Good Hunting Round?

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kyjoe

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I am a new hunter and sighting in a new scope (first time I have done this) for my rifle in .308 Win. Based on some research I ended up with Federal Premium 168 Grain, Sierra Matchking, BTHP, Gold Medal Match ammo. Now that I bought these rounds and am researching estimated drop for my scope’s reticle, I am rethinking the ammo. Is this round sufficient for deer hunting? It is a boat tail hollow point, but appears to be made primarily for target shooting (Matchking) versus hunting (Gameking). While it is a hollow point bullet, I want to make sure I am using the right round for clean kills.
 
Yep, that's a target bullet.
For white tail, try the cheapest box of soft points at the store. If you can get all hits on a paper plate at the distance you're going to be taking the deer (probably 150 yds?) they'll work fine. Fancy schmancy bullets are nice for large, hard to kill game, but not really needed for white tail deer.
 
Matchkings are not typically regarded as hunting rounds, however if you do a search on them you will find many do use them, including myself. I have shot a few deer antelope and coyote with them and had very satisfactory results. But the bullet wad not designed for expanding.
 
Look around for a couple of boxes of Federal, Winchester, or Remington soft point ammo. Most will come with a 150-180 grain soft point bullet. While they are cheap, they work well. I'm willing to bet that most deer shot in the US is taken with a plain ol' flat base soft point bullet. Use the Gold Medal Match to zero in and figure out your reticle, and find a hunting round loaded with a 165 grn bullet. The 165 and 168 will not have much of a trajectory difference. Expect the point of impact to be slightly off at 100 yards, but it should be real close.
 
I hunt with a Ruger MKII compact in .308

The glass is Springfield Armory that was built for the .308 168 gr MGBTHP

I have been using Georgia Arms 168 MGBTHP since day one and haven't lost a deer or hog yet. From point of impact, my harvest has always been in sight.

I'm not saying this is "the perfect bullet", I'm saying if you place it where it is suppose to go it will work.

A perfect placed shot with ammo that people question is better than a terrible shot with the best expanding oobber heat seaking bullet that is out there.
 
I am using a new Savage 308 this year for my deer rifle. the ammo I am using, Remington 150gr Core Lokt. Just got back from the range and I got around .50moa at 100yds. Next year I also plan to use this rifle for my first black bear hunt. I may switch o 180gr Core Lokt for both game.
 
Hard to beat a Corelokt in standard calibers.

Got to go with the others. Unless you want to blow $50 a box on whitetail ammo, Winchester Power Points, Remington Corelokt and Federal Hishoks will work fine on whitetails. I roll my own and unless I am shooting a buttkicking round, I usually load Speer Hotcores or Hornaday Interlocks. In the hot mags I have settled on Nosler Accubonds.
 
While I have not shot an animal with them yet I am using a 165 grain BT soft point in my 308 and I am looking for a nice fat cow elk. Most of the folks around here seem to think that they will work just fine.
 
Try the Federal premium ammo loaded w/ 165 grn soft-point sierra bullets, which is a great deer round. Ditch the hollow points and get some of those. They shoot really well through my .308, too, and they knock the deer down hard.
 
In 30-caliber a 150-grain bullet is plenty good for deer. But, if a 165-grain hunting bullet is more accurate, use it. No big deal, either way.

I wouldn't feel confident about expansion of a target bullet. If I just had to use them, I'd be really picky about my hold and be very, very positive about shot placement. Sorry, but I just don't trust them to perform as well as a bullet which is designed for hunting.

While I read of guys using 165s on elk, I'm old-fashioned enough to figure I'd get more reliable penetration with a 180, particularly with an angling shot through the body to reach the heart/lungs. But that's just opinion...
 
Yeah, the 150 grain will work just fine; I use the 165 grain Federals just because they shoot sub-moa in my rifle. Expensive, though. The accuracy makes 'em worth it.

But I have to say, I never worry about penetration with the 165 grain round. (Although I realize it penetrates just like the 150 grn and 180 grn rounds do.)

Edited to add: used Cork-lokt w/excellent results in the past. Any good soft-point will do well.
 
Yep, that's a target bullet.
For white tail, try the cheapest box of soft points at the store. If you can get all hits on a paper plate at the distance you're going to be taking the deer (probably 150 yds?) they'll work fine. Fancy schmancy bullets are nice for large, hard to kill game, but not really needed for white tail deer.

i don't think this is good advice. Matchkings are a target bullet and should definately not be used on game.... but the 165 gameking is a really good bullet and at the more moderate velocity it will produce from 308 win it will be an excellant deer or elk round. (i would use it on big red stags.... an elk is the same animal just a little bigger). federal do a round loaded with a 165 gameking. they call it p308c. If i was new to hunting i would go with this round, buy a few boxes and shoot it quite a lot. you really need to be an awful lot better than paper plate shooting. get good (1.5 inch) on paper... then practice from sticks and freehand. from sticks i practise by shooting the small coke cans ththat are about 4 inches tall and 2 inches wide or potatoes.
 
He said "for white tail". And his advice is spot on, given that statement. For white tail, in .308, damn near anything will work, including the cheapest box of soft points at walmart.

Red stag are more like elk, and WAY outside the realm of his qualifier.
 
dougwx12 said:
He said "for white tail". And his advice is spot on, given that statement. For white tail, in .308, damn near anything will work, including the cheapest box of soft points at walmart.

Red stag are more like elk, and WAY outside the realm of his qualifier.
Click to expand...
hi doug,
yes you are right with the cheap soft points they all will be fine on whitetail. I was also looking at the sighted in with the matchking bullet and the gameking MAY need only slight movement. the piece of advice i really have a problem with is the hitting a paper plate bit.

interlock
 
Well, I'd interpreted that as meaning hitting a paper plate with offhand field shooting positions, in which case I'd agree. If the rifle is on a bench and a paper plate is the best it can do, I'm not sure anyone here would consider it a very fun rifle.
 
But the bullet wad not designed for expanding.
Click to expand...

. Matchkings are a target bullet and should definately not be used on game
Click to expand...

The Matchking bullet was not 'intended' for gaming, and true it does not 'expand'.... what it will do when used on animals such as deer, is to 'explode', or fragment.

The bullet makes for a 'nasty' wound and will off deer no questions asked, but offers shallow penetration. If used on something such as whitetail deer, a thin skined creature, it will do fine. If your one that likes to see the meat fly, this bullet, along with the Hornady A-Max and the Berger VLD bullets are for you!

The manufacturers don't advertise the use of these bullets for hunting game because of the shallow penetration performance of the bullets, say, if you hit something like an elk on the shoulder, the bullet may explode, knocking off a pound of meat while not making it to the vitals.

If you pick your shots well, and your quarry is of the 'thin skinned' variety, they should do fine, with devastating results.
 
Huh? Quite a few contradictions here. Some says the Match King will explode while others say it won't expand which obviously means it won't explode. Are ya'll experienced in using these bullets on game or are you just armchair theorizing?

John Plaster, in his book, The Ultimate Sniper, says regarding match bullets "...is not a true hollowpoint; indeed, it tends to break or bend upon impact, not expand in any traditional sense."

By the way a fragmenting bullet is lethal and Sierra match bullets are what U. S. military snipers shoot.

I've shot several pronghorns and deer with Berger VLDs which are of similar construction to Sierra bullets and can testify to their excellent penetration, accuracy and lethality.
 
I have dug many MatchKings out of the dirt and they for the most part remain whole. The Berger "hunting" bullets have quite thin jackets. In fact, they began making thicker jacketed bullets and marketing them as "match" bullets. The hunting bullets penetrate several inches before fragmenting. I have seen some really impressive kills made with them.

With respect to the original post, for whitetails, I would pick any good 150 or 165 grain bullet that shot well in my rifle (I prefer Partitions, but they are not necessary.). By well, I mean first shot on call and two more within a 1" group. If you miss or fail to kill a deer, it would be your fault.
 
Matchkings are hollow pointed to keep them from being front heavy. They are not hollow points designed to expand. Military snipers are trained to be better shots too. Not to mention they are sometimes just as happy wounding a target and making the target's buddies put down their weapons to move the wounded off. Shooting a human in the head or chest also means a lot less muscle and heavy bone to go through than shooting an Elk in the shoulder.
 
TY Hoofan. Seems I see people all the time trying to relate "sniper" to "Hunting" and most seem to not have a clue about all that. To all you guys spouting "Marine Scout/Snipers use them so they must be great", little clue for you, the human body is about as frail as a bunny rabbit compared to an Elk or even a White Tail Deer! Penetrating a human torso is easily done and to be honest, we just aint all that tough to kill. Would any ethical hunter recommend shooting an Elk in the shoulder with a 5.56 cartridge weapon? I for one sure wouldn't but I would take one against a human any day of the week and twice on Sunday! Match bullets are not designed for good penetration, they even say it on the boxes and in the advertisements Not a Hunting RoundYes they can kill a deer and could kill even an Elk if you got a lucky shot but are they an ETHICAL choice? Not by a long shot no. Just because they can be used by the military to kill human beings is by NO means a "go ahead" to use them for hunting.
 
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