.308 16" deer round max 500 yards

[Dave__th3__ss]

so i know that im thinking way to much into this about bullet selection. But my brain wont STFU . so here goes. rifle is a sig cross .308 with a 16" barrel 1:10T. ill be loading with varget powder.

looking for a bullet that will be accurate and effective in close and at range. say 50 yards to 500 yards max distance. also will be plinking with the rifle at the farther distance too. the problem ive run in to is playing the numbers game out of a 16" barrel trying to keep the energy above 1000 ft-lbs at 600 yards is a PITA.

i've spoke with berger and they suggested the 168 gr classic hunter. good luck finding those though. alo looked at the sierra TGK 168gr. but i have 0 experience with sirra bullets and not to sure about performance. also thought about stepping down to a 155 gr berger VLD hunter but not sure how accurate that lighter round will do at distance

i know guys use the target rounds SMK, eld-m and what not. but the performance ive seen at close range with match grade rounds is very lack luster.

ive talked with a few people and they all agree that im thinking to damn much into it.

so lets see what the masses say and or suggest.

 

[918v]

.308 180gr Lazer-Tipped Hollow Point

50ct Our Lazer line is a high BC, tipped hollow point hunting bullet designed for excellent long range accuracy and devastating terminal performance. These bullets are all manufactured out of lead-free, solid copper bar stock on a CNC Swiss style lathe.

cuttingedgebullets.com

 

[FCS]

What bullet(s) are available, as in currently on your reloading bench?

Which of the bullets give you best accuracy with desired energy at 500 yds?

Heavy bullets lose less performance in shorter barrel so 165-178 gr, maybe 185 gr, is your best bet. I personally wouldn’t drop down to 150-155 gr but that’s just personal preference for a 16” bbl. Lotta animals killed with 155 Scenar, probably 155 SMK Palma bullet too.

168/175 SMK, 168/178 Amax, 175 Berger OTM, 185 Juggernaut. Bullet in right spot, seriously doubt a deer will be going any appreciable distance.

More trigger time, less over thinking.

 

[st1650]

Inside of 400 yards I would simply buy some Fed fusion 150 gr and call it a day. Been there, done that with my DTA 16in. DRT every time. It’s a decent although not great BC but in my DTA it shot really really well so that I really didn’t care since most of my shooting was fairly close range. And it’s actually cheaper to buy fusion than reload at the current scalper prices.

Scenar 155/167 will absolutely kill at 500 yards even out of a 16in barrel and has a much better BC than the bonded SP like the partition or the Fed fusion. And I wouldn’t worry too much about it being a match bullet:

34 pages of scenar kills https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4977783/1

Buddy of mine has hunted elk with with 20in 7mm-08 and had a kill at 650 yards with 162 Amax so yeah ... all these bullets will kill game if you put them at the right place.


If you want to go copper, then apparently the PVA Cayuga have both very good external ballistic and terminal performance, I’ll be trying the 151 this fall on a 7 SAW.

 

[Dave__th3__ss]

What bullet(s) are available, as in currently on your reloading bench?

Which of the bullets give you best accuracy with desired energy at 500 yds?

Heavy bullets lose less performance in shorter barrel so 165-178 gr, maybe 185 gr, is your best bet. I personally wouldn’t drop down to 150-155 gr but that’s just personal preference for a 16” bbl. Lotta animals killed with 155 Scenar, probably 155 SMK Palma bullet too.

168/175 SMK, 168/178 Amax, 175 Berger OTM, 185 Juggernaut. Bullet in right spot, seriously doubt a deer will be going any appreciable distance.

More trigger time, less over thinking.

I’ve looked at the 175 gr OTM but not sure how they’d performer having a thicker jacket at close range.

 

[Evintos]

175gr Federal Terminal Ascent - advertised with minimum expansion window starting at 1400ish fps.

https://www.federalpremium.com/reloading/bullets/terminal-ascent-component-bullet/11-PB308TA1.html

 

[huntnh]

I use Barnes 150 ttsx over 46 grains of varget match primer. Shoots nice and flat hits hard. Or the 168ttsx pushed hard to 2700 FPS will work
Like a champ

 

[Gohring65]

A Juan fiddy soft point.

 

[Dave__th3__ss]

I use Barnes 150 ttsx over 46 grains of varget match primer. Shoots nice and flat hits hard. Or the 168ttsx pushed hard to 2700 FPS will work
Like a champ

They don’t retain enough energy at 500 yards out of a 16” barrel . It comes out to less than 1000 ft-lbs of energy.

 

[918v]

What good is your 1000ft/lbs of energy if the bullet doesn’t expand?

 

[Dave__th3__ss]

What good is your 1000ft/lbs of energy if the bullet doesn’t expand?

That’s why I want to keep it above 1000 ft-lbs so the bullet has a better chance of expanding. While still retaining enough energy to transfer to the animal

More energy on target means less likely hood of bullet failure

 

[JBoomhauer]

That’s why I want to keep it above 1000 ft-lbs so the bullet has a better chance of expanding. While still retaining enough energy to transfer to the animal

More energy on target means less likely hood of bullet failure

I hunt with match bullets that expand decent at longer range and just choose the shots carefully. Yeah they prob “overexpand” up close, but I’m not trying to punch thru 3/4 of a deer to reach the vitals with them either.