.308 range and loads?

[brodon6]

Greetings! I am brand new to the forums. probably in the 100's of articles my question has already been discussed, but... I have recently moved from midwest to Idaho and am looking forward to mule deer/elk hunting next season. I am planning on purchasing either a Rem 700 Tac or Varmit to hunt/target shoot with. like the flexibility/affordability of ammo and the proven track record of accuracy. anyway, here is the million dollar question. the longest shot I would "consider" is 400 yards. IF I have a nice elk in my sights at 400 yards, AND I am sure I can place the shot, will a .308 safely harvest it? and what loads might you suggest?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Greetings! I am brand new to the forums. probably in the 100's of articles my question has already been discussed, but... I have recently moved from midwest to Idaho and am looking forward to mule deer/elk hunting next season. I am planning on purchasing either a Rem 700 Tac or Varmit to hunt/target shoot with. like the flexibility/affordability of ammo and the proven track record of accuracy. anyway, here is the million dollar question. the longest shot I would "consider" is 400 yards. IF I have a nice elk in my sights at 400 yards, AND I am sure I can place the shot, will a .308 safely harvest it? and what loads might you suggest?

Yes, a .308 Win will be just fine, provided you put a decent piece of glass on top of it. I have had 2 Remington .308's. One was a custom job built off a Model 7 action (similar to 700), but it got stolen a few years back, so I replaced it a few months ago with a Remington 700 5R Mil-Spec 10th Anniversary .308. I have yet to put a scope on the new one, but the old gun (Model 7 custom) I ran a Nikon Tactical Elite 2.5-10x42 scope on it (excellent scope BTW, too bad they discontinued them), and that gun would shoot literally 1 hole....1 ragged hole @ 100 yards on sandbags, and would shoot clover-leafs @ 300. I have shot beer cans @ 500 with it on an open cane field, but that is about the farthest I ever got to shoot that particular gun.

The most accurate factory load I got out of that gun (and the only round I shot after figuring that out) was the Hornady TAP (red box - Law Enforcement match grade with LCA brass) 168gr. BTHP's. I buy them from my local LE Distributor, but you might can find them online somewhere. I have been told the Hornady TAP (black box) 168gr. BTHP ammo (that you can buy anywhere) shoots just fine, and will also do a number on a whitetail deer.

 

[liltank]

I would suggest a 175 to 185 grain bullet for elk. It will do the job. I currently use RWS brass, Federal 210 match primers, 45.0grn of Reloader 15, and 175 custom comps. I have every bit of confidence that this load will perform to 800yds for whitetail deer. Proven deadly on groundhog so far. I have some other loads that work well too. The 175 and 185 Berger, 168 ballistic tip, 165 and 180 Hornady SST, 168 and 180 combined technology bullet. It was suggested to me to use the 200grn Sierra Game King also.

Tank

 

[barthmonster]

Obviously it may not be recommended but there is an article about a guy shooting a moose at 800 with a .308 so yes.

I have a new .308 and for me accuracy would be of utmost importance. If you can shoot a 2" group off a bipod at 400 yards why you couldn't kill an elk with say a 178 grain Hornady A-max is behond me...

 

[WildRose]

More than adequate if you can put it in the right place. You can shoot a cannon and still not get clean kills if you don't put it in the right place.

Are you planning to reload or just buying factory?

If factory loads the Winchester Supreme Ballistic silvertip 168 is a great load. My last M1-A stayed sub MOA to 900yds with them. It liked the Hornady just as well in the Amax 168 as well.

You can move up to 180gr in a hand load, but you will be giving up a lot of velocity and Max loads rarely end up being your best accuracy load.

 

[Greyfox]

I have a Rem700 Mil-Spec that will keep 5 shots in a 2.5" circle at 500 yards consistently. I can do this with factory Nosler Custom 165 gr. Ballistic Tips or exactly duplicate that load in my rifle without changing my scope settings with 45.3gr of Varget with Federal Match Primers Lapua brass and the same bullet. At 2800 fps the Ballistic Tip performs very well from 100 to at least 600 yards.

 

[brodon6]

tks for the great info guys! I will probably shoot factory this year, but I hope to reload and experiment w/160-175 gr rounds next year. I haven't experienced fall/winter in Idaho yet, but if the spring was any indication of the wind, I think I want to stay in this range!

 

[liltank]

That case, stick with Hornady Superformance, Black Hills, Federal, and RWS. Right now Midwayusa.com is having a clearance sale on RWS hunting ammo. I have the 150's and according to my calculations should get you to 400 easy.

Tank

 

[liltank]

Just thought of something. If you go to Midwayusa.com, they have a ton of different stuff. Look ammo with bullets from Nosler, Hornady, Sierra, Berger, and Barnes. Look for Accu-bonds, SST, A-max, partition, ballistic tip, hunting VLD, GMX, TSX and TTSX. The Sierra bullets will be Game Kings. Trophy bear claw, Deep curl are Speer bullets and should also be considered. I know some of the manufactures use them. Check out Double tap, Winchester Supreme, and HSM. Stay 150 grains and up. Double Tap make a 200grn accubond. That will work nice for elk and busting through heavy bone.

Tank

 

[barthmonster]

one of the best hunting/match bullets out there is the swift scirocco but it's expensive. Remington loads it too. They come in .308 165 gr and 180 gr and are bonded-core plus scary accurate...