Hunting bullet recommendation for short barreled 308

[Thebear_78]

With the hope that my tax stamp will come in before hunting season I have set up a short barreled 308 to hunt with this year. I figured that a 16" 308 would be more manageable with the 9" of suppressor on the end.

The rifle is all together and shooting well with several match type bullets but I need to work up a load for hunting. I tried some 178 ELD-X in the precision hunter ammo by hornady today. It shot great but I didn't get a chance to run it over the chrony. It should above 2400fps at the muzzle even with the stumpy tube. That will keep me in expanding velocities out to 500 yards, not planning on shooting any farther anyway. My range finder has a hard time getting consistent hits on game out past 350-400, definitely need a better one.

My thinking is I'm going to be limited in velocity any way I shake it and the extra bullet weight will help it hit a little harder across the spectrum.

The 178 ELD-X was shooting pretty well but I don't have much experience with it on game. Other bullets I have considered are 165-168 ballistic tip or accubond, 165 Sierra gameking, 168 VLD berger, 165 swift scirocco, 150-165 CEB match/hunting, I'm sure there are others I'm missing.

Any of you running a short 308 for hunting.

 

[Waynzee]

I can't speak to the short barrel but I can speak to your choice of the 165 gr. Sierra GK bullet. I've hunted for years and reloaded Sierra bullets in a couple of 30/06 rifles I own and haven't lost any game yet using the 165 SGK bullet. There are better bullets for long range past 500 yards but I don't shoot that far so Sierra bullets work good for me.

 

[Buckinrut25]

I use 150 sierra #2125 with cfe223 out of my AR10 with a 16 tube. I get 2623 fps with 49.6 gr of cfe223. Good load for deer, dog and hog. I played around with the 178 eld and was able to get it just under 2400fps. If memory serves me correctly it was with a compressed load of reloader 17. Hope this helps

 

[Thebear_78]

I'm hunting caribou, black bear, and moose. Hopefully I can get a little more speed out of that VLD-X.

 

[Buckinrut25]

You may consider going to a flat base bullet to give you more case capacity but in any case I doubt you get past 2500 ft./s. I have had the best luck with CFE 223 and Winchester 748 powders and the short-barreled rifles. Good luck

 

[just country]

morning, the barnes 130gr. TTSX. is sleek well built design. construction

of a 165gr. very very good penetration. have shot big hogs in the head.

.750-1.00 exit hole. very accurate. very good bullet. powders, RL-15, w-748

w-760, 4064, and 4320. take ur pick. all very good powders.

THK. U lightbulbgun) very good build!!

 

[300R]

I have hunted with two shorty 308's mainly hogs and deer and nothing can beat the accuracy of 8208 XBR with a 155gr bullet,I think 160 gr might be the limit with this powder though.

 

[J E Custom]

I would try bullets in the 150 to 160 weight to improve velocity at the Point of impact (POI) it will extend your range for better bullet performance
and reduce the trajectory.

It is hard to get away from the high BC bullets but without the velocity they have no real advantage. Obviously you are not planning on 1000 yard shots with the short barrel and you may find better accuracy with lighter bullets. In some cases a flat base bullet may do even better.

I have used these bullet weights for hunting in .308 pistols and rifles with no failures.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[brentc]

I have a suppressed 18" 308 for the same reason. I've found a few boxes of clearance price 165 grain Swift Sciroccos that have been excellent in my little rifle. I easily tuned them to 1/2 MOA and I push them at 2520 fps.

 

[elkaholic]

Until you mentioned moose, etc., I would have said the ELDX or even the ELDM but I think you would be better served with a little more solidly constructed bullet like the Swift or even the old Nosler partition in 165 grain. My thoughts............Rich

 

[Thebear_78]

I ran the 178 ELD-X hornady load across the chronograph. The first box, that shot very well. I got a very consistent 2449fps with ES OF 7. The second box I tried was only running 2413fps average but the ES was 89 and accuracy sucked. Grouping went from under 3/4" to 1 1/2"-2". Looks like I'm going to try a few powders with this bullet. I was getting 2630fps with 168 SMK with 44gr of varget. Some I had left over from my AR10

 

[RockyMtnMT]

We are regularly running our 152g Hammer Hunter to 3000fps in factory 22" barreled 308's. With 4" less barrel I would expect you to be 2800 to 2900fps. Your rifle set up my be perfect for our Sledge Hammer line of bullets. They are a lower bc larger meplat bullet designed for normal hunting ranges as you are talking about. BC makes little difference under 500y. Our bullets are pure copper and designed for impact speeds as high as you can push them down to a tested minimum of 1800fps. Our patented PDR design makes our bullets the easiest bullet to load develop that you can get.

Let me know if you have any questions. I will answer on the open forum or in PM if you prefer.

Steve

PS
Great looking rifle.

 

[Thebear_78]

What's the difference between the hammer hunter and sledge hammer?

 

[RockyMtnMT]

What's the difference between the hammer hunter and sledge hammer?

The Hammer Hunter is more of a vld type bullet and the Sledge Hammer is a heavier for caliber/twist rate bullet with a larger meplat and hollow point. The Sledge Hammer is designed for normal hunting distances where bc is inconsequential. 300y to 500y depending on the cartridge for the longest shots. The Sledge Hammer will retain 80%-90% and the Hammer Hunter will retain 70%-80% depending on which bullet used. With the Sledge Hammers you can get an all copper bullet that is more closely matched to conventional bullets for weight.

Hope that helps. I need to set down and create a description on the website that explains the difference in our different lines of bullets. Sorry for the confusion.

Steve