Best hunting bullet for the mighty 308

[Ledd Slinger]

Unfortunately your twist rate won't support the best 308 hunting bullet in the 215 Berger, maybe dropping down to the 185 Berger would work well. The 215 is just incredible on game, it so out performs a Barnes or Accubond in the 308 isn't not even fair compare!!

The 215 isn't a Berger hunting bullet : nor does Berger advocate the use of their match bullets for hunting

I used the Target VLDs for a long time after they came out with the Hunting VLD. If I recall, I killed 5 or 6 animals before switching to the Hunting version. The thicker jacketed Target versions killed every bit as good for me.

 

[Midnightmedic]

We have shot a lot of antelope, mule deer and elk with Bergers vld, lapua scenar, hornady, barnes and noslers over the last 20 years out of 308s and 7-08s. And all bullets will kill with a perfect lung shot hitting only a rib going in and one going out. That being said we now use only the Barnes 175gr. LRX (G1 bc of 508) in all 30 cals. It simply has not failed and will exit almost every time. It is able to take any shot needed in hunting to quickly kill an animal, any animal. I have seen the Berger and other thin jacketed BTHP fail and severely wound an animal. The wound is usually about 6-8 inches in diameter and less than 2" deep when hit at heavy-mass-bone center-of-the-shoulder shot at close range with the high velocity lighter bullets. (ie 168gr berger vld at 3200fps). None of the core penetrates the chest cavity. The chances of this happening goes up as the animals get bigger. Happens most on elk in my country. But it will be your biggest trophy whitetail buck walking through the woods at 75 yards that has the greatest chance for this happening. I now keep the J4 bthp bullets for paper and coyotes.

 

[kev77]

Please do not go with ''Barns'' !!!! I have already had to track 4 good sized deer this year from this bullet. lost 3 and had to shoot one again. BERGER is the way to go......

 

[Ledd Slinger]

For elk, I would actually recommend the Target VLDs over the Hunting VLDs because the thicker jackets of the Target version will aid in deep penetration. For deer, I think just about anything will work with good shot placement.

 

[nockhunter]

Sierra 165g HPBT Gameking, is a solid performer.

Mike

 

[wyoming .260]

Beings that .223 with 60 gr Partitions kill deer pretty much dead, I think anything out of a .308 from 125 gr bts on up will kill them as well. Just to add my experience with Hunting VLDS, I always aim behind the shoulder and at the last second, move more on a shoulder and the only problem I have with Bergers are the 4-6 " exit holes out the offside.

 

[JRS]

I don't hunt with Berger bullets, but am amazed at the exit wounds : some talk about. I would imagine Walt Berger and Eric Stecker would be amazed also, when considering the testing they performed on animals of different sizes, and at different ranges. The bullets would penetrate the hide, travel 2"-3", then fragment in all directions.

 

[XTR]

Every time this topic is started (and I can't remember the number of times it has been) there are two schools, people who like the Bergers that act like big varmint rounds and people who like bullets that penetrate and mushroom, and really you can't have both.

Shooting into the rib cage behind the shoulder and in front of the gut the big expanders will work almost every time, and on the small white tails in most of the southeast pretty much anything will kill them. I know for a fact that 22LRs or a 22WM will take them if you place the shot correctly. (its been 4 decades since my squirrel hunting teen age yrs)

If you are on a hunt where your time is limited, and you have to make a quartering shot on an elk on the last day of the hunt, then might be hoping your guide backs your shot with something that will punch through the 8 lbs wet grass in his stomach, because your rapid expanding bullet isn't going to get there.

Personally, I use Sierras and Noslers for hunting.

 

[kev77]

YES THE BERGER WILL GET THERE!!!! Shot from behind the rib cage and recovered under the hide on far shoulder 300+pounds of whitetail.

 

[JRS]

Looking at the thickness of that jacket, and the amount of lead in place, that sure isn't a Berger bullet :

 

[Barlow]

150 gr Hornady IL, Speer, Remington Cl's work well here on deer.

 

[bigngreen]

I don't hunt with Berger bullets, but am amazed at the exit wounds : some talk about. I would imagine Walt Berger and Eric Stecker would be amazed also, when considering the testing they performed on animals of different sizes, and at different ranges. The bullets would penetrate the hide, travel 2"-3", then fragment in all directions.

No, they would not be surprised since we send them info and document bullet performance on every shot, Eric is well aware of how they are performing on game!!! You will not see them listed as a hunting bullet because they will not be eligible for government contracts with it, if they thin up the jacket to make a hunting version then I don't think it would perform as well as it does now and you would see no sales.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Looking at the thickness of that jacket, and the amount of lead in place, that sure isn't a Berger bullet :

Here's the remains of a 250gr 338 cal Berger Elite Hunter bullet that I recovered from a large mule deer buck. I shot him at 380 yards in his right front shoulder as he was facing me at a very slight angle. Dug this out from his opposite left hind quarter where it was lodged against his femur bone. It punched completely through the chest just in front of the right shoulder, absolutely annihilated his vitals, then continued on to pentrate his entire mid section and half of his hind quarter before finally being stopped by one of the largest bones in his body. My "varmint" bullets won't do that

So do Berger bullets fragment and shed a lot of weight for maximum terminal damage? YES.

Do Berger bullets also pentrate adequately through bone and tissue to get the job done? YOU BET YOUR SWEET ASPERCREME

 

[kev77]

JRS Thats a 168vld target bullet that went through 28-30'' of deer. Sorry to burst your bubble!!

 

[JRS]

JRS Thats a 168vld target bullet that went through 28-30'' of deer. Sorry to burst your bubble!!

Of course it is :

 

[Frawg]

168 Berger VLD!

 

[Larryh128]

I shot 168 Bergers for a season and thought that out of all the bullets that I've ever used that they were some of the most accurate and also the most disappointing. Inconsistnat expansion, one a varmint grenade, the next a fmj. Good target bullet though. Switched to 175 gr Barnes LRX with the same accuracy and a higher BC and total terminal performance on target.

 

[yukonal]

At 308 velocities it would be hard to beat a 165 Nosler ballistic tip or accubond

And there you have it. No need to look any farther.

 

[Rustystud]

My preference for hunting in any big game caliber 6mm through .338 is a controlled expansion bullet. Myself and my customers have harvested thousands of whitetail deer. From the Southeast to North West Canadian provinces.

My bullet choices are (not in any order) Nosler Partitions, Nosler Accubonds, Swift Sciroccos, Swift A-frames, Barnes Tipped Triple Shocks, Barnes Triple Shocks, The longrange Accubonds and Triple Shocks are in there too.

I like an entrance and exit wound with 5-8 inch wound channel.

It has been my experience that Berger Bullet may be very accurate on paper but that their performance on big game is a crap shoot. One shot may be a bang flop, the next bang and off to the races with no blood trail.

I believe that a quick humane kill and recovery are the objectives of hunting. Shooting a deer in the shoulder, or behind the shoulder does minimal damage to the best cuts of meat.

If one has to take a frontal or Texas heart shot you need a bullet with plenty of penetration.

I have only recovered one Barnes bullet from a whitetail. It was a 60 yard frontal shot. The 150 grain Tiped Triple shock traveled from the lower neck through the thoratic, abdomen, through a ham and lodged under the skin on the back side. I hunt with a 20" 1;12, 5r barrel shooting the 150 Barnes Tipped Triple Shock at 2885fps. They have successfully harvested whitetails to 467yds measured providing complete pass through.
Nat Lambeth

 

[WindSurgeon]

For my .308 and 30-06 I use Sierra Gamekings in 150-180 grain soft point boat tails. Have killed mule deer with them for years out to 420 yards (longest shot). With the 308 my favorite is the 150 grain. Can load to 2800-2900 fps without any problems and it gives me a bit more loading bandwidth. I have not hunted elk, but I would perhaps try 165's or 180's. They may shoot more in the 2700 to 2800 range, but as they say, "speed thrills but payload kills" .