Good 600 yard hunting bullet for .308

Marine sniper

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Sep 11, 2005
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Washington State.
I primarily hunt with larger cases than the 308, but I built a little 18 inch barrel 308 as a light weight pack rifle. I am looking for heavier bullets; 180 and up that will perform well on game out to around 600 yards with good accuracy. 180 Ballistic tip ? NAB's?

Thanks,
John
 
It will largely depend on what game is in question. If it is up to deer/sheep you have ALOT more options for the 308 in the 180+ bullet department. If it is elk at 600, you have fewer options and some include moving to a lighter bullet to get the impact velocity up. For bigger species such as elk I go with the 200 SGK, 150 Nos AB and 180 Nos BT in that order. For lighter game varieties, anything from the 155 Berger or AMAX, 168 AMAX, 178 AMAX, 150 AB/BT, 168 BT, 175 Berger work very well.

I would skip the 180 Accubonds for the velocities you will be running. 308 velocities are too low and impact velcoity requirements are too high. If you go with the 150 AB you can run much more velocity and keep the impact velocities up above 1800 FPS at 600. The 200 SGK is a phenominal LR 308 bullet due to its charecteristics.

If youre dead set on the heavier bullets such as 180 and heavier, then look to the 180 Ballistic tip or the 178 AMAX or 200 SGK. These are great deer performers and CAN do the job on elk under the right circumstances. The 180 BT or 200 SGK would be better (IMHO) than the AMAX. The 300 mags dont do well on elk with the BT's due to the high impact velocities but the 308 using the BT's on elk is realistic as the velcoity range is perfect for that given bullet.

The conundrum with the 308 is getting a bullet of adequete construction to open on heavy game at 600+ yards. The Hornaday AMAX isnt really that suited for elk period let alone at 600 yards albiet they will open up at those distances. The Nos AB is well suited for elk but wont open reliably at 600 unless you run the 150's to get the velocity up. I can testify to the 150 AB's abilities at 600 on moose as I watched my cousin blow one through both shoulders of a mature bull. MV was only 2825. We we at 3500' and had just over 1800 FPS on impact.

My personal "heavy game" load for my 308 is the 200 Sierra game king. It offers low impact velocity expansion (1500+), lots of weight and material as well as a good BC (.560). I run them at 2500 FPS and in standard air, that offers me a realistic effective range to 750. It has over 1500 FPS remaining and over 1000 foot pounds.

Even if you ran them at 2400 FPS with your shorter barrel, that still gets you out to 675 yards. Add some altitude and it only gets better.

Let us know what you decide.
 
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I like to use Hornady bullets, I practice with the sst bullets because they are cheaper and switch to the more expensive interbond for hunting. In all my gun both bullets shoot the exact same. Same load, and no re-sighting. That's a big plus in my opinion.
 
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