Thread: .308 Ballistics

Originally Posted by Tussock

Yeah, but the original post was a joke......

I have long been a believer, that given the millions of different variable involved in terminal ballistics, a relevant sample, would be in the vicinity of 1000-5000 animals, per caliber, for the same shooter. Per projectile.

55gr hornady in .224 and buckshot win in my camp considering that scenario. Yay! Go buckshot.

Its popularity is based on numbers

The most prolific caliber 2nd only to the 7.62x39?

.223 is probably more so


I think I have your dies. Or I gave them to Headcase. I forget.

Yes I realize it was a joke as was my first post in the thread

It was only the recoil comment that drew me in....................Pussy

Originally Posted by gimp

Better bullets help, what're you using?

Yea I've been meaning to try some 75gr Hornady BTHP and Winchester power points etc. I've just been using Hornady Training loaded with their 55gr soft points. Lots of wtf moments with it. Example, I shot a big billy goat and a nanny in the chest at maybe 60m and they turned around and walked off. 10 minutes later I dialled out to 350m and was dropping goats across a gully like they were being hit by the fist of god. We jumped another mob that was about 150m away when we started firing. They were running across a hill side while we were laying into them and we thought we were missing. They started dropping and upon inspection they had multiple wounds, all of them in areas that should have killed or incapacitated them.

14.5"?

Too slow, maybe?

I'll go shoot some with 77gr SMK next week and report back. 60gr vmax maybe?

Pity the 75 amax won't fit in the mag.

Na that was with my 16" Rock River. Velocity should be around the 3000fps mark, somebody told me they were getting 3100fps out of an 18" tube with it.

On that same trip my mate shot a goat at about 20m with a 55gr Nosler varmint projectile, out of his 14.5" and it didn't fragment violently. It actually ran a few meters before collapsing. There was no evidence of bullet blow up, basically just performed like a soft point. I think that the 55gr Hornady soft point is just unpredictable. Sometimes it fragments, other times it pencils through. I did have one shot of it do catastrophic damage at closer range. Massive open exit wound in the neck/shoulder, arterial bleed and stuff, was pretty messy.

The 75gr BTHP (Hornady) is meant to be more reliable at killing than the 77gr Sierra's. Slightly higher BC too. I believe it is what they use in the 75gr TAP load. It is a shame you can't fit the A max's in an AR, I'd imagine they would be devastating, within reason.

Amax expands nicely in rabbits down to 1800fps impact IME so

[QUOTE=veitnamcam;38851]This is pretty much a long range site Now why on earth would you want to poke a big hole in something up close lol
So it drops on the spot & you don't need to chase the thing & finish the job.Like is often the case with a large bodied animal & a smaller center fire cartridge .I own 2 of them & not about to trade down any time soon .

This thread has more go than a 308

Most things do.

What about if you were shooting out to 600 yards max? Goats/deer. Still shit?

Thats my realistic max with mine..........in good-make that perfect-conditions. Wind is your enemy even more than usual with the 308.
But on a good day with the right projectile it will flatten em.

To my knowledge there is no projectile that will reliably expand on thin skinned game on a no bone shot past 700 at 308 velocity's.

I really want a Howa. But they hamstring their choices by:

Not offering a .260

Making a Swede that doesn't shoot (don't think they make it anymore)

Making a 708 with a gumby pencil dick barrel

Making a .243 with a slow twist (not sure if it would have the remaining energy to work at that range)

Their .308 has a sensible twist - 1:10. But it still looks like crap compared to the 6.5's and 7mm's, even with the heavier pills.

I could get a blued Weatherby 708 but I really want a stainless

Guess I could get a Tikka in .260 But I want a Howa action.

I want a short action standard chambering, in a quality factory rifle, for normal hunting, a dabble in medium range hunting, and informal LR steel shooting. I've got first world problems. Seriously finding the right gun and caliber is doing my fucking head in.

308 definitely isnt the pick of long range cals, impact velocity being the hold back on game.
Believe it or not mine was going alright at 1140y last time I tried on steel but windage is a lot more than the more sexy pills