Short range 308 bullet for White Tail

Hello all...
Just wondering what your go to bullet would be for shorter range hunting of white tail deer. Specifically from a .308 Winchester with a 18'' barrel. My definition of short range: Point blank to 150 yards. Looking for bullets or load data with the bullets (if you want to supply it), as I am hand loading for this new adventure! I've used SGK from a .30-06 with mixed results, wondering if a flat base would be better than a boat tail. Thanks in advance!
RH

 

I always used the 150 gr Corelokt, always had good results. Factory ammo, don't have loading data, sorry.

 

150 gr. Nosler Partition spitzer. Varget Min. 42.5 - Max. 46.5 @ 2.800" OAL.

 

Anything will fit that bill. Even the bear soft points will get it at that range.

 

I'd pick a cast bullet in the 180+ grain with a big meplat.

 

I’ve been.very happy with the 180 grain Hornaday Interlock soft point bullets. Nice big round nose, jacket hold together well. As I recall, about 85% weight retention was the worst I’ve ever done.

 

I had good success with a 165g Sierra GameKing over IMR 4064 this year.

 

Just about anything.

125 NBT for me.

 

If I knew with certainty that my range was limited, I would consider some of the bullets intended for 30-30. They are plenty stable for the range your looking at and should be pretty effective driven a touch faster than normal. Should get very impressive expansion, but weight retention may suffer from that catastrophic impact. The 180s would be my first stop.

 

150 grain win. power points

 

I won't lie, I'm a Nosler Partition fan. They work at any distance.

 

Pro hunters, tough enough for what you intend, and accurate enough for targets much smaller and farther away.

 

I used the Speer 165 grain round nose bullet in my Rem. .308 auto for years for woods hunting. Then Speer quit making them. Got rid of the auto and now use 150 grain spritzers in a Ruger77 MK2 bolt action . hdbiker

 

Another vote for most any 150-grain bullet.

Use the data books' starting loads to reduce recoil slightly. Bambi won't know the difference.

 

Walk into a gun store, close eyes, and pick up any box of .308 bullets weighing 150-180 gr. This ain't rocket science, but any bullet you'd use at 500 yards works just as well at 50 yards, although the reverse isn't true.

Don't worry about the 18" barrel, I have 308's with 18, 20, and 22" barrels, the 18" barrel is 50 fps slower than the 22" barrels.

Where I hunt I'm just as likely to get a shot at a 500 lb black bear as a 50 lb whitetail. And while 5-50 yard shots are far more common 500 wouldn't be unheard of. Because of that I plan for the extremes and know it'll work on anything.

Varget is my go-to powder and I find near max loads with just about any 150-180 gr bullet gives me MOA or better accuracy. But most any powder seems to work well in 308. RL-15, IMR, 4064, and TAC are other powders that I've had good luck with. I tend to lean toward 165 or 180 gr bullets, but for what you need 150's would work fine.

 

180gr fed fusion

 

Don't overlook the 160-grain FTX. They make them for both the 30-30 and the .308 Marlin Express with the latter being a little tougher bullet. If I thought I wouldn't really shoot beyond 150 yards, I would (and have) load down a .308 with those bullets to around 2500 fps. MV. I'm actually getting ready to do exactly this with a new .308 barrel for my Savage. A lightly loaded .308 in a short, light rifle with the right bullets makes a superb short range deer rifle that is accurate and pleasant to shoot.

 

If it's really going to be short range, I use a 125 gr. Sierra Hollow point. I use this bullet in my T/C pistol.

 

A 150 Nosler BT has killed very thing I've shot with it with plenty of penetration and tissue damage. I load it over 48.5 grains of WW748 for 2773 fps out of my 20" barrel. It gives me 3/4 MOA.

 

I've really like the speer 180 grain round nose bullet for hunting . They just work great on white tailed deer. It makes a good wound channel and good blood trails.

 

For the mentioned parameters I'd go with a Nosler Accubond. I have a strong preference for the 125 grain version I'm shooting them at ~2800 and they are very lethal. Deer don't walk away from them.

 

Àre you buying factory or reloading?
If factory, the best shooting ammo you can get locally. I had bad luck with Corelokt primers going click.
If reloading I prefer Hornady bullets. They are cheaper and still extremely accurate.
Any bullet besides fmj. I also run on the softer bullet side.

 

Ooops, I already said that in this old thread....sorry

 

150 grain Hornady SST is a good bet, if you are reloading. They perform very well with moderate reloads at close ranges... https://www.hornady.com/bullets/sst-(super-shock-tip)#!/

LD

 

A good bullet for reduced loads in the .308 is the excellent Hornady 150 grain round nose interlock (Hornady #3035). i' ve used that bullet driven by 39-41 3031 grains of IMR 3031 to take hogs and deer. Using 39 grains of IMR 3031 the velocity from a 24" barrel is 2,500 fps. From your shorter barrel the velocity will somewhat slower.

BTW: That is the most accurate .30 caliber bullet i've seen in over 60 years of reloading. Years ago i called the folks at Hornady. They were well aware that the bullet is very accurate. Turns out it's relatively easy to make a perfect round nose bullet compared to a spire point.