Thread: "Feather in my hat" 308win Featherweight load development

Originally Posted by Hunty1

I've run the 165gr BTSP in my 16" 308 with 2206H, ran at about 2550fps from memory? Pretty brutal projectile, absolutely thumped reds and rusa. When back to 150BT as kicked noticeably less.

Pretty sure @Flyblown runs these with 2208 in his 308 too.

Yup.

Probably the best all round bullet I've ever used.

Lethal terminal performance from very close to far away.
Great ballistics.
Unfussy, easy to load for.
Consistently accurate, even when the lead tip is flattened by recoil in the magazine (looks ugly but has next to nil effect on hunting accuracy).
Great cross-rifle consistency with the same load - shoots really well in all the .308s I've used it in.

And, very importantly... Cheap, available, easy to find and buy in bulk.

Load and velocity from a 18" barrel:

44.5gr AR2208
2.850" COAL
2.220”COAL to ogive
2,539 ft/sec


It is frangible close-up and on a chest shot it will come apart and quite possibly not exit especially if it's a big bodied stag. But whatever you just shot with it will be lying in a pile of steaming deadness. But most of the deer I shoot with this load are 200-300m. That's a fairly standard kind of range in that topography with the way the spurs / gullies are set out. Even with the modest impact velocity the 165gr BTSP pretty much always exits on a big animal, with a really good open wound channel and free bleeding exit wound.

Highly recommended.