I have been shooting the 155 berger vld out of one of my 308's and have had great success on mule deer, antelope and elk. Getting good penetration and terminal balistics with this bullet. I am using 47 grains of Varget out of a 22" barrel and getting 2850 fps. Of course, you need to work up to this. The load and gun are easy to shoot and have not failed on elk from 40 yards to 550 yards, shot placement is key. I would suggest putting a muzzle brake on it for a youth, as the the 308 does seem to produce snappy recoil out of a light weight rifle. I am also using a berger 168 grain classic hunter out of my other 308, 24" barrel. Current load is 43.5 grains of Varget in lapua brass at 2780. I have taken several mule deer, an antelope and cow elk with this load this year and all have been one shot kills. I tend to like this load and rifle better so it has been my go to hunting rifle as of late. Both of my rifles wear side port muzzle brakes and recoil is very light.
