Hay Tom: I reload the 308 for my brother's Contender who uses it the way you plan to use yours. We tossed around the idea of the Nostler Ballistic Tip, and the this one and the that one and which bullet is the bestest for doing just exactly that and, we settled on the Hornaday bullets in either 150 or 180 grain. He prefers the 150s because the accuracy load for those from my older Lyman manual is up around 2800'/sec plus. We settled on IMR 3031 Powder as it is a faster buring powder for his short (14") barrel.
When I loaded the 180 grainer for him, using an accuracy load that dropped the velocity to 2480, it was just as if not more accurate than the 150 but he didn't like the trajectory of the heavier slower bullet.
He settled for the 150 for his hunting and is happy with it. We both prefer the construction of the Hornaday bullet as others have fragemented on small whitetail at under 100 yards. His succes with the Hornaday bullets pleases him greatly, as he doesn't have to chase the animal, and the bullet stays together and usually exits without excessive tissue damage.
Hope this helps - good luck. This be Mikey.
