Many mule deer and whitetails in SD have fallen to the 125 gr. Ballistic Tip out of my and my brother's .308's. They started out as reduced loads for us when we were 10 or so and they had very little kick, 47 gr. 4831 behind the 125 gr for about 2600 fps. After several years of great success with this combo, I got a driver's license and discovered that fast was fun, so I cranked it up to 51 gr. of H380 for 3100+ fps, I took that load deer hunting that fall, killed three deer on ribcage shots,t he bullets would not have held up if I had hit a heavy shoulder bone, it expanded very well on the ribcage, jellied the vitals and came to rest on the opposite ribcage just under the skin, about 45% retention. The range didn't matter, the bullet performance was the same. I'm not complaining, I just wouldn't have done as well had I hit a heavy bone. On the other hand, the slower load took out many shoulders, I'm sure it's because of the velocity difference, the bullet just kept going, but didn't act like a varmint bullet. The faster load was the same type of performance I get on coyotes with the 55 gr. from my .243. Take it as you see it, Inow use the 150 gr. BT and they go through pretty much anything I shoot at, as long as it's a deer, they crush the shoulders and keep going, as does the 165 BT from my .30-06. That's my experience. I tried the 130 gr. Barnes, but my .308 hated them, it prints 1/2" groups at 100 with the BT and patterns the Barnes at about an 8" circle, go figure.
Selmer
