Hunting & Fishing .308 Barnes and Berger 168gr Hunting Ammunition Question

[Dakotabob]

Rifle is .308 Tikka CTR stainless 20" 1:11 with surefire brake. Shot my nice buck last year with 180gr Federal PowerShok. Heavy recoil, close range, he dropped like a stone did not move. The two years before that 2 does with Hornady 165gr American Whitetail (interlock), less recoil but not as much stopping power they both ran a ways was able to track and find them. Have not shot 150gr yet. I see myself using this rifle for whitetail well into the future and I'm interested in finding a round I fall in love wth, great ballistics for longer shots but still stopping power of the 180gr. I'm curious about 168 grain as a load specifically in the Barnes VOR-TX 168 and Berger Classic Hunter 168 loads. I don't reload. If you have experience with these rounds I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or another 168gr round I'm missing.

 

[Dakotabob]

I've been reading more about the Berger Classic Hunter 168. I really like the sound of it. Only concern I have is the amount of meat that I may potentially waste if my shot is not solely in the vitals. Apparently this round expands terminally quite soon after impact with often no exit wound. Devastating to the animal however potential waste of meat is high. I know very little about Barnes at all. Perhaps I should stick with my PowerShok and American Whitetail but I am keen to experiment this season. Thanks for your thoughts I know that you Barnes and Berger hunters are here! Also, if my idiocy has yet again missed a thread exactly the same as this pls let me know. Happy to read and be schooled yet again.

 

[Dakotabob]

I wanted to finish this thread w/an update re: what round I went with, I'll report back after this year's hunting season with my results. I was trying to maximize stopping power from my .308 hunting round while improving the BC (.382) from my 180 grain Federal Power Shok (soft point). I read a lot about Berger and I'm very enthusiastic about their .308 ballistic coefficients for hunting (.489 on 165gr classic hunter; .533 on 185gr classic hunter). I also read some reports about Berger fragmentation and meat loss. This may or may not be factual, I have not tried these rounds myself. I'm very focused on preserving as much meat as possible from my harvests however. I researched BCs and spoke w/some hunters I know and decided to go with Precision Hunter ELD-X 178 grain (.308) this season. The BC is high at .552 and (apparently) the expansion is excellent but does not fragment. So far I've seen very good accuracy (I had good accuracy with the Power Shok too however). I hope that I will be successful again this year, my best to all you Sniper's Hide Hunters out there on your hunts! DB. All BC data above from Ballistic AE app v. 6.5.3

 

[kylec]

I have used eld-x in my 7mag and 300wm. As a factory option, it is great, or has been for me. That being said, I do reload and am currently working up loads with Nosler Partitions and Accubonds.

 

[Dakotabob]

Thank you Kylec for your thoughts. I'm glad to learn that you've been happy with eld-x in your 7mag and 300win. I am not yet a reloader but have been reading and studying. A friend has recommended the Dillon 550C to me, I am somewhat intimidated by the costs of everything I need to get started. I'm looking to re-zeroing at the range and hunting this season with the 178gr Eld-x round for the .308. Thanks again for posting Kylec! Dbob

 

[kylec]

I understand the upfront cost seeming prohibitive, especially if most of your shooting is hunting oriented.

That being said, I shoot a decent amount of 5.56, 9mm, 300blackout and 6.8SPCII in rifle and pistol platforms. For just a little more than a case of federal 5.56, you can get set-up with a 550c.

If you are mostly hunting-centered, I would recommend a single stage only set-up.

 

[athanasios23]

I'd give the barnes vortex a try. I shoot them in my 243 and they have knocked a few deer drt and killed everything else they hit. Im sure the 308 bullets would work fantastic.

 

[shax2lex]

I used to shoot the 168gr Classic Hunters and there was no problem with meat damage. I Whit them in the vitals and down they go. The problem is in SC they may run 50yds in thick brush and turn a bunch. I found that those bullets don’t generally leave a blood trail but I never had a deer run farther than 50yds. 168gr SMKs are the same way in my experience.

I found that I was still wanting to shoot my match ammo so now I take neck shots.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I wanted to finish this thread w/an update re: what round I went with, I'll report back after this year's hunting season with my results. I was trying to maximize stopping power from my .308 hunting round while improving the BC (.382) from my 180 grain Federal Power Shok (soft point). I read a lot about Berger and I'm very enthusiastic about their .308 ballistic coefficients for hunting (.489 on 165gr classic hunter; .533 on 185gr classic hunter). I also read some reports about Berger fragmentation and meat loss. This may or may not be factual, I have not tried these rounds myself. I'm very focused on preserving as much meat as possible from my harvests however. I researched BCs and spoke w/some hunters I know and decided to go with Precision Hunter ELD-X 178 grain (.308) this season. The BC is high at .552 and (apparently) the expansion is excellent but does not fragment. So far I've seen very good accuracy (I had good accuracy with the Power Shok too however). I hope that I will be successful again this year, my best to all you Sniper's Hide Hunters out there on your hunts! DB. All BC data above from Ballistic AE app v. 6.5.3

Good call skipping the Bergers, I've hunted with them for years and had some really poor results. Blow ups and pencil holes no consistency.
I got tired of meat contamination with lead core bullets so I switched to Barnes LRX this year.
If the eldx gives you issues maybe go with the copper bullets, the nice thing is that if a buck comes running in you can shoot him in the chest, or shoulder and won't make a shrapnel mess

 

[ofelas]

Depending on what you hunt, I'd go 130gr/150gr TTSX/Vor-Tx out of a .308, especially one in 20" flavor.

I'm curious about 168 grain as a load specifically in the Barnes VOR-TX 168

 

[FalconII]

I use the Barnes 110gr. Tac-TX in 300BO and TTSX in 6.5 Grendel for hog hunting and it's a one shot knock down kill on every hog I've shot out to 250 yards. 6.5 Grendel at 250 will flip a 200+ pound hog so I'm sure it will work as well if not better on deer in a heavier bullet for the 308.

I just got some TTSX 130 bullets in for my 270 and can't wait to start load development for them.

For my 308 I have been using the Federal Premium 165gr. Sierra GK SP. It does a great job on white tail deer. Blows a nice 50 cent piece hole out the other side and deer never go farther than 20 yards if that far.

 

[rhodges89]

Federal makes a hunting round with 168 sierra game king, check it out

 

[ofelas]

With copper solids - speed, rather than weight, is key...

For deer with a .308, even a 130gr TTSX is overkill within 350 yards.

 

[aljones_315]

go with the barnes it is atleast a good hunting bullet i know berger makes awesome match bullets but they dont make hunting bullets in my opinion.

 

[wvfarrier]

For my 308 I have been handloading the 150 grain TSX (meant for 30-30). I load it right at 2600 fps. Its a very mild recoil and asbolutely smacks the !@$$ out of critters

 

[Chandalar]

Barnes,,,,,,,, penetration, weight retention, expansion, accurate, groceries!!