.308 ammo recomendation and reloading

Hey guys,

I got a Howa 1500 .308 in November as an early Christmas present. I've dialed it in and shot sub 1 inch groups at 100 yards with Hornady Superformance 150 gr. SST's. I shot my first deer with it last friday evening and killed him dead in his tracks. Now the problem, the bullet failed to exit. I assume the bullet fragmented as I could not find it anywhere in the thorax. I'm very happy with this bullet for its accuracy and it did a fine job stopping that deer in his tracks. The entrance wound in the chest wall was pretty impressive in that there were 5 ribs broken and I could easily reach my hand through it.
My problem with the bullet is that it didn't exit. I would prefer that the bullet exit in the event that the deer doesn't fall dead and I need to blood trail it. I realize this is one deer and limited experience but just curious what you guy thought.

And for one more question. I am thinking about working with my granddad (who has much more experience than yours truly) and hand loading some rounds. Any recommendations for a good hunting bullet?

Thanks guys

I hunted with Hornady 165BTSP's for a long time in a .30-06.

How far was the deer when you shot him?

75 yards probably.

I thought maybe the deer was closer and the velocity was still very high. 75 yards should have been far enough. I have been hunting with the same bullet this year in the Superformance ammo but haven't gotten to try any out. They will shoot into an inch at 200 out of my Remington.

age old argument...
side A.. rather have all the energy deposited into the animal(one hole)
side B.. rather blow two holes through the animal for blood trail

Beladran wrote:age old argument...
side A.. rather have all the energy deposited into the animal(one hole)
side B.. rather blow two holes through the animal for blood trail

given the option, I'd rather have side B.

I helped a friend clean a doe that weighed about 125# last weekend and he shot it from 20yds with a 30-06 180gr sst. The bullet entered in the front between the shoulders, i found the copper base and a small peice of lead under the hide in the rear before the pelvis bone. Not sure if i liked that kinda performance or not. The internal damage was so-so. Not much difference from the 150gr corelokts my dad uses.
Ive used everything from FMJ to corelokts to berger match to Vmax havent had one take a step yet. I got some buddys that swear by expensive Barnes bullets but they always make poor shots and have to track.

I took a 100# doe in my yard last week. 90yds with my 5.56 AR using 40gr vmax shooting down hill with her standing straight on The entrance wound in the hide was small, but soon as the bullet cleared the skin for 8" deep, low in the neck you could put a softball thru the wound. Was a horrific wound channel.


So like they say, shot placement > bullet style.

I'm surprised that the 150 sst did not exit. That has been one of my loves of the bullet, it always has exited for me (B type). You said you broke 5 ribs? That sounds like an extreme quartering shot. I shot a 165 ib 8-point with a Scirocco last week. It didn't exit. But it WAS an extreme quartering shot, started at the rear of the rib cage on the left side and ended up just under the skin in front of the right shoulder. still weighed 111 grains out of a 130 grain bullet (6.5mm) beautiful mushroom!

If you will keep your SD number on your bullets above .250 your % of exits will go up dramatically. SD(sectional density) is a number based off length to weight. The shorter and fatter the bullet, the more likely it is to blow up. Try the 165 sst's, accubonds, or scirocco's and you will likely be more pleased, that will put the sd at .248. I mostly shoot a 7 mag when deer hunting with a 162gr sst, sd of .287, only failed to get and exit one time, and that bullet that traveled length wise on a 260 pound buck and found the jacked and some lead under the skin in the hind quarter. To get a .287 sd in a .308 caliber you have to go up to a 190 grain bullet.

Maybe you will try the Barnes TSX 150grs, the Swift Scirocco150grs or the Sakko Hammerhead 150grs.

I have found in my 20"bbl Ltr that 165 game kings with 44gr of imr 4064 does real well .