog]

I haven't used the SST in the .308, but I have used them in 6.5 with great success. I have used the 178gr A-max and a hunting partner regularily uses the 180gr SST, both out of .308's and they work very well.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Michael Eichele

Hay I know we talked before about the 308 what weight ACCUBONDS do you shoot?

 

[Nomosendero]

You have to keep in mind that most hunters are not long range hunters & know little about rangefinding, wind, Bal. reticles & even less about clicking up.

They are looking at traj. tables in the factory ammo charts & most of us did before we got interested in LRH. And when you look at it that way & see the 308 traj. & the 270WSM or others traj. on the same chart, what do you expect a novice to conclude?