308 Win 180 Grains

[banen]

I hunt whitetails in northern Wisconsin, I am a big fan of the 308.  In the past I have used 150 gr bullets but this year I switched to using 180 Nosler Partitions.  My Ruger ulta light seems to really like them.  I know most people use 150's or 165's in the 308 but wanted to know if any of you had any experience with the 308 and 180's?  My dad has been using these for a few years now and has had good results on two nice bucks.  The conditions areusually  thick woods shots almost always under 75 yds but there are rare occasions where you might want to go out to 200 in a logging  clear cut, and my prefered shot is the shoulder.  For my preference I think the 308 is ideal for these conditions, though I know some will suggest larger "Brush Buster" calibers I like the good old 308.  I have a 270 for longer stuff.  Any input would be appreciated. 

[Don Fischer]

I've had a couple 308's and they worked well with 180gr bullets. But the accuracy edge went to the 165gr so that's what I used. But also, if you like them, use them. Much better to heavy a bullet than to light. When I lived in Alaska I carried 180's in the 308 all the time.

[stumpsitter]

Hi, I use .308 win in 180 grain to hunt whitetail in northern wisconsin, i use soft point cuz it will able to handle shot throu the twig of young aspen stands that where i hunt in. I've killed several does and buck with that and had no problem. I hunt near Ladysmith, WI. Where do u hunt?

[JKump]

This year I am using 180 grain Federal Fusion in my 308.  My rifle likes them better than the 150 grain ammo (both Fusion and Winchester ballistic silver tips).  I have taking two deer with this round.  I also hunt heavy woods.  I took a nice spiked at about 125 yards shooting thru some pines.  This deer was shot thru both lungs just behind the shoulder blades, I had an excellent blood trail for 15 yards where I found the deer laying.  The second deer, a 170 lbs. 7 point, was shot up close at about 20 yards.  The bullet was shot down into the shoulder blades, this deer went all of 10 yards were it fell. 
I chose to go with the 180 grain for a couple of reason, first my rifle patterned them better, also I am able to hunt fields and the 180 grain bullets appears to be less effected by wind drift (check ballistic charts).
You cannot go wrong with a heavy bullet, if your rifle likes them.

[Siskiyou]

My old friend and hunting partner bought the Winchester Model 88 when it first came out in .308 Winchester.  Before that he hunted with a Savage M99 in .303 Savage.  Bullet of choice was the 190 grain Winchester Silvertip for the .303 Savage

The bullet of choice for his new .308 Winchester was the 180-grain Silvertip.  He collected a number of deer and bear with it. 

[Cheesehead]

I have hunted with a 308 for 2 years now. The only weight I have used is 150 and hunt only white tail. My hunting buddy of many years has used the 308 exclusively and uses Remington 180 Corlokt exclusively. We have debated bullet weight a few times. i say the 150 is plenty for deer and recoils less with flatter trajectory. We have both taken many deer at all ranges out to 275 yards. The one difference I see is never recovering a 180 grain bullet from an animal.

[banen]

Thanks for the input, I was a little afraid that it was too heavy to reliably expand at 308 velocities, but it seems like you guys have had similar experience as my dad.  (He shot  two 10 pts, one in the shoulder that dropped instantly and one double lung that surprisingly ran about 130 yrds).  I think I will stick with them, like I said my gun seems to put them right where I point it.  The partition isn't the newest, sexiest bullet, but I have never seen or even heard of one failing, I like them. 

Stumpsitter, I hunt near Boulder Junction, been hunting up there for about 7 yrs now.  I love hunting in the heavy woods up there. 

Thanks guys,  I use to come to this sight several years ago when it was just getting started and Graybeard was a poster on huntinfo.com.  I am really glad to see how much it has grown, huntinfo has become practically irrelevant.  Good quality posts here, I'll be back. 

[Cheesehead]

Check out the ballistics by Remington 150 verses 180.

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/ballistics/comparative_ballistics_results.aspx?data=R308W1*R308W3


Cheese

[Slamfire]

I'd expect the 180s to open up a bit more slowly, as they are made with higher velocity in mind, than you can get from the .308. However they do kill deer, no sweat, and elk, and caribou, and black bear, and grizzly bear, Brownies at close range excepted. There ain't nothin' the matter with moderate velocities, look at the old 7x57, and 6.5x55, they kill stuff all out of proportion to what the magnum advertisments would have you believe. 

[nasem]

95% of the time, I load all my 30 caliber with some sort of 180 grainer.... I just see it be more effective with bullets like the corelokt or the standard softies.  They don't "break" up as fast and I usually don't load them up super fast (no more than 2700 fps), as they tend to tear up at close range when they strike ANYTHING.

the only time I load 165 grainers is when Im using some of them Barnes TSX, I push them as fast as I can because I know they hold up real well at any velocity.

When it comes to bullet selection, the same must be thought of as speed selection, if you use them cheap-0 softpoints, they will hold up well just as long as you don't push them REALLY REALY REALLY fast.  A 180 gr corelokt flying at 3000 fps and hitting at 100 yards is not going to hold up as well as the same bullet in a TSX.

[nomosendero]

Man, you are good to go!

(1). The traj. difference is a non-issue here, you say that 200 yards will be the max. range, so the trajectory is plenty flat, in fact with a 200 yard zero & 2,600fps muzzel vel. (easy to get), you will be only 2.2" high at 100 yards. Even if you need to shoot 300 yards, the bullet is 9" low, easy to allow for.
(2). Expansion is good at the yardages you are shooting, if fact the bullet would expand a little at 400 yards, double the range you are shooting.
(3) Your penetration will be great at any angle, better than a 150 except for the TSX.

Since your rifle likes them, I see no downside at all. Recoil is a little more, if it is not bothering you, who cares!

[RaySendero]

I hunt whitetails in northern Wisconsin, I am a big fan of the 308.  In the past I have used 150 gr bullets but this year I switched to using 180 Nosler Partitions.  My Ruger ulta light seems to really like them.  I know most people use 150's or 165's in the 308 but wanted to know if any of you had any experience with the 308 and 180's?  My dad has been using these for a few years now and has had good results on two nice bucks.  The conditions areusually  thick woods shots almost always under 75 yds but there are rare occasions where you might want to go out to 200 in a logging  clear cut, and my prefered shot is the shoulder.  For my preference I think the 308 is ideal for these conditions, though I know some will suggest larger "Brush Buster" calibers I like the good old 308.  I have a 270 for longer stuff.  Any input would be appreciated. 

banen.
A 308 with a 1:12 barrel twist should be good-to-go with most any bullets from 125 to 180 grains!

PS: Don't be too quick to discount the 180 round nose Rem coreLokts or Win powerpoints.  They will work supprisingly well and cost much less than those NPTs.

[rich5674]

I used plain Federal soft points because I felt it was best for brush shooting. Used it for my fastest kill. I would depend on that combo for anything I'd hunt anywhere.

[SDS-GEN]

I have heard complaints of the 180 grain bullets eating up too much case space for the powder required to drive them.  Maybe once upon a time this was the case but with newer propellants ballistics should still be near 30-06.  This is probably why nobody loads 200gr bullets for 308 win.  This is an interesting post because I am thinking of taking my 308 on an elk hunt next fall and would favor 180gr bullets.

[jvs]

The .308 Winchester is one of the best rifles ever produced for hunting in North America.  Whether you use 150, 165 or 180 gr, it is one of the most practical and economical calibers ever produced.

I prefer 150 or 165-168 gr bullets, but I would not hesitate to use 180 gr in heavy cover conditions.

I am also a big .30-06 Springfield fan for much of the same reasons.  Either one will serve you well for hunting.  Without geting into a big debate about the performance of other calibers, the .308 Winchester wins hands down when it comes to affordability, IMO.

As far as Nosler or Silver Tips or TSX vs CoreLokt, PowerPoints or Federal Softies...  I prefer CoreLokt's.  Probably for no other reason than price and availability when reloading.  For factory loads, I buy whatever is on sale.  I just picked up a case of 150gr Federal Softies for $8.99 a box.  No other weight was available at that price, which is not bad in todays world.   

If you want to try something new, learn the difference in trajectory of the different weight bullets and carry them all along when you go hunting.  Then pick the bullet weight that best fits the shot.  It only takes a little practice at the range to become well familiar with the trajectory of the different weights.  You have the perfect caliber for doing this exercise.

[Cheesehead]

Economics has been mentioned. In my 300 mag I have used up to 83 grains of powder and my 308 is usually loaded at 43 grains of powder. That adds up after 100 rounds.

Cheese

[Sourdough]

My .308 is a Parker Haile, with a 28" barrel.  While my favorite bullet is the 165 gr Sierria Game King HPBT, I have used Nosler 180s and 200s.  They don't have the range, but the Moose I shot at 60 yds went down.  I've taken many Caribou with the 165gr bullet, and also several Whitetails and Mulies.  Since Deer are so easy to kill I don't see any reason to limit range by using the heavier bullets, unless you are hunting in an area where you might run into either a Bear or Hog.

But I honestly can't say how the .308 works with a shorter barrel.  That old Parker Haile spoiled me.

[Lawful Larry]

I just bought a Remington Model Seven with a 20" barrel.  I am in the process of loading for it.  I started with the 150 Sierra Game King and have just load a bunch of 165 gr. Game Kings.  Right now it is a little cold outside and will wait till it gets back to a more normal temperature to run the tests.  Will get back to you on the results I find. 

A side note on the short barrel.  The rounds are running a little slower at about 100 to 150 fps.  That doesn't bother me since the gun is so much more comfortable to hump in the woods.       

[banen]

A side note on the short barrel.  The rounds are running a little slower at about 100 to 150 fps.  That doesn't bother me since the gun is so much more comfortable to hump in the woods.       

Thanks for the reply.  Slower compared to how long a barrel?  20" vs what?  I have always wondered how much difference it would make.  You are using a Chronograph I guess? 

[Lawful Larry]

If you notice in the reload books they will tell you what length barel they used to test their rounds.  So when they tell you that this load with this amount of powder and that bullet produced this amount of velocity.  You will know it was fired from the test barrel they told you in the beginning of the section. 

And that is the the "20" vs. what" you are asking about   

I read once that for every inch of barrel you are talking about 30' to 50' per second.  Some say more, some say less.  Depends on who you are listening to at any given time. 

Cheers